He's on Fire 04.08.10 - 02:26pm

When the Milwaukee Bucks brought in Jerry Stackhouse, they knew he would bring veteran leadership to a young team.

They also knew that Stack had a propensity to go off offensively at the right time.

With the Bucks playing a tight game against the league-worst New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night, Jerry Stackhouse caught fire.

Stack lit up the scoreboard for 18 points, and was perfect from beyond the arc (2-2) and from the free throw line (4-4), sparking the Bucks to a 108-89 rout of the New Jersey Nets at home in the Bradley Center.

No. 24 was able to establish a strong presence in the paint all night and took advantage of his size and high skill set to get to the hoop, said Jeremy of Bucksketball:

"Upon signing Stackhouse earlier this season, Coach Skiles said he thought the veteran immediately became Milwaukee’s second best low post scorer. Occasionally the Bucks had been going to him in the post, but with the other options the Bucks had, Bogut in the paint and Salmons everywhere, Stack’s post game had been a bit forgotten about. Wednesday night it was front and center. Time after time Milwaukee found Stackhouse in the post with a smaller (and often much younger) defender on him that he was able to take advantage of. Stack finished with a much needed 18 points (6-9 FG 2-2 3FG 4-4 FT) after really struggling the last couple weeks."

With the win, the Bucks are one step closer to claiming the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but will have to continue to fend off the streaking Miami Heat, who currently hold the same record as Milwaukee at 44-34.

In the four games remaining on the schedule and heading into the playoffs, maintaining focus on individual roles could be the thing that puts the team over the edge, said Stack:

"You get a couple drops here and there. I feel like I got an advantage over whoever guarding me. Guys know their role, they know what they do best. I think that’s what we have to do now. We have to do what we do and don’t try and do more than that and we’ll be fine."

STAYING FRESH
After playing just 16 minutes against Chicago , it was obvious that Stack had fresh legs and used it to his advantage, as he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"I was able to get into a rhythm and I’ve been getting some pretty good looks lately. If I continue to get those looks, I feel more times than not I’ll be able to contribute. I only played in the second and fourth quarters (in Chicago) so I was a little bit rested. When guys log long minutes, you’ve got to mentally know and pick it up for them a little bit. That’s what the bench is there for."

Stack also drew praise from Nets Coach/GM Kiki Vandeweghe:

"Stackhouse is a savvy veteran who can really still play. He’s a tremendous scorer, he’s a tremendous shooter, and any little thing you do, if you’re not right on him, he’s going to take advantage of it."

Stack got down to business on both sides of the ball Wednesday night, coming up with two boards, a steal and two blocks, including one monster rejection of New Jersey’s Brook Lopez, which can be seen below:

NEXT UP

Stack dropped 15 points in the Bucks’ last meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers, but it ended in a 101-86 loss.

The Bucks will look to avenge that loss Friday night when they head to Philly. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 CST and you can listen to the game on WSSP 1250AM.

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