In Absence, Gerald Wallace Becomes Missed The Most

The Nets have only lost four games this season out of the 13 they have played, giving them a respectable 9-4 record. Out of those four losses, Nets small forward Gerald Wallace hasn't played in three of them due to injury. Coincidence? I would think not.

Gerald originally got hurt in the fourth quarter of the season-opening game at Barclays Center against the Toronto Raptors while giving his usual 100-percent-effort to block a Raptor fastbreak layup in crunch time. He rolled his ankle in an extremely ugly way and missed the Nets next six games with the injury, the first two of which were losses and last four wins. The losses, to Minnesota and Miami, were crushing defeats, as the Nets blew a 22-point lead to the Timberwolves and lost by 30 to the Heat. In both, it was clear that the Nets were missing Gerald's presence of defense and general recklessness which he plays with.

The wins the Nets had without Gerald in the lineup, against Orlando twice, Cleveland, and Boston without Rajon Rondo, weren't necessary the most convincing and, even though they ended up being Nets' triumphs, they demonstrated the main flaw that this team has: lack of defense. It's pretty clear that the Nets, as assembled, are extremely defensively-challenged and are just composed of players that are mainly there to score points. However, Gerald Wallace–in addition to Reggie Evans and maybe Hump–isn't that kind of player, and the drop-off in the team's defense when Gerald isn't on the court is significant, and is something that should be noted.

The many attributes that made Gerald such a good player on defense in his heyday–with the Kings, Bobcats, and the beginning of his Blazer tenure–have been slowly fading away for years. He doesn't jump quite as high as he used to, doesn't have the same explosiveness in blocking shots, and just doesn't have the quickness that made him such an adept turnover-creater and man defender is his youth.

What he has now is the selfless mentality that has earned him the all-too-accurate nickname of "Crash", bestowed upon him after those around the league saw that nothing stood in his way of saving a ball going out of bounds, a potential block or steal, or even just a measly rebound. Of course, this way in which he plays the game has caused harm to Gerald; exemplified by the ankle injury he suffered in this season's opening game against the Raptors as he chased down DeMar DeRozan. Simply put, Gerald has a head for the game–especially for defense–that not many in the NBA, and probably no other player on the Nets, possess.

If there is such a thing, he's the team's defensive floor general, barking out instructions for his teammates to hedge on a pick-and-roll or pick up the open shooter in the corner. As we have seen with this Nets team in the few games Gerald hasn't been on the floor, they look lost without him–like a chicken without its head–on defense. No amount of fadeaway jumpers Joe Johnson makes or dirty D-Will assists can make up for that devastating loss on the other end of the ball.

Now looks like a better time than ever to set the record straight about the trade that brought Gerald to the Nets from Portland. Much was made at the time last March of how Billy King gave up the 6th-overall pick in the 2012 Draft to bring in an aging defensive specialist. However, that move has been wondrous for King's Nets this season as his team's success so far can be, at least partially, attributed straight to Gerald's presence on the sideline and on the court. D-Will, Joe Johnson, or Brook Lopez might be the most talented players on the team, but it seems like Gerald is the most valuable.