Bob Wojnowski

Pistons' Ben Gordon no spotlight hog

Auburn Hills

He has the sweet contract and the soft, floating shot. He's the fresh new face of the made-over Pistons, and of all Ben Gordon's intriguing qualities, one rates pretty darn high.

He's not Allen Iverson.

Hey, that's no knock on a future Hall-of-Famer. OK, actually it is. What Gordon brings is something the Pistons sorely lacked last season, something they've sought for a while, something they tried to extract from Iverson with disastrous results.

Gordon can score. That's indisputable. The Pistons needed more scoring and less nonsense, also indisputable. So Gordon is here with a five-year, $55 million deal, asked to fill the role Iverson rejected, to stand out and fit in at the same time.

He doesn't start, although he might in the home opener tonight against Oklahoma City because Richard Hamilton has a sprained right ankle. In the three-guard rotation with Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey, new coach John Kuester considers Gordon a de-factor starter anyhow.

And here's one way you already can tell these Pistons are different: Gordon doesn't mind.

"I'm a basketball player, and I might not get you in the beginning, but I'm gonna get you at the end," he said Thursday. "It really doesn't matter if I'm out there from the start. It's never gonna affect the way I approach the game."

Two-for-one deal

It's a long season and things can change, but there's no way it can be as long as last season. Joe Dumars took a gamble trading Chauncey Billups for Iverson, and in the short term, it didn't work. But the real judgment comes now, because Iverson's failure led to his departure, which led to Gordon's acquisition, along with free-agent forward Charlie Villanueva.

At least we know Gordon's words carry weight. Although he started 76 games for the Bulls last season, he started about half the time in four previous seasons. He's not a spotlight hog, although he was terrific averaging 24.3 points in a seven-game playoff loss to the Celtics last spring.

That's the Gordon the Pistons crave. If that's the Gordon they got -- a fearless shooter -- this is still a playoff team, maybe as high as a No. 6 seed in the East.

After years of slugging it out, the Pistons finally are intent on airing it out. And while their defense is a major question mark, they're younger, more dynamic offensively and should be more exciting. In the opening 96-74 victory at Memphis, Gordon scored 22 and Hamilton scored 25, underlining the unspoken goal of the gambit: The Pistons hope they not only got Gordon, but got Hamilton back.

Wounded by Billups' departure, then benched for Iverson, then ticked off by former coach Michael Curry, Hamilton still managed to lead the Pistons in scoring for the seventh straight year (18.3), but his shooting and his mood were down.

UConn territory

His mood wasn't great Thursday but that's because his right foot was stuck in an ice bucket. When healthy again, Hamilton, 31, is eager to explore the possibilities -- starting alongside Stuckey and playing plenty alongside Gordon, 26.

They starred at Connecticut a few years apart, but the bond seems real, and growing.

"Our relationship is great," Hamilton said. "I'm like his big brother. I've been in the league a lot longer, but it goes all the way back to the Connecticut thing."

Hamilton waved off questions about last season, a couple days after Iverson again griped to reporters that he was misled by Curry. Beyond the UConn connection, Hamilton (17.9 career ppg) and Gordon (18.5) have similar shoot-behind-a-screen styles, which will require significant adjustments for them and for defenses.

It's still important Stuckey develops as a floor leader, but the Pistons now have two legitimate leading scorers.

"I love having him out there with me because you can't load up one side of the floor," Hamilton said. "I've tried to teach him, and it's exciting because he listens all the time. We got guys that can get hot quick, and the thing I like is, guys are unselfish."

That used to be what the Pistons did best. They did it for a long time, reaching six straight conference finals before last year's collapse. That led to change, which is why Ben is here. Actually, it's why both Bens are here, big and small.

Ben Wallace is the familiar one and Gordon is the key one, a salve to help solve the Pistons' biggest issues.

"I know the fans want to see something spectacular, but I'm just gonna play my game," Gordon said. "I don't see any reason why Rip and I on the floor at the same time will be a problem. I think we're definitely gonna play well together, and a lot of people will probably be surprised by that."

Play well together? For the Pistons, who have been there and now have Ben here, it's the only formula that works.

bob.wojnowski@detnews.com