February 29th, 2008

Concern for Wallace

It’s an all to familiar scene. Gerald Wallace goes up, up, up and comes down fast, quick and hard. With every jump the fans and Coach Vincent squirm and hope it all goes without injury. But, on February 22 against the Sacramento Kings Wallace didn’t pop up after an elbow to the face by Kings’ Mikki Moore. In fact, he was knocked unconscious and taken out on a stretcher and immediately to the hospital.

Gerald Wallace suffered his fourth concussion in four seasons, an all-to-familiar statistic for football players, but almost unheard of in basketball.

“Gerald is probably going to be two weeks slightly more, “ Charlotte coach Sam Vincent. “He’s in an observation stage.”

Wallace was released from the hospital later Friday night. And although the concussion wasn’t Wallace’s fault, Vincent said the team has been concerned about the forward’s aggressive style of play.

This is something serious.” Vincent said. “I think coming back, he’s got to be a little concerned, not concerned but aware. He needs to be aware.”

Fans have been noticing the “aggressive play” from Wallace for quite some time now. With every leapt the crowd goes silent in hopes that he gets back to his feet. Later this week Wallace was schedule to see a Charlotte-based neurologist Dr. Jerry Petty, where he will go through a series of neural tests.

“I’m not saying we’re behind the ball because this is very new to basketball,” trainer Joe Sharpe said. “How many players in basketball are disqualified from concussions? Most of the literature out there right now is on football players.”

If Wallace does have to change his playing style what exactly does that mean? After all he is known for his aggressive defense and tough breakaway shots. His stats say it all at 20.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. But can he achieve the same strong numbers with a different style of play? It’s definitely an issue that is going to have to be looked at for the future. But as for now Wallace is out indefinitely.