Gerald Wallace: "Coming to Charlotte was the best thing for me"

Packt

Packt

Starter
#2
#2
He said some similar things in one of the BB magazines; Slam, maybe. It was the Sep. or Oct. issue. That intreview was a bit longer than this one.
 
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C Diddy

C Diddy

Starter
#3
#3
Here's the article:



[font=Tahoma, Arial, Verdana][size=+2]HoopsHype.com Interviews[/size][/font]

[font=Tahoma, Arial, Verdana]Gerald Wallace: "Coming to Charlotte was the best thing for me"[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]by Marc Narducci / October 21, 2004[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
You played just 138 games and 1,338 minutes during your first three years in the NBA with Sacramento. What are your thoughts about getting extended minutes this season in Charlotte?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gerald Wallace: You have to look at it as an opportunity and a chance to prove myself in the league. I think coming to Charlotte was the best thing for me and I will take advantage of every minute that I get on the court.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Was it frustrating to play sparingly in Sacramento?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: It started out frustrating. But as the time would pass, I could understand the situation. I was realizing I had some great players in front of me. It wasn't as frustrating as everybody thought it would be.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You played against some talented players every day in practice in Sacramento. How much did that help your game?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: It helped a lot, not only on the court, but off the court too. I learned a lot from those guys. And I experienced a lot from a veteran team. We experienced winning and competing for a championship. I think those three years in Sacramento were good for me.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You left the University of Alabama after your freshman year and at the age of 19 you were the youngest player in the history of the Sacramento Kings. Did you have any regrets leaving college early?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: There are no regrets. I think if I didn't go to the NBA, that I probably wouldn't have gone back to college. So I have no regrets.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How hard is it to deal with playing for an expansion team that is expected to have the usual first-year growing pains?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: People are not expecting a lot out of the team and the players who were brought here to Charlotte. One thing about this team and the players is that we're going to go out there and compete hard every night and give it our all and whatever happens on the court, happens. We can't do anything about that, but what we can do something about is go out there and play hard every night.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Is there excitement about the team in Charlotte?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: Our first exhibition game in front of our fans, they were very excited. The main thing is that we have to go out and play hard and hope we give them a reason to come out and watch us play every night.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How much will getting extended minutes help your game?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: I think it will help my game grow a lot. There is only so much you can learn by sitting and watching. Once you are out on the court, you are put in game situations, it can really help you a lot.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What is your initial impression on your highly touted rookie teammate Emeka Okafor?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: It's early and he is still learning. But once the season gets started and he gets in a rhythm and everybody comes in as a team, I think he'll be fine.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]How has it been learning to blend with a whole new group of teammates?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: It's not bad. You look at it as everybody's first year being drafted. You come into a situation where on other teams everybody has been playing together and we come into a situation where everybody is new. So that means we have to pay extra attention in practice and execute a whole lot better.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Even though the team has dropped its first preseason games, what are the positives you can take from those games?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: Guys wanting to compete. That is the most positive thing about this team more than any team. You can have some guys who come from another team who have been in the league for a while and come and relax in practice and take games off. But these guys come ready to play hard in every practice and game and I think that is one of the positive things we've seen is that everybody is giving 100 percent.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What has been the biggest obstacle your team has faced?[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]GW: We are so young and we haven't been able to close out games. But we've been in games and led games by double digits and shown we can play with anybody, but it's just a point of us maturing and learning how to close
games and finishing out teams in the second half.[/font]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Marc Narducci covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com[/font]



Not a bad interview for Gerald. The questions were very light and he responded well.
 
LPKingsFan

LPKingsFan

All-Star
#4
#4
I like what I hear from Gerald. He respects his former team and does not hold and grudges for not playing. The anti-Massenberg. Still frustrating from a fan's standpoint to wonder why he was in Adelman's doghouse, but I like his responses.
 
G

godsthename

Guest
#6
#6
geralds the man and i wish he was still a king

but now he has his chance to shine and im sure his first game in sactown he will get a standing ovation.
 
6th

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
#7
#7
As much as I am sorry that Gerald did not work out (behind so much talent) with the Kings, I am thrilled that he will finally get a real opportunity to play. This was a good move for him and I'm glad he recognizes that. I am also happy at the way he handled the interview. That young man is maturing. Here is hoping that he continues to mature on the court, as well. Good luck, GW!!
 
KA_2

KA_2

Bench
#8
#8
Gerald's going to be a player if he stays healthy (big if IMO). Unfortunately, compared to what the Kings have now, I think Petrie is going to regret letting him go.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#10
#10
sloter said:
How many players could the teams protect ? Was it between him and Songaila ?
Click to expand...
Yes.

Peeler would have been the logical guy to expose, but he had an unfortunate option in his contract which made him ineligible. Which I still found annoying since we negotiated that contact with him only 1 year before the expansion draft and knew it was coming up. Have no idea what we would have done had Gerald blossomed last year. Maybe taken a risk with Doug or something.
 
Bricklayer

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#12
#12
Oh, I think Charlotte wouold have taken Darius too. Once it got down to exposing one of those two guys you are talking perfect expansion material -- young, small contract, with potential. Given the state of their frontline Darius might well have been their starting PF (Okafor is failing to dazzle thus far).

I just wish we had planned ahead and structured Peeler's contract with the expansion draft in mind. But most likely we were thinkng that we would protect Gerald until Darius surprised everyone, including us, by showing he was a rotation type player.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#14
#14
Bricklayer said:
I just wish we had planned ahead and structured Peeler's contract with the expansion draft in mind. But most likely we were thinkng that we would protect Gerald until Darius surprised everyone, including us, by showing he was a rotation type player.
Click to expand...
Darius didn't surprise everyone. Kingsgurl had her eye on him and told me repeatedly he was gonna be good for us. She had seen him in a tournament at Arco a couple of years ago and was very impressed with his potential.
 
HndsmCelt

HndsmCelt

Hall of Famer
#16
#16
Well for those folks sure that Wallace iws about to set the NBAon fire, in the season opener tonight he shot 4 of 12, for 11 points over all. He did block a shot, pull down 4 boards and got 3 assists. Oh yes and then there were the 7 turn overs. Keep the faith and keep watching.
 
KA_2

KA_2

Bench
#21
#21
HndsmCelt said:
Well for those folks sure that Wallace iws about to set the NBAon fire, in the season opener tonight he shot 4 of 12, for 11 points over all. He did block a shot, pull down 4 boards and got 3 assists. Oh yes and then there were the 7 turn overs. Keep the faith and keep watching.
Click to expand...
He also played just 31 minutes and is on a terrible team with a terrible coach.
 
4cwebb

4cwebb

Starter
#23
#23
I think with consistent minutes, GW will be a decent NBA player...I'd wager a player of comparable value to DC with time. Unfortunately, Kings already have a mature DC, and with a win now attitude, didn't have 30+ minutes per game to give to GW, nor did they have any shots to give to him that he would feel comfortable taking, so in the end, Kings couldn't have really taken advantage of his ability.
 
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