<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Ben Wallace's feet still hurt. Maybe the five days off between games will help. But even if the time off doesn't help, Wallace will be out there taking the jump ball against centers who are anywhere from two inches to a half-foot taller. And Wallace will continue to scrap and box out under the basket against big men who weigh more than he does. It's no secret that Wallace, 6-feet-9 and 240 pounds, gives up a few inches and pounds as an NBA center. Even so, teammates expect him to give the Pistons a bully's mentality in the paint in every game. Does he think his contributions are taken for granted? "I don't think they take it for granted, but I think they've learned to expect it," Wallace said Tuesday. "To me, that's a good thing. You're supposed to be able to lean on your teammates. I think that's a sign of a true team -- anytime somebody's standing beside you expecting you to do something and you go out and do it." Wallace, 31, has done just about everything the Pistons could ask of him this season. He's averaging 8.7 points, 11.5 rebounds (fifth in the league), 1.7 blocks and 1.5 steals. The only times Wallace has been outrebounded by another center came against Dallas, Portland and Chicago. Other than that, he has been playing like the undersized center who has won three NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, although he hasn't been at full strength. One foot is sore; the opposite ankle is sprained. Wallace said he's "not close to where I want to be, but anytime the season starts you never quite feel to the point of where you want to be." So Wallace has taken advantage of the break between games and the two days off from practice by, what else, working hard. "I stay in the weight room," he said. "Get in early in the morning, get my lift on and do those things. Get some extra conditioning and come out here and try to work hard in practice. That's pretty much all you can do. You don't have time to do anything else."</div> Source
