Cuonzo Martin on Tyrone Wallace’s comfort level running the team: “Well, I just think that experience playing that position at this level. It’s one thing to do it at the high school level, but to have two years when you didn’t play it as much and to all of a sudden you’re thrust into that position, and I thought he did a really good job for our team and now, having a year under his belt, playing against this level of competition, you’ve seen it at a high level, played in big games. He’s always been a guy that’s able to handle the basketball. I think where he’s gotten better at is really seeing the whole floor and passing up the floor when he needs to, attacking off the dribble when he needs to, and in transition he’s just so tough to guard bringing the ball at you because he’s hitting his free throws and I just felt when he started making his free throws, he becomes extremely tough to defend because he puts so much pressure on you. A small thing, but a big thing, when you have a scouting report and you’ve seen a guy, but you’ve only watched him from afar, when somebody says 6’5 or 6’6, you automatically assume 6’2 or 6’3, then when you get in the game, he’s a legitimate 6’5 and a half, 6’6, he’s long, and that’s another factor that you really don’t equate, that you don’t evaluate as far as ‘man, this guy is really long, he’s athletic, he can make plays, he scores around the rim, he uses his left and his right hand around the basket.’”
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not the new officiating makes Tyrone Wallace unstoppable: “I will be able to answer that clearly after the season, but I think he has a chance to do a lot of good things. The biggest thing is staying healthy, staying consistent, maintaining his level of confidence, so I don’t think he’ll lose that, and just being able to see things, because what happens is teams will watch film and figure they can stop him doing this, let’s try to do this, let’s play the percentages, that means trapping him in ball screens, so that he has to give the ball up quicker, making him go one way, and then it’s just a matter of seeing it and doing it, because he has the personnel around him and just really doing it.”
Cuonzo Martin on Tyrone Wallace’s versatility: “The thing we talk about is don’t settle for the three-point shot because sometimes if a guy is standing three or four feet back, you drive the ball, now if he can’t move his feet, he has to stop you with his hands, and that’s a foul, so don’t just settle for the three because it’s there. And I think what he’s done good with his three-point shot is his feet are square and he’s knocking his shot down, not necessarily just shooting and seeing I have an opportunity, one bounce, one bounce, and shooting it, but really my feet are set and playing the percentages, and the percentages say he’s better when his feet are set.”
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not the new officiating makes Tyrone Wallace unstoppable: “I will be able to answer that clearly after the season, but I think he has a chance to do a lot of good things. The biggest thing is staying healthy, staying consistent, maintaining his level of confidence, so I don’t think he’ll lose that, and just being able to see things, because what happens is teams will watch film and figure they can stop him doing this, let’s try to do this, let’s play the percentages, that means trapping him in ball screens, so that he has to give the ball up quicker, making him go one way, and then it’s just a matter of seeing it and doing it, because he has the personnel around him and just really doing it.”
Cuonzo Martin on Tyrone Wallace’s versatility: “The thing we talk about is don’t settle for the three-point shot because sometimes if a guy is standing three or four feet back, you drive the ball, now if he can’t move his feet, he has to stop you with his hands, and that’s a foul, so don’t just settle for the three because it’s there. And I think what he’s done good with his three-point shot is his feet are square and he’s knocking his shot down, not necessarily just shooting and seeing I have an opportunity, one bounce, one bounce, and shooting it, but really my feet are set and playing the percentages, and the percentages say he’s better when his feet are set.”
