Small ball's future depends on D

Rip Hamilton returns to the lineup tonight against Charlotte after missing eight straight games – and when I say “Rip Hamilton returns to the lineup,” that means the starting lineup. Thus ends two gripping weeks of speculation about who would sit when Hamilton came back – the guy who’s led the Pistons in scoring six straight seasons, or the guy with the third-highest scoring average in NBA history, Allen Iverson.

The answer: neither.

Here’s my takeaway impression after listening to Michael Curry talk about his decision to return to the small-ball lineup with Tayshaun Prince at power forward, Hamilton at small forward and Iverson and Rodney Stuckey in the backcourt: Curry’s giving this lineup a chance to prove itself as a unit and daring them to pick up their defense.

As long as the Pistons defend well and win despite being somewhat undersized at three positions defensively – and asking Rasheed Wallace to defend the other team’s top post scorer every night – small ball stays.

Lose a few, give up more than 100 points consistently, allow the opponent’s shooting percentage to start creeping north again after a solid month of deflationary trending, then all bets are off.

“The small group played pretty well (in its earlier run, before Hamilton missed the past eight games with a groin strain),” Curry said before Tuesday’s tipoff with the Bobcats. “We just weren’t as good defensively. I think we brought that to everyone’s attention. I think all of the players are aware of that. So whether we’re small or big, I think they understand the importance of the defensive end and where we need to be defensively.”

Curry remains adamant that the Pistons won’t be locked in to a small lineup. In fact, his goal is to play two big men 32 minutes a night and limit Prince’s minutes at power forward to maybe the first eight or so of each half.

Prince and Stuckey have had to carry too much of the load with Hamilton missing eight games and Wallace four as the Pistons were down to three reliable scorers – Prince, Stuckey and Iverson. So Prince and Stuckey will quit routinely playing 40-plus minutes. Will Bynum is getting another shot at rotation minutes. Hamilton will spend time at small forward - as he did often last year and planned to all along this season even before the Iverson trade.

Bynum won’t be on the floor at the same time as Iverson, though. Curry has concluded that Bynum and Iverson put the Pistons at too severe a size disadvantage.

“Whenever I sub Stuckey, I’ll probably at the same time sub Iverson,” Curry said. “When I bring Will Bynum in, I like Rip to be out there. It gives us more size. When I had Allen and Will Bynum out together, we haven’t had productive minutes.”

Amir Johnson’s spot in the rotation is secure, Curry said, adding that he’s “separated himself” from Jason Maxiell and Kwame Brown. Maxiell and Brown’s minutes will depend on the opponent, Brown getting a shot against teams with traditional big men and Maxiell otherwise.

The Pistons play a run of opponents over the next week – Charlotte, Indiana, Oklahoma City, Memphis and Toronto; New Orleans on Saturday could be a little more troublesome – that don’t figure to overwhelm them with size and power, so the small-ball lineup has a good chance to settle in and find itself defensively.

If the Pistons defend well and keep winning regularly, no problem. If they don’t get off to fast starts offensively with a lineup tilted toward offense and get beat up on the boards against such teams, then the situation will be revisited.

“Losing is not an option,” Curry said. “When you lose, you’re always evaluating and trying to see what you can do better.”

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