Rasheed Wallace Quotes

I get a kick out of watching a team defense me. A player moves two steps in one direction and I hit it two steps the other way. It goes right by his glove and I laugh.

I've been double-teamed my whole life. I know when a double team's coming. I know what side the guy's coming from. I know how to dribble out of it.

As I get slower and older, I'm going to shoot more threes.

It's all about being sharp and not taking too much damage. That's always the game plan.

You have to be smart as a football player.

My athleticism will go away some day. I'm gonna be old one of these days, so I'm going to be able to use those post moves.

LeBron is like a coach. He is a coach on the floor. He has a great basketball IQ.

LeBron's probably the best player in the world, so you just have to make it tough for him, make him take tough jump shots and things like that.

I was always smaller and slower than everybody else, so I had to figure out other ways to be successful. Some people can survive on their athleticism; I had to survive on my brain.

I've had a number of kids in the NBA that I've coached and a number of other great players that I've coached.

I'm a basketball player - I rely on instincts and IQ.

In Germany, my focus was mainly on dribbling.

I like players that play off IQ.

Basketball players want to be comfortable, they want to be lackadaisical, they want to make the right passes and take the right shots.

I run my routes like a crossover dribble. It's about taking angles, faking one way but going the other, and being savvy. And then, instead of running to the basket, I'm running away from the defender.

The hardest thing to do is be a point guard, learn how to be a point guard in the NBA as a young player because you gotta earn your respect first of all the old guys, all the old heads. You gotta command where to go, know the plays.

I became a better talker on the floor, being at Duke, being in leadership with Coach K, and I think I got better defensively as the season progressed.

When I guard LeBron, I used to always want him to shoot, but he would just make the right play. He's legendary for making the right play, and it's really hard to guard when you're a team player.

Sometimes you have to stutter step; sometimes you have to spin inside. You have to run some games.

Fighting Manny Pacquiao is like playing a very fast game of chess. He was very fast and sharp. You have to be alert at all times and on your toes. There was a lot of incoming.

Boxing is like chess. You encourage your opponent to make mistakes so you can capitalise on it. People think you get in the ring and see the red mist, but it's not about aggression. Avoiding getting knocked out is tactical.

It's good to score, but there are some other things that are important in basketball too.

I remember being told very early on, 'Just say what they want to hear in the audition, and we'll figure it out later on.' So there have been a few tricky moments. I once said I could ride, when the truth is I'm terrified of horses, but I got the job!

As for my speed, I'm not the fastest, but just like in other sports, you learn to stay away from your weaknesses and make more use of your strengths: my shooting ability, court awareness, rebounding, and helping out defensively.

You can't surprise LeBron any more. He's such a smart player. His intellect has caught up with his athletic ability.