Sheed and Stack in the Big Apple
January 10, 2013 1:28 PM   Subscribe

Sheed and Stack in the Big Apple is a new piece by Grantland's Jonathan Abrams about the NBA veterans Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse
posted by Cloud King (5 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Stackhouse purchased a church for his mother, a pastor, in 2006.

Coach Brown never told the players this, but he told the staff that anytime Rasheed gets a technical, 'I'm going to get a technical because it's not fair,'"

Great article.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:39 PM on January 10, 2013


Stack is still in the NBA? I assumed he'd retired ages ago.
posted by asterix at 2:58 PM on January 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


Great article. Mr Abrams has turned out some stunners for Grantland.
posted by chris88 at 3:08 PM on January 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


What strikes me as interesting about this article (from a meta- perspective) is how the perception of Rasheed Wallace has changed so dramatically over the years, and that of Jerry Stackhouse has been relatively the same throughout his entire career. Rasheed's story arc is almost a cliche - he cuts his teeth playing with pros like Pippen, gets pigeonholed as a troublemaker for smoking pot (and was guilty-by-association for playing with teammates who did the same), then is shipped to a team which needs his hoops IQ and mentality, and his skillset is forever enshrined with a championship team which may not exist without him.

But Jerry Stackhouse - and I'm speaking anecdotally, not as the advanced-stats-lover I am at heart - I feel like he was always falling short of expectations. As if teams said "we really need a scoring swingman" and BAM! he was on the roster. You knew what you were getting - a quiet professional who could get the job done, and that you had high hopes for, but who never really was comfortable in his role.

Also, Stephen Jackson is probably the other guy who I would put in the "reformed perception among NBA faithful" category. He went from Championship with Spurs to "guy who went into the stands with Artest" and back to "ultimate teammate" thanks to articles similar to this - it's always nice to hear a bit of personal story behind the players.
posted by antonymous at 7:55 PM on January 10, 2013


I liked Wallace before he became a Piston, but I was honestly a little wary when he came to Detroit. The transition from seeing him as a fan of a player on a team I rarely had a chance to watch to a mainstay of one of my favorite teams was one of my happiest times as a fan. The Detroit blogs (not least, Need4Sheed) loved him, and suddenly I got to hear about all of these Sheed things I'd never heard about before. The 'both teams played hard' thing sticks with him, but he wasn't lying. He played hard, and he did an amazing job playing alongside Ben Wallace. On the face of it, you had a short center whose lack of offense meant the Pistons were often playing 4 on 5, and a power forward known for hanging around the 3 point line, but the reality was some of the best post defense in league history. Sheed doesn't just play hard, he plays smart. He knowns where he has to be, he knows what his role is, and he executes it.

And, as goes without saying, ball don't lie. You can't have a career as long as his, or still be an important part of a team at 38 without being an amazing player, without knowing how to play the game, as well as having mastered all of the facets of the game that go on off the court.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:17 PM on January 10, 2013 [3 favorites]


« Older %-| The difference between us and them   |   The Man With a Train in His Basement Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments