The numbers, by an NBA veteran’s standards, are mediocre.

The contribution, by the Bobcats assessment, is anything but ordinary.

The measuring stick for Derek Anderson has changed dramatically over the years, as have his priorities. Now, in his 10th season in the league and with NCAA and NBA championship rings on his fingers, he is focusing on a career and a team in transition.

“Some nights I might get an opportunity to score, which I’ve done my whole career,” Anderson said. “Other nights it’s just being on the bench and helping the young guys out with certain things.”

At 6-5, 195, he still looks the part he has played for years, scoring 17.7 points per game as a college senior at Kentucky in 1996-97 and averaging in double figures through seven of his previous nine seasons as a pro. But these days experience has become more of a weapon than his jump shot, and that is precisely what the Bobcats were looking for when they signed him to a free agent contract in November.

His role now is one more of nuance than instant impact. Settle his coltish teammates on a roster dominated by youth and inexperience. Make the right pass here. Offer the right word of advice there. Set a good example. Help the Bobcats grow.

For Anderson, that also means helping himself grow in the process.

“I’d say I still have two or three good years to play at this level,” Anderson said. “I want to continue to play and be effective. Afterward? I’m thinking about something like coaching or working with a team. I want to see the ins and outs of running a team, see how you work it. I want to see how players do and help determine if they fit your system.”

Anderson’s current role is something of a bridge from one career phase to another. Playing an average of 24 minutes per game preserves a past he is not yet ready to relinquish. Watching up close as Charlotte’s coaches and basketball operations staff build the Bobcats creates a potential link to the future.

“You can’t substitute for experience,” Anderson said. “There’s nothing like it. You don’t know it until you go through it.”

That is among the reasons the Bobcats roster now includes four players with 10 or more seasons in the league, double the number the team started out with this season. Forward Othella Harrington (in his 11th NBA season) and guards Brevin Knight (10th) and recently-acquired Jeff McInnis (10th) join Anderson on that list.

In varied roles as starters and reserves they have helped the Bobcats soothe some of the growing pains.

“At some point in time as you grow in this league your decisions improve and you understand the nuances of the game,” Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “What we always talk about is knowing when and (knowing) when not to. I think that’s key. And that’s a tough transition for young players.”

That’s why Bickerstaff has not hesitated to bring Anderson or one of the other “old guys” scrambling off the bench in those frenzied moments when the adrenaline of youth threatens to disrupt a game.

“Stabilize it,” Bickerstaff occasionally shouts to a veteran.

Sometimes that’s all he says. Because of their experience, that’s sometimes all he needs to say.

“I think it’s great because the young guys believe in what I’m saying and what I’m doing,” Anderson said soon after his arrival in Charlotte. “I’ve won at every level. And I think the guys know that I care about the way we play, not my individual play. I think it’s easier for them to accept that. It takes a lot of pressure off these guys. They have a lot of talent. Coach knows what he’s doing. With me, it’s just to add pieces to help these guys stay together.

“So that’s all I’m going to do the rest of the season is keep these guys’ heads above water. Regardless of what happens you’ve got to stay confident.”

Not that there aren’t other things Anderson can provide on some nights.

Now averaging 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists (each a career low), he occasionally breaks out with a flash from the past. His most productive game from a statistical standpoint came in a January 12 Bobcats victory at New York when he 9-11 shots (including 6-8 three-pointers) and scored 29 points. His playing time has increased in recent games with Knight, a starter, recovering from surgery for an abdominal muscle tear. He has started 12 of his 22 games as a Bobcat and has averaged 11.3 points in the past eight, going into Monday night’s game at Toronto.

After successful NBA stops in Cleveland, Los Angeles (Clippers), San Antonio, Portland, Houston and Miami (in a relief role last season as the Heat won the championship), Anderson said he welcomes his new environment even as he tries to help change it.

“It’s going well,” he said. “I’m learning some things. Now it’s about learning to win games. I’ve won championships and I’ve won in the playoffs, so winning games is the only difference… You’ve got to make it work as a team. You can’t just put people out there and expect to win games. I’ve been on teams like that where we were jam-packed with talent but couldn’t get over the hump.

“That’s why I came here. You don’t have to deal with egos, coaches’ egos, contract egos, all those type things. (Here) nobody is a major star. You work for what you get, basically …I just want these guys to realize that if you keep working hard you can be in a lot of games in this league.”

Leonard Laye covered the NBA, ABA and college basketball for more than three decades for the Charlotte Observer and the old Charlotte News until his retirement from writing sports fulltime. He will write a regular column throughout the season for BobcatsBasketball.com for his second straight year.