Ben Wallace vs. Kevin Garnett 2008 ECSF

[Meticode]

Great clips here of Wallace battling Garnett the whole game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU6rDKHT3ZY

[Dr Hawk]

2 defensive gods

[SpaceJam]

Before acquiring Ben Wallace
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 98.2 ppg through 55 games
- this would be ranked 11th in the league

In the 22 regular season games that Ben Wallace played with the Cavs
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 91.6 ppg
- this would be ranked 4th in the league

In the 2008 playoffs, with Ben Wallace starting every game
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 87.8 ppg
- this was the lowest ppg allowed by any team in the playoffs

[Dr Hawk]

Before acquiring Ben Wallace
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 98.2 ppg through 55 games
- this would be ranked 11th in the league

In the 22 regular season games that Ben Wallace played with the Cavs
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 91.6 ppg
- this would be ranked 4th in the league

In the 2008 playoffs, with Ben Wallace starting every game
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 87.8 ppg
- this was the lowest ppg allowed by any team in the playoffs

[ImKobe]

Before acquiring Ben Wallace
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 98.2 ppg through 55 games
- this would be ranked 11th in the league

In the 22 regular season games that Ben Wallace played with the Cavs
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 91.6 ppg
- this would be ranked 4th in the league

In the 2008 playoffs, with Ben Wallace starting every game
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 87.8 ppg
- this was the lowest ppg allowed by any team in the playoffs

Delete This. Lebron never had any help.

Cavs could have won it all in 08 had Lebron not choked the first 3 games. 18 ppg on 22% shooting with 6 turnovers a game. And it STILL went 7 games.

[Clifton]

I remember around 2003-2005 arguing that Ben Wallace was a top 10 player if "top 10 player" meant "one of the 10 best guys to have on your team if you want to win basketball games." (Which it seems to mean something different to most fans, for reasons I don't understand.)

The more Big Ben recedes into the past, the more I like him. To me there are 3 kinds of players: accelerators (Jason Kidd), engines (Paul Pierce), and brakes (Ben Wallace). Those are probably my 1a, 1b, and 1c favorites all time.

[ScalsFan21]

I remember around 2003-2005 arguing that Ben Wallace was a top 10 player if "top 10 player" meant "one of the 10 best guys to have on your team if you want to win basketball games." (Which it seems to mean something different to most fans, for reasons I don't understand.)

The more Big Ben recedes into the past, the more I like him. To me there are 3 kinds of players: accelerators (Jason Kidd), engines (Paul Pierce), and brakes (Ben Wallace). Those are probably my 1a, 1b, and 1c favorites all time.

Ben is a tough player to gauge, but I'd agree that when he was on Detroit, his impact was definitely top 10 in the league. I remember after Ben's tenures in Chicago and Cleveland, Billups and a few other ex-Pistons were talking about how those teams "didn't know how to use Ben" and that it was part of why he wasn't having the same championship-caliber impact anymore.

There's probably some truth to the idea that you need to have a very good "car" in place for the "brakes" like Ben to bring as much to the table as you'd like. But when you do have the right system in place like Detroit had, it was almost impossible to leave him out of the top 10 winning impact guys in the league.

[NBAplayoffs2001]

I remember around 2003-2005 arguing that Ben Wallace was a top 10 player if "top 10 player" meant "one of the 10 best guys to have on your team if you want to win basketball games." (Which it seems to mean something different to most fans, for reasons I don't understand.)

The more Big Ben recedes into the past, the more I like him. To me there are 3 kinds of players: accelerators (Jason Kidd), engines (Paul Pierce), and brakes (Ben Wallace). Those are probably my 1a, 1b, and 1c favorites all time.

Not a huge of Pierce but I get your point.

I was a huge fan of Jason Kidd his first two years in a Nets jersey. Dude was the Nets savior and made them relevant. It wasn't until Pistons got Rasheed when they clearly were the best team in the East for those 2 or so years in the mid 2000s. But when they lost Wallace and tried replacing him with Webber who was on his last legs (he was a plus defender in his prime too, not an elite one. At this point, his defense probably hurt the Pistons defensive scheme), the Cavs clearly started to become an East favorite.

Ben Wallace- his influence on defense was insane and he knew his role as a player on offense. Besides his horrific FT shooting, he was adequate enough offensively to be out there with his godly DPOY like ability.

[riseagainst]

confiscate this thread. Lebron supposedly never had any help.

[Smook A.]

Before acquiring Ben Wallace
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 98.2 ppg through 55 games
- this would be ranked 11th in the league

In the 22 regular season games that Ben Wallace played with the Cavs
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 91.6 ppg
- this would be ranked 4th in the league

In the 2008 playoffs, with Ben Wallace starting every game
- the 2008 Cavs allowed 87.8 ppg
- this was the lowest ppg allowed by any team in the playoffs

Saw this in the comment section of the video. Wow. I had no idea how much of an impact Ben Wallace still was in 08

[inclinerator]

ben wallets was good but he couldnt guard rasheed lewis