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The Jerry Stackhouse Problem
By Will Davis | January 22, 2008
Over his 13 year career Jerry Stackhouse has proven himself a consistent offensive presence in the NBA tallying over 15,000 points and an 18.8 points per game average. He’s been the Dallas Mavericks 6th Man going on 4 years providing immediate scoring off the bench, and lockerroom leadership. He’s a valuable member of a squad that went to the 2006 NBA Finals and the team that won 67 games last year. He continues his offensive production mainly in isolation plays where he uses his experience and great jump shot against subpar defenders.
It has become apparent that Stackhouse has become such a defensive liability and his offensive limitations in all areas other than scoring that his minutes should be limited especially during cruchtime (last 4 mins of close games). His ball handling has suffered greatly in his old-age (at least in basketball terms, he’s 33), he’s a terrible passer, not effective on the boards, and can’t guard faster players one-on-one effectively. This transition from offensive stalwart to liability has mainly taken place last year and continues today. This season against the Suns, for example, Dallas opened up an impressive lead by playing on both sides of ball and limiting turnovers. Jerry Stackhouse entered the game and immediately was responsible for 2 turnovers — dribbled off his foot on one possesion and a bad pass on another (the Mavs still won the game).
Some may point to Jerry Stackhouse’s performance in last years playoffs as proof that the old wheels may still have some legs. A closer look shows he performed well in one game aided heavily by refs that called fouls on balls he dribbled off his leg. Stackhouse’s points-on-floor rating (overall points +/- the team scored while he’s on the floor) was at -26 for the series.
This all seems obvious to those of us who watch Mavericks games on a consistent basis, but unfortunately Jerry’s biggest fan is head coach Avery Johnson. Johnson’s offensive playbook is simple to say the least, and that fits a one-dimensional player like Jerry Stackhouse very well.
Hopefully the coach will realize the liability status of Stackhouse and limit his minutes. I’d rather see the minutes go to Trenton Hassell (his time is severely limited) and Eddie Jones (having trouble staying healthy). Both players are proven defenders and can shoot well enough to hit open jumpers if given enough game minutes to feel comfortable in the offense. There are enough scorers on the team to make up for their limited offensive production (ala Bruce Bowen with the Spurs) and with the growth of Devin Harris, Brandon Bass, and JJ Barea the more they are all on the floor together the better.
This needs to happen soon. The playoffs will be here before you know it.
Topics: Dallas Mavericks, Team |
