Friday, May 11, 2007
What team are you on, again?
I put up the photo of Ben Wallace in a Pistons jersey because I don't want to look at him in a Bulls jersey anymore. Before last night's awful loss to the Pistons, Wallace arrived late to the United Center.
In a game that was described by everyone in Chicago (and elsewhere) as the Biggest Game of the Year for the Bulls, the captain of the team, the $60 million man, showed up late and offered an immediate distraction for the Bulls. And afterwards, he was anything but contrite about it when talking to the press.
"I don't care what people say. Go do what you do. I mean, I ain't got to explain myself to nobody. I'm not about to sit here and try to explain myself. That's the last thing I'm going to try to do."
The first thing he could try to do is play some better basketball. Aside from the amazing inarticulateness of his statement, I'm struck by his unbelievable attitude. What does he mean he doesn't have to explain himself to anyone? When you're the supposed veteran leader of the team, and you're making the most money of anyone on the team, you can show up on time for games. It's not hard. And if you make the mistake of being alte, at least pretend to be apologetic about it.
But he wasn't sorry. In fact, after the game (which saw the Bulls choke away a 19-point lead and get booed off their home floor) Wallace was seen in the tunnels hanging out with his former Pistons teammates, laughing and hugging and chatting it up. It's an obvious slap in the face to his teammates who has just lost a really tough game, and I'd be none too happy if I were in the Bulls locker room.
So what we're left with here is a 32-year old, 6-foot-9 center who has declining skills, a terrible attitude and probably still wishes he played for the Bulls' biggest rival. And he has three years left on a huge contract. Next year will probably be bad enough, but I have no idea if Wallace will be able to guard anyone or even get off the floor to grab a rebound by 2010. I don't even know if he'll want to. And if he doesn't want to exert any effort on the floor, who can make him try? Because he ain't got to explain himself to nobody. Which is probably OK, because no one can understand a damn word that comes out of his mouth anyway.
The Bulls are, partly because of Wallace's albatross contract, in a really tough spot for the next few years. John Paxson has constructed a very solid team -- but it's obviously a very flawed team, and that's been exposed by the Pistons. The Bulls rely totally on jump shots, the guards are too small and they have a hard time holding on to leads late in ballgames. The team is left with a core of Hinrich, Gordon, Deng and some other players, which is nice, but I'm not sure the Bulls can keep relying on internal improvements in order to win a championship.
As young as the team is, the window is going to be closing in the next year or two. And that's why I think Paxson needs to be making a move this summer to shake up the team a little bit. Some of that will depend on where the Knicks' lottery pick ends up, but I also don't think they can afford to be content with what they have. This series has made it very clear that what the Bulls have -- right now -- just isn't good enough.
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