Detroit traded a cornrowed Big Ben for a Big Ben in full ‘fro and promptly rediscovered “the Ben Wallace that we all know and love,” in Chauncey Billups’ words. Gone was the guy who looked inexplicably, shockingly sluggish in those first two losses, so sluggish that he topped out at a hard-to-believe eight rebounds.

In this must-win Game 3, No. 3 had seven points, four boards and five blocks after a quarter. Wallace waited all of four seconds, actually, before knocking a ball loose and roaring to the other end for a fast-break dunk that gave the desperate hosts the perfect launch to what would be a 96-79 victory.
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One more time I’ll ask: Why, Ben, don’t you go ‘fro at all times?

It is Wallace himself, remember, who once announced that he “jumps a little higher” when his hair flies freely. “Makes me feel lighter on my feet,” he says. Even wife Chanda, after Big Ben was shredded by the nation’s press for his inability to punish Nazr Mohammed in San Antonio, told her man before Tuesday’s tip to just “let your hair out and play.”

To me, all that adds up to the very definition of a head-scratcher.

Pistons insiders counter by telling you that Wallace does adhere to an intricate hair plan: Fear The ‘Fro at home, cornrows on the road. Chanda is the only stylist Wallace allows to work on the hair, and she tends to braid it down for Ben so it holds for a whole trip. Easier maintenance, you see.

True to form, Wallace played both games in San Antonio sporting cornrows and a headband.

Still …

If you jump higher and feel lighter one way, that strikes me as reason enough to rethink your plan.

The Pistons, though, don’t see it that way. If it were my team, I’d make the ‘fro mandatory, but after seeing the glare Ben shot at me for asking about his hair schedule after Tuesday’s triumph, I can at least understand their perspective. As team president Joe Dumars always tells me: “Who’s going to tell Ben he can’t wear it the other way?”