Ben Wallace- Preventing Baskets at Both Ends

One of the sicker NBA playoff games took place tonight in Boston. Couldn't help but feel quite a bit of deja vu during the game as this one was very similar to a Celtics victory over my Pistons in the 2nd round of the 2002 playoffs, when the Pistons scored 64 points and lost by 2. The Cavs put up 72 tonight, not much more impressive than the ghastly 64-spot of the '02 Stones. You don't have to look deep to notice a pretty glaring similarity in the starting lineups of these 2 anemic offensive performances. One Ben Wallace starting at Power Forward, and playing 30+ minutes.

Something becomes very obvious when you watch good defensive teams play against Ben Wallace's teams in the later rounds of the NBA Playoffs: they do not guard him. I'm not saying he is guarded loosely...I'm not saying he is guarded by the other team's worst guy...he is just NOT guarded. Left alone. It's almost painful to watch him try and hide himself on the offensive end, trying not to get in the way of a penetrating LeBron or rolling Ilgauskas. Anyone who has ever played basketball at any level knows that if you have someone on your squad who is incapable of anything on O, you are gonna have a tough time scoring as a team. It's like the other team is on a constant power-play on the defensive end. Not to mention, the guy the Celtics cut loose to roam the floor trapping and getting in passing lanes...none other than the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Kevin Garnett. I have always believed that a large reason the Pistons were throttled by the Heat in the '06 Conference Finals was this same Ben Wallace factor. The Pistons got no good looks that whole series, and a lot of it had to do with being unable to get to the hoop because Shaq was camped in the paint, paying zero attention to Big Ben.

Look at the Cavs of last year. The Eastern Conference champion Cavs. Now obviously what made them so tough to defend was the unstoppable force that is LeBron James. But look deeper and you see that every player the Cavs brought on the floor was able to do something to help 'Bron on the offensive end. His two big guys were both very comfortable knocking down shots from 15 feet. However, now you replace Drew Gooden with Ben Wallace and your offense not only loses those points at the 4 spot, but it dramatically impacts the flow of the offense as a whole.

This will probably be the lowest output for the Cavs in the series, as LeBron and co. will play better in the coming games. He was as bad as you'll see him tonight. But make no mistake. The score Cleveland put up tonight was no fluke. Take any team, regardless of how good, and stick one completely useless player on offense with them for more than half the game. It ain't gonna be pretty, and it sure wasn't tonight. Ben Wallace has made a career out of preventing teams from putting the ball in the hole...little do people know he's been doing it for both teams the whole time.