WASHINGTON -- Rasheed Wallace scored 12 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 73-62 preseason victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

AUBURN HILLS -- Pistons coach Michael Curry said, barring injuries, his primary rotation is just about set.

"We have the starting five (Rasheed Wallace, Amir Johnson, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups), and then Max (Jason Maxiell), Dyess (Antonio McDyess) and Rodney Stuckey -- those eight guys are going to play heavy minutes," Curry said Thursday after putting the team through a rare light, no-contact practice. "I count anything over 15 minutes as heavy minutes, so those guys are going to play over that every night and I don't see that changing."

Curry said Arron Afflalo, Walter Herrmann and Kwame Brown would also work into the mix on a nightly basis.

"One or two of those guys will play big minutes, as well, depending on the matchups," Curry said. "We are going to have 10 or 11 guys that will be playing regular minutes and we want to try and keep consistent with that all through the season."

Here are some insights offered by Curry:

• On Johnson: "We haven't posted our offensive grades yet (after the 85-71 win over the Bucks), but defensively, he scored well. He shadowed the ball and he followed the game plan. The problem he had was he got caught under the basket a bit, but he contested shots and he was always there on the help side."

• On Maxiell (who had a rough night guarding both Charlie Villanueva and Malik Allen): "Max made some mistakes defensively. He didn't grade out good. What it was, sometimes the low man (on offense) was not a big man and at times our perimeter guys should've been the one to rotate out. They will get used to it."

• On Will Bynum: "He can bring something to the table. He can dribble penetrate, get to the paint and draw and kick -- that can be a weapon for us. Plus, defensively he scored very high. He's been in the top three defensively in both games. I think Stuckey is better now because of the summer he had against Will Bynum and I think Chauncey and Stuckey are both better because Will pushes them every day in training camp."

• On sitting throughout the game: "I never understood how you can coach using all of your assistants if you aren't sitting there by them. That's just me. I get a lot of input from those guys and I don't know that if I was away from them, I'd get that on every possession. They help me a lot and I depend on them. Plus, sitting there with them gives them more ownership of what we are doing. We are all in this together and I don't need to be standing out there for everybody to see me."

The Pistons are still listing Herrmann as questionable for Friday's game at Washington. His ribs are sore.

One, backup small forward Walter Herrmann was unavailable because of a rib injury. Second, the Pistons came out cold and sluggish and fell into a 15-point hole against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Thus, Curry started the second quarter with Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo and Chauncey Billups around the perimeter and the results were as the coach envisioned.

The tempo and intensity picked up at both ends of the floor and the Pistons quickly got back into the game and went on to defeat the Bucks, 85-71.

"Anytime you get a couple of guys on the court who can make plays with the ball going to the basket, getting into the paint, drawing and kicking it out, you really put the other team at a disadvantage," Billups said. "A lot of teams don't have that luxury, and I expect we will use that three-guard set a lot."

Afflalo was especially active. He played the entire second quarter -- with Stuckey and Billups, and with Hamilton and Stuckey -- and posted nine points, two steals and four rebounds, which helped the Pistons win the quarter, 25-17.

"Arron had been struggling some throughout camp," Curry said. "He's been getting after it defensively, but he hasn't been able to find any rhythm offensively. We've been telling him, like we tell everybody, 'Let your defense keep you on the court and your offensive opportunities will come.' When he settles down and lets the offense come to him, he's a really effective player."

Afflalo finished with a team-high 15 points, hitting six of seven shots.

Walter Herrmann has been nursing a rib injury he sustained during the open scrimmage at Oakland University last week. He is listed as questionable for tonight's game.

AUBURN HILLS -- As expected, Amir Johnson will be in the Detroit Pistons' starting lineup as they open preseason play at Miami on Sunday.

Pistons coach Michael Curry made the announcement following the team's morning practice just a few minutes ago.

"He does things without having to have the basketball," Curry said of Johnson. "He does all those intangibles in which, by being active, he's able to create some offensive opportunities for himself."

AUBURN HILLS -- Rasheed Wallace spent the latter part of this morning's practice in the training room due to some foot soreness. Pistons coach Michael Curry said the injury is not serious, adding that Wallace was held out for precautionary reasons. Wallace is expected to be back for Saturday's practice, and should be available to play on Sunday in Miami.

AUBURN HILLS -- Michael Curry was a physical, aggressive defender as a player. So it only makes sense that those same qualities would be on display in his first official practice as the Detroit Pistons head coach.

The first-year coach put the team through a three-hour practice this morning that was filled with the kind of physical play he brought to the floor as a player.

"Guys really competed, and that's what we talked about last night," Curry said. "We have a lot of drills in which we're teaching. We have a lot of drills where we want to just see them get out and compete."

Speaking of competition, Curry is still planning to have Antonio McDyess come off the bench, with Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell or Kwame Brown replacing him in the starting lineup. It's too soon to tell who McDyess' replacement will be. It's even tougher to gauge considering Curry uses three different five-man units in practice, each consisting of one or two starters.

One of Curry's primary goals is to get this team back to having more of a defensive identity. By no means is that a dig at Flip Saunders. In fact, the Pistons defense statistically was as good - and in some cases, better - under Saunders than his predecessor, Larry Brown.

But no matter what those defensive numbers were, defense was no longer what this team was about under Saunders' regime.

And part of that had to do with Saunders' strength as a head coach being on the offensive end of the floor, which was evident by him having the Pistons ranked among the NBA's leaders in a number of categories offensively.

Curry is at the opposite end of the spectrum, a solid defender as a player whose acumen on offense is unclear.

Defense will be what this team takes great pride in, but Curry also recognizes the need to be solid on offense.

"We're going to be really good defensively and offensively," Curry said. "We want to be a team that can win a game, 120-110, or win a game 80-70."

Michael Curry suffers another personal loss

by A. Sherrod Blakely

Wednesday September 17, 2008, 10:22 AM

LANSING - The Detroit Pistons will begin their Season Tipoff Tour today without head coach Michael Curry following the death of his grandmother.

This is the second loss the Curry family has suffered in the past few months. Curry's father, James Curry Jr. passed away in late June.

Curry is expected to rejoin the Pistons on the tour tomorrow in Flint.