When Ben Wallace signed on the dotted line last July 13, title expectations rose as high as his Afro.
The Bulls didn’t achieve their goal, but Wallace already is looking forward to next season.
“The sky is the limit for this team,” Wallace said. “We have young guys now who have more playoff experience. They’re walking away with a stinger, but that will force them to work harder in the summer. Next year, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, those guys can be All-Stars.
“This team showed a lot of character. Losing [stinks]. But these guys came to work every night. Every game, every practice, every shootaround, these guys brought it. I’m proud of the way they played. They took pressure off me.”
Fighting a sore back, Wallace looked sluggish for the second straight game, finishing with seven rebounds in 28 minutes 41 seconds. The Pistons grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.
After one, which Richard Hamilton converted into a Pistons jumper, coach Scott Skiles yanked Wallace for a hobbled Andres Nocioni. Wallace sat for the final 5:52 of the third quarter and first 1:58 of the fourth.
“At the end of the night, I gave everything I had,” Wallace said. “But it wasn’t good enough.”
Will Wallace cheer for his former team now that it has dispatched his current team?
“I’m a basketball fan, so I watch all the games,” Wallace said. “But I don’t cheer for nobody.”
Rotation roulette
For the second time this series, Tyrus Thomas passed Nocioni in the rotation. The move happened as much for energy as injury.
Beyond Nocioni battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot, Skiles said if the Bulls are hitting their perimeter shots, Thomas’ energy and athleticism provide the better option.
Nocioni ended up playing 19 minutes to Thomas’ 15 and gritted through a 10-point, six-rebound performance.
A fine time
For the second time in three home games, Wallace arrived later than the Bulls’ required reporting time. He had company.
Guard Chris Duhon arrived at 5:38 p.m., eight minutes past the deadline and seven minutes before Wallace. Gordon barely beat the deadline.
But unlike Game 3, no team fines were levied.
“It took Pax (general manager John Paxson) well over an hour to get down here,” Skiles said. “[Thursday] was unruly traffic. So there won’t be anything happening tonight.”
Can’t Skiles fine Paxson?
“No, much as I’d like to,” Skiles said, chuckling. “Pax can arrive when he wants.”
Layups
Gordon finished his postseason with a string of 33 straight made free throws, a franchise playoff record. Chet Walker made 27 straight in 1975. … With 11 points and 11 assists, Kirk Hinrich posted his fourth straight double-double for the first time in his career.
