| Black Monday Authored by Curtis A. Clark - July 4, 2006 - 12:11 pm
On the same day the “Captain” Steve Yzerman retired from the Red Wings something no Piston’s fan ever thought would happen has happened. Their warrior, their blue collar hero, left the organization they love for a division rival and more money. Pistons fans have long thought that they would see Ben Wallace’s number 3 jersey in the rafters alongside greats like Dumars, Thomas, and Laimbeer.
Those thoughts have now quickly turned to anger and disbelief.
Betrayal is the word most will be tossing about, fans feeling that they have loved Wallace since he was a relative unknown, acquired as a consolation prize to losing Grant Hill in a sign and trade with Orlando. Now those fans feel that Wallace has walked on their love for him and the cult status they elevated him to in their city.
Wallace was seen by many as the face of the organization as well as the sports super hero that embodied the city of Detroit to its fullest. Now however fans will be left with a team without its engine. A team that rose to the top of the basketball world in 2004 in no small part due to Ben Wallace’s energy and heart.
How does a team replace its engine, its heart?
Antonio McDyess will be looked at to fill the gaping hole left by Wallace. Dyess, a proven vet and contributor, has been spectacular off of Detroit’s bench the past two years. Dyess flourished with several 20 point performances in his few games with over 30 minutes. However his foul issues along with his always questionable health will leave Detroit extremely vulnerable off of the bench. A team with the best front court depth in the NBA the past two season will now be left with the shallowest bench of any team considered to have a chance to compete for an NBA title.
In fact the lose of Ben Wallace will remove the Detroit Pistons from all title talks this off season, this team will have to prove itself anew if it hopes to be taken seriously.
In the short run however there are more pressing matters, with the Departure of Darko Milicic at the 2006 trade deadline the Pistons are left with only Jason Maxiell as a viable font court player off of the bench. Something no one saw as a possibility during this off season with the incredible 05/06 regular season the Pistons had.
In the midst of the best season in Pistons history Detroit had the best record in basketball, a strong nucleus, and interesting young players seen as the future of the franchise. Now with the lose of Wallace, and yes even Darko, coupled with the questions following the 06 playoff lose, Detroit is a team with an identity crisis as well as roster holes.
Flip Saunders up tempo style will be better served with the addition of the offense provided by Antonio McDyess in the starting lineup, but that same up tempo style and lack of defensive focus saw Detroit ran out of the 2006 playoffs a broken team.
Where does Joe Dumars go from here? His two starting post players have well documented histories of not being able to stay on the floor whether from referees or injury, and his team’s depth at those positions is now among the worse in the league. That along with the teams now apparent full on commitment to a better offense and Joe has some questions to answer along with holes to plug.
The first point of action to counter the Ben Wallace loss will be to bolster the front line. Unfortunately the Pistons aren’t knee deep in cap room to make a giant splash in free agency, nor are there many big names. Detroit isn’t even stacked in tradable commodities, with only 9 players under contract for 06/07 they may have to look to move future drafts picks. The free agent market for size that isn’t over 34 is limited, with only Chris Wilcox, Jared Jefferies, Joel Przybilla, Al Harrington, Melvin Ely, Drew Gooden, and Lorenzen Wright encompassing any youngish playable talent realistically available. Most likely Detroit will sign a veteran big man and feature one of the older big man rotations in the NBA outside of Jason Maxiell.
Still it would be hard to say the Pistons are dead. Joe Dumars is the real reason this team succeeds and as long as he is calling the shots you never know how Detroit will rebound you just trust they will. It may take a year to get them back on top, 06/07 looks gloomy right now, but with an extra first rounder from Orlando in next years draft, and a GM who isn’t afraid to pull the trigger on a big trade, it wouldn’t be a surprised to see them successful again very soon.
One thing is for sure however, the Pistons as we have known them since the turn of the millennium are done and gone. We will miss them dearly, they hold, as Ben Wallace does, a special place in our hearts as fans. But we must be ready to move on, a new era of Pistons basketball is about to begin. We may be opposed to it at first and the ride may be bumpy to start, but the driver is dependable and he ultimately knows how to get us back to the familiar destination of an NBA championship.
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