Wallace calls the team out....Again

[LarBrd33]

I like it that a vet is stepping up and voicing some leadership, but I think it's a little too much, too soon.  Calling the team out twice by Game 2 of the season has the potential for backlash / tuning out the message.

Plus, our first two losses have come against fellow lotto squads.  Things are going to get ugly once we start getting blown out by competent teams.  Wallace needs to calm down and focus on playing himself out of the "untradeable contract" label.  The more he pads those stats, the quicker we can get him out of here.   His averages over the first two games are almost as terrible as they were last year in Brooklyn.  He needs to get it in gear.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Scott Souza ‏@scott_souza
#Celtics F Gerald Wallace said game should have been won easily, with starters sitting in 4th, instead guys started trying to pad stats.

This makes me think that the guys Wallace has an issue with are probably bench guys who entered the game in the third quarter.

I didn't watch the game.  Was there a clear lack of effort on defense by those players?

I really can't pinpoint it because they ALL made mistakes. Too much pounding of the ball and movement stopped. Plus a lot of foul calls that were iffy (which we should expect).

People make mistakes, even players who are playing hard.  I'm just curious if anyone looked like they were clearly more interested on offense than on defense.

Sully let Zaza get under his skin. Made it about him and Zaza in the 3rd Q. Ended up unraveling in my opinion.

[Galeto]

I wish Wallace would zip it or at least call himself out for the loose ball foul that gave Pachulia two free throws that put Milwaukee ahead late and then the turnover that put Milwaukee up by 3 with 31 seconds to go.  You can't just blast your teammates when they have reason to point the finger at you.

I re-watched the second half and I think Wallace was right and wrong.  He was right that there was selfishness going on but it was almost exclusively by one guy, Bass.  It was not a team-wide thing.  I don't know why Bass took it upon himself to be the take over guy but in the last six minutes of the game, he held the ball and tried to create his own shot every time he touched it.  He only managed two free throws.

Where Wallace was wrong is that it wasn't just (one-man's) selfishness that plagued them in the fourth quarter, it was a lot of Milwaukee playing well.  It was as simple as Wolters, Henson and Pachulia playing extremely well in place of Mayo, Sanders and company.  The Celtics were forced to play in the half court nearly the entire fourth because Milwaukee scored on nearly every possession and except for a handful of teams in the league, that's going to doom most teams.

[gpap]

This this what Wallace does. He's a professional malcontent. Every place he's been, he calls out teammates. Take a look at this story from last December...

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/12/27/nets-forward-gerald-wallace-calls-out-team-after-brooklyns-latest-defeat/

Or this one from January of this year...
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/nets-insider-wallace-takes-teammates-article-1.125

Or this one from 2011 when he played for Charlotte...
http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/136574-wallace-calls-out-bobcats-teammates

God forbid someone should speak up when the team sucks.

[Snakehead]

Kind of tired of reading or hearing these comments from him to be honest (and I'm not happy to be losing myself).

Who was padding stats last night?  Please point them out I would love to see.  It wasn't happening.

We slowed down to half court and had no one who could create offense.  Our defense was worse.  That's about the whole story.  The padding stats thing is a ridiculous statement.

I wish Wallace would zip it or at least call himself out for the loose ball foul that gave Pachulia two free throws that put Milwaukee ahead late and then the turnover that put Milwaukee up by 3 with 31 seconds to go.

Seriously.  What kind of leader calls his team mates out constantly and not himself?  Saying "we" and at least including himself?  When he hasn't even played well too.  If he was killing it out there and everyone else was not maybe I'd be alright with it.

Pretty ridiculous.  I'd be annoyed with losing if I was on the team but I'd also be annoyed with Wallace.

[tyrone biggums]

I don't mind it at all. One of the vets had to step in and say something. That 4th quarter was probably the worst I've watched in quite some time. Wallace has always been pretty vocal something that the ex Kardashian isn't. That's the alternative. Wallace is a really good complimentary piece, good energy guy. I like it and Green seems to be on board too.

[wdleehi]

This may be the norm.  Good enough for three quarters, no one able to be the fourth quarter leader on offense.  No one to hit the big shots.

I want Wallace to take it in the locker room.  The greatest thing he could do for the Celtics is to be the example of always playing hard.

[kozlodoev]

What kind of leader calls his team mates out constantly and not himself?

Not a very good one. It seems every role on our roster is "not very good" these days.

[coco]

This may be the norm.  Good enough for three quarters, no one able to be the fourth quarter leader on offense.  No one to hit the big shots.

I want Wallace to take it in the locker room.  The greatest thing he could do for the Celtics is to be the example of always playing hard.

I agree.

[nickagneta]

Gotta wonder if Wallace is taking this to the media because in attempting to communicate in the locker room with the people he means this too isn't working. People are assuming Wallace is going public in calling out team mates and not keeping it in house and dealing with team mates in the locker room. But maybe he has and its not working.

Just because they are all Celtics doesn't mean they all like each other. With expectations no longer being to compete for a ring, the cohesive "win as a team" atmosphere may not exist and many players know this and are just playing for "theirs". Perhaps this is what is bothering Wallace so much because no matter how much he talks about "team" in the locker room, its just falling on deaf ears due to the obvious outlook of this team.

[mgent]

Who was padding stats last night?  Please point them out I would love to see. 
It wasn't happening.

I think it's pretty obvious who he was talking about, there was only one guy with stats good enough to be considered padded.  How often are rookies able to grab 18 boards their second game?  I'd assume he's talking about Vitor positioning himself for the rebound at the cost of helping his teammates on defense (whereas KG would always do the opposite).  Meanwhile Sullinger, a guy who has earned minutes and a chance to prove himself, only played 10 minutes despite scoring 10 points and getting to the line 7 times in his first 6min.

Wallace probably thinks he's sticking up for his NBA teammates who had to risk everything to get where they are against a guy who started signing pro contracts when he was 14 and thinks he came here to earn bigger money.

I have no clue if he's right, but Wallace clearly has 1000x more of an inside scoop than any of us, and there's no reason for him to talk crap unless he's seen/heard something.

[LooseCannon]

I like it that a vet is stepping up and voicing some leadership, but I think it's a little too much, too soon.  Calling the team out twice by Game 2 of the season has the potential for backlash / tuning out the message.

He's laying down a marker early that he's not going to be part of a blatant tank job.  He's going to make sure there is a spotlight on the team if it looks like players who aren't playing hard are getting minutes they don't deserve.

[mgent]

Gotta wonder if Wallace is taking this to the media because in attempting to communicate in the locker room with the people he means this too isn't working. People are assuming Wallace is going public in calling out team mates and not keeping it in house and dealing with team mates in the locker room. But maybe he has and its not working.

Just because they are all Celtics doesn't mean they all like each other. With expectations no longer being to compete for a ring, the cohesive "win as a team" atmosphere may not exist and many players know this and are just playing for "theirs". Perhaps this is what is bothering Wallace so much because no matter how much he talks about "team" in the locker room, its just falling on deaf ears due to the obvious outlook of this team.

Thank you.  I don't know why everyone is so convinced Wallace is a coward and hasn't said a word to any Celtics.

I also like how everyone is ignoring Jeff Green agreeing with him.

[Vermont Green]

I watched the game and I did not sense stat padding.  I felt to a man they were trying to win the game, not pad stats.  What I saw was a team that didn't know how to close out a game with the talent available.  To some degree, not surprising 2 games in.

I would tell Wallace to zip it.  Shooting off your mouth is not the Celtics way, even in a season that will be as bad as this one will be.

[Onslaught]

Hopefully he'll be on another team by the end of the year.