I stopped by ESPN.com this afternoon and read this article by this writer named LZ Granderson titled "Can't buy love in Motown" http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=granderson/070507&sportCat=nba.Without forcing you to endure the painfully contrite writing I'll summarize it for you. Granderson sends out a plea to Detroit Piston fans to stop booing former Piston and recently added Chicago Bull Center Ben Wallace, (get this) because Wallace was responsible for the Piston franchise returning to prominence.
I have a few problems with this. First, Wallace is merely a poor man's Dennis Rodman without the offensive skills Rodman exhibited during his tenure in Motown. Also, Wallace has failed to influence the Bulls the way that Rodman did when he arrived in the Windy City, so he's not deserving of that ridiculously overpriced contract he signed. However, the biggest reason I have a problem with this is because Wallace bailed on the Pistons to allegedly do what's best for his family.
Now I'm all for players getting paid fair market value and doing what's best for themselves because it is a business, but Wallace was more than paid fair market value in Detroit. Now I'd also like to stress that there's nothing wrong with taking the money if someone's willing to pay you, but if you're undeserving of that kind of cash and know that you're not but yet skip a championship level town and team to get it, it can only be expected that get booed.
Wallace wasn't even the best Wallace in that Pistons locker room, and because that, he should have appreciated the fact that the Pistons organization gave him the opportunity to become a multiple time recipient of the defensive player of the year award. Big Ben didn't win defensive player of the year this year, and I don't even think he was in the top three (Davey I know you're going to check, but I'm certain he wasn't) in voting this season which is odd because the Bulls are supposedly a better defensive team than the Pistons (statistically speaking of course).
Wallace should be booed everytime he touches the ball or steps on the court, because he betrayed a city and franchise that gave him a chance to play on the big stage. Wallace should honestly be playing in Europe right now, because aside from his commitment to the defensive end as a help defender, he's really expendable. Wallace is an average rebounder, a dismal offensive player, and a decent head-to-head defender. I saw the game Saturday evening and that kid Jason Maxiell handed it to Wallace on both ends of the floor.
Well, for any that are yet with me at this point, how do you feel about Wallace being booed, should he be embraced in the manner that Jordan was when he returned to Chicago as a Wizard or Malone in his return to Utah as a Laker? What do you think?
1 comment:
Once again I have to do your research for you. Wallace was sixth in the defensive player of the year voting.
That's a worthless article by Mr. Granderson and a ridiculous argument. Not only did Wallace leave the Pistons because of money, he went to a rival team. Anyone who is a Pistons fan should be OBLIGATED to boo him.
While I agree with you on that, I think you're a little harsh on Big Ben's game. Was he overpaid by Chicago? Oh yeah, wildly overpaid. But he is not just a good defensive player, he's a really good one. He's the only player with seven straight years of 100 steals and 100 blocks.
And how can you say he's an average rebounder? He has the highest rebounding rate among active players and he's fifth all-time. I've got to disagree with you on that.
As far as offensively, he's a zero, a complete waste of space. His assist to turnover ratio isn't awful, but everything else is. Nice Rodman reference, people forget he actually averaged more than 11 ppg in 26 minutes his second year in the league.
Does Wallace belong in Europe? Not really, he's better than that. Should he be booed when he plays against Detroit? Yes, mercilessly every time he touches the ball.
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