Am i mis-remembering? I remember reading things like "surly," "slept through an alarm, missed a flight," "chip on the shoulder," "started the us-against-the-world" stance with the press during the Final Four run. I define cocky as someone who believes in him or herself and let's the world know it. John was that. He wanted the ball because he knew not many people could stop him, and he was right. I don't think that's a bad thing at all.
I guess "attitude" could be defined many ways. I don't mean "team cancer." John was a bad ass on the court. He didn't get in trouble with Student Board for arguing with a fellow student (Devo), he didn't sulk about playing time (Dion), he didn't throw haymakers at rivals (DC), so that is not the attitude I'm referring to. John played with a sneer. He was not passive. If you were not wearing Orange, he wasn't your friend. Again, I'm referencing articles from 1996, so my memory could be faulty, but I remember seeing things that implied he had "attitude" and it hurt him with certain teams. I know it's not the only reason his stock fell. Attitude in quotes.
To be clear, John Wallace is one of my favorite players and I would love to have him cloned and play every season in Orange. My original post was about having killers on the team. Cocky guys who could ball. Guys who are not the best citizens (but clearly are not horrible human beings) and are not going to win "Best Mannered" award. I tend to think of John, Dion, Devo (and shame on me for not originally mentioning DC) as those kinds of guys. Guys you want to have the ball in their hands at the end of games. Killers. Guys who have had their share of critics, but don't care. Killers. If I can have one of those every four years, I would be happy.
