C's toast, and I like Rodney Stuckey

Well, the Celtics finally lost a home game, which probably bodes really poorly for their chances to win this series. First of all, I'd like to thank the Pistons for finally clearing up that whole "experience matters in the playoffs" thing. I've been laboring under the idea that the "experience" cliche was something people said when they didn't know anything else insightful to say about a game/series that was about to take place. Watching the Pistons last night, though, I was strangely mesmerized by the way they played in an incredibly hostile environment, facing a superior Celtics team who kept coming and coming. They answered big baskets with big baskets. They withstood runs. They just made plays when it counted (ugh, gosh damn cliche right there, sonofabitch-motherfucker...anyway). That was experience working it's magic/rearing it's ugly head (depending on which team you pull for). So things definitely look bleak right now for the C's. I think KG summed it up best during the post game interview when he said and I quote "we just have to figure out a way to win on the road..." followed by a moment of introspection (kinda weird at that), and a dejected "damn." If you just clipped that single "damn" soundbyte and played it for me, I would have guessed that KG had just missed a big NFL parlay because of a missed 28 yard Field Goal on the Sunday Night game. It had that air of finality, as though he was coming to grips with the fact that losing that home game meant there was absolutely zero chance that they could win this series (and thereby denying KG the title that he came to Boston to win). And you can't blame him for feeling that way. If the Celtics couldn't win a first round game in Atlanta, they definitely won't be heavy favorites to win a game in the Palace in the Eastern Conference Finals. Wow. On to other things.
The Pistons might have made the biggest draft blunder since the Sam Bowie debacle when they took Darko Milicic over Melo (and everyone else in that draft class for that matter). Well they went a long way toward making that up to their fans when they took Rodney Stuckey last year. Talk about hitting a home run. It has always been my opinion that when you are looking at drafting different players, you can't just look at college stats or physical attributes. I mean, you get a great athlete either way, but a lot of what goes into being a good/great pro is ability to stay healthy and psychological makeup. A guy like Stuckey, although a great scorer in college, could have been easily overlooked since he was coming out of a smaller school (Eastern Washington). But look at what they Pistons got. His intangibles were on display during Game 2 last night. Every time Stuckey was in the game, he was taking the rock straight to the rack or making a big jumper. The guy had 13 points in 17 minutes, and drew a couple of fouls on Ray Allen, which were big because Allen was actually having a good game. After the game, Stuckey told the media that he is "never scared, never nervous." And you could tell by his actions on the court, as well as his demeanor, that he's not just some rookie talking shit. And that's what I mean by a guy's psychological makeup. He has "icewater in his veins" if you want to use that cliche. He wants the ball, wants to challenge guys. He will make the clutch shot, not because he's a great shooter, but because he's got the balls to step up in those situations. I like this guy. Mark my words, within five years Rodney Stuckey will be an All-NBA performer. Lindsey Hunter, a fifteen year veteran, said that Stuckey would be up there with CP3 and Deron Williams as the League's best point guards. I agree. Of course, Chauncey Billups still has some miles left on him, and Rip Hamilton is still in his prime, so a move into the starting lineup is unlikely in the next couple of years. But what a great dilemma for the Pistons to have. On a side note, you ever notice that Stuckey looks kinda like 50 Cent? If I were him, I would be contacting Vivica, you know, trying to see what's up.
Quick flight school update...I took my Engines and Systems exam this morning, got a 96. So far I have made a 98 on Aero I, a 100 on Weather, a 96 on Aero II, and now a 96 on Eng/Sys. So I'm maintaing a pretty damn good average on Academics, although I don't think it will be high enough for Distinguished Graduate. I did pretty well on the PT test, the run part anyways (got a 10:03 on the chip-trail run). The swim part wasn't so bad--I passed the tower jump/15 yard underwater swim after about 10 tries. The rest of the stuff was pretty easy, although swimming the mile wore me out pretty good. So API is going great for me. I have a Nav test next week, and then Flight Rules and Regulations after that, and that's pretty much it for academics. More to come as time goes by.