Pistons Blog

Category: Pistons

Pre-game Nuggets

Talked to Richard Hamilton a bit before the game. It wasn't a formal interview or anything, but I wanted to sound him out on the idea of him coming off the bench. Barring any setbacks, he is expected to return to active duty Tuesday against the Bobcats.

Michael Curry has been hinting for a couple of weeks that a tough decision was going to have to be made because the Pistons' best chance to beat Boston and Cleveland is with a big lineup. It's pretty obvious that small-ball wasn't going to cut it. Curry's been throwing out names like Manu Ginobili and Lamar Odom, big-time players who are coming off the bench for elite teams.

But I don't think Rip is hearing any of it. Our exchange went something like this:

So, what's going to happen when you come back, do you think you will jump right back into the starting lineup?

Rip: "Yeah, that's the only option."

Well, there is another option -- coming off the bench.

Rip: "That ain't happening."

This could require an intervention from Joe Dumars.

Curry could sidestep the issue by going back to the small starting lineup, but sub a big man in quickly. That way, Rip and Allen Iverson remain in the starting lineup, and Curry can still keep his big lineup on the court 30-plus minutes. The worry with that is whether the Pistons will go back to getting off to bad starts, which they were doing earlier with the small lineup.

Stay tuned on that.

As for tonight's lineup, Rodney Stuckey (back) was going to give it a shot but not Rasheed Wallace. Looks like he will miss his fourth straight game with a sore right foot.