Gerald Wallace is not getting a lot of love on Celtics Blog because of his contract, but he deserves some credit for doing everything right. He has every right to be disgruntled being a veteran on a rebuilding team and not getting minutes even through he probably deserves some. He has been a good leader in the locker room and always plays hard when called upon.
I agree he's a real pro who bleeds grit, hustle, composure - all stuff needed among the young players. Stevens should've gone to him earlier in the season to guard LeBron at the end of the game last month...instead of Rondo We need mobile bigs and large guards to deal w/LeBron -- Crash would give LeBron such headaches.
...and that's if the trainers can get him right. Wallace has shown he can be a real difference maker at times, but the past couple of seasons he's been snakebitten by injuries. While Crash might lose some minutes when Smart returns, maybe Stevens will find more ways to use Wallace as the season goes on, especially as he continues to get healthy.
Would you pay 10m a year for a 6'7" First Team NBA All Defensive guard avg 15+ a game? You betcha.
who wouldn't?
the rub, of course, is that the celtics are paying 10 million a year for a 6' 7" bench warmer who, over the last 3 seasons, is averaged 6+ points a game, 4+ rbds, and makes only 29% of his 3 pointers.
i like wallace's attitude, but his offensive game is toast.
next, why have wallace guard lebron, or anyone, for extended lengths of time? this year is about player development, wins are nice, but not the primary goal. by having wallace spend 30 minutes on lebron stevens would be reducing the time of the younger players. i agree with stevens' and ainge's master plan here.
final point, as i have said before, i do not blame wallace for making $10m/year. why would i blame a person for saying "yes" to a foolish nba owner who offers such a stupid contract? blame the brooklyn front office for offering such a silly sum of simoleons. wallace did nothing wrong in accepting the contract, so let's put this misdirected blame away.
P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!