<p><strong>Mavericks: Jerry Stackhouse to Re-Sign with Dallas</strong></p><p>By Bill Ingram</p><p>for HOOPSWORLD.com</p><p>Jun 3, 2007, 13:32 </p><p>The entire NBA world gathered in Orlando last week From head coaches to scouts to general managers - they were all there hoping to find a player who had gone unnoticed or who might turn out to be a steal come draft day. Mostly it\'s a search for something constructive to do with a second round pick. In between games, however, a great deal of discussion goes on between general managers. Those who don\'t have high draft picks, or who need help that the draft just can\'t bring, are fishing for trade partners. It\'s not surprising that one of the names being thrown about was Jerry Stackhouse, the Dallas Mavericks\' perennial sixth-man of the year candidate.</p><p>The Mavericks have made it clear that their top priority is retaining Stackhouse, and unlike other teams, the Mavericks mean it.</p><p>\"Jerry was great,\" said Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson. \"He was strong all year, he battled, he was a warrior. And this is the same guy who, when we got him here, people said he wasn\'t going to cooperate. And he\'s been cooperating with us. He was really a good influence, also, on Josh. We can talk about everything I did wrong, but you need players to also have an impact on other players. I thought Stack had a real strong impact on Josh. Josh had a heck of a year and he battled there until the very end. That\'s what you need. We needed veteran leadership like Stack and he really tried in that last game. He had an unbelievable (18-point) first half. He made some big shots, but we just didn\'t have it. I think it would be nice to have him back.\"</p><p>That\'s not just so much fluff - fodder for the local media. When Avery Johnson speaks his mind, he speaks from the heart. He doesn\'t aim to mislead. Every team needs a veteran leader and there are none better than Stackhouse, who was equally clear in expressing his earnest desire to stay in Dallas.</p><p>“This is where I want to be,\" affirmed Stackhouse. \"I’d love to finish my career here in Dallas. There are a lot of good people in this city that I’ve grown friendly with and I would hopefully have some good possibilities of doing some things after basketball. The time will come for me and Mark (Cuban) to have some conversations and get it done. We both want the same thing, and that’s to bring a championship back to Dallas and hopefully we’ll be able to do that.”</p><p>Both sides want Jerry back in Dallas next season, and that has been made crystal clear to anyone who asks about Stackhouse\'s availability. No fewer than three NBA executives confided to Basketball News in Orlando that they had inquired about Stackhouse and been told he wasn\'t available. There would be no sign-and-trades, there would be no release, and there would be no negotiation. Stackhouse is going to re-sign with the Mavericks and continue to be their top veteran leader - perhaps even beyond his playing days.</p><p>It\'s great news for Mavericks fans, who averaged 12 points per game coming off Avery Johnson\'s bench. It\'s being said that no major changes are coming for Dallas, and for a team that won 67 games that\'s a positive thing. One more piece to help Stackhouse in the second unit might be enough to help the Mavs achieve their ultimate goal next season.</p>
[此贴子已经被作者于2007-6-4 11:11:28编辑过] |