| | AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Most NBA players take it easy on the
first day back from a West Coast trip -- especially if they have a
game that night.
Not Detroit Pistons guard Jerry Stackhouse, though.
| |  | |
| Stackhouse |
Stackhouse got up at 8 a.m. ET Saturday and flew to Chapel Hill to
take part in his graduation ceremony at the University of North
Carolina. After the ceremony, he flew back to Detroit, arriving at
the Palace about an hour before tipoff against his former team, the
Philadelphia 76ers.
Pistons coach Alvin Gentry was worried that his off-guard
wouldn't have much energy left, but he underestimated Stackhouse.
He scored 14 points in the first quarter and finished with 26 as
Detroit won 104-91.
"I didn't think he would have enough left to do that, but Stack
is just an unbelievable competitor," Gentry said. "I think it
helped that we were playing Philly. I don't think he holds any
grudges against them for trading him, but it is just human nature
to play harder against them."
Stackhouse, who left North Carolina for the NBA after his
sophomore season, compared the day's emotions to the day that the
76ers drafted him.
"It was a lot like that day, because you knew it was coming,"
he said. "It isn't like playing a game, where you have no idea
what is going to happen. This is something that you have worked on
for years, and it is such a great feeling to finally do it.
Basketball has been my whole life, but this is really a great
achievement. It is amazing to see the pride on the faces of my
family." | |
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