ESPN NBA

Originally Published: June 14, 2006

Stackhouse suspension may motivate Mavs in Game 5

Email Print Share

By Ric Bucher
ESPN The Magazine
Archive

NBA commandant Stu Jackson could have very well done the Dallas Mavericks a favor by suspending Jerry Stackhouse for Sunday's Game 5 of the 2006 NBA Finals.

If the results of some other playoff suspensions are any indication, being a man down can be just the catalyst to get a team, collectively, to man up. And rest assured, that's exactly what the Mavs need to do if they don't want to be forever haunted by the fourth-quarter passivity that cost them Game 3.

Coach Avery Johnson already had taken measures to get his team relocked and loaded by moving them from the chi-chi Four Seasons Hotel overlooking Biscayne Bay into a decidedly lower-class chain in a Fort Lauderdale corporate park, under the premise that going spartan hones a team's focus while preparing for a game.

Sure, sharing a room and not having 24-hour room service -- all of which the Mavs are experiencing -- can serve a purpose, but all that will be forgotten the second a player slips on his uniform. Not having Stack in the locker room or on the bench or in the game plan, meanwhile, serves as a constant reminder to everyone that they have to do more from tip to final buzzer.

"It can work in their favor," said Heat guard Jason Williams. "It just depends on how a team reacts."

While Stackhouse certainly has been a valuable part of the Mavs' success, he doesn't provide anything they can't get elsewhere. Keith Van Horn is a considerably better 3-point shooter. Adrian Griffin is a better defender. Marquis Daniels is, at times, an equal slasher.

The intangible element that Stackhouse has given them is why he knocked Shaquille O'Neal sideways for looking to get cute with J-Will at Dallas' expense. But if the Mavs are going to reassert themselves, they need that attitude to come from their starters, not a sixth man. If his absence motivates Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Devin Harris to "push back" and "punch first" as Johnson has exhorted them to do, that will be worth more than if they had their full squad for Game 5.

The other factor is that Stackhouse is 33 and has been showing his age. Other analysts contend fatigue isn't a factor at this stage, that everybody's tired and the minimum one day off between games means sufficient rest. It's my contention that the level of pressure and intensity in a championship series, combined with the additional surrounding commitments and attention, outweighs all that and older players who haven't experienced it before are going to feel it most.

In any case, Stackhouse's shot has been short and his drives a tick off. Three days out of the mix should freshen him up significantly for Game 6. (He practiced but did not speak to the media on Saturday and he's not allowed in the arena during the game on Sunday.)

Now, not all suspensions are created equal. In the postseason, more than a half-dozen players have been disqualified for a game (or more). The Heat lost James Posey and Udonis Haslem both for a game in their series with the Bulls. The Nets played their final three games against Miami without Cliff Robinson. The Mavs were without Terry against the Spurs and haven't had D.J. Mbenga since Game 4 of the Western Conference finals. In the first round, both the Kings (Ron Artest) and the Suns (Raja Bell) went without a starter for a game.

Why a player is suspended can have a lot to do with the motivating effect it has. Robinson, bounced for a substance violation, is a morale breaker. Terry's suspension for punching Michael Finley in or near his lower extremities after tying up a loose ball isn't much better. There was nothing to be gained by either act. Both, in their own ways, reflect a simple lack of discipline. It's hard to get pumped up to defend a guy's absence or honor for being stupid.

But when a teammate loses his playing privileges for standing up for his team or himself, it can have a galvanizing effect. Artest took an inadvertent elbow to the chops from Manu Ginobili before his suspension-provoking payback chuck to the head. Bell had been getting knocked around by Kobe Bryant before he had to miss a game for clotheslining Bryant on a cut to the basket. The Kings lost in OT without Artest after being shellacked with him. The Suns picked up their collective intensity and won without Bell.

Stackhouse leveling O'Neal was along the same lines. He saw his team not just being outplayed and outworked, but made fun of. He showed that he wasn't going to stand for that.

Now it's the rest of the Mavs' turn to show they're not, either.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine and collaborated with Rockets center Yao Ming on "Yao: A Life in Two Worlds."