<img src="http://static.flickr.com/56/184823539_fd5459ea5d.jpg" width="500" height="394" alt="foul" /></a>
B-B-B-B-B-ULLSHIT : as much as ben was the heart & soul of the pistons, it's not such a bad thing that he signed with the bulls. that's not an easy thing to say & it took me a long time to get past my initial disappointment. we're talking about a 4-time defensive player of the year who helped win us a championship here.
ben was an invaluable player. on the court he was a great teammate who not only excelled in the obvious statistical categories, but also in several aspects that aren't credited in the boxscore. nobody outhustled or outworked ben, nobody. he saved so many possessions & gave his teammates so many more scoring chances with his immeasurable work ethic. ben was the best weakside defender i've ever seen. not only did he never leave his teammates hanging out to dry on d, his mere presence on the court allowed them to be more aggressive. ben was the the equalizer. he was the eraser. he was the intimidator. when the pistons gained national recognition a couple of years ago, it was his fro that graced the cover of sports illustrated. his blue-collar play represented the people of detroit, the state of michigan & the soul of never-say-die fighting underdogs everywhere.
ben gets credit where it's due......but the pistons are definitely better off without him in the long run. everyone knows that ben, despite all of his effort & intangibles, was essentially a one-dimensional player. he was the greatest of great role players, but every time he was fouled it was essentially a turnover. he always desired more of a role in the offense, which would never happen in his career if he stayed in detroit. he had several blowups with teammates & coaches the past couple years behind the scenes, not exactly the model teammate. he also nixed a possible sign & trade deal with the bulls, insuring we'd get nothing in return for him, a punk move if you ask me. ben is nearing the end of his career. he'll be 32 this september. as evidenced by the last two rounds of the playoffs, he is no longer the dominant defensive player that he once was. joe dumars gave ben exactly what they promised him in their contract offer: to make him the highest paid player on the team....but nooooo, that wasn't enough for ben.
if he would have signed that contract, the pistons would have been paying him $20 million down the road for an aging 35 year old role player with declining skills. not at all worth it in any logical sense. the bulls will be overpaying him immensely, for a few million more than what the pistons offered. the nba has always been a business & loyalty is an increasingly uncommon thing in the business of sports. here's the thing: ben was the pistons. the fans loved him. the bottom line is he sold the fans & his teammates out for a few extra mil. from now on there will be a bitter taste for this pistons fan whenever the name ben wallace is mentioned.
B-B-B-B-B-ULLSHIT : as much as ben was the heart & soul of the pistons, it's not such a bad thing that he signed with the bulls. that's not an easy thing to say & it took me a long time to get past my initial disappointment. we're talking about a 4-time defensive player of the year who helped win us a championship here.
ben was an invaluable player. on the court he was a great teammate who not only excelled in the obvious statistical categories, but also in several aspects that aren't credited in the boxscore. nobody outhustled or outworked ben, nobody. he saved so many possessions & gave his teammates so many more scoring chances with his immeasurable work ethic. ben was the best weakside defender i've ever seen. not only did he never leave his teammates hanging out to dry on d, his mere presence on the court allowed them to be more aggressive. ben was the the equalizer. he was the eraser. he was the intimidator. when the pistons gained national recognition a couple of years ago, it was his fro that graced the cover of sports illustrated. his blue-collar play represented the people of detroit, the state of michigan & the soul of never-say-die fighting underdogs everywhere.
ben gets credit where it's due......but the pistons are definitely better off without him in the long run. everyone knows that ben, despite all of his effort & intangibles, was essentially a one-dimensional player. he was the greatest of great role players, but every time he was fouled it was essentially a turnover. he always desired more of a role in the offense, which would never happen in his career if he stayed in detroit. he had several blowups with teammates & coaches the past couple years behind the scenes, not exactly the model teammate. he also nixed a possible sign & trade deal with the bulls, insuring we'd get nothing in return for him, a punk move if you ask me. ben is nearing the end of his career. he'll be 32 this september. as evidenced by the last two rounds of the playoffs, he is no longer the dominant defensive player that he once was. joe dumars gave ben exactly what they promised him in their contract offer: to make him the highest paid player on the team....but nooooo, that wasn't enough for ben.
if he would have signed that contract, the pistons would have been paying him $20 million down the road for an aging 35 year old role player with declining skills. not at all worth it in any logical sense. the bulls will be overpaying him immensely, for a few million more than what the pistons offered. the nba has always been a business & loyalty is an increasingly uncommon thing in the business of sports. here's the thing: ben was the pistons. the fans loved him. the bottom line is he sold the fans & his teammates out for a few extra mil. from now on there will be a bitter taste for this pistons fan whenever the name ben wallace is mentioned.
makinselections:
i can't figure out how to post the drawing that's supposed to go along with this correctly, but it's in my photo album.