Big Ben goes down Pistons' star shot-blocker will have knee examined AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) The Detroit Pistons are about to find out just how valuable Ben Wallace is. Wallace will miss an undetermined number of games after he went down with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee late in the first half Sunday against San Antonio. Wallace was standing under the basket when teammate Tayshaun Prince fell backward into him after defending Tony Parker on a layup. Wallace buried his face in his hands after going down and had to be helped off the court by the team's trainer and strength coach. "I wasn't sure where he was, but I could feel it when I fell into him," Prince said. "From the way it felt and sounded when I hit him, I thought he was going to be out for a long time. I hope he's not." Wallace was to undergo an MRI exam Monday, which will help determine whether he will be able to play again this season. "It looks like we will lose him for some number of games, we're just not sure how many," Pistons coach Rick Carlisle said. "That's a blow." When Wallace limped away from The Palace -- not on crutches -- he was asked how serious he thought the injury was. "Don't know," he said quietly. Wallace was the starting center for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game. If Wallace can maintain his league-leading averages in rebounds and blocks, he will be the first player in NBA history to do it twice. Last year, Wallace joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to lead the league in both categories. He averages 15.4 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 39.4 minutes a game. Wallace, who is not known for his scoring, had averaged 9.4 points in 14 contests before Sunday. Detroit's Cliff Robinson said the team can't allow itself to stay down emotionally because of Wallace's injury. "It's just one of those things," Robinson said. "You hate to see anyone go down, but we can't panic. We've just got to keep playing." Prince was distraught about the role he played. "It's really disappointing because I got there so late and didn't even get in position to take the charge. If I get there earlier, I would have been in position, and Ben would have seen me and known that I was going to get hit. I should have gotten there earlier," Prince said.
man, that sucks. ben seems to be a good guy and is someone i root for. i remember when someone on the pistons got in a fight with jermaine last year and wallace got hit with a punch and he didn't get all pissed and start fighting back. just took it and kept trying to play peacemaker. my respect for him went way up after that. hope he's ok. and man, just when i thought the east couldn't get any weaker, a huge piece of one of the non-crappy teams goes down.
