Pistons fans watching the end of Friday’s loss to the Magic may have wondered why Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace played so little down the stretch. Getting the bench some action is one thing, but putting a cold Jason Maxiell and Dale Davis on the court for the first time all night in the closing minutes of a winnable game is another. Unfortunately, as many of us initially assumed, that wasn’t just a quirky substitution decision by Flip Saunders.
Rasheed Wallace was troubled with minor back spasms, so his absence is explainable. As for Ben, his absence was a different story, and one that puts the first stain on his otherwise impeccable reputation as a Piston. Dana Gauruder of the Oakland Press appears to have been the first to relate the situation, including in his game recap on Saturday this telling quote:
Ben Wallace didn’t play the last 7:57 of the game, apparently because he was unhappy about being removed at that point and didn’t want to go back in. Rasheed was replaced with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter and didn’t return.
Coach Flip Saunders said his frontcourt duo wasn’t feeling well physically.
“Both Sheed and Ben said they couldn’t go,” Saunders said. “Rather than let them chance it, we let them sit.”
When Ian showed me the quote, I was a bit confused. There was no mention of the fact that either Wallace missed the last portion of the game in the Associated Press recap, and there was only a vague reference in the Detroit Free Press, one that made it sound like it was more or less Saunders’ decision.
Was Gauruder confused? Did he misinterpret the whole thing? Unfortunately, “no” and “no.” Chris McCosky finally explains in today’s Detroit News:
Sometimes you snap. Even the great ones snap.
An 82-game schedule is as much a mental grind as it is a physical one. Over a three-week span, you’ve had to knock heads and elbows and knees twice with Shaquille O’Neal. You are playing against the biggest, strongest and fastest of your profession — Miami, Indiana, New Jersey, Dallas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Phoenix — one after the next.
You get weary. Your body aches and your nerves get frayed. Things that used to roll right off you are starting to get under your skin.
You are, after all, human. You snap.
On Friday night, Ben Wallace snapped. With 7:57 left in the fourth quarter of a 89-87 loss in Orlando, and the Pistons trailing by eight points, coach Flip Saunders took Wallace out of the game. Wallace was clearly peeved. Never mind that he had played all 15 minutes of the second half to that point, he stormed to the end of the bench uttering a torrent of unprintables directed at Saunders.
Saunders explained the move to Wallace, who waved him off.
A couple of minutes later, Saunders wanted to put him back into the game. Wallace didn’t move. He wouldn’t even look at Saunders. With the Pistons back in contention and threatening to steal a victory, Saunders again summoned Wallace.
Again, Wallace waved him off and stayed seated at the bench, not even getting up to join the huddle during timeouts.
“He said he couldn’t go,” was all Saunders would say after the game.
First and foremost, I’m shocked. Ben Wallace is a self-made player whose hard work and determination helped him go from being a fringe player simply trying to stay in the league to a perennial All-Star and the face of an entire franchise. Never, ever in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that he’d pull a Scottie Pippen or a Carmelo Anthony by refusing to re-enter a game, that the Pistons would be just as well off in crunch time (for even one night) had they invested $50 in an Inflatable Defender rather than $7 million this year on the real thing.
As a fan, I’d like to concoct some kind of explanation in my head such as Wallace realizing he wasn’t playing well and simply deciding to sit out the remainder of the game for the betterment of the team[1] but even I have a hard time believing that. Instead, if everything we’ve read is true, it’s clear that Wallace made a mistake — an out-of-character mistake, sure — but a selfish mistake nonetheless.
What shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle, though, is how Saunders handled the situation in the press, or more accurately, how Saunders didn’t handle the situation. He could have easily called out Wallace after the game, telling everyone how he twice refused a request to get back into the game. Instead, he refused to directly address the issue, leaving most of us in the dark. Most fans aren’t even learning about this until two days after the fact. [2]
Wallace was clearly annoyed after Friday’s game, but I didn’t read a single comment in which he blasted his coach. Instead, he pinned the loss squarely on himself and his teammates, saying the team put itself in a hole by playing “garbage basketball for the first 24 minutes.” [3] Whether he realizes it or not, Saunders did him a favor by not letting this turn into a story immediately following the game — now that Wallace has had some time to cool off, I’m guessing his responses to today’s questions will be much more contrite than they otherwise would have been on Friday.
I’m going to withhold judgement on this issue until Wallace has had a chance to say something, and presumably apologize — his track record with the team affords him that much, at the very least. But man, the irony of this is all is striking — on a night the Pistons faced Darko Milicic, a kid skewered in the Detroit media for allegedly not trying hard enough, the Pistons were suddenly forced to deal with one of their hardest workers slacking off.
Oh well. It’s over and done with, and if history is any indication, this will be the last time something like this ever happens again. But so much for thinking that these last two weeks of the regular season would be without any new storylines — this is just not one I wanted (or expected) to deal with.
