GOOD AS OLD: Don’t fit Jerry Stackhouse for an assistant coach’s suit just yet — during a 14-point outing filled with clutch 3s in Monday’s win over Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks, the 38-year-old showed he can still score in bunches off the Nets bench. (NY Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
Jerry Stackhouse entered the season preparing for life as an NBA assistant coach. Now, he’s playing a pivotal role on a first-place team.
Joining the Nets for his 19th season in the league, Stackhouse was expected to see little playing time and serve primarily as a mentor to his younger teammates. With his inevitable retirement drawing closer, Stackhouse began looking forward.
But when MarShon Brooks injured his ankle during morning shootaround Nov. 9 in Orlando, the 38-year-old was needed that night. After a strong performance, Stackhouse has worked his way into coach Avery Johnson’s rotation and the Nets have won seven of the eight games Stackhouse has played this season, heading into tonight’s game in Boston.
“I knew I was kind of coming in as a coaching role because that’s where I wanted to go going forward in my transition to my next career,” Stackhouse said. “Unfortunately, when you get past 35, they just want you to play a certain role and not allow guys to compete. But I knew coming in with Avery, I knew he’d be open-minded. Knowing that I still had something to give on the court, I knew I would have the opportunity to do it.”
Though Johnson does not allow Stackhouse to play back-to-back nights, the coach picked the right occasion to use his most veteran asset, sitting him Sunday against Portland in order to save him for Monday night’s showdown with the Knicks.
Stackhouse played more than 22 minutes and scored 14 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting (all season highs), including a tie-breaking shot from the corner with 3:31 left in overtime of the 96-89 win at the Barclays Center.
“What more can I say? Every 3 was at the right time,” Johnson said after the game. “He was in a good rhythm in his spots. He had really good energy. That was the whole idea of resting him [Sunday]. I didn’t know he was going to be this ready, though. I can’t take any credit. All of the credit goes to Stackhouse.”
Center Brook Lopez said, “Stack’s a vet who you know can play. He has a high basketball IQ, he can shoot the ball, score the ball. You know what you’re going to get from him. When you put him in that position late in the game, you know he’s going to be there to knock down big shots.”
After the game, Stackhouse said retirement hadn’t crossed his mind before this season, even if many fans assumed it already had happened. He wanted to be part of a contender, and in a surprise to everyone but him, now is helping make the Nets just that.
“I’m here to compete,” Stackhouse said. “Avery’s going to do a good job of managing my minutes, probably more than I want him to. I feel I’m in great shape, that I could probably do more, but it’s about us growing and getting somewhere further down the road, not about so much right now. We’ve got all the pieces and we’ve gotten better each game.”