Father Time chasing down Celtics' Wallace
There was a time when Rasheed Wallace was feared. Refs were afraid of his temper and opponents were unnerved by his formidable defense which uncoiled like a rattlesnake's tail. Wallace scared people for all the right reasons and a few of the wrong ones.
Now, look at him. Look at him. This isn't the Wallace I've known. This Wallace is as alien as a disk-shaped object flying through the sky. He looks like a tired, beaten man. And that makes me sad.
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| Rasheed Wallace's production has slipped, but his complaining is going strong. (Getty Images) |
We all knew Boston was old but against the Cavaliers the Celtics at times look Pleistocene. Wallace plays so ancient his liver could provide 500 barrels of oil a day.
The Celtics are fighters and it's possible they can extend this series to seven games by occasionally matching the youthful exuberance and muscle elasticity of the Cavaliers but for now, for right now, they look worn. Game 1 was a perfect example of how this series could go. Paul Pierce played 39 minutes and scored 10 points in the opening quarter but only three points in the final three periods. Kevin Garnett played 38 minutes, started hot, and finished with two points in the fourth. Ray Allen had 14 points in 44 minutes but didn't score in the fourth.
Allen, Pierce and Garnett had a total of two points in the last quarter. The old men were gasping for air as the game went on and young LeBron James was running wind sprints around that Celtics defense.
So while Wallace, 35, isn't alone fighting creaky bones and the twilight of his career, he still looks the oldest of an old group. He has been a nonfactor for much of the season.
The Boston Globe reported that after the first game of the Cleveland series Wallace tried to sneak out of the locker room without speaking to reporters. "Nah man," he said, "I'm not trying to get fined."
Normally, Wallace has the subtlety of an angry comic. He doesn't sneak out back doors, he kicks the ones in the front in half. Sign No. 1 Wallace is done as a player: He suddenly cares about being fined.
No one, not even people who criticized the Celtics' signing of Wallace, ever imagined it would be this bad, if not this sad. Wallace was supposed to be to the Celtics what the Ron Artest signing was to the Lakers. Two pseudo-head cases with a little left in the tank. Artest, it turns out, has plenty. He did a splendid defensive job against the explosive Kevin Durant in the first round.
The Celtics could stomach Wallace's three points and two boards a game averaged during the Miami series if Wallace tightened his vaya con dios defense. It's that lack of defense that is hurting the Celtics more than his lack of offensive production. Defense was Wallace's specialty. Once, he could guard anyone, anywhere anytime.
Incredibly, Wallace developed into a defensive liability. It has gotten so bad at times that Doc Rivers must consider reducing Wallace's playing time even more than he already has. But Rivers might want to rethink that after Wallace took a step back toward respectability in the Celtics' Game 2. But can Boston still rely on him the entire series.
What's difficult to decipher is if Wallace isn't playing defense because he can't or because he won't. I'm leaning toward the former because he's in the same boat (rocking chair?) as many of his Celtics teammates.
Pistons fans will claim the Wallace we're seeing now is the same player the Pistons had his final few years in Detroit. That's not accurate. Wallace's play now is worse. Much worse.
If Wallace can generate a pulse, the Celtics could have a chance to go beyond six games. If the Ancient Three can last for four quarters instead of three, Boston can definitely go seven and then it's anyone's series.
If, if, if.
If only basketball players never got old.
