Ben Wallace's impact on the Cleveland Cavaliers

[tpols]

I used to think Ben Wallace was washed up outside Detroit.




Before acquiring Ben Wallace
-the 2008 Cavs allowed 98.2 ppg through 55 games.
-this would be ranked 11th in the league

In the 22 regular season games that Ben Wallace played with the Cavs
-the 2008 Cavs allowed 91.6 ppg
-this would be ranked 4th in the league

In the 2008 playoffs with Ben Wallace starting every game

-the 2008 Cavs allowed 87.8 ppg
-this was the lowest ppg allowed by any team in the playoffs

Ben Wallace at age 33 single handedly turned around the 2008 Cavs from a solid, but not great defense to the best defense in ppg allowed during the playoffs.




https://youtu.be/mU6rDKHT3ZY

What do you guys think about this?

[ShawkFactory]

His energy both at the beginning and end of games was significant. Wasn't really on the court enough for it to be overarching. But the defense was still there.

Obviously the impact was far less in 2009.