Rip's back, but no word yet on who sits

Rip Hamilton returned to practice Monday, which means the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against Charlotte will be ... ummm, check back Tuesday.

"We'll see tomorrow who's able to play and we'll make a determination then," Michael Curry said after the Pistons' first practice at home of the new year following their return from a four-game West Coast trip.

Curry has given every indication that when all hands are on deck, his preference is to keep going forward with a traditional lineup of two big men and Tayshaun Prince at small forward. Further, he's gushed about what Rodney Stuckey means to both the offense and defense to start games, so moving Stuckey out of the starting lineup doesn't seem like a consideration.

Which means it comes down to either Rip Hamilton or Allen Iverson, two of the most prolific scorers of their generation, as candidates to come off of the bench. But Curry isn't going to show his hand - or even discuss what he has in mind with either player - until it's absolutely necessary to reach a decision.

"When it's time, we'll talk about it," he said. "The reality is you talk about something and all of a sudden, another guy is hurt. Then you're talking about a situation that doesn't really affect the team. You all write about it enough. They know it's out there. At the proper time, we'll sit down and explain the decision we make and why."

Hamilton last week told Pistons beat writer Chris McCosky of The Detroit News that there was only one option - when he was healthy, he's back in the starting lineup. Told by a reporter on Monday that neither Hamilton nor Iverson appeared open to coming off the bench - though Iverson hasn't commented one way or the other - Curry said, "I wouldn't expect them to like to come off the bench.

"Both of them have been starters in their careers. I wouldn't expect them to (like becoming a bench player), just like I wouldn't expect to have guys on this team that don't want to play a lot of minutes. But the reality is we have great guys on this team. They're all willing to do whatever it takes for this team to be successful. And whatever decisions we make, it's going to be because we think that's the best thing we need to do to get the most out of everybody on this team. Regardless if guys like it or not, they'll be OK because their No. 1 thing is they want to win."

Beyond bruising egos, the Pistons can't be certain how Iverson or Hamilton's production would be affected by changing roles. Iverson has talked about the adjustment required of him in having his minutes slightly reduced and not having the ball in his hands on virtually every possession, as he's done for virtually all of his first 12 seasons. Starting the game in warmups on the bench, it would seem, would be a greater adjustment for either player - one of whom has the third-highest scoring average in NBA history, the other the Pistons' leading scorer for each of his first six seasons with the team.

But Curry's first priority is to establish a defensive consistency, and he's convinced that the bigger lineup helps him achieve that. Over the past month, the Pistons' field-goal percentage defense has skyrocketed from in the low 20s among all NBA teams to eighth at .445. When Utah shot 53.5 percent against them on Saturday as they wrapped up their road trip, it marked the first time an opponent had hit half its shots against them in 14 games. In four of those games, teams shot less than 40 percent.

"We've seen from the data with our games that we know defensively, it's no secret, when we've got two bigs and Tay at the three spot, we're our best defensively," Curry said. "And at the end of the day, that's normally what's going to drive most of the decisions we make. What group is going to be the best defensively and how we can best utilize those other two guys at the two spot."

One immediate benefit to having Hamilton back will be getting Prince's minutes back in line. Before hitting the wall and being limited to 31 minutes as the Utah game got out of hand, Prince had played 40-plus minutes in eight straight games.

"The biggest thing is that when Rip comes back, we can find times to have Rip out on the court with either (Rodney) Stuckey or Will Bynum," Curry said. "We can take Tay off the court a little more."

• Iverson, Stuckey and Walter Herrmann all were excused from Monday's practice. Stuckey was en route from Eastern Washington, which retired his No. 3 during ceremonies on Sunday. Iverson had family matters that required his attention. Herrmann was sent home before practice with flu symptoms.
• Curry said Rasheed Wallace, who returned to play 23 minutes against Utah after missing the previous four games, went through practice on Monday and appeared to be OK. Wallace reported feeling pain in the foot that sidelined him late in the Utah game.

---

Questions and comments on Keith's posts can be submitted via the Pistons Mailbag. Click here to submit your question.

Click here to return to Pistons.com