Smaller foes could signal Amir's return

Mason, the voice of The Palace, has risen above the universal obscurityof public-address announcers through sheer showmanship, making pregame player introductions as much a part of the Pistons experience as his iconic Deee-troit Basketball refrain known worldwide.

But fans might have a reason beyond Mason's dramatic effect to settle into their seats before tipoff when the Pistons host the New York Knicks on Wednesday night. There might be another change to the starting lineup.

"Depending on who they start, we may start Amir against New York and we may start Amir against Milwaukee (on Friday)," Michael Curry said after Tuesday's practice. "Some nights we're going to play Kwame as a starter, some nights it's going to be Amir."

Amir Johnson was elevated to the starting lineup in training camp, replacing Antonio McDyess, whom Curry decided would be best utilized off the bench where his ability to score wouldn't be overshadowed as it was a season ago when he joined the starting lineup. McDyess was traded two games into the regular season in the Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups trade, but he's due to return to the Pistons - after negotiating a buyout in Denver and passing on more lucrative offers from other NBA teams - within the next few weeks.

Five games after that, Johnson came out of the starting lineup, replaced by Kwame Brown, Curry citing a stretch of games against bigger centers like Andrew Bynum, Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

In Brown's six games as a starter, Johnson has picked up one DNP-CD - did not play, coach's decision - and averaged a shade over 11 minutes in the five others. But Curry's thoughts on which player will start alongside Rasheed Wallace haven't been influenced by the performance of either Johnson or Brown, or by the imminent return of McDyess.

"I've said from the beginning, it depends on the matchups," Curry said. "You all see Amir. Why would I put Amir our there and start him against Shaq and Bynum? That's not a favorable matchup for him. As a coach, that's not putting a guy in position to succeed. I don't care about how many lineups we have. That doesn't faze me. It's a matter of putting a guy in position each night to give them a chance to be successful."

When McDyess returns, he'll assume the role he left - coming off the bench, usually in relief of Rasheed Wallace to give the Pistons both a scoring threat in their frontcourt and a big man who can spread the floor and give Iverson and Rodney Stuckey, especially, wider openings to probe.

Johnson has remained remarkably upbeat despite going from starter to not playing on a night he was back home in Los Angeles - the Nov. 14 win over the Lakers that counts as the signature win of the season so far.

"All you can do is stay positive and work hard every day and be ready whenever your name is called," Johnson said. "I never looked down on myself. I always work hard when I get in the game. All I can do is be ready."

If Johnson can grade out well in the areas Curry expects him to contribute most - smothering the pick and roll, harassing ballhandlers in the backcourt, keeping possessions alive with offensive rebounds and hustle plays - the transitioning Pistons would appear to be a better fit for him. Iverson, Stuckey and Will Bynum are all capable of breaking defenses down, which creates the type of chaos in which Johnson should thrive.

"Very much so," he said. "They're quicker point guards. They come off the pick and roll looking to pass. I can either go for the rebound or I could be ready for the pass. It's definitely to my strength to be ready for that."

The Knicks, already playing small under ex-Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni and his preference for up-tempo basketball, got even smaller with last week's trade that shipped Zach Randolph to the Clippers. In a 122-117 win over Washington on Sunday, they started David Lee at center and Wilson Chandler at power forward. Against that lineup, expect Mason to be calling Amir Johnson's name amid the fireworks and flamethrowers that accompany pregame player introductions.

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