Dallas Lauderdale

• chs_redskins

  

  Dallas Lauderdale reminds alot of Ben Wallace. They are both 6'8 and don't score alot but they play some of the best post defense and is one of the best shot blockers.
• mallymal614

  Good comparison. I think one difference though is that Ben was solid on the boards, which is something Dallas needs to improve on.
• centralbucksfan

  Not good comparison. Wallace has better hands and MUCH, MUCH more tenacity in playing consistant defense along with crashing the boards, in his prime. Both terrible offensively. Dallas is way too inconsistant. He had a stretch during the season where I was hopeful he was turning the corner. I think its more mental with him. He frustrated me big time down the stretch in the BTT and NCAA. He was a non factor. And thats when OSU needed him big time.
• Laley23

  

  The comparison is good offensively cause they are both pretty terrible (especially FTs), but thats it.
  
  Wallace is a MUCH better rebounder and has much better hands. Wallace is a more savvy defender who wont get caught out of position as much and frankly is a MUCH better on the ball/1 on 1 post defender. Wallace also (had) the ability in his younger days to guard the perimeter and move laterally....which Dallas cannot.
  
  I guess they are both solid shot-blockers so I will give that comparison as well.
• mucalum49

  

  One thing about Dallas that I don't understand is how he became so bad offensively. I know high school is a totally different game but if he was left open he could knock down a jumper, even shot and made 3's during warm-ups. I didn't see him play his senior year so this was from his first 3 years of high school.
  
  Now if he was left open and shot the ball I don't think he would even hit the rim.
• thedynasty1998

  

  First off, Wallace is the most overrated player to ever play in the NBA. It's mind boggling that he fooled some team into paying him as much as he makes.
  
  With that said, one could make the case that Madsen was outplaying Lauderdale late in the season. Lauderdale should never be compared to someone in the NBA for that fact alone.
• hoops23

  

  I don't think Wallace is overrated. In his prime he was the best post defender in the game and a great rebounder.
  
  With that said, Dallas could never be Big Ben for the simple fact that he can't even grow a fro.
• thedynasty1998

  

  LTrain23 wrote: I don't think Wallace is overrated. In his prime he was the best post defender in the game and a great rebounder.
  
  With that said, Dallas could never be Big Ben for the simple fact that he can't even grow a fro.

  That's the thing I never really understood. From what I remember, he would get eaten alive on defense. He was a good away from the ball defender and had good positioning, but due to his size he wasn't ever really able to guard a guy straight up.
• mallymal614

  thedynasty1998 wrote:

  LTrain23 wrote: I don't think Wallace is overrated. In his prime he was the best post defender in the game and a great rebounder.
  
  With that said, Dallas could never be Big Ben for the simple fact that he can't even grow a fro.

  That's the thing I never really understood. From what I remember, he would get eaten alive on defense. He was a good away from the ball defender and had good positioning, but due to his size he wasn't ever really able to guard a guy straight up.

  I agree to a certain extent. Wallace was a solid help defender but I do think he was overrated guarding a guy straight up. He usually struggled against an all-star post player.
• centralbucksfan

  mucalum49 wrote: One thing about Dallas that I don't understand is how he became so bad offensively. I know high school is a totally different game but if he was left open he could knock down a jumper, even shot and made 3's during warm-ups. I didn't see him play his senior year so this was from his first 3 years of high school.
  
  Now if he was left open and shot the ball I don't think he would even hit the rim.

  How many times did you watch Lauderdale play in HS? I saw him a few times, and had a friend who coached within his conference. He told me, and I saw the same...freak athlete, jump out of the gym, dunking machine. Saw a game he litterally had 10 dunks. I saw zero other offensive moves. He as just bigger, stronger and better athlete then anyone else in HS. I saw "potential", and he is certainly better now. But in HS, he was as raw as they come.
• Big Gain

  Laley23 wrote: The comparison is good offensively cause they are both pretty terrible (especially FTs), but thats it.
  
  Wallace is a MUCH better rebounder and has much better hands. Wallace is a more savvy defender who wont get caught out of position as much and frankly is a MUCH better on the ball/1 on 1 post defender. Wallace also (had) the ability in his younger days to guard the perimeter and move laterally....which Dallas cannot.
  
  I guess they are both solid shot-blockers so I will give that comparison as well.

  Are you comparing a 30 year old Ben Wallace playing for NBA Champion Detroit Pistons to a 21 year old Junior playing for Ohio State?
  
  Who saw what Ben Wallace was like when playing for Cuyahoga Community College??
• 77Legend

  

  Hope Jared Sullinger puts him on the bench next season.
• Footwedge

  Very similar players. Both shoot 50% airballs from the line.
• Laley23

  

  Big Gain wrote:

  Laley23 wrote: The comparison is good offensively cause they are both pretty terrible (especially FTs), but thats it.
  
