http://www.detnews.com/article/20090807/SPORTS0102/908070425/Pistons-re-sign-Big-Ben

:we:

I'll say it again: he's going to be much better than people are expecting.

His impact will be like the second coming... of Dale Davis.

I still expect him to start at some point. His defensive IQ is too good for him not to.

His impact will be like the second coming... of Dale Davis.


He started last year on a 66-win team, playing out of position no less. I'm fairly certain he will be a major contributor on this team.

i just hope he can stay healthy. if he can, then i would agree 100% with you.

This should make this year more fun at least

This should make this year more fun at least

I agree with Glan

Hopefully, Ben can still win the opening tap more often than not.

He started last year on a 66-win team, playing out of position no less. I'm fairly certain he will be a major contributor on this team.

If he can bring us the same 2.9 pts and 6.5 rebounds he delivered for Cleveland, the sky's the limit. Oh well, at least the price was right.

As I said before, he was playing out of position, and he was competing with LeBron and Z for boards. I'd expect both his minutes and rebounds to go up here.

I'll say it again: he's going to be much better than people are expecting.
So he's going to play?
He won't be any good. Worth the contract for his presence on the team, but not on the court.

His impact will be like the second coming... of Dale Davis.

I found this post particularly funny.

I'm down. The contract is right, and nobody can honestly say someone better is on the roster. I hope he can put up respectable numbers, and if nothing else I still have the jersey.

I'm down. The contract is right, and nobody can honestly say someone better is on the roster. I hope he can put up respectable numbers, and if nothing else I still have the jersey.

I bet it's pretty lonely, without another jersey to keep it company.........

BTW... how old are you now...after wednesday. And quit lying!

Finally official and it's good to see.

Having him makes me feel a bit better about our big men, despite the misgivings many have about Ben.

We've now got Ben, Kwame, Maxiell and Wilcox around "Super" Nova. If Charlie can handle his business we'll be fine.

I'm more concerned about issues in the backcourt.

Finally official and it's good to see.

Having him makes me feel a bit better about our big men, despite the misgivings many have about Ben.

We've now got Ben, Kwame, Maxiell and Wilcox around "Super" Nova. If Charlie can handle his business we'll be fine.

I'm more concerned about issues in the backcourt.

good one!!!

And right on cue, Sam Smith chimes in with a report on Ben's lack of leadership ability

best signing of the offseason, welcome home Big Ben!

it was ok for him to take Chicagos money, it was his only big contract, i am over that, dont forget he was our best/2nd best player and the backbone of our team for 5-6 years for the MLE, he was one of the mayor bargains in the league, and was in fact vastly underpayed every year he played for the Pistons

Ben Wallace's effectiveness (if healthy) is unknown. He's at his best when the PF next to him is tune with him defensively and good enough on offense to demand a double team. He hasn't had that since his first stint here.

well, offensively at least V is a good compliment, because he will on occasion demand a double-team.

Defensively, he's going to need a massive improvement.

I don't buy this 5th big man stuff either. I think Ben was told he'd have a chance to compete for playing time, but with no promises. He took the buyout in Phoenix (and ended up forfeiting a little over $2.5 million) because he was nothing but an expiring contract.

I wouldn't be surprised if he were the starting C and played 20 minutes a night.

Me neither. He played out of position at the 4 in Cleveland, but his time in chicago playing center was still pretty productive. Not nearly worth $16 million, but much better than 1.8.

It's been way too weird seeing Ben in a jersey that isn't Detroit's.

WB, BW.

Rumor has it that Stuck is going to give up the 3 (so what's new?)

Rumor has it that Stuck is going to give up the 3 (so what's new?)

But not the 1.

The more applicable question is whether or not Big Ben will don the Fro.

The more applicable question is whether or not Big Ben will don the Fro.

I believe his wife makes that decision.

To Fro, or not to Fro,
that is the question

Classy move by Stuckey if he agrees to give up the 3 for Ben. This kid has done all the right things since he arrived in Detroit, and though he hasn't always played up to his potential, he hasn't screwed up once. He's assumed a leadership role, and I think the vets and the newbies are going to respect even more, if Glan's report is indeed true.

Anyone's gonna guess how many co-captains for this year?

^Conservatively, I'd guess two (Rip and Tayshaun). If forced to guess the maximum, I'd say as many as four (Rip, Tay, Ben, and Stuckey).

Four captains is ABSURD, BTW. I'm not advocating, just saying that I've seen stranger things.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=312708

Big Ben back in Detroit: Ben Wallace agreed to rejoin the Pistons this week, returning three years after signing the $60 million free-agent deal with the Bulls. This would have been Wallace's final season with that contract, but he agreed to a buyout with Phoenix.

