ducks
06-03-2006, 10:58 AM
MIAMI -- The Pistons' season ended on Friday in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, and with it, Ben Wallace's tenure as a Detroit icon might have closed as well.
Wallace will be an unrestricted free agent July 1, giving any team in the league with a nice wad of salary cap space a chance to make him a deal that takes him away from Detroit.
Asked after the loss what he thinks his future holds, Wallace said: "I'm about to go jump back on this plane with my teammates, and we're going home. That's the immediate future."
But pushed to look a little deeper into the future, he said what he had been saying all season, albeit with an added note of uncertainty.
"I don't know," Wallace said. "I guess we'll find out with a little time. Everybody knows where my heart is at. I don't have to say anything for people to realize where I want to be."
The question will be whether the Pistons want him back at the price he might command on the open market.
Wallace, who won his fourth defensive player of the year award, will be 32 in September, meaning a max contract of six years would lock him up until he's 38. That's not something Detroit wants to do.
Teams such as Chicago and Atlanta might push the price and amount of years on the deal into an area the Pistons don't want to go.
If so, it will be up to Wallace and his new powerful agent, Arn Tellem, to decide what is really more important -- inking his final deal of his career for as much as possible or staying in Detroit for another crack at a championship, even if it nets him only a three- or four-year contract.
One thing is certain -- the players think they need Wallace back if they want to stay at the elite level for at least another season.
"We'll be fine," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "The whole thing is, we have to get Ben back. He is the Pistons. ... Our whole thing this summer is we have to get Ben back."
Wallace laments 'wasted season'
MIAMI -- The Pistons' locker room, normally a boisterous place, was as quiet as a state funeral.
Players shuffled around in silence.
Reporters lingered around lockers in silence.
And Pistons center Ben Wallace, not one to usually make a lot of noise, was also very quiet.
Friday's 95-78 Game 6 loss to the Heat was painful, ending the season on a sour note. The Pistons were alone in defeat in AmericanAirlines Arena, as everybody celebrated around them outside the locker room.
"We can't really take too much from it," Wallace said, referencing the Pistons being the best team in the league during the regular season. "We came out, we did some good things, but when we were supposed to be great, we didn't get up for the challenge.
"It's one of those things. My answer is, we said coming into this season that anything less than a championship, then it's been a wasted season for us. So that's what we're looking at right now."
Wallace had seven points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes in Game 6, never really providing an impact.
The pain of the loss showed in Wallace's voice, as he nearly mumbled in his answers.
"Man, life's too short to be worried about every little thing," Wallace said. "You just stay focused and continue to move on, regardless of the situation. You just come out and know you just played your best basketball and be prepared for whatever they throw at you next year. Just be ready to play.
"You can't beat yourself up about what if this is your last run, or what if this or that. It's basketball. It's a game. You can't beat yourself up too much because you live and you learn."
Wallace faced a tough task all series, taking a pummeling from Shaquille O'Neal. Things were not any better in Game 6, as O'Neal had 28 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.
There was a small yellow post-it note stuck to O'Neal's locker room chair before the game, telling him to stay out of foul trouble and to "steamroll" Wallace.
"You know, everybody from this league likes to play from the front," Wallace said. "When you're in front, you find ways to get it done. Know that you've got a team down, you find that extra energy, that extra boost to get it done. That's what he did."
Wallace now heads into a very busy and uncharted summer. His wife, Chanda, is due to deliver their first daughter in late July.
And there's that little matter of a contract negotiation with the Pistons.
He refused to answer the question the first four times it was asked. He finally offered a small glimpse.
He recently hired high-powered agent Arn Tellem to represent him, something that Wallace said shouldn't signal a contentious sign.
"I think everybody knows where my heart's at. I don't have to say anything for people to realize where I want to be," Wallace said. "I hired an agent. I needed an agent, that's all that is. Everybody needs somebody to talk for them every now and again, they get tired of hearing your voice."
Some might take this loss as a sign the Pistons could be through.
Wallace refuses to think that the Pistons' strong four-year run in the playoffs might be over.
