Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich just laughed at the theory, then unleashed words as if he wanted to get something off his chest.
“When you lose, people are going to complain, but we know what Ben Wallace does for us every night,” Hinrich said. “A ton of rebounds and bunch of little things, deflections, more opportunities on the offensive end. Anybody who says he’s not having a good series doesn’t really know the game.”
One popular theory is that Wallace has been a bust against the Pistons. He has been roasted this series for everything from text-messaging and visiting with his former teammates after games to arriving 14 minutes late to Game 3.
The Bulls fined Wallace for that transgression and moved on. Wallace apparently did, too, finishing with 11 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks in a Game 4 performance Sunday that set the tone for the Bulls’ hustling ways.
“To me, he was the most valuable player on the court,” guard Ben Gordon said. “He kept a lot of loose balls alive for us. He just got us going.”
Wallace is averaging 9.5 points and 11 rebounds in the series and shooting 54.2 percent. In both playoff rounds, his numbers are 9.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and the same shooting percentage.
Wallace also knocked down three of four fourth-quarter free throws when the Pistons resorted to a Bang-a-Ben strategy late. The worst free-throw shooter in NBA history is shooting 57.5 percent in the playoffs. “I was prepared for it,” Wallace said of the fouling. “I’m in there every day working on my free throws so when I get put in that situation I can knock them down and help my team.”
Whenever questioned Wallace continues to downplay the matchup against friends with whom he once won an NBA championship. According to Wallace the relationship is as simple as this: He was, is and will be friends with the Pistons. And that won’t affect his play. If anything the smack talk might help it.
“I was telling them I was looking forward to going back to Detroit,” Wallace said. “The Bulls aren?t ready to go home yet. They told us they weren’t going to let us go back to Detroit. But we?re going back there anyway.”
