Opportunity is knocking for Wallace
The third-year King says he's ready to assume a bigger
role as the backup small forward.
By Martin McNeal -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Gerald Wallace made himself a fan favorite during his first two
seasons with the Kings by coming off the bench late in games and
throwing down acrobatic, artistic dunks.
But those days are over.
He'll still be a fan favorite for his dunks. But if things go
according to the plan of Wallace, coach Rick Adelman and assistant
coach Elston Turner, the small forward will become more valuable
because of consistent, thoughtful play with games on the line.
Wallace no longer will be an afterthought for Adelman, not with
the trade of forward Hedo Turkoglu and the team's decision to not
re-sign veteran forward-guard Jim Jackson. The 6-foot-7, 21-year-
old Wallace is slated to back up All-Star Peja Stojakovic.
Turner has worked with Wallace for most of the past two seasons.
The assistant coach has been pleased by improvement he's seen
during workouts. Now, the coaches want to see Wallace apply what
he's learned in practice during games.
"One of the things I've been working on is trying to get his head
right," Turner said. "Every young guy in the league is told that
his time will come. Well, the door opened so wide for him this
summer, it was incredible. The two players who played in front of
him are no longer here.
"And his production will be gauged by consistency. It's not about
playing well for five or six minutes. It's about doing it in a
league where you sometimes play three or four games a week."
Wallace, who reported Monday for the start of training camp, knows
his opportunity has arrived and said he believes he's ready to
show his abilities. Perhaps that confidence comes from practicing
daily against possibly the league's best shooter, Stojakovic, and
one of the league's best defenders, guard Doug Christie.
"I've been telling people for two years now that guarding Peja on
defense and offensively going against Doug helps me out a lot,"
said Wallace, who noted that his surgically repaired left shoulder
is doing well. "Peja is a pure, big-time shooter who comes off
screens and uses the pick-and-roll, and guarding him helps me
defensively. I've got to know where he is on the court at all
times.
"Going against Doug, because he's such a great defender, he'll
take advantage of any careless mistakes you make."
Wallace said he does not feel he has anything to prove.
"I'm just going to go out and play," he said. "I like to do all
the little things. I try to make the hustle plays ... dive on the
floor for loose balls, get extra rebounds and do the little things
that count but don't show up in the stat sheet."
Adelman said the Kings are going to find out a lot about Wallace
this season.
"We all know his abilities and that he's a great athlete and
everything," the coach said. "I'd like to see him incorporate in
his game some sense of control. That he can use that athletic
ability but control it. You can't just go 100 miles an hour, and
I think it's on both ends of the court.
"I know he will rebound, and he will be very active. But we really
need him to be a much better defender and to learn how to defend
where he can take advantage of his quickness and strength. And I
think just playing with our better people offensively will probably
slow him down anyway. Like any young guy, if you start playing
minutes consistently, he's going to learn. But it's there for him.
He's going to have minutes."
Adelman said playing under control will help Wallace keep those
minutes. It's important to remember that Wallace did not play a
lot of minutes during his one season at the University of Alabama
before he turned pro. And in his first two NBA seasons, he played
only 1,001 minutes.
"A guy like him has learned so much and he's worked so hard,"
Adelman said of Wallace, who often played around the basket in
college. "Now he's got to go on the floor and play people out on
the court away from the basket. He's got to learn what he can do.
Once someone learns his strengths and how he can be successful in
the league, then they can start working on other things.
"I really do think his ability to rebound and be active will be
there every night. But that's not going to do him any good if he
goes in the game and picks up three fouls in two minutes. Then he
can't learn from being on the court."
大意是說，現在 Hedo 被交易出去， JJ 最後也沒簽下來，所以 Wallace
的機會終於來了，仔細看完文章，其實這也不是真的是撿到的機會，而是
國王隊有點刻意去栽培他後，差不多該給他機會的感覺，平常讓他和球隊
頂尖的球員隊友練習，訓練他能夠更懂得怎麼去運用他的天賦，還有學習
應付場上職業級的對手，並且加強他的防守能力．
Wallace 自己也表示他信心滿滿，平常和 Peja, Doug 他們練球也進步很
多，也表示了他對 Peja, Doug 這些先發球員的看法．
原文：http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/
story/7510233p-8452296c.html
--
拭目以待吧，希望真的進步的跟說的一樣～～
唉～～現在在想，那方德伯勒？？
--
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 61.224.103.209