Benny Da Bull

Man I can’t believe the Bulls got Ben Wallace that is crazy! Now what I am so cornfused about… is this a good thing? First of all I would like to say I think it is good. The Bulls haven’t had an all star on their team since a certain somebody left town (and no I’m not talking about Elton Brand or Brad Miller). Our new all star center/power forward fits so well with our up and coming team because he is the ultimate team player. He is well known as one of the hardest workers in the game. He will instill toughness into our young team and won’t let other teams push us around. He will teach our new young draft pick Tyrus Thomas how to play the position. Tyrus is only 19 years old and still has quite a bit of developing to do so it is nice that the best defender in the game will be there to show him the ropes. The championship caliber play of the Detroit Pistons over the last 4 seasons began and ended with Ben Wallace. He was the heart and soul of that team. A true leader. He is all the things the Bulls were lacking. Who was gonna step up and be our leader? Heinrich? I don’t think so. Chandler? Puh lease. Speaking of Chandler how incredible is it that we are about to move his 60 million dollar worthless ass out of town for (well at least the rumor is) a quality veteran center, whose large contract comes off the books next year, and a promising young shooting guard. I mean does Paxson have naked pictures of George Shinn or something? How are we able to do this? What is going on with the New Orleans Oklahoma City of Anaheim Charlotte Hornets? George Shinn is throwing around money like his name was Isaih Thomas. First they draft two big studs in the first round in Hilton Armstrong and Cedrick Simmons. Then they sign Peja Stoyachovich and Bobby Jackson to huge contracts. Now they are picking up worthless bum Chandler’s 60 million dollar contract. Rumor has it they are gonna go out and get Doug Christie, Vlade Divac, Chis Webber, Hedo Turkolou, Mike Bibby and Rick Adelman too. Anyways back to Ben Wallace, I wanna address some of the haters complaints about this move the Bulls have made.

1.) Why spend all that money on a one dimensional player?
I agree it’s a lot of money but that’s the nature of the NBA nowadays wake up and smell the coffee hater!!!! I am pretty sure Adonal Foyle received a 40 or 50 million dollar contract a year ago. Also who isn’t a one dimensional player in the NBA? Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Elton Brand, and Shaq those are about the only ones that come to mind. Now Iverson, Arenas, Peja, Dirk, Ray Allen, Nash, Labron, Carmelo, Wade, Pierce, Marbury etc etc etc…..are any of these guys known as defensive studs? NO! For some reason defensive skills have always been and will always be underrated. I don’t buy this “the league is playing more of an offense style game now.” Ummm not really. Defense still wins championships. Name me a championship team in the last thirty years that has not had a solid solid defense. That is why the Phoenix Suns of the world, while they are very entertaining to watch, will never win a NBA Championship. You need a dominant defensive player on your team to win it all. Enter 4 time (I think) defensive player of the year Ben Wallace. If this is such an offense based league nowadays then why have the Pistons and Spurs (two defensive teams) been the best two teams in the league for the past 4 or 5 years?

2.) Ben Wallace is too old for a four year contract.
I disagree. He is only 31 years old. As somebody who is going to hit 30 in a couple months I am not ready to say 31 is too old. I remember another former all star Bull hitting his prime around 31 years of age. Wallace is not one of these guys who have been playing in the pros since he was 18 years old either. Plus he didn’t play much at all until his 4th season so he has less wear and tear than some players in their early thirties. 6 years for a 31 year old woulda been too long but 4 years I think is fine. Lots of guys play past 35 years old. If anyone can keep his body in top shape to play late into his 30’s its Ben Wallace. Also, last time he was traded he took it to heart and became a stud. Things didn’t end well in Detroit. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him out there next year with a chip on his shoulder looking to prove the haters wrong.

3.) The Bulls don’t have enough offense.
This is partially true but that has nothing to do with the Wallace signing. Should we not have gone after the best free agent out there because of this? Who should we have signed Peja? We are a tough, defensive team and Wallace fits in perfectly. A great defense causes turnovers and fast breaks which creates points. Our offense will get better as our young stars such as Heinrich, Gordon, Deng, and Nocioni continue to develop. Heinrich was an offensive stud in the playoffs. Gordon, Deng and Noc are all very young and continue to improve in their third year (which also happens to be a contract year). I think the three of them definitely need to step it up offensively. Skiles needs to lean on Nocioni more. When he finally inserted him into the starting line up in the second half of last season Nocioni’s offensive numbers jumped.

So all in all I think this is a great signing and I am very excited about it. How nice to have a Chicago team to be excited about for the first time in forever. As I am typing this I see that ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that the Bulls have just traded Chandler for PJ Brown (and his expiring contract) and J.R. Smith. I love Pajama Brown he gives us more size and depth in the frontcourt. Also he is a capable scorer under the basket. I think J.R. Smith can be really good to. I can’t believe the Hornets are giving up on him so early. He showed signs of brilliance straight out of high school in his rookie year two years ago. Last year he fell into the bitchy Byron Scotts dog house and hopefully that is the only reason his game suffered. I am sure he will at least turn out better than the last young, athletic, wing we got from the Hornets, Eddie Robinson.