Will you cheer? Will you boo? Does your heart ache when you see Big Ben in a Bulls' jersey?

Wallace misses partner in grime on ChicagoSports.com

You know the routine...(and my answer).

Besides, the CHI media have decided that they will hate Ben Wallace because his contract (as if he should have just turned it down and said, "No, I don't deserve this money....is there a way you could sign me for less money?", no matter how well he plays to earn it.

This is a thinly veiled attempt at suggesting that Wallace isn't that good and that Rasheed really proped him up.

Nevermind that most other media heads in the NBA are spending their spare time maligning Rasheed for Kerr-ing (settling for too many 3s) - hows that for the pot calling the kettle black - and/or not bringing enough to the table in the absense of Big Ben.

All I know is they are both solid and people have resigned themselves to hating one or both of them for no valid reason at all.

The reality is: most of these talking heads are out of touch and have no idea what the heck is going. For them everything remains the same for the length of any one players career. Just last week when we played on NBA TV, I heard one of the guys refer to the Pistons as a tough defensive, slow it down, grind it out kind of team. GREETINGS FROM TWO YEARS IN THE PAST! PLEASE STAY A WHILE.

No clue.

__________________

From Chris McCoskey's blog that is not a blog.
DETNEWS | Weblog | Pistons

I DID see that today....knocked me right off my toadstool

We're still a slow-it-down team - second slowest pace in the league, just like last year, and down almost five possessions per game from the Larry Brown era. That's enough to make the statistics look half decent even if the actual defense is average at best.

i will boo ben relentlessly.

1. he cost us a championship last year when he quit on us
2. he forced the trade of darko
3. he refused to take less minutes to develop darko + jmax
4. he is a malcontent and deserves every boo

I'm glad I won't be there, so I won't have to make that decision.

Ben was my favourite player when he was with the Pistons, but the way he left still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Signing Nazr for 5 years only makes it taste that much worse.

It's very similar to the way I felt when Barry Sanders left. He was my all time favourite player but the way he left the team left me feeling bitter and resentful. It took me years to get over it. Now, given the pathetic state of the Lions, I don't blame him at all. He abandoned ship before being pulled down with it.

Of course the Pistons aren't a sinking ship by any stretch, infact, they helped make Ben a household name when most had given up on him. I also don't like that he went back on his word.

.... I'm leaning towards the booing.

When you think about how we got Ben. Ben was playing for Orlando who just had signed Hill and McGrady and were projected to be the team to beat in the East ( with or without Ben ). Ben left that to join the struggling Pistons for the money. Orlando did not think he was worth it, the Pistons did and Ben went where the money was.

So why should it surprise us that he did the same thing 5 years later? Why leave 12 mil on the table? And thats not really a slam. Some say Ben was greedy for wanting more money than he could spend but what does that say about Billionair Davison? Why should he have put an extra 12 mil in Davisons pocket for the pleasure of playing for the Pistons?

Anyway, Bulls got their guy. If they had payed more attention they would have known that we usually got burned by those highly athletic centers. Only so much you can do as a 6'6" center. Ben always knew how to cover for his teammates on defense which Mohamed does not have a clue.

Bulls are an up and comming team? How much more can they grow? Their best shot is hoping the Knicks bomb out so they can get another good draft pick. Then again their high pick from last summer has not been making an impact.

Whoa whoa whoa....talk about revisionist history. Ben's contract and his desire for money had NOTHING to do with him coming to Detroit. As a matter of fact, Atkins was more known than Wallace at the time and BOTH OF THEM were give aways by Orlando in order to make the sign and trade work.

No one ever asked Ben Wallace his opinion on the deal and there was absolutely NO discussion of how much money Ben Wallace wanted to stay in Orlando.

Now, you guys have just gone off the deep end with the Ben Wallace hate. Your version of that transaction is completely baseless and nothing along that line of thought has EVER been reported/printed/complained about/discussed on TV/mentioned by broadcasters/recounted by bloggers/or anything else you can think of.

__________________

Have fun with that, bball.