Ben called out the starters with the above statement and he felt they weren't playing up to their capabilities in the game against Orlando after he made the statement.One frustration Ben Wallace will voice loud and clear, though, is with the way the Pistons are playing. Though they are winning, and though they played a mostly solid game at Miami on Thursday, he is bothered by what he calls, "garbage basketball", particularly early in games.
...This is hardly a new rant from Ben Wallace. He went off on the same issue earlier in the season and it helped sparked the team's 37-5 start.
Sounds like Ben was more pissed with the players than with Flip, that makes more sense to me than being pissed with Flip.
Captain had to get the attention of the crew in a big way, seems to be working against Indiana.
Nope, na ah, no way. I cannot excuse, or defend his actions. Regardless of his intentions, you do not leave your teamates stranded out there by refusing to go out and play.
And in reality, the only person I see playing with more energy and determination than any other game lately, is Ben himself, not his teamates.
Ben is the one that needed to step up, not the other guys.
I see what you're saying but I think Ben feels like the players are abandoning him out there or at least not playing with the intensity that they are capable of.
I don't defend his actions but Flip apparentlly understood his frustations were leveled at the players and not at him. Just my take on it to this point.
This is one of the better efforts (along with the Dallas game) that I've seen from the Pistons in quite some time.
You all are making waaaaaaay too much out of this. happens. Tomorrow is another day. 1 week from now, you wont even remember it.
Thats how much it "affected" the team. Its something out of nothing.
22rbs, (9 offensive) .............. Doesn't seem like a problem to me!
While I have hated the number of sluggish starts we've had lately, I can't support Ben's positions too much. IMO Ben has been the only lacking in the opening quarters. I haven't seen the aggressive play. I've missed his tenacity.
IMO todays game is a perfect example. He came out w/ something to prove...and lo and behold he grabs 22 boards....(his first 20+ game this year)....and we win by 20+ points.
Prior to todays game, Ben has averaged 8.4 rebounds in his last 5 games. Thats unacceptable.
I don't think he has any room to be calling out the other players based on their and his performances.
As I said before, he ed up...but it's not that big of a deal. No need for anyone (including the media who mentioned it like 12 times during the game) to overreact.
In post game commetns Ben actually said something like.....I don't look at the past. I just try to learn from my mistakes........it's not the best of apologies I ever heard, but I guess it's something!
I seriously lost all respect for Ben after this ! what a ing moron!
That's what I mean by OVERREACTING.....
The dude lost his temper. Big deal. Everybody loses their cool every once and a while and does that is uncharacteristic. I have not lost any respect for him, I do believe he may have cost his team the game by not coming back in just because of the impact he has, but I still respect the dude.
Well you are right about that. Although if you really think about it, it is a big deal in the sense that it very unprofessional of him to do so, especially considering he's the captain or whatever. But, I don't think it's that big of a deal...won't affect the Pistons chances of winning or anything.
When it comes to my favorite Pistons, Joe Dumars and Ben Wallace are one and one-A. I think both of them carry themselves with a lot of dignity and compe iveness.
I think this is an interesting problem that appears to be developing. This is the third incident that seems out of character for Ben Wallace, and it's not about Big Ben. Joe D has been backing him. This has been about Flip Saunders. I think that in order for Big Ben and Flip to co-exist, the Pistons are going to have to hire a defensive coordinator. There's been a lot of talk about their offense this season, and that's because the emphasis of the coaching staff has changed for the first time in Wallace's career with the Pistons. Even George Irvine was big and would bench guys if they didn't play defense. It's why Billly Owens and John Wallace couldn't get minutes over Mike Curry.
Also, I think that Big Ben and Chauncey respect each other, but they may not like each other a lot. Billups usually refers to Wallace as 'quiet.' Chauncey said we had a 'good season no matter the outcome' of the Pistons-Magic series after game 4 when Detroit was down 3-1. Ben Wallace responded by saying "They can go ahead and think we had a good season. We didn't."
