Strong Start

Both were on full display in Monday’s opener, an 87-83 win over Miami, which played Dwyane Wade 26 minutes over three quarters before shutting him down with the Pistons ahead 68-57.

Many wondered where Bynum fit in a backcourt that already included Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton when Joe Dumars spent the largest chunk of his free-agent bounty on Ben Gordon.

Bynum had an emphatic response in Monday’s preseason opener, sparking the Pistons with 11 points in just nine first-half minutes and finishing with 15 to lead the team on a night 13 players scored.

Bynum created a buzz even before camp opened, showing up at the Auburn Hills practice facility in mid-September off of a summer spent under the guiding hand of Chicago-based workout guru Tim Grover that pared 15 pounds off his taut frame. He’s been going at it daily with Stuckey, earning unsolicited praise from his teammates, and it’s going to be up to Kuester to figure out how to fit four quality guards – all of them bringing something a little different to the equation – into one backcourt.

But Kuester said before the game he wouldn’t hesitate to use Bynum in tandem with any of his other guards, including Gordon, a backcourt that makes the Pistons undersized at both spots.

“I’m not concerned,” Kuester said. “One of the things that teams are going to have to do is match up with them, also. I see two guys being able to put a tremendous amount of pressure on people.”

That’s a philosophy Bynum embraces – applying pressure – at both ends. In fact, he and Stuckey talked during the off-season about the need to do just that.

“Me and Stuckey have been talking all summer,” Bynum said. “Our plan is to give other guards hell, from start to finish.”

Bynum had minutes with both Stuckey and Gordon and, like Kuester, he anticipates no problem playing alongside Gordon.

“We’re going to pick teams up full court, anyway,” Bynum said. “They won’t be able to take advantage of that, regardless. We’re going to try to take as many seconds off that shot clock in the backcourt getting the ball up court. That’s overrated, the size of the backcourt. It’s about what beats in your chest, not the size we are.

“Ben’s been playing well in this league for years, guarding guards bigger than him. And me, I’m not going to back down from nobody. So I don’t think size matters at all.”

“He’s a sparkplug,” Kuester said after the game. “There’s no question about it. He’s somebody that really can give us a tremendous amount of energy.”

The Pistons struggled with their perimeter shooting – they were 2 of 11 from the 3-point arc and equally erratic on jump shots inside the arc, a sign of tired legs from training camp – yet there were a few other notable things about their offense, particularly the production they got from Kwame Brown, Chris Wilcox, Jason Maxiell and Ben Wallace, and crisp ball movement that often found them open underneath.

The four big men – Charlie Villanueva sat out with a strained hamstring – combined to make 15 of 18 shots, score 32 points and grab 17 rebounds.

Even louder than the whispers about Bynum’s place in the rotation over the summer were questions about the defense, especially when Dumars acquired not only Gordon, but another free agent with an offense-first reputation in Villanueva; hired Kuester, a coach who ran Cleveland’s offense last season; and spent his first-round pick on Austin Daye, a 6-foot-11 beanpole with superb ball skills.

But the Pistons held Miami to 37 percent shooting and only a 26-point fourth quarter, when Kuester went with his rookies heavily, allowed the Heat to get close after trailing by 17.

The numbers would have been even more impressive but for a stretch late in the second quarter when the Pistons went with a lineup that included all three rookies, including Daye at shooting guard, where Miami went on a 9-0 run and Wade scored six points on consecutive possessions by forcing turnovers from Daye and DaJuan Summers and converting them both into three-point plays.

“You’re going to win by playing defense,” Kuester said. “I know we’re in the preseason, but I was very proud of a lot of the guys for the way they performed. It’s a work in progress right now at both ends, but defensively at times we were outstanding.

“Everyone was covering for each other, everyone was on a string. I was very pleased with their commitment. Sometimes they had to fight through some fatigue. Some of these guys were for the first time playing in a live environment, but overall they tried to do everything the right way.”