Will Bynum Thread (07/18/21: Big 3: Nate Robinson vs. Will Bynum:)

Bynum's late-season explosion gives Pistons depth behind Stuckey

1-2 Punch

by Keith Langlois


Editor's note: Pistons.com today continues a six-part series that will examine the Pistons by position, including the bench. Today's Part IV: point guard.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The Pistons entered last season with the most enviable point guard situation in the NBA. In fact, it was a luxury that Joe Dumars decided represented the best means within his reach to transform the Pistons from one era to the next.

Chauncey Billups facilitated that transformation by being the bait Dumars used to reel in Allen Iverson and his expiring contract, the vehicle that enabled the Pistons to ultimately sign free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Gordon, at 26, and Villanueva, at 25, are on career paths that figure to remain in ascendancy for the life of the five-year contracts they agreed to when free agency opened on July 1.

What Dumars wanted with the cap space was to add at least two young pieces to the foundation, to go along with Rodney Stuckey, 23, as players with room to grow together in much the way team that posted seven straight 50-win seasons and went to six straight conference finals - streaks that were snapped last season - came together.

Stuckey enters training camp as the incumbent point guard, but Will Bynum was pushing him for minutes down the stretch of last season. So convinced are the Pistons of Bynum's legitimacy, they'll go into training camp with only two point guards on the roster even though they remain one below the NBA roster limit of 15.

Stuckey, the No. 15 pick in the 2007 draft, missed the first third of his rookie season with a hand injury and benefited from sitting behind Billups and Hamilton on a title-contending team. He sneaked up on the NBA and exploded during the playoffs, filling in for an injured Billups to lead a second-round series win over Orlando and performing at a high level against eventual NBA champion Boston in the conference finals.

The security blanket was ripped away two games into his second season when Billups was dealt to Denver. They continued to bring him off the bench for another month, then thrust him into the starting lineup while the Pistons were still sorting out how best to use Iverson and Hamilton. Michael Curry was in his ear constantly to be more assertive, but it was a tough balancing act for a young player surrounded by veterans on either side accustomed to being Option A.

After going off for 40 and 38 points twice in a six-game span, Stuckey went into a mid-season tailspin when he often appeared paralyzed by indecision and confusion. When the Pistons reached their nadir during an eight-game February losing streak, Stuckey averaged less than eight points, shooting .388 for the month. When Iverson got sidelined with a back injury, Stuckey's performance picked up immediately, though he didn't quite come back to the level he'd played at earlier in the season. He finished with averages of 13.4 points and 4.9 assists a game, shooting .439 with an assists-to-turnover ratio of almost exactly 2:1. Those aren't bad numbers, but they're numbers the Pistons know Stuckey can better given more stability around him.

"What was tough on him last year was having Rip and Allen and how to get those guys shots," assistant coach Pat Sullivan said. "Those are two totally different kinds of players. He had a hard time with that last year. This year, it's going to be totally different, especially with (new coach John Kuester) being a former point guard and being here. That's going to be huge for Stuck in terms of having somebody night in and night out to help him.

"Rodney showed last year he's got a tremendous ability to score. He's got strength, quickness, he can post up - you're just looking for the consistency. He's got the potential to be a big-time scorer, he can see the floor and he's a solid defender with strength and quickness."

Stuckey is probably the Pistons' fastest player and, at 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, he's got a size edge on most point guards. While he's not yet an effective 3-point shooter (.295 on 78 attempts last season), the Pistons believe that's something that will come sooner rather than later.

Becoming a more consistent jump shooter, inside the arc or beyond, is a critical next step in Stuckey's development. If he can start knocking down the open 18-footers his strength and quickness are sure to create for him, he can become a dynamic point guard. If he struggles to hit that shot consistently, the door opens a little wider for Bynum to make point guard a job-sharing position.

The Pistons are banking on the fact that Stuckey will be more comfortable in a leadership role without the Iverson-Hamilton drama and with a team that suddenly sports an average age of 25, and that comfort level will lead to a more self-assured player.

"It was difficult for a second-year guy with an older, veteran team," Pistons vice president Scott Perry said. "I'm sure he would tell you he learned a lot of valuable lessons last year. He had some tough stretches, but he grew a lot and if you go back in the history of this game and talk about rookie, second-year point guards, they all had their tough nights to get where they were consistent players at that position."

Bynum, listed at 6-foot-0 but probably a good 2 inches shorter, was signed after an impressive 2008 Summer League showing, following two seasons in Israel, to be the No. 3 point guard with an emphasis on providing tempo-changing, harassing defense. But Bynum had always been an explosive scorer, dating to his days as a Chicago schoolboy phenom, and it was his basket that propelled Georgia Tech to a 2004 Final Four semifinal win over Oklahoma State.

