Offense, defense both have room to grow

Allen Iverson knows the Pistons' offense is going to play better as he and his teammates begin to grasp the other's tendencies and preferences. Michael Curry knows the Pistons' defense is going to get tougher once they hit a friendlier stretch of schedule that has them sleeping in their own beds for a few consecutive nights.

It won't always look like it did in the second half of Wednesday night's dynamic win over Cleveland, when the Pistons outscored the NBA's hottest team 58-40, erasing a 13-point deficit to win by seven after leading by 13 with a few minutes to go.

But in that second half, and in their win last Friday over the NBA's then-hottest team, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Pistons have seen their possibilities. They've snapped winning streaks of seven and eight games inside of five days, and they've done it while the transition to the Iverson era was still in its infancy, while adjusting further to the loss and sometimes the struggles of Rodney Stuckey and to the absence of Antonio McDyess.

The point is this: The Pistons have the room to grow now that many didn't think existed before. (See what Magic Johnson has to say here, all the way to the bottom of his AOL interview: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/11/20/magic-johnson-talks-about-books-business-barack-and-basketball/.)

Nothing is guaranteed, of course. Maybe it's fair to say the Pistons have a higher ceiling but a lower floor than they did a few weeks ago, when Chauncey Billups' steady hand was on the offense and the Pistons led the league in familiarity.

The Pistons hit the Cavs with a 30-point fourth quarter with Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton on the bench. That speaks to their depth, of course - Stuckey and Arron Afflalo were marvelous at both ends - but it also speaks to their potential. Prince has already discovered some of the joys of a new role that puts the ball in his hands more often, but Hamilton hasn't yet found his passing gear while playing alongside Iverson.

It's going to happen. It's tough to remember now, but Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton couldn't always anticipate each other's movements, either. It took them about a half of a season to make even Joe Dumars and the people who believed in them most think that they could become the second-best backcourt in franchise history.

Give Iverson-Hamilton another month, then see where we're at.

"You want to win (the Lakers and Cavs games) just for the confidence," Iverson said. "That measures us and gives us an idea what type of team we are, when everybody is putting those teams so far ahead of us and you go out there and knock 'em off. And knowing we haven't had a lot of time to practice and play games with each other, the feeling is we can only get better and, right now, that's our whole thing - just trying to find a rhythm in how we're playing our offense, just flowing like it was in the fourth quarter."

Before the game, I asked Curry how he measured defensive performance beyond his individual ratings system. The Pistons have ranked among the NBA's elite in things like points allowed and field-goal percentage defense since the Rick Carlisle days, but opponents were shooting .464 against the Pistons through 10 games, where they were at .437 last year - that's a significant difference.

"It's always a goal to make sure we're in the top 10," Curry said. "I know we're up right now. We've been on the road. You go back and check any 10-game stretch, if you play seven of them on the road, your field-goal percentage defense is going to be high. I expect for it to continue to get better at home. At the end of the year, it will all balance out. We'll be a top 10 field-goal percentage defense team. ... I would like to get back where we were toward the end of training camp. I thought we were pretty good defensively. We're not at that stage right now, but the only way you can get there is time and practice."

• An update on the two Pistons' second-rounders who signed to play in Europe:

Trent Plaisted got his feet wet in Italy, then experienced a disc problem in his back and returned to the United States, where he has undergone treatment in Los Angeles. Pistons VP Scott Perry told me he's doing well and readying to return to Italy.

Deron Washington, meanwhile, is playing very well in Israel. He's starting at small forward. In four games, he's averaging 12.0 points (third on his team), 6.5 rebounds (tied for first) and 2.5 steals (first) while playing 29.8 minutes (third). He's wowed his teammates and Israeli fans with his athleticism and leaping ability.

"All reports we've gotten on Washington have been very positive," Perry said.

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