Nets' Gerald Wallace: 'My confidence is totally gone'
Gerald Wallace never has been a great shooter by any means. But he's always been solid, and reliable as an open man. But right now, he doesn't even believe in himself.
Gerald Wallace has never been a great shooter by any means. But he's always been solid, and reliable as an open man.
But right now, the Nets forward doesn't even believe in himself.
“My confidence is totally gone,” Wallace told the New York Post Saturday. “I’m just at the point now ... I’m in a situation where I feel like if I miss, I’m going to get pulled out of the game, you know what I’m saying? So my whole concept is just that you can’t come out of the game if you’re not missing shots.
“I think I lost the confidence of the coaching staff and my teammates. So my main thing is those guys can score, so instead of thinking about it so much, just trying to focus on defense, try to move the ball and get those guys shots.”
Wallace is shooting just 14.9 from 3 since the All-Star break (7 of 47) and only 19.4 percent on shots more than 10 feet out. On the season, his overall numbers are OK -- 40 percent from the field, 29 percent from 3 -- but they've only held up because he shot the ball well early in the season.
Now, he's in a brutal slump and he's not going to break out of it unless he starts feeling a little better about shooting.
“I’ve been working and I’ve been shooting, but it’s hard,” Wallace said. “Regardless of how much work I’m doing on my shot, the fact of the matter is it is what it is.
“I’ve been in the league 12 years. Am I mad about not being out on the court? Am I mad about not making shots? Yeah. But my main thing is I’m trying to stay on the court. I know I can play defense, make plays for the other guys and try to do some things to help me stay on the court.”
For his career, Wallace is a 31.4 percent 3-point shooter, and has routinely hit better than 35 percent at different stages of his career.
Wallace signed a four-year, $40 million extension before the season and while he's always going to contribute with his defense and rebounding, the Nets need his offense.
On the season, Wallace is averaging just 8.0 points a game, easily the lowest of his career since his third season where he only played 9.1 minutes a game. Unless Wallace has an offensive explosion the final two weeks, this will be the first season he hasn't averaged double-digits since 2004, or 10 seasons.
The Nets rely a lot on Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez, but if they're going anywhere in the postseason, Wallace has to produce. And the only way I know to get your confidence back is to see a few go in.