I doubt if Wallace ever wanted to leave Detroit in the first place, but he was encouraged by relatives to take the bigger payday. Once he got here, I think Wallace tried his best, but he was clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. Then he just couldn't keep up the pace of being a high-energy, undersized center and his body broke down.

Wallace doesn't figure to spend much time on the court this season. Will his mentoring help turn Charlie Villanueva and Chris Wilcox into all-stars? I doubt the Bulls should be worried.

Makes sense, I guess... players need to learn to say no.

Big Ben took the biggest offer and I'm extremely happy that he did.

Reason #1 is that he wasn't worth that contract.
Reason #2 is because the dude was seriously underpaid for years.

And now that he's back we're all a lot happier...

Who knew signing Ben Wallace to the minimum would have that effect?

The future wife is thrilled that my Big Ben jersey can come down off the wall now. She bought it for me as a Christmas gift right before Ben bolted to Chicago, and I only wore it a small handful of times. I might have to wear it and rock the fro to a game or two this season.

If healthy, he could have the type of infections play that Birdman does for 15-20 minutes a night. I could see Ben starting for that reason (hoping guys like Charlie play some D). I also don't think you can have Ben and Max on the floor at the same time.

I don't think he has a ton left besides leadership, but the price is certainly worth it. If all he does is make Charlie play some D it will be well worth it.

I didn't follow Sheed's career early on, did he play defense his first few years? I know he was a decent defender before being paired with Ben, but did he play any D at all in his first few years?

I can certainly see Ben starting a bunch of the home games, if nothing else. >wink<

The future wife is thrilled that my Big Ben jersey can come down off the wall now. She bought it for me as a Christmas gift right before Ben bolted to Chicago, and I only wore it a small handful of times. I might have to wear it and rock the fro to a game or two this season.

niceeeee

:langlois:

Welcome Back
Maybe not the same player, but the same plain-spoken Big Ben

by Keith Langlois

Rodney Stuckey gets to keep his No. 3. John Kuester figures to be a coach that players find easy to approach. And Ben Gordon shares more than a first name with Ben Wallace.
If the Pistons aren’t getting back the same player, they’re getting back the same no-nonsense Big Ben.

The second Ben to sign with the Pistons as a free agent this summer was much more comfortable talking about things unrelated to his decision to leave the Pistons three years ago for Chicago and his state of mind in the interim as he met the media upon officially re-upping on Wednesday with the franchise that propelled him to NBA success and reaped the rewards of his boundless competitiveness.

If the numerous reports of Wallace feeling adrift and unfulfilled in his time with Chicago and Cleveland since leaving the Pistons as a free agent in July 2006 for the Bulls’ four-year, $60 million offer are credible, you’d never have guessed by what he said on Wednesday.

While acknowledging how much he loved Detroit the first time around, he wouldn’t come close to expressing regret for leaving. “Not at all. These last couple of years were a great experience for me. I had an opportunity to play with some different guys, some different systems. (I) got to learn my way around a couple of different cities. It was a great experience.”

But Ben Wallace was always defined by actions, not words, and leaving $4 million on the table to be free of Phoenix – viewed as one of the league’s most desirable destinations among NBA players – for the chance to return to Detroit speaks loudly.

“This is the best fit for a 35-year-old Ben Wallace,” he said. “I had it great here, let’s not kid ourselves. It was a great place for me. The fans were great, the organization was great, teammates were great. It was just one of those things – I felt like it was time for change. And coming back here – looking at the league, looking at different rosters – it just seemed like the best place for me, the best opportunity for me.”

He cracked the door with the “I had it great here” line, so somebody pushed it open a little further, asking if he perhaps learned just how good he had it by being elsewhere these past three seasons. Still no biting.

“I always appreciated (the Pistons),” he said. “I had it good other places. But I always appreciated what the organization and what the fans did for me.”

Ben Wallace hasn’t ever been terribly comfortable talking about himself, which fits with his Southern rural roots and the image he came to symbolize of a franchise that was rooted in blue-collar work ethic. What he seemed to warm to in the media give and take was the idea of getting back to work and helping the Pistons resume their station among the NBA elite that Wallace and his sidekicks, Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton representing the holdovers, established.

“I’m excited to have this opportunity to come back here,” he said. “My career really took a turn for the best when I came here and now, to have an opportunity to come back here, is an exciting feeling.”

Wallace deflected suggestions he was coming back to a different role than the one filled over six years that included four Defensive Player of the Year awards by, in effect, saying the only role he’s ever filled is someone who gives whatever he has for however long he’s out there.