Sluggish Pistons fall to Orlando [Oakland Press]
Ben Wallace flips out at Saunders [Detroit News]
Conjuring up twists, reunion [Detroit Free Press]
- The Magic outscored the Pistons by seven points in the fourth quarter with Ben on the floor, but the Pistons outscored the Magic by six points after Ben left. . . .
- Can you imagine Larry Brown ever passing up the opportunity to tear down an insubordinate player?
- From the Free Press: “We dug a hole and had to fight to try and get back in the game,” Ben Wallace said. “And when you play like that, sometimes it just bites you in the end — when you play garbage basketball for the first 24 minutes.”
Ben doesn’t owe anyone an apology for being a competitor.
In 86 or 87, Chuck Daly left some of the key Pistons players (specifically Kelly Tripucka) on the court in a loss at the end of the season rather than playing the guys who could pull a win out.
He was sending a message to the front office. “We have guys who need to be gone for this team to get better”.
Daly’s one game sacrifice paid enormous benefits in subsequent years.
I’m proud of Ben for showing some emotion, even letting his anger at the poor play of the team overtake his better judgement.
In the context of the season this was a meaningless game. Ben’s message couldn’t have come at a better time.
It’s time for Flip to start earning his paycheck as a motivator, strategist, and teacher.
It’s time to go to work Detroit.
“In the context of the season this was a meaningless game.”
Until they clinch home court throught the playoffs, there are no meaningless games.
The only upside to this is that Ben will be embarassed by his behaviour — and the tarnishing of his “hard worker” rep — and turn his play up a notch for the rest of the season.
He absolutely does owe an apology to his team. If this happens with Vince Carter, or Dwayne Wade, or Jermaine O’Neal, do we cut them slack because of their accomplishments? Hell, I’m willing to bet that if this were to happen with Sheed or Dyess, we’d be harder on them as well.
It’s too bad that it happened, but from what little information we have, it looks to be no one’s fault but Ben’s.
Here’s an interesting thought: could this have been a contrived event to light a fire under this team? Was it an orchestrated event from the team’s new coach and it’s emotional leader leading into the playoffs. It was so out of character for Ben and such an odd time for it to happen…maybe I’m just wishing for the best here.
Sure, it was a meaningless game (which is why I don’t really care about the loss), but I don’t think that justifies Ben’s actions. It might end up serving as an incentive for the team to play better, but only if Ben’s frustrations stemmed from the quality of the team’s play, and not the quality of Flip’s coaching (which is what it looked like on the surface). And only the guys in the locker room really know the answer to that.
But I was happy to see him get 22 rebounds today — the fact that he came out with a vengence today was the most predictable result that could have happened. I wish I could have put money on it.
When you’re three wins AWAY from reaching your declared team goal for the regular season, and there’s only six games left, how can any game be considered “meaningless”?
“Meaningless” is the wrong word — but the sting of the loss was eased when the Spurs lost to the Mavs later that night. But sure, no one should take homecourt advantage for granted until it’s actually locked up.
LA Mike, with all due respect, the regular season goal doesn’t mean diddly. All that matters is winning another title. If Ben has to throw a tantrum to get his point across, I can live with that. This will be a miserable summer if the team comes out flat in playoff games and doesn’t win a championship. Little solace will be found in regular season achievements.
Btw, Laimbeer and Zeke purposely defied Chuck Daly by leading the walkoff bypassing handshakes with the Bulls in 91. They also never apologized.
the regular season goal was a goal for a reason. Now we know they can play on the road. But seriously, getting home court through-out is a pretty important goal to cross along the way. I think they could do it with the backups starting right about now, but still.
The walkoff is one of the lowest points in Piston History, Mr. Wave. We are setting our sights higher this year, I hope.
I applaud Ben. Anyone who has watched the team come out and play without passion in the first half can relate to Big Ben’s frustration. The team is still winning, but they are only playing half a game. He has talked and talked and talked in post game interviews about this stuff without any positive results. It was time for action. It was time for something dramatic. Thanks Ben for slapping the rest of the team in the face.
Fear not fans. We have home court in the bag. These guys are not going to lose it no matter what.
Guys,
It’s OK. He’s human too!! Ben definitely made a mistake, but from a woman to a man, it’s not the mistake we look at, it’s the understanding of knowing you were wrong and dealing with the issue. That is what Ben did. Another thing, I was always taught, what goes on at home stays at home. I admire the Pistons (as a team), Ben and Flip for dealing with this and not turning it into a NYK sitcom. These guys show they have a goal in mind and drama will not help them achieve that. Hats off to you guys!!!
“LA Mike, with all due respect, the regular season goal doesn’t mean diddly.”
Well, maybe someone should tell the Pistons, because they’ve been claiming that having the overall best record has been their #1 priority all season.
@ LA Mike,
Getting their game “right” for the playoffs is more important than where Game 7 is played. Only 3 Finals series in the last 20 years have gone to 7 games. And less 50% of Finals in that period have featured the conference regular season champs going head to head.
HCA is overrated. Playing well at the right time is everything. But that’s just my opinion.
The hand wringing this season is at an all-time high. Enjoy this folks. We’ll be “Allright”.