Terry Foster

Ben Wallace feeling like Pistons' 'leader'

Auburn Hills

Ben Wallace walks around with short cropped hair and a braided goatee instead of the trademark Afro.

Big Ben always has marched to the beat of a different drummer. And during that march through the NBA he's also been able to do what few were willing to do.

Wallace established himself by defending and shot-blocking. He has the offensive game of a man on stilts, but became the Pistons' spiritual leader in ways few could.

The days of Wallace carrying a team on his back are over. There are too many miles on his legs as he begins his second tour of duty with the Pistons. But Wallace said he's healthy and able to practice what he preaches again.

That's why he is ready to assume his role as a leader, even though it won't be as "the leader" he was during his first stint with the Pistons from 2000-06. He's sharing that role with Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey.

Wallace wants at least part of the pie because he says he's healthy and can back up his words with performance. He said he backed down from being much of a leader in Chicago and Cleveland because he never felt physically fit.

Now the roar is back.

"I won't back down," Wallace said. "I think over the last couple of years I was forced to tone it down a little bit. But if I can't be the leader, I might as well go back to the house and sit on the couch."

Back in comfort zone

Wallace isn't ready to sit just yet, but at age 35, it's uncertain how much he really has left to give. But if the Pistons work him right, they can get some of that old magic back. He won't give you 82 games of the No Fly Zone, but he can become like one of those situational lefties in baseball -- come in when he's needed.

"I definitely think his comfort level here is greater than it was in Cleveland and in Chicago," Hamilton said. "This is his home and this is what he is more familiar with. He feels more at ease. Everything was first nature to him on and off the court being out there with me and Tay. I think this is a good thing for him."

Wallace lost his comfort level when he left the Pistons following the 2005-06 season as an unrestricted free agent. The Pistons offered him a four-year deal for around $46 million. The Chicago Bulls trumped that by giving him $60 million, hoping he'd become their spiritual leader.

It never happened. Wallace appeared out of place around younger teammates. He averaged 6.4 points and 10.6 rebounds that first season, but he began to draw the fans' ire the following season and Chicago traded him to Cleveland. Things did not get better. Wallace said injuries limited him -- he averaged 4.8 points and 8.4 rebounds -- and he often found himself on the bench during crunch time.

Wallace the vocal leader was mostly silenced.

"I wasn't healthy," Wallace said. "I wasn't about to go out and tell people what to do when I couldn't do it myself. So now I am healthy. I am able to do the things I want to do on the court."

Pistons coach John Kuester said Wallace wasn't a silent lamb in Cleveland and welcomes his input with the Pistons. Kuester has placed the burden of leadership on Hamilton, Prince and Wallace because they have rings and are part of the Pistons' championship legacy.

"I will tell you this, Ben has been phenomenal," Kuester said. "He's very important to us for what we want to do. He knows he's very important and that's why I listen to what he has to say. You can't always do it all the time, but he knows we have a tremendous amount of faith in what he does and says."

His greatest asset might come as a leader. Wallace has tricks of the trade that he can pass along.

"I will probably just listen," rookie Austin Daye said. "He has done a lot in this league. He's here now and I appreciate that."

The man should be applauded for making it in the league this long with a limited skill set. He guarded men such as Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal with some success and is a four-time defensive player of the year.

But his greatest asset was helping out in the lane. For instance, Chauncey Billups was never a great defender and smaller and quicker players often got loose in the paint, where they met with Wallace.

Billups made a couple of All-NBA defensive third teams thanks to Wallace.

But Detroit began to drift away from defense-first after winning a title in 2004 and finishing runner-up to San Antonio the following season. The team became Billups' team and offense-first coach Flip Saunders took over after Larry Brown left.

Ben preaching defense

Wallace's words didn't carry the same weight and he became frustrated. He didn't like the direction the Pistons were headed and wasn't afraid to say so.

Now he's with a team that wants to shoot 3-pointers, hustle the ball up the court and explode the scoreboard. Wallace, however, carries that same message: Defense wins and he wants teammates to listen.

"Nobody can run without getting stops," he said. "You can't get transition buckets if you are taking the ball out the basket every time. If you don't get stops, you are not going to be a running team, regardless of what anybody says.

"Regardless of how many scorers you have on the floor, how fast they run, how good they shoot -- it's going to be tough to score against a set defense every time down the floor. So you are going to have to get stops."

Wallace still commands respect around the league. Miami All-Star guard Dwyane Wade says he still keeps an eye on Wallace when he drives the lane.

"The one thing about Ben is he's a smart player," Wade said. "He will take charges as well as meet you at the rim. When I first got into the league, he was dominant down there. You have to be aware of where he is."

The one thing about Wallace is he rarely holds back punches. He's direct in what he says and if you are offended, so be it. Now that he's healthy Wallace plans on being the same guy that left the Pistons nearly four years ago.

If the team is slacking off, he will tell them.

"There's no replacement for going out and playing hard," Wallace said. "No matter what anybody else says, we can win. If you ask every team in this league, do you have an opportunity to win a championship, they will say yes. In order to do that you are going to have to come out and play hard every day. That's all you can ask. Win, lose or draw, come give it your all.

"If I don't think we are playing up to our standards, yeah, I am going to speak out, no matter what anybody else thinks. We are professionals. Go out and play."

terry.foster@detnews.com (313) 222-1494