"When you come out and you lose, like we lost, people are going to say what they want to say," Wallace said. "But we don't pay that any attention."
Wallace will be an unrestricted free agent July 1, giving any team in the league with a nice wad of salary cap space a chance to make him a deal that takes him away from Detroit.
Asked after the loss what he thinks his future holds, Wallace said: "I'm about to go jump back on this plane with my teammates, and we're going home. That's the immediate future."
But pushed to look a little deeper into the future, he said what he had been saying all season, albeit with an added note of uncertainty.
"I don't know," Wallace said. "I guess we'll find out with a little time. Everybody knows where my heart is at. I don't have to say anything for people to realize where I want to be."
The question will be whether the Pistons want him back at the price he might command on the open market.
Wallace, who won his fourth defensive player of the year award, will be 32 in September, meaning a max contract of six years would lock him up until he's 38. That's not something Detroit wants to do.
Teams such as Chicago and Atlanta might push the price and amount of years on the deal into an area the Pistons don't want to go.
If so, it will be up to Wallace and his new powerful agent, Arn Tellem, to decide what is really more important -- inking his final deal of his career for as much as possible or staying in Detroit for another crack at a championship, even if it nets him only a three- or four-year contract.
One thing is certain -- the players think they need Wallace back if they want to stay at the elite level for at least another season.
"We'll be fine," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "The whole thing is, we have to get Ben back. He is the Pistons. ... Our whole thing this summer is we have to get Ben back."
Wallace laments 'wasted season'
MIAMI -- The Pistons' locker room, normally a boisterous place, was as quiet as a state funeral.
Players shuffled around in silence.
Reporters lingered around lockers in silence.
And Pistons center Ben Wallace, not one to usually make a lot of noise, was also very quiet.
Friday's 95-78 Game 6 loss to the Heat was painful, ending the season on a sour note. The Pistons were alone in defeat in AmericanAirlines Arena, as everybody celebrated around them outside the locker room.
"We can't really take too much from it," Wallace said, referencing the Pistons being the best team in the league during the regular season. "We came out, we did some good things, but when we were supposed to be great, we didn't get up for the challenge.
"It's one of those things. My answer is, we said coming into this season that anything less than a championship, then it's been a wasted season for us. So that's what we're looking at right now."
Wallace had seven points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes in Game 6, never really providing an impact.
The pain of the loss showed in Wallace's voice, as he nearly mumbled in his answers.
"Man, life's too short to be worried about every little thing," Wallace said. "You just stay focused and continue to move on, regardless of the situation. You just come out and know you just played your best basketball and be prepared for whatever they throw at you next year. Just be ready to play.
"You can't beat yourself up about what if this is your last run, or what if this or that. It's basketball. It's a game. You can't beat yourself up too much because you live and you learn."
Wallace faced a tough task all series, taking a pummeling from Shaquille O'Neal. Things were not any better in Game 6, as O'Neal had 28 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks.
There was a small yellow post-it note stuck to O'Neal's locker room chair before the game, telling him to stay out of foul trouble and to "steamroll" Wallace.
"You know, everybody from this league likes to play from the front," Wallace said. "When you're in front, you find ways to get it done. Know that you've got a team down, you find that extra energy, that extra boost to get it done. That's what he did."
Wallace now heads into a very busy and uncharted summer. His wife, Chanda, is due to deliver their first daughter in late July.
And there's that little matter of a contract negotiation with the Pistons.
He refused to answer the question the first four times it was asked. He finally offered a small glimpse.
He recently hired high-powered agent Arn Tellem to represent him, something that Wallace said shouldn't signal a contentious sign.
"I think everybody knows where my heart's at. I don't have to say anything for people to realize where I want to be," Wallace said. "I hired an agent. I needed an agent, that's all that is. Everybody needs somebody to talk for them every now and again, they get tired of hearing your voice."
Some might take this loss as a sign the Pistons could be through.
Wallace refuses to think that the Pistons' strong four-year run in the playoffs might be over.
"When you come out and you lose, like we lost, people are going to say what they want to say," Wallace said. "But we don't pay that any attention."