Having a coach that is so close to Chauncey may be causing some problems for Wallace. I'm speculating, but if I had to choose two Pistons that have indicated they are not all that close, although it doesn't ruin their relationship on-the-court, it's probably those two guys.
But when I say that, it's not like I am calling them the next "Kobe-Shaq." Magic and Kareem didn't get along to the tune of 5 championships, eight conference les, and appearing in every conference finals of the 1980s. They can co-exist and respect each other because they are mature human beings who realize you don't always click with everybody on the team.
This is about minutes. Ben Wallace has a Iverson-like at ude towards being off the court. He sprained his ankle in 2001, with the season already deciding the Pistons were eliminated from the playoffs, he played on the injury even when George Irvine ordered him to sit down. It took him six games to come back from an MCL sprain that keeps most guys out 1-3 months. He was pissed off about the appendicitis (sp?) he suffered from in the 2004 offseason because it meant he had to have surgery, something he has tried to avoid. The man doesn't like missing time, and the most of the games he has missed have had to do with deaths in the family. In his time with the Pistons he has missed two games to losing his Grandmother (April, 2001), two games to losing his mother (February, 2003), and four games to losing his oldest brother (November, 2004). He had just come back from that last death when he was suspended six games for pushing Ron Artest.
I guarantee that his reaction was due to Flip managing for the playoffs and not for trying to win the game with Orlando. I guarantee that ontop of the fatigue and stress, that is what set him off.
Let's also remember the contract that Ben Wallace is playing on, one that pays him 5.6 million in guaranteed money, and carrots for blocks and rebounds, defensive player of the years, and team wins. I'm guessing at what the specifics are. But he's a very goal-oriented person, and that cuts down on the monotomy of the season.
That being said, I think Wallace reacted poorly and should be punished accordingly - fines, a mild suspension - whatever the team sees as appropriate.
Ah, I think the real question is will Big Ben pull this when it counts - during a playoff game .
I never heard of any remote probs between Billups and Ben...
He came back very strong today perhaps letting some frustrations out. I keep wondering why this story has not gotten more play=perhaps writer overblew as some suggest above??
See, I feel just the opposite. I cannot beleive that every question today during the game was on this incident. This is biggest NON story there is.
IMO It's already way to far overblown for such a minor event.
I see, so he is pissed at his teammates for playing "grabage basketball" so he decides he won't come back in to finish the game??
WHAT THE IS THAT??????
It sucks that he did it, but I'm sure it was an isolated incident and won't happen again. Ben is a team first guy; he just obviously let his frustrations rule in that situation.
Wow. Everything is on cruise control for the Pistons and Big Ben pulls this? If this is a calculated move, I think it's idiotic on his part. It's a huge risk to dent the ego and confidence of your NEW head coach trying to live up to championship expectations.
I can just see Flip walking the sideline talking to himself.
"What is Ben's body language like? Is he gonna be pissed at me if I take him out of the game? How about Chancey? Should I tell him that was a bad shot? Jeez, Sheed, another tech? I guess I will just keep it to myself."
He's already setup to be the scapegoat.
the media is a joke....
Wallace does this and he gets a an excuse ridden story with no hate but when Melo did this one time, the media was all over it and hating on him and questioning his at ude............
no suprise though, the media has double standards with alot of things. I guess they just wanted to make their 'golden boy' Lebron look even better
good to see that Big ben responded with a monster game on the boards
yeah, its funny how its never the players fault. I think Ben should be benched for at least 2 games to teach a lesson. Although I'm not sure they can afford that. Maybe he knows this.
Calm down my friend that's just speculation on my part since no one in the know is talking..
The players run that team. Flip Saunders is there because someone has to stand on the sidelines and lobby for calls.
I'm not mad at you, I'm dissapointed at Ben
Carmelo refused to re-enter the game because his teammates questioned his shot selection. Ben refused to re-enter the game because he didn't want to be removed at the time he was.
Which is worse? I will let ya'll decide.
be intersting to see what happends
ben is a fa
will it be him or the coach?
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