The Pistons love Bynum's fearlessness, his passion for playing and his uncanny knack for not just getting to the rim but finishing against much bigger defenders.

"He's heard all of his career, 'You're too small, you can't do it,' " Sullivan said. "He's got such a mental toughness and professionalism about him that I admire. There was game after game where he wouldn't get in last year, then we'd put him in and he's an instant creator. He puts so much pressure on the defense. He's always in attack mode. His teammates love that about him."

Bynum probably won't ever be a deep shooting threat, but he showed last year he can stick the mid-range jumper often enough to enhance his ability to blow by defenders on the drive. Is there a next step to Bynum's development?

"Just having an overall consistency to his game," Perry said. "Continue to improve on his ability to knock the open jump shot down. People know it's hard to keep him in front. He's strong enough, quick enough, athletic enough to get around you and get to the rim. The more people scout him, the more they're going to try to take that away and force him to shoot the jump shot. But he's a guy I know is spending hours in the gym and working on that, because he wants to take away anything that somebody's going to perceive as a weakness in his game."

Bynum didn't leave the bench for 25 of the Pistons' first 55 games, averaging 3.5 points and 8.6 minutes when he did play. Over the final 25 games, he averaged 12 points in 21 minutes a game. His signature moment came in the fourth quarter of a game with heavy playoff implications on April 5, when Bynum all but eliminated Charlotte from the race with a franchise-record 26-point quarter in a 32-point performance.

If injury were to sideline either Stuckey or Bynum for any length of time, the Pistons would likely reconsider their decision to not add another point guard to the roster. Ben Gordon, who has played the position frequently over his first five seasons in Chicago, gives them cover at the position and could get spot minutes there on a consistent basis if Kuester decides to go with a Gordon-Rip Hamilton backcourt to exploit certain matchups.

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/pointguard_090918.html

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Originally Posted by StarburyPtGod

Will and Ben in the backcourt during crunchtime

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Originally Posted by dreClark

My man Will

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[h3]Will Bynum needs playing time[/h3]
With Rodney Stuckey, Richard Hamilton and Ben Gordon needing minutes in the backcourt, Bynum appeared to be the odd man out.

But he scored (15 points on 5-of-7 shooting) and passed efficiently (just two assists, but he distributed better than that) last night.

If he was a first-round pick, and Rodney Stuckey was undrafted, I think Bynum would be starting.

http://www.pistonpowered....istons-preseason-opener/

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Will Bynum and the Pistons Make a Statement

November 4, 2009 10:54 AM

By Henry Abbott

The defending Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic lost last night for the first time since the beginning of preseason, and it's not all that shocking.

Even though they were on the road, they outplayed the Pistons when their superstar, Dwight Howard, was in the game. But he was severely limited by foul trouble and then a shoulder injury.

But it's worth considering the Pistons' role. They have now officially started to make a little noise.
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"Will Bynum -- a player no one in the NBA could find work for two years -- now joins Rodney Stuckey in a Pistons' lineup that caused a lot of trouble for the Orlando Magic.
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A team whose success has long hinged on Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace had none of those players last night. Billups is a Nugget, Wallace a Celtic, and Hamilton and Prince were both out injured. What's more, the replacements Pistons executive Joe Dumars has brought in have been are all players other NBA teams have passed over -- Ben Gordon couldn't get the money he wanted from Chicago, Ben Wallace is three years into being considered washed up, and the Bucks didn't make an offer to Charlie Villanueva when he was a free agent. Even their coach, John Kuester, only got the job after Avery Johnson reportedly turned down an offer.

Lacking household names, last night the Pistons became the first team in NBA history to start a Swede -- giving the starting nod to rookie Jonas Jerebko, who was once best known for getting stat sheets and popcorn for Joe Dumars.

But they didn't beat the Magic just by chance. A lineup of shooters and ball-handlers all over the floor created space in the lane -- and Piston guards got to the rim again and again, putting the pressure on Howard that resulted in fouls and a lot of contact. (After the game, Howard complained about how hard opponents have been colliding with him recently.)

If the Pistons prove to be good, then the NBA teams that passed over all of their personnel will have been proven at least a little bit wrong.

The player who epitomizes the new Pistons -- the one every team could have had and who Pistons fans cheered loudest for last night -- is point guard Will Bynum. Undrafted in 2006, Bynum played for the Roanoke Dazzle before having a cup of coffee with the Warriors. Eventually he found a home playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

He joined the Pistons' summer league team slightly more than a year ago, and has been a Piston ever since.

Now Bynum joins Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon in the kind of lineup (shooters, passers and drivers all over the place) that a stat expert says can do a lot of damage.

For Detroit's front office, it's a tale of a front office finding merit in players other teams reject. For players like Will Bynum, it's proof that useful NBA players don't just come from the draft and trades.

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