It looked more and more like there was a possibility that Ben would leave the past week or so, and I was slowly starting to accept the inevitable, but I never thought it would happen so quickly. Ben obviously has some very deep resentment going towards someone(s) in this organization. Obviously Flip, but is that really enough to make him want to leave? Is there more to this story? What a horrible end. This could get very ugly.
I don't think Ben had any intention of staying here. Maybe he thought they (pistons org.) would show him something during negotiations to change his mind, and they didn't. He has been acting "off" and "unbenlike" all season, talking to the media, complaining, refusing the coach. They brushed it off as Ben being Ben. But that wasn't Ben. Ben was "blue collar" and a hard worker. Maybe it was just him sick of being ignored and taken for granted, a bit of a big head, a combination of things. You don't go to a rival's town THE FIRST DAY OF FREE AGENCY and have a "I want to stay with my team" mindset. Maybe that is the downfall of the "best 5 alive" You take these guys from the depths of the NBA and make them into the best players in the game, and they aren't used to it so they get big heads. Instead of 1 or 2 superstars/egos, you got 5. We thought these guys were unselfish and didn't care who got the glory, but that clearly isn't true. I'm not worried. I didn't feel we could win again with this group anyway. ECF caliber? Yeah, but not Finals worthy. This just accelerates the rebuilding process a bit. We had a 3 year chance, it's gone. Let's get back to work. I'll give Ben credit, it wasn't about the money, bravo Ben. I gotta respect that in all of this.
I just read the article that somebody wrote on espn... Here is the link right here... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2508742&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines
This is gonna be some crazy speculation... My first thought is... guess who will be hittin' the Bulls FA's next year. See where the Bulls are talkin' Chandler for Harrington?... damn, that's lethal
Cheer up. It is not the end of the world. My only concern is now Sheed. Will he become unglued if we start losing games to open the season or the team starts to get pounded on the glass. This could really blow up in our faces. Flip has shown me that he has no control of the team and can't make adjustments. Also could it be that Ben feels that the Bulls are in better shape(talent and coaching wise) to compete with the Heat and Cavs than our Pistons? I just don't see Ben jumping ship unless he fell out with not only Flip but his team mates as well.
SKLuck, the Bulls came to him (in Detroit). And Detroit's first offer was their Final offer. There is more to this story. Unfortunately the local beat writers are receiving their emails right now telling them how to spin this tomorrow. The reality is that cap wise, losing Ben sends us back to middle of the pack. We don't have ANY decent trade assets and basically the same free agent options all of the other contending teams do.
There should be a lot of teams that should waive some players in the summer though, right? Because their contracts are to big?
Hold on. There is a lot more to come from this story. Dumars is planning something. Why could there not be a S&t for Chandler? It makes sense for both sides. Chic does not have to take on PJ Brown for a season that way. If not that then something is in the works. Fact is neither side seemed all that enthused about Ben returning which tells me something is in the works. The 48mil deal was for prosperity, probably never intended to actually be honored. Who knows - lets see. When the team talks about being bored and unable to give it 100% in the post-season I guess something had to change. For now on we will know. When an unrestriced FA visits another team on the 1st day of free agency its not for his health.
Are you talking about that thing last year like when the Mavs waived Finley? That was a one time amnesty thing.
Sheed won't want to do anything for Flip next season. We've changed from contenders to pretenders. Pistons will be eliminated in the second round unless Joe does something amazing. This will be a great 4th of July
Check my article. Situation = NO BEN (#3) :( http://www.pistonsforum.com/pistons-basketball-articles/3217-pistons-payroll-2006-part-2-a.html Hmm, I will update the image in about 10 minutes. Gotta dump Delk.
Ok, it's official: From Blakley: Ben is out of here ... Multiple league sources confirmed Monday night that Ben Wallace was going to take Chicago's four-year deal and leave the Pistons with nothing in return. His decision to leave Detroit came down to money and respect, pure and simple. To him, the Pistons didn't pony up enough money for him to return, and that, to him, showed a lack of respect. He understands Detroit could have offered him more than the four-year, $48 million contract they did but chose not to. A league source also confirmed that Wallace was even more upset with Detroit's offer when free-agent forward Peja Stojakovic landed a five-year, $64 million deal from the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, a player Wallace was rated higher than by just about every list of free agents.
Wow! nice chart! You can subtract maurice evans and probably delks salary to since they won't be coming back, which gives a little more money...
Here's what I think about the teal comparisons. The teal era was so depressing because of what it followed--an incredibly thrilling run, led by the smallest but most intense player on the floor. I just wasn't ready for the Bad Boys to fall apart so quickly. Then we had an endless succession of faceless coaches, uninspired play, and a complete failure to build around the brilliance of Grant Hill in his prime. I'm not ready for this team to fall apart either, but what I hear sounds an awful lot like[MELODRAMA]the window of opportunity slamming shut[/MELODRAMA]. That said, I don't think we're really entering the Teal II era. We still have the 3 current All-Stars, Tay, and Dyess. But they've played a lot of extra games the last few seasons, and now they've lost their emotional leader. What we need now is what Ben was when he first arrived: a young guy who turns out to be way better than everyone thought, who brings a hunger and challenges his teammates to play harder. Is this a guy that Joe can find this year? Even better, is it someone who is already on the roster? If not, it might be time to rebuild.
I need a drink, but I gave it up 19 years ago. "Big Ben made me do it" will not fly at my weekly AA meeting. What about Fear the Fro at the Palace? This sucks.