“My role is never going to change – I’m always going to go out and do what I can do to help this team. Any way I can help this team, I’m willing to do that. That was my approach to the game when I first came here. Whatever I can do to help this team win, I was willing to do it. Same thing now. My hair may not be as long” – indeed, there is no ’fro to fear any longer, Wallace’s hair cropped within a quarter-inch of his scalp – “or as dark as it was when I first got here, but still the same role.”

Wallace is returning to a team that could be at a stage of development like the one the Pistons found themselves in his third season of the first go-around, the 2002-03 Pistons that experienced a similar roster overhaul. That was the summer Joe Dumars signed Chauncey Billups as a free agent, traded for Rip Hamilton and drafted Tayshaun Prince. Of one thing Wallace is certain: There is no parallel to this Pistons team and the one he joined in 2000-01.

“This team now and where it was … I think it’s night and day. I definitely think this is still a playoff team. … But it really doesn’t add up until you get out there and play the games. We can talk about where we’re at and where we were, none of that matters until you get out on the court and show what type of team you’re going to be when you step out there on the floor.”

He wondered, as last season ended after enduring a broken leg and back pain, if he had the same desire to keep stepping out there. He came “very close” to retiring he said, but while he was examining the issue from all sides, he continued to get in his work in the gym so that the decision wouldn’t be made for him. When Wallace took the buyout from Phoenix, Prince beat Hamilton to the punch as both made their recruiting pitches for him to bring his career full circle.

He’ll acknowledge, grudgingly, that he isn’t likely to have the same consistently dynamic impact on games these days, but neither is he concerned that Pistons fans who recall only that player will be disappointed by what they’re getting this time around.

“The respect I had when I was here was great. The cheers I had when I was here was great. The boos I had when I wasn’t here, it still was great – it lets you know that people do miss you. Whether people want me to come out and be the type of player I was when I left, that’s not going to change. For every minute I’m on the floor, I’m still going to give everything I’ve got. People’s perceptions, that really doesn’t bother me at all.”

As for Wallace’s perceptions, here’s a few:

•On what number he’ll wear: “I might just add up the front and the back and take whatever is left.” Not sure what that means. No. 6, perhaps – three plus three? Flip Murray was the last Pistons player to wear No. 6. Terry Mills was the most accomplished to wear it to date. Asked if he was going to pester Rodney Stuckey to give up No. 3 – it’s not clear if the league would allow him to switch numbers this late in the summer – Wallace grinned and said, “Nah.”

•On John Kuester, who was an assistant with the Pistons in the 2003-04 championship season and who was on Cleveland’s staff during Wallace’s recent run with the Cavs: “John Kuester is one of those guys who is not a big screamer, not going to yell and get in guys’ faces, but is going to talk to players and talk his way through whatever situation presents itself. He’s very consistent at what he does … a guy you can always go out and talk to, whether you’re having a problem with him or whatever. He makes it easy for a player to approach him and that’s good, especially in this league.”

•On Ben Gordon, his teammate for 1½ seasons with the Bulls: “Ben Gordon works on his game 24/7. He’s one of those guys where you leave and go home and come back and you have to pry him out of the gym. The work he puts in on his game is unbelievable. When I had the opportunity to see that, even as a young player, you really don’t see that a lot in this league. He’s one of those guys that will go at it all day, every day, if you let him.”

Mybe he can start juicing? Old ben + HGH = quality??

One interesting thing for me (other than Prince ringing him first):


“Ben Gordon works on his game 24/7.

He’s one of those guys where you leave and go home and come back and you have to pry him out of the gym.

The work he puts in on his game is unbelievable.

He’s one of those guys that will go at it all day, every day, if you let him.”

I seriously doubt Ben Wallace would give Ben Gordon that kind of praise if it wasn't true.

Maybe he should spend a little more of that time working on defense.

One interesting thing for me (other than Prince ringing him first):



I seriously doubt Ben Wallace would give Ben Gordon that kind of praise if it wasn't true.

Yeah, but Ben Gordon's work ethic is no big secret, either. He's well known around the league for being a practice legend.

Kuester should set up that dribbling/passing exhibit that they use at the all-star skills competition and let Gordon run through that while he's at the gym all day, every day.

We didn't sign him to play PG Zekyl.

He's here to score the ball and make sure we don't go 5 fucking minutes without a FG. I am so sick of seeing us be shit on offense. Can't wait to see what Johnny Q can do with the firepower he has.

Defense? We'll hold our own. And that's all you can ask with the bent refs

Ben will wear #6

Wilcox will wear #9

69!