AUBURN HILLS – For the majority of his first seven NBA seasons, the Pistons’ Ben Wallace was like the kid brought into the toy store and told, “Look, but don’t touch.” Wallace did all the dirty work – defending, rebounding, diving for loose balls – but in the offense, he was like a leper at the debutantes ball.
“Ben usually got in the dead area – that little spot on the court where you pretty much are not going to touch the ball unless you get an offensive rebound,” said teammate Richard Hamilton.
Then coach Larry Brown came on the scene and realized Wallace, in his eighth season, had to get involved in the offense. It was logical. If no one guarded Wallace, someone was being double-teamed.
“The frustrating part was not going out and doing the dirty work and letting somebody else take the shot. The frustrating part was coming down and playing 4-against-5 where I wasn’t a threat on offense,” said Wallace, who is averaging 11.0 points and 15.3 rebounds in the Eastern Finals that resume tonight when Detroit seeks a 3-1 advantage over Indiana at the Palace. “That wasn’t fair to the team.”
Those were Brown’s sentiments exactly. So he worked Big Ben, the 6-9 two-time Defensive Player of the Year, into the offense. At times, it wasn’t pretty. At times, it certainly was. Wallace averaged a career high 9.5 points this season, but he shot a career low for a full season of .421. Then, Wallace helped bury the Nets with jumpers in Game 7 of the Conference semis.
“Every day he shows me something where I go ‘Wow’ – in both ways,” Brown quipped. “He’s a much better ball handler than I ever imagined. He sees the floor better than I ever imagined. He wants to improve. That’s what’s most fun.”
So Brown has no qualms about getting shots for Wallace. “As long as it doesn’t take away from the things he does every night on the defensive end, on the glass, his effort plays,” Brown stressed. The addition of Rasheed Wallace made Ben even more of a threat. Rasheed demands a double team, so Ben gets more freedom inside.
In Game 3, when the Pistons went up, 2-1 on the Pacers, Big Ben, undrafted out of Virginia Union (yup, Charles Oakley’s school), contributed 17 points and 16 rebounds. What was he most proud of? “The win,” he answered quickly. And, oh, in case you think Wallace wants to become a gunner, he has averaged 4.0 blocks in the series. You don’t forget where you came from. As a rookie with Washington, he was cast among the likes of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Rod Strickland.
“I was surrounded by scorers,” Wallace said. “For me to get on the floor, I had to do something different. I had to rebound and defend.”
That’s what he did. For seven seasons. And he did it as well as anyone. So well, that according to former Pistons aide and Raptors head coach Kevin O’Neill, he was the most stubborn player alive.
“Without a shadow of a doubt,” Wallace agreed. “I know what I can do and I’m not going to let anyone tell me different.”
At either end of the floor.