  Wallace is a MUCH better rebounder and has much better hands. Wallace is a more savvy defender who wont get caught out of position as much and frankly is a MUCH better on the ball/1 on 1 post defender. Wallace also (had) the ability in his younger days to guard the perimeter and move laterally....which Dallas cannot.
  
  I guess they are both solid shot-blockers so I will give that comparison as well.

  Are you comparing a 30 year old Ben Wallace playing for NBA Champion Detroit Pistons to a 21 year old Junior playing for Ohio State?
  
  Who saw what Ben Wallace was like when playing for Cuyahoga Community College??

  lol, yes I am, because thats what the OP did....
  
  Wallace also led the nation in rebounding in college I do believe.
• Heretic

  

  The thing I noticed about Dallas during interviews is that he comes off as this mellow, personable dude who might be considered a "gentle giant" type. I just don't know if he is capable of manufacturing the intensity to be a Wallace-type with any consistency.
  
  It seems when my friends and I are watching the Bucks, we're either all but building a Lauderdale idol to properly worship him...or begging Matta to put Madsen in. There's no middle ground. He's either into things and moving on offense to get alley-oops and putbacks, blocking shots and making life hell in the paint and getting boards. Or he's just a lump of flesh with a good wingspan.
  
  If "Good Dallas" showed up on a regular basis, he'd be a feared man in college basketball for the first 34 or so minutes of the game (regardless of intensity, he won't be good at the line and, therefore, a liability in crunch time). But he has too many games where he's just there and doesn't seem to try to make an impact. He really seems to be the sort of player that CONSTANTLY needs to have a fire lit under his ass by someone.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Not even close IMO.
  
  I'll be surprised if Lauderdale plays more than 100 career minutes in the NBA. Maybe not even 1.
• centralbucksfan

  SQ_Crazies wrote: Not even close IMO.
  
  I'll be surprised if Lauderdale plays more than 100 career minutes in the NBA. Maybe not even 1.

  If he is lucky, he may play overseas. Thats the best he will do as far as playing professionally. Which btw, is still pretty darn good situation.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  Yeah, I mean he'll still get paid to play ball somewhere if he wants to--which is currently cooler than whatever I'm doing.
• mucalum49

  

  centralbucksfan wrote:

  mucalum49 wrote: One thing about Dallas that I don't understand is how he became so bad offensively. I know high school is a totally different game but if he was left open he could knock down a jumper, even shot and made 3's during warm-ups. I didn't see him play his senior year so this was from his first 3 years of high school.
  
  Now if he was left open and shot the ball I don't think he would even hit the rim.

  How many times did you watch Lauderdale play in HS? I saw him a few times, and had a friend who coached within his conference. He told me, and I saw the same...freak athlete, jump out of the gym, dunking machine. Saw a game he litterally had 10 dunks. I saw zero other offensive moves. He as just bigger, stronger and better athlete then anyone else in HS. I saw "potential", and he is certainly better now. But in HS, he was as raw as they come.

  I saw him play 6 times, each time against the high school I went to (Twinsburg). Freshman year he was raw and we had a guy that was 6'7 so he and Dallas played in the post all game just dropping in bunnies the whole time. The other two years the tallest kid was 6'4" and actually gave Dallas trouble around the rim and drew charging calls. The 6'4" kid played off Dallas when he wasn't in the key and was able to knock down a few shots. He was also a pretty good free throw shooter from what I remember. Used to hold his shooting hand up in the air after each free throw and as he ran back on defense.
  
  Other than those last 4 games when he would step out for the occasional jumper the other times I saw him shoot were in pregame. That is when I saw him step back behind the 3pt line and hit a couple.
• BigAppleBuckeye

  

  I don't see this comparison at all ... a young Ben Wallace wouldn't have gotten abused in the paint like Lauderdale did against Tennessee. Not hating on DL, I actually like him and thought he improved over the year, but he is a long way from being a defensive force.
• Scarlet_Buckeye

  

  Lauderdale is a poor man's "Ben Wallace / Dennis Rodman," but having said that, he is still leaps and bounds better than Kyle Madsen. Why Matta played Madsen more than Lauderdale down the road there I will never know.
• Big Gain

  BigAppleBuckeye wrote: I don't see this comparison at all ... a young Ben Wallace wouldn't have gotten abused in the paint like Lauderdale did against Tennessee. Not hating on DL, I actually like him and thought he improved over the year, but he is a long way from being a defensive force.

  A "young Ben Wallace" played at CUYAHOGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, with a bunch of CYO players.