NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 17, 2005

Ben Wallace

BEN WALLACE: You know, it's not just one guy that's doing anything special. We all are collapsing in the paint, forcing him to shoot jumpshots.

BEN WALLACE: I don't know. But I'm not complaining. I'm having fun being able to go out on the floor, night in and night out, play basketball and, you know, I'm eating pretty good (smiling).

BEN WALLACE: Yeah, you know, we are back to our defensive press. Everybody is playing with a lot of energy and we are not overreacting when they put the ball on the floor. So that way we can keep a body on him and force him to shoot over the top. You know, we've got a couple of guys that we can rotate in and out of the game and put on him. We just want to make him fight for 48 minutes trying to score the basketball and trying to keep him off the boards and keep him from getting easy buckets, unlimited looks.

BEN WALLACE: I think our guard play is really the big key to slowing Duncan down, because they are pressuring up the floor and then when he does catch the ball, he's got to fight against either me, Rasheed, McDyess and the shot clock. So I see him get a little frustrated doing that.

BEN WALLACE: You know, coming to the Bullets, it's just one of those things, I was sort of on the rebound. I had worked out with Boston. I had played had in Italy for a little while, and coming to the Bullets was just another opportunity for me. You know, being able to make that team, it sort of boosted my confidence a little bit and the next year I was able to step on the floor and play some amazing minutes. It was a great feeling to be able to play in this league and get your name called every now and then. I just thought maybe I could pick it up from here, trying to move on.

BEN WALLACE: I was a little concerned because my first work-out with Boston, I'm pretty sure everybody knew I played the two-three, so coming to Washington, they said they were looking for a center. They brought me in as a center and the rest has been history.

BEN WALLACE: It's the energy, everybody coming out and playing with incredible energy. I wish I could say it's this or it's that. Man, it's just the energy everybody brings. We're not playing the perfect game in no way, shape or form, but everybody is playing so hard, so if one guy makes a mistake and everybody else is on the same page, they are able to make up for those mistakes. Once the crowd gets involved and gets behind, it makes you want to play a little bit harder anyway.

BEN WALLACE: No, not really.

BEN WALLACE: My wife.

BEN WALLACE: Until she feels like braiding it up again.

BEN WALLACE: That's it.

BEN WALLACE: I don't get cuts. I haven't had it cut in about six years now. (Laughter).

BEN WALLACE: Yeah, you know, Coach Brown wants us to front. He want us to front all the time, but we try to tell him, if we can force him off the blocks a little bit, then there's no need to front. So it's either, you force him off the block or if he gets deep post position, you front him. But I think that only works when our guards pressure, when our guards up pressure, it makes it easy for us to front down in the block where they can't just come down and throw the ball over the top of you.

BEN WALLACE: You know, for us we want him to start their offense, start going into their plays at like 14 seconds on the clock. By the time they move the ball around from side to side then you catch with seven seconds, and then he's still got to make his move and be aware of if guys are going to help or do whatever. You know, then he's still got to try to score the basketball. So that's a lot to put on your plate.