Thanks for nothing, Ben Wallace.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Ben Wallace era is over and we’re already better.
I am not ashamed to say that when I first heard that Ben Wallace going to be a bull, I told anyone with ears that the bulls were going to win the NBA Championship. I saw how hard we fought the Miami Heat in the 2006 playoffs and felt like we were almost there. Too bad the Ben Wallace that we got simply didn’t care anymore.
He was controversial from the start – everyone saw that his production was declining and questioned the sensibility of John Paxson for paying so much for the services of a 6’9” center that has little to no ability to score in the low post. Not to mention the fact that we shipped out a 20-something, 7-foot center who put up very similar numbers. Well, Ben came in and promptly caused a tiff based on his head band and the rest of the season was one long pout session for Ben Wallace. We swept the Heat and fell to Ben’s old squad in the second round of the 2007 playoffs. If the bulls played the Pistons every night, Ben might still be on the squad since those are the only times it seemed like he really and truly cared.
This season it was clear that all of the players had tuned out Scott Skiles and that attitude began with Ben Wallace. Even after Skiles was fired, thing didn’t turn around and John Paxson finally swung a deal to abort this failed experiment.
Wallace signed with the bulls to spite the Pistons. Detroit is where he really belongs and should have stayed, however the Pistons were not confident that his asking price was what they were willing to pay. Ben never looked comfortable in a bulls uniform and now he’s able to move on to a squad that will never ask him to provide leadership. Let’s face it, he’s not a leader anyways. Perhaps Lebron James will inspire Ben Wallace to find his game. I hope not.
With the players that we got from the Cavs, maybe we can turn things around and make a strong push for the playoffs. The East is as weak as ever, so hopefully we can squeak in. It really sucks to be back in a rebuilding mode, but this offseason we have the opportunity to get things back on track. Hopefully Hughes and Gooden work out; if not, then they can move on. We also need to see what's to become of Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Thabo Sefolosha, and Tyrus Thomas. They are the core of the team and it may be time to say goodbye to one of them.
Good riddance, Ben Wallace.
Posted byEnigmatik at 4:16 PM
Labels: Ben Wallace Sucks, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Trade Talk, youtube
