But in the hints he’s dropped, it’s likely that three of the six frontcourt players who’ve all gotten extended minutes at one time or another in the 4-4 preseason have secured roles for the one unique thing each of them offers.

For Charlie Villanueva, it’s not just his scoring but his offensively versatility. For Ben Wallace, it’s the glue he provides Kuester’s defensive blueprint and the intensity that demands his teammates to match the effort of their eldest member. And for Kwame Brown, it’s the sheer size and strength packed onto his 6-foot-11, 270-pound frame.

Except it goes beyond Brown’s size this year. Not only does he offer the Pistons their best chance to compete against the most physically overpowering teams in the East – Orlando and Dwight Howard, Cleveland and Shaquille O’Neal, Boston and its host of skilled and large frontcourt pieces – the work he put in over the summer appears to have made him the most complete player he’s been in his nine years in the NBA.

“We’re still discussing some of that,” Kuester said Sunday in talking about the frontcourt rotation. “We will have a better handle in the next two days. We have a number of guys who have been in the bigs position who have played well, but Ben, with the energy he showed against Milwaukee (in Friday’s road win to close the preseason), was awfully impressive and set the tone for us defensively in the beginning.

“Kwame has had a very good preseason. I think he has a chance to – I don’t know if you want to use the word ‘surprise,’ because I have expected it all preseason – (continue) playing the way he is. His shot selection and ability to handle the basketball has been very good so far. He’s worked hard at that and I’m very confortable with him taking (open shots). There’s no question, his size does enable us to play some of the tougher big guys in our league.”

Brown suffered ligament damage to his left hand, in the area between his ring and pinkie fingers, when it got whacked early in training camp. Strength coach Arnie Kander has been taping it ever since, which forces the hand to stay in a straightened position, and Brown said last week the injury had begun bothering him more. He sat out the final two preseason games, X-rays were negative and Brown said Sunday that the hand feels improved.

“It’s like a bull’s-eye,” Brown said. “(Kander) keeps saying it’s going to take a long time, because I keep getting hit on it every day. Just trying to pad and protect it as much as I can play through.”

Kander said Brown will probably feel the effects of the injury for three months and expects it to keep getting hit because, as his guide hand on shots, it frequently will get slapped by defenders. But Kander doesn’t believe there’s any danger of doing further damage by playing and, in fact, says the injury in some ways helps Brown because at times he has a tendency to try to grip the ball too tightly and fumble it.

Learning to play with his left hand heavily taped set Brown back a little after a very strong start to the preseason, when he showed scoring ability he hadn’t last season, his first with the Pistons. He spent hours over the summer working on his face-up jumper from the free-throw area and on mid-post bank shots, a la Tim Duncan, and hit a handful in preseason games that even had his teammates talking.

The reason Brown had a more productive summer? The past two, he couldn’t get in the gym because he was rehabbing, first a foot injury and then a shoulder. He took only two weeks after last season ended before getting back to work and was in the gym a minimum of three days each week, splitting his time between the court and the weight room.

The Pistons play 11 games against Boston, Orlando and Cleveland – that’s 13.4 percent of their 82-game schedule – and Brown knows what to expect against Shaq, Howard, Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace.

“Get the ice bags,” he said.