Wallace Ready For 2006-07 Season
October 4, 2006

The bruises have healed. The aches and pains that stalked him much of last season are gone. It may be fall on the calendar but for Gerald Wallace, October is more like a refreshing spring day.

Wallace, a sleek 6-7 big guard/small forward, is back at his normal spot on the perimeter with the Charlotte Bobcats, free to dart to the hoop when the openings come but no longer required to hang out down low for a nightly dose of punishment from the NBA’s biggest and most physical players.

It is, Wallace says, a relief. But he is not likely to forget his extended stay inside, filling in for injured teammates, if he gets the payoff that appears to be on the horizon.

Wallace, starting his sixth year in the league as the Bobcats go through training camp this week on the UNC Wilmington campus, is happy, confident and, he hopes, on the verge of a break-out season.

After spending his first three NBA seasons on the bench in Sacramento, then becoming a starter with the Bobcats in the 2004-05 expansion season, he emerged last season as the team leader in scoring (15.2 points) and was the second-leading rebounder (7.5 rebounds). He led the NBA in steals (2.5) and was fourth in field goal percentage (53.8) and 11th in blocked shots (2.09).

He also turned his coaches’ heads when forced to play out of position, showing them a side of his game they hadn’t seen.

“We put him on the block and he finishes well down there,” said head coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff.

“It’s amazing how things happen in this sport. Something will happen that you don’t appreciate or you don’t like but then there comes a benefit from it…The spectrum has opened up.”

In other words, don’t expect to see the old Wallace this season just because he’s back on the wing. His game blossomed with the inside experience and his confidence soared in the process.

Now, after a summer of what Wallace calls professional and personal improvement, he appears to be on a fast track.

“I think his confidence level is high,” Bickerstaff said. “I saw it coming last season. He got his confidence and his swagger. That usually happens when you have some success… When you move to the next level it’s about confidence. I think this could be a coming-out year for Gerald.”

Wallace left Charlotte last spring intent first on resting his body, then developing a more accurate perimeter jumper. He wound up doing even more. “It took me about two weeks to get fully healed where I could wake up in the morning and nothing hurt,” Wallace said. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do nothing. I told them I was going home and I was resting, I’m not moving, I’m not doing anything.”

He began working out, first at home in Alabama and later in Charlotte with Bobcats assistant coach Jeff Capel. He reviewed tapes of his high school games and made some technical adjustments to his jump shot. And he got married. All of it, he said, made a difference.

“Out of everything that went on this was a very productive summer for me,” Wallace said.

“I improved my shot probably by 90 percent of what I wanted to do. My jump shot feels good, it looks great and I feel more comfortable…I just went back and checked a lot of my high school tapes and saw how comfortable I was in high school with the way I was shooting. I think I just took that and tried to add it the NBA game. “I came in and I told Cape (Jeff Capel), ‘You might be mad, you might get upset and get to cussing and fussing but this is something I’m about to try, to do it like I was in high school.’ So I started doing that and a lot of things started changing for me.”

The marriage to wife Warneshia also had an impact.

“I tried to put things together in my life, so I had the enjoyment and excitement of going through the marriage part…I’m more confident this year because last year there was a lot of doubt. I had a lot of things going on and I think my off-the-court matters are more together now than they were last year. With those being in place I’m more comfortable being out on the court.”

Planning for and being comfortable with the future is only half the battle, of course, as Wallace freely admits. There are months of hard labor to come if the season’s results are to complete the picture.

Wallace understands that but doesn’t let it temper his confidence.

“Being able to show more of my game on the block, I think it adds a whole new aspect,” he said. “It adds more dimension to my game. Now defenses have to be aware just that I’m a threat now with my back to the basket. It opens up a lot more. Now I’m just trying to get the aspect of, ‘OK, I’ve got my penetration and my quickness here, I’m a threat with that, with my back to the basket. Now I’ve got to be a threat with, if I’m open from the outside I’ll knock down the jumper. I think what this year will prove is that I can knock down the open shot. Every night won’t be a perfect night but you know, the only thing that’s going to get those perfect nights is shooting them in the basket. When everything is settled in life everything comes easier. And that’s the way I feel now.”