Anthony Davis Will Be A Dominant Big With Rasheed Wallace’s Guidance
Anthony Davis needs to be more efficient and Rasheed Wallace is the guy that will show him how to capitalize on his gifts.
When he was a player, Rasheed Wallace hated the Los Angeles Lakers.
All of the teams that he was on were rivals with the Lakers and he was constantly battling them in the playoffs.
When he was with the Portland Trailblazers in the early 2000s, he played against the Lakers in the post-season three times in a row and lost all three of the battles.
Then when he was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2004, he faced off against the Lakers again, but this time it was in the NBA Finals.
To his delight, however, he was able to overcome his arch-nemesis and win his first championship title.
The rivalry seemingly simmered down after a couple of years.
In the mid-2000s, the Lakers weren’t as successful in the post-season as before and the Pistons were focused on winning in the Eastern Conference thus, these two teams weren't playing against each other often.
But then in the 2009-10 season, Wallace joined the Boston Celtics and reignited the hatred.
This season, the Celtics made their way back to the NBA Finals and their opponents were none other than the Lakers, who happened to be the undisputed champs.
The two teams battled it out for seven games. They bled and sweated on the hardwood. But the team from Sunny California eventually claimed the victory and took the crown.
Throughout his career, Wallace had a lot of gripes with the Los Angeles Lakers. And why wouldn’t he? The Lakers were pests that kept bothering and beating him down.
So, when I heard the news that he was joining the Lakers staff as an assistant coach, I chuckled.
But after thinking about it and reading articles on the matter, I’ve come to believe that Wallace joining the Lakers is one of the best things that can happen for the team this season.
Why Wallace Is Good For the Lakers
The main thing that Wallace is going to help the Lakers with is getting Anthony Davis to be dominant. In other words, he will get Davis to make his strongest skills and gifts part of his primary game.
In the past couple of years, the main criticism against Davis was that he doesn’t play to his strengths. He is a tall, lengthy guy with a phenomenal interior game, but refuses to use it.
He plays like a guard on most possessions, where he catches the ball somewhere in the mid-range, faces up and tries to out-dribble his defender or tries to shoot a jumper over them.
And though this has worked for him -as he averaged 22.5 points on 51 percent shooting the past two seasons- he would be so much more effective if he played like a big.
Wallace, I believe, can bring the best out of Davis because he can help AD find a style that allows him to embarrass defenders in the paint while also playing like a guard on the perimeter.
I say this because Wallace was that type of player.
In his prime, Wallace was a unique power forward because he was able to play in the post and shoot the 3-ball with consistency.
Final Thoughts
As a coach, Wallace will share his wisdom with Davis and teach the young forward his signature moves.
And if Davis chooses to absorb and apply it, which the Lakers apparently need to be successful, they will make a return to title contention next season.