AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons kicked off the first day of training camp with something that hasn't been around for many years -- openings in the starting lineup.
The only Pistons who appear to be locks to start on opening night are Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey. Richard Hamilton and Charlie Villanueva are expected to start at shooting guard and power forward, respectively, but they'll have to beat out some stiff competition in the coming weeks. "We have a number of options that will sort of play itself out during the preseason," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "That's what's going to be exciting, to see these guys going after each other, day-in and day-out."
The most open battle to start the season will feature Kwame Brown, Ben Wallace and Chris Wilcox vying for the starting job at center.
"I'm here in training camp. Whatever happens after that, happens," Wallace said. "I'm not looking for any playing time. I don't have any expectations of how long I'll play. I don't have anybody tell me I'm going to play X-number of minutes. I'm going to do like everybody else. I'm going to come to camp and earn mine."
Brown, who started 30 games for Detroit last season, said he knows his stiffest competition for minutes likely will come from Wallace, a four-time defensive player of the year.
"I'm not really competing with him, I'm just trying to learn from him," Brown said. "Anybody that can play defense like that, I'm going into it with the mind-set that I can learn from him, and take something from his game and add it to mine."
That doesn't mean Brown is approaching training camp expecting to come off the bench.
"It should be a goal of every center in the building to start," Brown said.
Wilcox, entering his eighth NBA season, said he isn't as concerned about starting as he used to be.
"When you first come into the league, you're like, 'Man, I have to score. I have to score.' But when you get in the league and you get on a team, you realize it's not all about scoring. It's about what can I do to make the team better. Sometimes, you just have to fit in."
The ability to defend at a high level will be arguably the biggest factor in determining who wins the starting job.
"This team has plenty of guys who can score," Wilcox said. "They don't need me for that.
"Defending and rebounding, that's the best way I can help this team."
Wallace echoed similar sentiments.
"There's not a team in this league, regardless of what people might think or people might say, that can't score the Basketball," Wallace said. "But the good teams are the ones that can do both, can score and get stops."
