Big Ben Tolls no more...

Todays Chicago Sun Times

"Wallace spent most of the game anchored to the bench and was so ineffective when he was in there that at one point Skiles said he replaced Wallace because he wanted to improve the team's rebounding. Yes, you read that correctly."

Aye. First Coach Skiles pulled Wallace for PJ Brown, but before the night was over he pulled him again, this time for the glass smashing b-ball gobbler, big man Michael Sweetney.

Good lord, pass the bottle for my liver needs a fixin. Big Ben got yanked for Sweetney. Sweetney, who after 3 years in the league has never had to replace a single pair of shoes, (it's rumored he's still wearing the last pair he played in at Georgetown).

In mid August this was posted in this fine forum,

"The Pistons offered him a lot, it just wasn't enough relative to the Chicago offer. I don't blame the guy for taking the extra 11M, but if you already have 20-25 milllion banked and another 50 on the table, is the extra 11 that important in your everyday life? Important enough to leave a team thats been built around your limited skills and is a promising contender for another 3-4 years?

Apparently it was for Ben.

By leaving before the Pistons might've won another title with him on the roster, did he ruin his own chances for making the HOF in the future? It could be all the years in Detroit, all the accumulative runs to the end of the season were the best thing that could've moved him eventually over the top.

It's hard to believe he'll ever make it now unless the Bulls reach and win at least one Championship. If you're already as wealthy as he is, and was about to be either way (Detroit or Chicago) is 11M the amount you sack the potential of maybe making the HOF for?

Apparently it was for Ben."

So it goes, in a fit of emotion, for a few dollars more you find your self getting pulled for Sweetney. Instead of becoming the team that should, you become part of a team of wood. Dead wood.

Instead of riding the locomotive built around your rails into the NBA Hall of Fame. You lose your steam and find yourself and possibly your entire legend off rail, down the bank and mired in creek mud.

Say it ain't so Joe.

Big Ben in his prime was a monster. Our monster.

In Chicago, with it's storied stockyards, once the nations butcher, the only thing getting gutted this year is the legend of Big Ben.

Pass the Sweetney and hold the gravy..

Wow!! Exactly what I was thinking. Sometimes the other side looks greener until you get to that other side. I have seen a couple of games that the Bulls have played in now and Big Ben just doesn't like like himself. His better days are behind him that is clear but I think he underestimated his front courtmates Tay and Sheed who probably masked his shortcomings and his declining skill set.

Can't say that I'm not slightly happy to see Big Ben struggling over at his new team but it's early in the season and his role which was pretty set with the Pistons is not quite there with the Bulls. Ben is a sensitive soul and this must be really eating him up to be benched so early in the season. The Pistons have struggled without him on the defensive end but they are slowly coming round to playing better D (I'm looking at you Sheed) so life goes on. One thing for sure Ben isn't going to get the gong and all that loving from the Bulls fans, so I hope he enjoys his millions but something tells me that doesn't necessarily bring you happiness.

I'll go with BBeen was sick, wounded whatever. He's not dead yet. I know he doesn't plan to go LB and steal the money. Let's not forget his brother was 86'd from the Palace.
...Strongest non-move Flip-twitcher has made to date.

Hate to say I told everybody so but..... Greed is the seed for Destruction. [sign]WELCOME TO DETROIT CITY[/sign]

i believe that it's too early to pass any definitive judgments on the results of ben's signing with chicago. on the pistons side, it seems the team clearly underestimated his importance and is only now beginning to locate the combos and schemes that might lead to consistent success later in the season. on the chicago side, it makes sense to me that both ben and the rest of the squad are going to need time to make similar adjustments and their long road trip probably doesn't help. i think the important thing for both clubs is to recognize where they are right now: adjusting to a big change. If they do that, they are in a much better position to adjust intelligently and to avoid drastic over-reactions.

A drastic over reaction is pulling Ben for Sweetney. Plus it's questionably an insult leveled at Ben from the spitfire Skiles. Chicago was over rated and over hyped by the media going in. You slam the oven door and the cake drops.

Big Ben hopped the wrong train and all the adjusting in the world isn't going to take into Championship junction..

Oh absolutativiably. Can I offer you a 3-11.

I wanted chitcago to suck, but i didn't want it to be Ben sucking so bad. Just like LB, he may be gone after the season. his contract was front loaded so they can move him easy. We'll pick him up right after all star break.

Maybe we can package 30-MIl, Delfino, and Murray

Perhaps Skiles was trying to motivate Ben by sitting him. I think Ben will bounce back with an inspired performance. I'm still glad Joe D let him walk, though.

I have to agree with this theory. If Ben is totally washed up, I don't think he would have been able to grab 16 boards in the previous game. He may not be what he was in 2004, but he isn't washed up, either.

I expect Ben to explode either tonight or as soon as his biceps problem is gone. Sometimes he needs bad games to turn into his last shift- and THAT surely was a bad game.

Ben is not the problem in Chicago.........Skiles is..........i can't stand Skiles.....he acts as though he invented the game of basketball. I wish Ben was still a Piston. I root against Chicago because of michael jordan....and now because of skiles..........i hope ben improves his game, but i want chicago to lose and fire skiles. GO PISTONS!!!!!!!!!

from ESPN

Ben Wallace was the premier free-agent acquisition this offseason, but the Bulls and their $60 million man are off to a rocky start.Bulls coach Scott Skiles pulled Wallace only 2:02 after tip-off on Saturday because the center broke a team rule prohibiting the wearing of headbands.
A number of assistant coaches spoke with the player on the bench, but he waited until only 2:41 remained in the first quarter before removing the headband. Skiles put him back in the game, but Wallace put the headband back on before the beginning of the second half and was not allowed to start. He relented again midway through the quarter and was inserted in the game.
This latest drama comes on the heels of Wallace going scoreless with no rebounds in only 19 minutes in a loss to the Sixers on Friday night. Skiles was asked if Wallace's attitude worried him.
“No,” he told the paper after the game. “I don't know why. I'm just not.”
Wallace didn’t have much to say either.
“Ask Skiles,” he said. “Coach makes the decisions. I just play.”
Everyone isn't taking these actions in stride, however, especially considering that the Bulls' win over the Knicks on Saturday was their first and only victory on a seven-game road trip. The Bulls held a team meeting after the contest.
“We want to make sure everybody is on the same page,” Kirk Hinrich told the Tribune. “Hopefully we will be. Ben wants to win just as much as anybody on the team. He has a track record. He has won a lot of games in this league. He has a championship. We’re glad to have him. It's just something we need to work out.”

That damn 'malcontent' headband! :nerd2: