Player Preview: Brandon Wallace
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| Former South Carolina Gamecocks center Brandon Wallace (above) will look to slam dunk for the C’s this season as a small forward. (Photo Courtesy of cstv.com) |
On July 9, the Celtics signed free agent rookie forward Brandon Wallace. Who?
Many teams viewed Wallace as an unknown, which could explain why he went un-drafted. NBADraft.net didn’t project him to be drafted at all, and from my research, they did not make a Wallace draft prospect page public. But after the draft and despite all of the turmoil surrounding the team, Celtics’ management made it a point to call Wallace’s agent, Eric Fleisher, to let them know they still had an interest.
So, Wallace joined the C’s NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas with hopes of attracting interest. He surprised many in his first game, scoring 8 points and grabbing 5 boards in the Celtics’ 74-66 win over the Trailblazers. He played relatively well in his second game, scoring 4 points and grabbing 5 more rebounds. The performance earned Wallace an official roster spot on the big club, inking a two-year deal with the team after the game. He finished the summer league with averages of 4.2 points and 5.0 rebounds.
Before embarking on his professional career, Wallace played four years at South Carolina. At 6’9″, 203 lbs, Wallace played center in SC. His minutes went up every season, from playing 13.4 minutes per game in his freshman year up to playing 36.5 minutes per game his senior season. He had a fine senior year, averaging 9.9 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game.
In the Steve Bulpett’s Boston Herald Celtics Notes (dated July 10), GM Danny Ainge is quoted on his assessment of Wallace:
“He’s a long, athletic kid. He’s a shot-blocker and a rebounder with a high basketball IQ, and those are things we really need. And his length is unique on our team. He just has some things that can really help us, and I think he’s shown more of an offensive perimeter game here than we expected. He won’t be just a defensive player once he develops his offensive game.”
While he does bring a nice defensive presence to the team, he really needs to put on some more muscle if he wants to bash with the NBA’s biggest in the post. His body is designed more for a small forward, which initially will be his position. At small forward, he gives the Celtics a versatile option on the defensive side of the ball, with the quickness to cover big guards and the height and blocking ability to cover bigger small forwards. Still only 22, Wallace has a lot of maturing to do and may be the last man off the bench for the C’s this season.
Projected stats for Brandon Wallace for the 2007-2008 season:
| Player | MIN | PPG | RPG | APG | BPG |
| Brandon Wallace | 2 | .7 | 2.0 | .5 | 1.0 |
(Key: MIN = minutes per game, PPG = points per game, RPG = rebounds per game, APG = assists per game, BPG = blocks per game)
About KC Downey
KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey
Tags: Brandon Wallace, Celtics
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[...] Sports of Boston Player Preview: Brandon Wallace [...]
that projection is retarded. he’s going to average 2 boards and 1 block in two minutes a game? We should play him twenty minutes a game and enjoy his average game of fourteen points, twenty boards, ten blocks and five assists! Imagine if we play him forty minutes a game? The Brandon Wallace Era has begun!
OK, I’ll admit the projection is a little rough. I should have run the numbers out a little more. But, for example, let me dissect Kendrick Perkins’s first season (03-04), in which he averaged just 3.5 minutes per game. He had 2.2 points and 1.4 boards per game…which if stretched to 20 minutes is 12.6 points and 8 boards. If stretched to 40 minutes, Perk would win the MVP with averages of 25.1 points and 16 rebounds per game….in his rookie season. I’m just saying that playing a few minutes in a few games can lead to inflated averages. And Wallace should have a season like Perk’s first season (10 games, 3.5 mpg, 2.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg).
Noone can get through our B-Wall!
B-Wall will be a force to be reckoned with. Albeit a very thin easily moved force that could prove to be a definitely valuable 14th or 15th man on a 12 man roster.
Just wait til he’s 26 and in his prime!
BTW – Perk rocks! He has shown that he has the best attitude for dealing with sub mediocrity and foot pain. What a publicly great guy. He needs to be invited over for a bbq.
Hey, B-Wall had one good season in college…Ainge thinks that translates to a good career in the pros. We wont find out this year because he’s the last man off the bench, but we’ll find out one day.
[...] is also an interesting move. Ainge was always high on Wallace from the get-go. As I mentioned in my Brandon Wallace preview, Ainge had the following to say about Wallace: “He’s a long, athletic kid. He’s a [...]