Where fro no mo' happens...

Wallace displays his typical aversion to basketballs

Chicago's season-long nightmare was finally ended on Thursday when Ben Wallace was traded to the Cleveland Cavs. It is easy to look back at the signing as mistake, but I think it was a move in the right direction. As Sam Smith points out:

Chandler, the conventional wisdom held, was mentally weak and always in foul trouble, accounting for a huge disparity in free throws. He couldn’t shoot and was shrinking by the day under the demands of coach Scott Skiles, then a folk hero for coaching by accountability.

The signing was also symbolic of the confidence that the Bulls organization was placing in the progress that the team had made. It would no longer be the team that opened up 0-9 in 2004-2005. It would no longer be the team that lost twice in the first round of the playoffs.

Basketball-wise, Chandler's skills weren't suited for the Bulls offense. Many passes into the high post would clang off Chandler's stone hands, or there would be missed opportunities to open teammates.

Doing a simple comparison of 2005-2006 Chandler to 2006-2007 Wallace:

Chandler (per 36 min averages)
ORebounds: 4.5
Rebounds: 12.1
Assists: 1.4
Blocks: 1.8
Steals: 0.7
Fouls: 5.1

Wallace (per 36 min averages)
ORebounds: 6.9
Rebounds: 11.0
Assists: 2.5
Blocks: 2.1
Steals: 1.5
Fouls: 2.0

If there was one thing that killed the 2006 team was the fact that the team tended to get into the penalty situation early in a quarter, and that led to quite a disparity in free throw attempts and makes.
2006:

	FT	FTA	PF
Bulls	1452	1967	2038
Opp	1921	2472	1883
Diff	-469	-505

2007:

	FT	FTA	PF
Bulls	1528	2083	1908
Opp	1619	2219	1900
Diff	-91	-136

That's quite a significant difference, that reduced the strain on the offense to account for the points that the defense was giving up for "free". The season's goodwill peaked with a sweep of the defending champion Heat (who had rapidly aged, and no real depth to speak of). Despite a hard fought series against the Pistons, the Bulls were eliminated again.

So what got us to this train-wreck of a season? Well, any time a player places their agenda over the team's, don't ever expect to see the best of results...ever.

Ben Wallace and Headbands

Well aware of an existing team rule, Wallace decided to wear his headband anyway and was promptly benched by then coach Scott Skiles. It lead to a 12-1 winning streak, but it was the first sign that Wallace would continue to test the coaching staff and organization to see what he could get away with.

The Turning Point of 2008

I don't think much was made of this story, but I think if Skiles ever wants to look for evidence of what he did to lose the players, I would like to present this as Exhibit A. Although apparently endorsed by teammates, this special exception made for Wallace did nothing to increase his motivation during games. This organization, which had prided itself on hard work and dedication seemed to bend over backwards for the one player that despite being paid the most, was only motivated in certain situations. If you want to believe that he was injured enough early in the season, he should have been shut down for a number of games. (He wasn't). This no longer was the Bulls teams of old where the lack of quality depth at the 4/5 would have necessitated a Wallace to play heavier minutes even when ineffective (apologies to the Malik Allens, Othella Harringtons, and Michael Sweetneys of the world).The most infuriating portion of this season for Bulls fans was seeing plays apparently designed to have Wallace to attempt to score from his non-existent repetroite of post moves.

Where the aftermath happens

So farewell, Wallace, Smith, Griffith (and his calming influence), and hello Gooden, Hughes, Brown and Simmons. The departure of Wallace and Smith creates the opportunity to properly develop Noah, Thomas and Gray. I know some people may be upset to lose Smith, but Joe Smith would have only been useful if we were a team battling to make it to the Finals. Otherwise, you aren't going to learn anything new from playing him. The hope is that we get this Larry Hughes, rather than the one that inspired someone to create this.