Pat Caputo was asked if he heard anything about locker room problems and he said no. I hope it is not true. Though Ben has voiced his displeasure before. Funny, LB was the guy the players, not just management, also had enough of. At the end of 2005 they were ready to run him out of town.

i don't think ben cares and wants to improve. i think he thinks he already has the game. ben's ego is out of control. he's not better than mcdyess and isn't better than darko will be in 3 years. we should stop trying to structure the O around ben. he needs to concentrate on defense cause in my opinion that's the area where ben has fell off.

ben should be an oppurtunistic(sp) scorer and that's it.

You guys thinking Ben should get more touches obviously haven't seen him the last couple months. Right now, with that index finger killing him, he can't catch or hold onto ANYTHING. He used to finish alley-oops and tip-dunks all the time. Now the alley-oops are automatic turnovers, and on the attempted tip-dunks he just kind of smacks the ball toward the basket and screams like he's getting fouled (on EVERYTHING).

To make it worse, he's hitting free throws at the lowest clip he EVERY has (since when does he air-ball them 50% of the time?), and it seems to be contagious. When he misses, our other guys seem to follow suit.

If you're gonna let Ben go to work offensively right now, you might as well just throw the ball out of bounds and go back to the other end, because he's only going to be successful on wide-open dunks where no one can foul him. Otherwise it's a wasted possession 95% of the time. Sorry, but I'm not gonna take those odds to just help a supposed "lunch-pale" guy with his ego.

I am not talking about structuring the offense around him. If running say 2 more plays for him per game will keep him happy and help him out at the line then where is the harm?

How many of you guys think Ben will return next season? First it is clear that he doesn't like Flip's offense or his lack of participation/leadership. He seems to be generally grumbling more than usual. I would not be surprised if he leaves for the highest bidder or states conditions under which he would re-sign.

against atlanta, charlotte and the likes i see no problem with ben getting 2 extra plays ran for him. against cleveland where the game is super close. no ben should not be getting plays ran for him. he can't score he should accept it and focus on what he is good at. everyone always tells me the playoffs are not a time for experimentation. that's how they justify delfino not playing. well we know what we are going to get from ben offensively there is no reason to try to see if we can get some offense from him.

ben's ego is getting too big. we shouldn't have to do things in the game to keep him happy.

What's up with his hand anyway?

I tend to think that someone would have noticed it earlier than after reading it in an article if it was that bad...

Caputo is a columnist, and frankly he's not very connected with the Pistons. He just offers his opinion because he has the soapbox to do so. It's been quite some time since I read or heard something he had to offer *not Lions related* that had any value.

Not at all claiming I might be right, but I thought something funny was up when this group of players wanted "props" and to prove that it wasn't LB. Ironically, 2 of them are coming up on big paydays (although Ben is careful never to say too much, it was mostly Chauncey squaking).

I don't think you have the faintest clue what Ben does in practice or the offseason to make a comment like that. Should the DPOY think he has some NBA game? Against all odds, this is the kind of guy you love to hate, he made it from being undrafted and cut to a genuine franchise player. In fact, he's probably the greatest undrafted player in the modern era.

Speaking of which, no one (with a brain between their ears, draw your own conclusions on that one) thinks that paying Darko another 21 million to wait for that 3 year from now breakout is a cap friendly idea.

I think you are missing the point. He was making tangible improvements in his offensive game, while still being the 5th option. That has been arrested.

Who else draws fouls on bigs on this team? Hmm? Dice with the turnaround fadeaway J and charges that always go against him? Sheed with his turnaround fadeaway J and total lack of respect from the refs?

Go back to Game 5 and see how many fouls Ben drew. Let me know if you need the video. I guarantee you he had more to do with fouling out Varejao and Ilgauskas than anyone else on that team. If CB could buy a bucket or start playing before the 4th Q, this series would already be over.

When will you guys stop writing about Ben like he is Mo Evans or Darvin Ham? If you don't know his value, if you haven't seen the effect he has had on this franchise, then someone is asleep at the keyboard.

When his fellow players vote him the most intimidating rebounder in this supposed declining year, folks who actually play against him, maybe that is the wake up call that despite he is not popular, well spoken or handsome, he's quite possibly one of the greatest players ever to suit up for the Pistons. AND HE CAN'T EVEN SHOOT FOR THE LOVE OF PETE.

It's too late for that this year, but I for one thought it was great that Ben could sneak in a couple 20 point games a year (which were ALWAYS Pistons wins).

Folks refuse to look at this objectively. It's not just Ben's #s that are down. Tay's #s are down. Dice's #s are down. Sheed's numbers are a wash. This improvement in Hamilton and Billups is entirely at the expense of these guys. Which I think is fine except for the fact that the lack of paint scoring is indicative of a perimeter offense, not necessarily the fact the frontcourt is becoming mentally retarded.

This will be bad. Not because I like Ben, which I am not ashamed to admit I am. Because there is no replacement. Even if Softo Sitalot was still here, you can't just go out and replace a guy who pulls down clutch offensive boards and makes the final deflection to save a game (see last match vs. Cleveland). DPOY bigs don't just grow on trees. At any given time there may be 2 big men in the league who play at that level. anyone care to name the other one?

Again, I know Ben is a clumsy speaker. I know he isn't handsome or witty with the "yessir"s or gives himself a nickname like Smooth or Roscoe. I know he is not young anymore, and I know his free throw shooting is the most hideous of all time. But that is not enough to write off a valuable asset because of those damn FTs and the desire to see the team share the ball. Some of you folks have never heard the phrase, throw the baby out with the bath water, and those arguing for Ben's contract hurting us really have no clue about the team's cap situation.

For anyone who has played, or does play, how well do you play when you never touch the ball or only get the ball as a last resort? Do you showcase your incredible "clutch-ness" or do you never quite find a rhythm? If there is one thing about basketball, you need to be in a rhythm at both ends to be effective. That doesn't mean more shots, the feature scorer etc, but unlike perimeter players such as Bowen who get touches swinging the ball, Ben gets completely ignored. If anything, you folks should not be player hating, but pissed off that our best asset goes misused.

Sorry, I really needed to get this off my chest. I know Ben is not a perfect person. It's just so ferkin hypocritical for people to call him out for being mad about poor team play, and then comdemn him for not leading the team. Did you really think the pretty boys like Roscoe and Smooth are gunna tear up the locker room and lead a rah-rah charge onto the court to win the second half of a game?

Maybe we should just neuter our best player and continue to underpay him.

__________________
Competition is merely the absence of oppression.
- Frédéric Bastiat

You know whose ego was too big? That European kid who felt that he was "entitled" to something. The one who is not even guaranteed to start next year for a lottery team.

Folks should do things to keep Ben happy. Because he has made it clear that being the MVP, DPOY, rebounding champ, highest paid, All-Star is not his priority. Winning is. You wanna make Ben happy? Play championship caliber ball. Win more titles.

You keep writing about him like he was some soft #2 pick from the 2004 draft who was worried about getting his next deal, not the guy who has left it all on the court for this team so many times.

__________________
Competition is merely the absence of oppression.
- Frédéric Bastiat