wallace vs wiz

[fatlever]

http://blogs.charlotte.com/inside_the_n ... rpris.html
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcat ... 65253.html

Brown wasn't so complimentary toward Wallace, who didn't play after leaving the game with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter and the Bobcats down eight. Wallace totaled 20 minutes, finishing with five rebounds, one assists, no points and no shot attempts.

“I didn't think he had any energy,” Brown said of Wallace. “I didn't think he was running. When Adam (Morrison, 11 points and three assists) came in, he gave us a lot of energy.”

Wallace said he was “very surprised” by the benching: “I was never told why he took me out.”

Told Brown said it was about energy, Wallace replied, “Everybody has their own opinion. I guess he felt I wasn't playing up to par.”

any care to comment on this?

i thought LB did the right thing. GW was a non-factor. we've all seen these games where crash seems to disappear for quarters at a time. usually he finds a way to eventually make an impact. i guess this time LB was tired of waiting. good thing ammo, and shannon picked up the slack.

[countryboi]

i thought he was hurt....maybe its something bigger or maybe its LB being LB

[BigSlam]

It's hard to argue with what LB did considering we won the game. He did seem really p*ssed at Crash after the game though - which might not be a good thing?

[ohara]

It's hard to argue with what LB did considering we won the game. He did seem really p*ssed at Crash after the game though - which might not be a good thing?

I agree. And now I am wondering if this isn't something which may force us to move Crash. If a rift developes between Coach and star player, it never ends well if they stay together. And between Crash and LB, I have a feeling the FO sides with LB.

[Bassman]

I have said for some time that Wallace would not fit LB's system, given his tendency to free lance on offense (hold the ball) or go into these spells of non-production. After getting Diaw, I admit to feeling that the front line was interesting and held promise. Wallace was really trying to fit in for a while, but I think he's lost focus. LB will not stand for people not singing from the same hymn book.

Having said that, I'm not sure we will find a buyer for a Wallace trade. He doesn't seem to generate any interest that would return equal value. If Crash keeps this up, LB could do a deal for a nice expiring contract and fluff versus a quality player.

[BigSlam]

I have said for some time that Wallace would not fit LB's system, given his tendency to free lance on offense (hold the ball) or go into these spells of non-production. After getting Diaw, I admit to feeling that the front line was interesting and held promise. Wallace was really trying to fit in for a while, but I think he's lost focus. LB will not stand for people not singing from the same hymn book.

I totally disagree.

LB said that he wanted Crash to improve on his shot selection by cutting back on the 3's and driving more. He shot over 51% from the floor with only 1.5 three point attempts per game along with almost 7 FTA's for Dec so he met that requirement.

LB said that Crash could be the best rebounding SF in the league. At 7.3 a game, he might very well be just that (Prince and Matrix are up there too).

He was up around 3 assists per game for Dec - showing a willingness to share the ball and get others involved when he could.

We obviously don't know what goes on behind closed doors or off the court, but I think that on the court Crash has done everything LB asked of him.

Or at least, that's how it appears to me.

[ohara]

I thought so also Big Slam. But it is pretty disturbing when the Coach comes out and says what he did about Crash. That just seemed like a pretty sharp criticism and may hint at a relationship issue. I mean when our last Coach(who will remain nameless) publicly criticized our players, people gave him hell for it. LB is doing the same. Is the difference based upon WHO said it, or whether it was called for or not? Because I cannot see a difference in the situation, so to me it is a matter of WHO said it. And honestly, it feels somewhat hypictical to me to not slam LB for publicly slamming Crash when we slammed "you know who" over it last year. Just my gut feelings on this issue.

[e4Nf6]

meh.... we can talk about is when it happens more than once. LB is from an era when disparaging your own players wasn't such a big deal. He doesn't realize how scandalous it is in the current NBA to say negative things about your players.

[BigSlam]

I thought so also Big Slam. But it is pretty disturbing when the Coach comes out and says what he did about Crash. That just seemed like a pretty sharp criticism and may hint at a relationship issue. I mean when our last Coach(who will remain nameless) publicly criticized our players, people gave him hell for it. LB is doing the same. Is the difference based upon WHO said it, or whether it was called for or not? Because I cannot see a difference in the situation, so to me it is a matter of WHO said it. And honestly, it feels somewhat hypictical to me to not slam LB for publicly slamming Crash when we slammed "you know who" over it last year. Just my gut feelings on this issue.

If Swish had gone scoreless and not even put up a shot in 20 mins of play then Vincent would have had every right to call him out, but Vincent questioned his preparation and effort after games where he put up good numbers.

All LB said was that the effort wasn't there with Crash last night. Considering Crash's stat line last night, was LB wrong?

Maybe the dreadful Dec that Crash went through off the court finally caught up with him and he just had a flat night.

[truthbtold21]

Big slam i couldnt agree with you more, sometimes it takes awhile for something to hit you and maybe that hapened last night. Gforce is a hell of a player and gives us all he has night after night some players hide it better the others maybe the deaths in his family caught up with him last night,its a new year without his dad or grandmother,im just gonna chalk it up to one bad night.

[W_HAMILTON]

If true, this is another stupid decision. Why would Wallace be benched for this? He's one of the last players I would bench for half assing it out there. Why not bench Diaw, when he's like 7-9, has been able to score anytime he wants, yet he keeps passing it to guys who are bricking 20ft jumpers while we watch a lead dissipate? You could go down a list.

Even if Wallace wasn't playing at the level you normally expect from him, there are a lot of other players on our team that haven't been benched an entire half for their mistakes, and those mistakes usually happen a lot more.

[Bassman]

There's no denying that Wallace plays hard, and he clearly worked to adapt his game to LB's requests (based on the evidence you presented Slam). My point is Crash doesn't seem able to sustain the focus and effort WITHIN that system, which leads to diminished production in selected games. I suspect there is an issue between LB and Wallace. I have no clue what the beef is. Perhaps he is driving Crash harder to see if he can push him into becoming a great player. Or maybe it's Larry being "Larry", causing friction between himself and a key player without merit.

This is why I stated my original concern for Wallace and Larry being able to co-exist sucessfully.

Perhaps the buttons LB pushes will result in a mutual understanding and long term production from Crash. I hope so. So far no team has been willing to step up with a quality trade for this guy, despite his stats and skills. I certainly don't think Wallace is a headache type of player, but who knows what's being said within the locker room, or within the league circles? Maybe he's gettng distracted by all the trade activity and talk. Even with a long contract, everyone get's concerned about their place in the pecking order.

[Dexmor]

So much is said about his contract but I think it's a steal of a deal. Espially when you think of some of the others. He is clearly going to be traded anyway though because there not giving up on getting a Center and I don't see him being a 6th man.

[Liver_Pooty]

If Im not mistaken a few games ago Wallace had 0 rebounds, and in the Washington game he had 0 shot attempts in 20 minutes. Those are two key stats in someone not playing as hard as they should.

Brown was absolutely right in calling him out. The guy gets paid tons of money to play basketball, and for him or anyone in the league to not give 100% anytime their on the floor is an embarassment.