Is it me, or have guys really been struggling to step up and claim their rightful place as winner of Player of the D.A.Y.? I wish there was a good answer for today, but I’m left scratching my head. Uh… Carmelo? J.R. Smith? Memo?
I’ll give it to Chris Webber. 19 points and 9 boards on just 9 shots. The Pistons have won 7 in a row. They lost Ben Wallace over the summer, and now they’ve got a guy that is the exact opposite of Ben Wallace as a player, other than the fact that both of their careers took off when they left the Washington Wizards and they both have good rebounding numbers. Wallace went to a small school and wasn’t drafted. CWebb was a celebrity in college and the first pick in the draft. Wallace is all defense and no offense, with free throw shooting that gets worse every day. Webber is one of the most versatile offensive big men ever and defense is something he does to kill time, plus his free throw shooting went from as bad as Shaq to very respectable. It goes on and on.
The weird thing is that in the offseason, undrafted Ben Wallace should have been the best free agent signing by any team. He’s been solid enough, but not the impact force to make the Bulls a powerhouse. CWebb was an afterthought as a buyout, whose value as the former first overall pick was actually lower than the undrafted Wallace. Now he’s having more impact as a free agent, even as a midseason free agent.
