As a Free Darko junkie here are a few excerpts from their chapter on 'Sheed in "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac" (highly recommended if you haven't picked it up):
"While at North Carolina he happily let Jerry Stackhouse get the attention, even if it made the difference between second team All-American honors and first. Even back at Simon Gratz High School in Philadeplhia, Wallace would often play only the first halves of games so that his teammates could get more playing time."
a locker room cancer? please.
"Wallace's reluctant dominance made him a perfect fit for the Detroit Pistons, a team of ballsy, hardheaded vets whose swagger was a collective effort. When he arrived there in 2004, having finally been traded from the Blazers, he found a team of kindred souls...Rasheed put them over the top, solidifying their interior defense and finally giving them a dependeble offensive weapon in the post....While he may not always be humble or servile, Sheed's greatest pride is reserved for team, rather than individual success."
Sound familiar?
"For him, the ideal situation is a team of equals where no one has to spend too much time in the spotlight."
yup.
"Rasheed Wallace represents a number of contradictions about our expectations of professional athletes. We praise on-court intensity but condemn players when it crosses the line into anger. We praise teamwork and unselfishness but criticize players who don't possess a 'killer instinct.' We praise people for doing charity work and taking care of their families but demonize as thugs players who commit victimless crimes such as drug possession. In the end, it may not be Rasheed Wallace who is irrational, but our decidely grotesque opinions of him."
(All quotes from "The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats and Stars in Today's Game" by the FreeDarko High Council, i.e. one of the most essential basketball books in years)
Topic: Free Darko on 'Sheed (Read 1297 times)