I Finally Believe That The Knicks Are In Good Hands Now That Rasheed Wallace Is A Guest Coach At Their Practices

NYDN- Rasheed Wallace was never one to suppress his voice. Not to the opponent. Not to the referees. And apparently not as a guest coach of the Knicks.

The 44-year-old was, by far, the loudest in the gym as he led the Knicks’ big men through drills at Sunday’s practice. Invited by GM Scott Perry — who goes back with Wallace to their days together in the Pistons organization — Wallace motivated the Knicks players by shouting during a drill, among other things, “Y’all coming off these screens bulls—ting and lollygagging.”

David Fizdale said he welcomed Wallace as part of his initiative to bring in former players to mentor his young group. Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier and Chris Bosh have all spoken to the Knicks. Wallace was the first to participate in practice and is expected to continue this week. Fizdale also plans on inviting Chauncey Billups.

BALL DON’T LIE!!! Actually I don’t know if that phrase is valid here, but I don’t give a shit because you know who else doesn’t lie? Rasheed Wallace. I love that the Knicks brought in someone as talented, respected, and raw as Rasheed Wallace. Having Patrick Ewing and Clyde Frazier talking to the guys is nice. But having Sheed scream at everybody and calling people out for their bullshit should some much-needed spice to this team and you need that to succeed in the NBA (Example: The guy James Dolan banished from The Garden 2 years ago). Shit, during the one season the Knicks actually showed some sort of life, Sheed just happened to be one of the crafty vets that brought some toughness and character to a franchise not exactly know for it.

Sure you may not want Sheed teaching the fine art of the technical foul to a roster full of young players. But for all the headlines he got for his techs, there is no denying the guy was an absolute baller. Plus name one person who can sculpt a big man’s moves and mental game better than Rasheed Wallace.

He took over the practice and then stuck around to help Mitchell Robinson through a free-throw drill. On the final shot, Wallace shouted at the 20-year-old rookie, “Mitchell, you suck,” to test his poise.

You can’t. It’s like Hakeem Olajuwon’s Camp except instead of kindly being taught while you are being Dreamshaken to death, a crazy person is yelling at you while wearing a pants/shorts combo and unstrapped Air Force 1s.

I was already excited about the direction of the Knicks since they are actually embracing a real youth movement, some of those young players are already showing glimpses of true NBA talent, and Kevin Durant hasn’t actually said no to all the #KDToNYC mumbo jumbo. Plus James Dolan hasn’t done anything mindblowingly petty and tone deaf in years months days! You know I am in an optimistic mood when I don’t end a Knicks blog with the video of James Dolan playing the kazoo like a fucking clown shoe. There may be a little thing called hope brewing at Madison Square Garden after all and I am absolutely terrified I just wrote that on an actual blog. That’s the type of difference Rasheed Wallace makes in my eyes.