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Kerber: Avery Johnson Says Gerald Wallace Is Like Coach In Huddle

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Nets forward Gerald Wallace will make his first return trip to the Rose Garden on Wednesday night after a March trade that sent him from the Portland Trail Blazers to New Jersey in exchange for Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and a top-3 protected first round pick. Recently, I noted a report that coach Avery Johnson is loving Wallace's addition to the lottery-bound Nets. Fred Kerber of the New York Post with more on that subject. --------------------------------------------- "Here’s another guy that during timeouts speaks to the whole team about defensive situations, offensive situations," Johnson — whose Nets hope to extend their season-high three-game winning streak tonight in Los Angeles against the Lakers — said of Wallace. "He’s been in the league a while now, he’s knows what he’s doing. He knows what success looks like. He knows what mediocrity looks like. He knows what professionalism looks like." Johnson said at least twice on the trip that has seen victory at Golden State and Sacramento, Wallace asked to chime in during timeouts and received the coach’s unabashed blessing. "There was a situation where we were up against Sacramento and he said, ‘Coach just give me a minute because I want to remind the team about our defensive responsibilities.’ So he reminded them about their individual and team responsibilities," said Johnson, who gave a thorough state of the Nets report via conference call yesterday. "There was another [offensive] situation against Golden State … where he wanted to talk to the team about getting a quality shot and not turning the ball over." --------------------------------------------- -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter