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Gerald Wallace, Bobcats
You could look at Wallace’s scoring dip this season (16.9 points per game in 2008-09 vs. 19.4 in 2007-08) and surmise that he’s taken a step backward, but that would be overlooking the escalation of efficiency he’s shown under Larry Brown. He's the Bobcats’ leading scorer despite averaging just 11.5 field-goal attempts per game. By comparison, the NBA’s leading scorer, Dwyane Wade, is taking a league-high 21.9 shots per game.
Then again, efficiency hasn’t always been Wallace’s strong suit, and it would be almost tragic if a player known as “Crash” somehow became synonymous with caution. But fear not — Wallace hasn’t reigned in his aggressiveness; he is simply learning how best to summon it.
In his last 16 games, the relentless and occasionally reckless forward — who boldly declared to the Charlotte Observer last month that “I just ignore pain now” — has averaged 19.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, pushing the Bobcats for at least a brief moment into the playoff conversation.
With the Bobcats now close to elimination from the postseason picture — and by extension close to temporarily vanishing from the basketball landscape — Wallace’s performance in 2008-09 isn’t likely to resonate throughout the offseason. However, it can’t be overlooked that at age 26, Wallace’s most fierce and determined season to date could be directly on the horizon.
Monta Ellis, Warriors
By most accounts, if you signed a lucrative contract over the summer, then shortly thereafter violated said contract by getting into a moped accident (leading to a severe ankle injury and subsequent team-mandated 30-game suspension), your season would be considered something of an unmitigated disaster. And considering that Ellis has played just 25 games in 2008-09 and is currently sidelined once again with ankle trouble, his campaign certainly isn’t getting the most encouraging closing chapter.
But finding your way onto the cusp of a competitive eruption isn’t about having the best season imaginable in 2008-09; it’s about providing a startlingly clear glimpse of what’s to come next year.
For a 12-game stretch between March 11 and April 1, Ellis was nothing short of ferocious. During that span, the fourth-year pro averaged 25.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.6 steals, capped off by a 42-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist tour de force in an April 1 game against Sacramento, a contest that admittedly featured very little defense, but still showcased an offensive-minded 23-year-old guard on the brink of something formidable in 2009-10.
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