[madape]

I agree, you can't judge a single player's defensive prowress by the performance of an entire team. But isn't that what defense is all about? Making your team better?

Wallace may have the reputation of being a good defender, but his team is shaping up to be one of the worst defensive teams of all time. Sure, someone isn't pulling their weight. I don't know if it's Wallace, but I do know one thing. Portland is a team filled with guys considered to be GOOD defensive players, like Dale Davis, Bonzi Wells (for 20 games), Randolph, Stepania, etc... yet Wallace can't help Portland be anything but one of the worst defensive teams in league history.

Yet in the face of that almost undeniable FACT, people still think Wallace can come to THIS team... a team filled with defensive afterthoughts like Dirk, Nash, Finley, and Jamison...and make it a better defensive team? Pardon me, but that don't make much sense.

Portland has Wallace on it, as well as loads of other guys who can "D" it up, and it still stinks. What convinces you that if he comes to Dallas, he can help us "not stink".

And just because Portand doesn't need a physical presence, doesn't mean that we don't need one either. Just because Portland has Randolph and Dale Davis manning the paint doesn't mean that we do. We DO need a physical presense. We DO need shotblocking and rebounding. If you were talking about Dale Davis, that would be one thing. But we're talking about Rasheed Wallace. What we need is strength and defense in the paint. What we don't need is another skinny small forward launching three pointers and taking plays off on the defensive end. The more you tell me what Wallace doesn't do in Portland, the more it appears to me that he doesn't do the things we would want him to do here in Dallas.