"If you didn't know that Ben Gordon and Rip Hamilton had such a special relationship between each other, you would have thought one of them didn't like the other," Pistons coach John Kuester said. "They have gone after each other from the get-go."

But that competitiveness is about more than simply beating a good friend.

Both players realize the better they become, the more it helps the Pistons during this season's transition.

"I love it," Hamilton said. "I think he loves it, too."

Hamilton said playing with the offensively-geared Gordon will make his job as the team's top scorer each of the past seven seasons even easier.

The pair even have started to dissect the rival Boston Celtics' defensive strategy.

"I was telling (Gordon), with me and him on the floor, there's no way they can play that way because one of us is always going to be on the opposite side of the court," Hamilton said. "They have to pick their poison. When you have guys that can shoot as well as we can and get to the basket, it's a tough cover."

Hamilton and Gordon, who both played at Connecticut along with Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva, are good friends.

But Kuester said their friendship does not come into play on the court.

"Rip has this attitude, 'when we get in between the lines, I don't care who you are. I'm going at you,' " Kuester said. "And Ben has responded. That's pretty neat to know how special their relationship is and seeing how they push each other."

Tonight's preseason game against Miami at The Palace of Auburn Hills is the first time Hamilton and Gordon's chemistry will be showcased. Villanueva is not expected to play because of a hamstring injury.

After last season, when the styles of Hamilton and Allen Iverson clashed regularly, there is concern whether similar struggles might arise this season.

"You're going to hear it for the simple fact of how the season went last year," Hamilton said. "I don't think last year was (my) or Allen's fault. There was a whole lot of other stuff that went along with it."

But with Gordon as a teammate, Hamilton feels much better about Detroit's chances of making that happen.

"The one thing I love about Ben, it's probably the first time in my career in Detroit where we can actually run a play for me, they can run for him," Hamilton said. "That's always going to keep the other team off balance; you can't relax at the two (shooting guard)."