Detroit loses Big Ben to Chicago

the thing about the bulls is that, yes, they were already a good defensive team. ben wallace ain't going to add that much in the way of defense. he's a more consistent version of tyson chandler (who tends to get injured a lot, but is effectively a defender and rebounder).

so now they've replaced chandler with pj brown (good for 10 and 10 when he's not fighting somebody else for the rebounds) who is also defensive oriented, but has a nice 15' jumper. jr smith can score, but unless he gets his head on straight, he'll end up in skile's doghouse just like he was in scott's. i can't imagine scott is a tougher critic than skiles -- the guy who told tim thomas he wasn't needed. for that matter, i think eddie robinson left the bulls under similar circumstances. basically, skiles doesn't tolerate loafing and jr smith is supposedly a bit of a loafer. we'll see.


in the end, i dunno how much better the bulls get. marginally, i think.


the pistons are dead. they'll continue to be good enough to not get a lottery pick, but not good enough to win a championship. it's a tough place to be. unless they make a big trade or something. attrition will slow them down and eventually they'll dip into the lottery.