“My confidence is totally gone,” Wallace said in his interview with the Post, posted this morning. “I’m just at the point now … I’m in a situation where I feel like if I miss, I’m going to get pulled out of the game, you know what I’m saying? So my whole concept is just that you can’t come out of the game if you’re not missing shots.
“I think I lost the confidence of the coaching staff and my teammates. So my main thing is those guys can score, so instead of thinking about it so much, just trying to focus on defense, try to move the ball and get those guys shots.”
Looking at Wallace’s shot chart on the season, it’s not hard to see how he may have lost his confidence:
The only spot on the floor Wallace is shooting even respectably from is the right wing 3, on a mere 34 attempts. On the season, Wallace shoots just 50.8% in the restricted area — almost 6% below the league average.
Wallace did not attempt a shot in 31 minutes against the league-worst Charlotte Bobcats Saturday night. He was fouled on one layup attempt in the first quarter. It was the first time in his career that he played more than 20 minutes and not attempted a field goal. He did finish the game with five assists, but conveyed a palpable lack of desire to shoot.
Wallace is averaging 8.1 field goal attempts and 3.4 free goal attempts per 36 minutes, both career lows. He is shooting an even 40% from the field, also a career low, and just 33.8% (14.9% from 3) since the All-Star break. His shot chart since then is even worse than the one above:
Even those right wing 3’s have stopped falling.
Wallace, who was drafted in 2001 and is in the first of a four-year deal worth $40 million, admits that this is a new situation for him.
“I’ve never been in a situation where the coaching staff didn’t have confidence in me and my teammates didn’t have confidence in me.”
Full interview below.
Read More: Tim Bontemps, New York Post — Nets’ Wallace loses faith in his shooting
