Szczerbiak revives Wally's World once again with crowd-pleasing 17-point effort in Game 2
by Jodie Valade/Plain Dealer Reporter
Friday May 08, 2009, 12:32 AM
CLEVELAND -- When LeBron James was streaking toward the basket on a breakaway late in the second quarter Thursday, he had plenty of options.
He could have stuffed down a reverse dunk like he did at the end of the first quarter, the kind of authoritative basket that electrifies the crowd.
He could have slammed it windmill-style or with a simple two-handed power dunk and roared with pleasure afterward.
Instead, he passed the ball. Backward. To Wally Szczerbiak.
Szczerbiak isn't exactly known for his flashiness or his leaping abilities, but somehow he managed to inch the ball over the rim one-handed, give the Cavaliers a 47-28 edge in what would become a 105-85 blowout Game 2 victory, and land on the ground to adoring cheers of "Wal-ly! Wal-ly!" from the crowd at The Q.
"Any other time I would have dunked the basketball," James admitted. "But you got Wally running the floor with you, you've got to give it to him. Got to."
Szczerbiak knows running the floor and dunking isn't his forte, but like he has since he arrived in Cleveland last season, he adjusted.
These days he comes off the bench, plays gritty defense when he has to and knocks in his trademark long-distance shot -- for 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting Thursday -- and has even dunked a few times.
"The team gets a kick out of it when I throw the ball down," Szczerbiak said, grinning. "I barely squeaked it over the rim but it was a dunk, it counts as a dunk, and I'll chalk that up. I think that's number four or five on the year."
His father, Walt, watched Game 2 from the stands and sees the difference in his son's game. He used to be the go-to player, the starter who was counted on to shoot and score. Now, he's a role player.
Walt Szczerbiak, a former professional basketball player, too, understands why it has changed.
"He's made a lot of sacrifices and he's willing to do them with the hope of winning that title," Walt Szczerbiak said. "Everybody on the team has made sacrifices. It's an exciting year for them."
James knew it was Szczerbiak's moment to shine when he passed back to him, as the not-so-flashy dunk totaled eight points for Szczerbiak in a seven-minute span.
And fans who have known Szczerbiak since his days at Miami, have found a new favorite role player with their chants echoing through the arena throughout the game.
He bellowed, "I love you guys!" when interviewed over The Q's microphone post-game, and grinned again when reminded of Cleveland's vocal affection for him.
"I love it," he said. "First half, second half, keep 'em coming. I'm starting to get used to them on the free-throw line, too. It's a good feeling. The fans have just been great to me."
Maybe, like James, they sense when he's on a roll.
for Wally's performance tonight.
