Former Bulls center Wallace’s final season not so hot
Former Bulls center Ben Wallace has mentioned that he plans to retire after this season and attend law school.
So far, his final year has been a tough one. Wallace, 37, played for the Pistons during most of the glory years when they went far in the playoffs and routinely finished at the top of the NBA attendance leaders. This season, the crowds at the Palace of Auburn Hills have often been less than 10,000.
“It’s tough, but the fact of the matter is, if we were winning games, the crowds would come,” Wallace said Monday.
“If you don’t win games, the crowd feels like they’ve got nothing to cheer for and they don’t show up. Everybody wants to play in front of a packed house, but that’s just the nature of the beast.”
With the 92-68 loss to the Bulls, Detroit lost its fourth straight game by at least 16 points, something it hadn’t done in decades.
“Everybody’s fine,” Wallace added. “Everybody’s got their head up and still working. I think we’re all on the same page. We’ve just got to do ourself a favor by getting off to a good start, not falling behind and trying to fight back into the game.”
Bulls lineup doesn’t change:There was nothing new to report on the Bulls#146; injury front. Richard Hamilton sat out for the fifth time in six games because of a groin strain, while backup point guard C.J. Watson missed his fifth game with a left elbow sprain.#147;The difficult thing with both (Watson) and Rip is we#146;re not practicing (because of the heavy game schedule),#148; coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters at the morning shootaround. #147;Our team is not practicing, so you can#146;t really see (if they) can make it through a practice first.#148;Thibodeau refused to offer a target date for the players#146; return.#147;C.J. is doing well. Rip is feeling better today, so we#146;ll just see how it goes,#148; he said.Injuries go both ways:Detroit started rookie point guard Brandon Knight for the third straight game with Rodney Stuckey still on the shelf with a groin injury. Forward Charlie Villanueva (ankle) also sat out for the Pistons.Bull horns:Former Bulls center Luc Longley attended Monday#146;s game. ... Detroit committed 11 of its 19 turnovers in the fourth quarter. ... The Bulls are playing five games in six nights this week for the first time since 1983, and they are in the midst of their first set of nine games in 12 days since 1972.