While many people believe the Boston Celtics are in tank mode that word isn’t in Gerald Wallace’s vocabulary. Wallace was involved in the trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets in exchange for draft picks and bad contracts to the Celtics. Wallace may not have been too happy about the trade but he’s been trying to make the best of the situation and now he’s unhappy with the effort put forth by his teammates.
The Celtics were playing well against the Bucks on Friday night even leading by as much as 16 points until all that changed in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee outscored the Celtics 34-15 in the 4th coming away with the win and dropping the Celtics to 0-2. Wallace let it be known exactly what the problem was.
“We got selfish,” he said after the Celtics blew a 22-point lead in a 105-98 loss to the Bucks. “We got selfish as a team. Instead of worrying about winning the ballgame, we were more worried about our stats, getting points. It showed. We went from a team that was together and moving and playing together in the first half to a team that was five individuals out on the court, everybody playing for themselves, and it showed on the defensive end.”
And who might be the stat-padding offenders?
“I don’t have a clue,” said Wallace. “You’ve got to ask everybody individually. I don’t know. I don’t even really understand it. I’m trying to figure out what’s more important, winning or padding your stats, because this was a game that we were supposed to win easy without even the starters playing in the fourth quarter. Instead, we got selfish as a team. We didn’t move the ball, we let the ball stick, we stopped pushing the ball, and their second unit came in and manhandled us and did whatever they wanted to do.”
A quick look at the second half box score makes it clear that Wallace was talking about his guards. As a team, the Celtics had just two assists on 33 field goal attempts over the final two periods. This isn’t the first time Wallace has called out his teammates and it probably won’t be the last. The Celtics have a long season ahead of them.
