Jerry Stackhouse Ready To Help Nets Off the Bench

"How many years is this?" he joked after the Nets' 119-82 win over the Pistons Monday. This was in response to a question about how he felt after playing for the first time in almost two months. "It's always good to get out and compete. I'm just understanding our situation."

Jerry Stackhouse has been around the NBA for a long time. He entered this season, his 18th in the league, as a guy that would play a mentor role for youngster MarShon Brooks. Nobody expected him to get the kind of playing time he got. With that playing time, he became a fan-favorite after it seemed like he found the fountain of youth. Then he was dropped from the rotation after the Nets' brass wanted to see more of MarShon Brooks and Mirza Teletovic. From January 26th until last night, Stackhouse didn't play a single minute for the Nets. But in his first game since, he showed what he was showing in the beginning of the season. He scored 10 points on 5-6 shooting against the Pistons in 19 minutes.

"We kind of understood the dynamic of what needed to happen," said Stackhouse. "Coach came to me and told me what the deal was a couple of months ago, told me he was going to get the younger guys some time and the odd guy out would be me.

"But I just needed to make sure I stayed engaged and stayed ready so when things rolled back around, I could be a factor in the playoffs. So that's what I've done. Obviously, as a competitor, you want to be out there and you want to compete. I was sold on the big picture when I signed here and ain't nothing changed with that."

Stackhouse sure didn't lose anything during his long, 22 game rest. He played just as well as he did in the beginning of the season, and showed a bit of athleticism as well. He made a circus layup and also recorded a blocked shot. Both things that got the fans going.

"We needed to reaffirm what he was capable of," Carlesimo said. "He's back, he's back working and getting in shape. He can play basketball. Again, a good problem, but that's another guy that, frankly, we were confident about anyhow. But it's somebody we feel we can count on in big situations."

In the meantime, Stackhouse will just have to keep proving all of his doubters wrong in whatever time he gets. Age IS just a number, you know.

Source: Rod Boone- Newsday

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