2019 Playoff Hunt Thread

ComboGuardCity · Post #1 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Sun Feb 10, 2019 11:28 pm

As of 2/10 were .5 games behind the heat. They play the Warriors tonight. We split the season series and hold the better conference record. With a loss today, we’ll be the 8th seed.

We have a very good shot at entering the all star break in a playoff spot.

Our ceiling is the 6th spot. Our floor is 11th.

As of today:

6. BKN — GB
7. CHA 1.0 GB
8. MIA 2.0 GB
————————
9. DET 2.5 GB
10. WAS 4.5 GB
11. ORL 4.5 GB

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Kilo · Post #2 » by **Kilo** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:07 am

Make it or not make it - I don't really care either way anymore. Don't make it and we get a better pick with a long shot lottery chance, make it and it's what they players were striving for and good to see them "succeed" I guess. I'd rather lose because even a 1 in 100 chance for #1OA is pretty damn good IMO. Very few to none here would play Russian Roulette with a 1 in 100 chance of blowing their brains out.

Right now we sit at 2% of #1OA and 9.4% chance to move into Top 4. One-in-ten chance to move into top four vs first round sweep...

Miami traded Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington for Ryan Anderson - a pure cap/tax trade but they'll also get Dragic back sooner than later. Charlotte balked at getting Gasol at the deadline when it was all but reported as finished. Washington traded away Otto Porter and Markieff Morris and added Portis and Parker - these were pure money moves to get under tax as well. Orlando traded for Markelle Fultz - tells me they're probably not playing to win this year, but will try and fix him the ROS.

I think we probably make the playoffs over Miami and get the 8th seed, barring key injury of course.

DCintheD · Post #3 » by **DCintheD** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:10 am

Might as well push for that 6 seed. I don’t want to play Milwaukee, Toronto or philly.

DetroitPistons · Post #4 » by **DetroitPistons** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:15 am

The only reason I'm leaning more towards playoffs at this point is because of the other teams in the East and West that are now sucking just about as bad as we are (NOP, DAL). I remember when we had a legit shot at the 6th lottery spot but not anymore so I guess I'll just watch with no expectations and see where the chips fall.

ChuckVanBrown · Post #5 » by **ChuckVanBrown** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:52 am

We probably got a 50-50 shot of making the playoffs, but it’s highly unlikely we’ll finish .500 or better, so it’s basically a losing season regardless if we make the postseason or not.

We might be able to get lucky and steal a game in the first round, and maybe that experience can help this team going forward. I like that we didn’t mortgage the future during the deadline, and we likely aren’t any worse with the moves we made. It sort of makes the rest of the season low stakes, which is fine with me.

Canadafan · Post #6 » by **Canadafan** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:54 am

DCintheD wrote:Might as well push for that 6 seed. I don’t want to play Milwaukee, Toronto or philly.

I'd say odds are good those will end up being the top 3 in the east so they will play the 6th 7th or 8th seed in playoffs

Canadafan · Post #7 » by **Canadafan** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:55 am

Kilo what do you mean #10A?

topsearch92 · Post #8 » by **topsearch92** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:33 am

Canadafan wrote:Kilo what do you mean #10A?

1st over all. I think we can achieve the 6th seed. We won’t tank with Blake. My friend talked to Mike Abdenour today, random encounter, who said to give the team 2 weeks. Said they looked great in practice (today?). Abdenour seemed overall too positive including saying he liked Gores. Says he has the right resources. But what do you expect from a Pistons employee.

DETermination · Post #9 » by **DETermination** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:33 am

Our schedule seems easy enough the rest of the way so I definitely think we make it. I hope we do good enough to get the 6th/7th seed.

Uncle Mxy · Post #10 » by **Uncle Mxy** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 11:52 am

You never know what happens when you try and win.
When you lose, you lose.
We're currently the 8th seed.
Let's push to win until it makes no sense to do so.
Then we focus on player development, trades, picks, etc.

BadMofoPimp · Post #11 » by **BadMofoPimp** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:56 pm

Pistons gonna provem all wrong!!!

Billl · Post #12 » by **Billl** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:57 pm

We need to focus on player development. The problem is that we just don't have that many guys to develop and the ones we do have all play wing roles. Even Thon basically plays like a wing on offense.

whitehops · Post #13 » by **whitehops** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:49 pm

we're tied with miami record-wise but we currently have the tie-breaker so we're in 8th right now.

here's the tie-breaker situations with the teams around us in the standings:
brooklyn - 1-1, 1 game remaining
charlotte - 0-3, 1 game remaining (charlotte clinches tie-breaker)
miami - 1-1, 2 games remaining
washington - 1-1, 1 game remaining
orlando - 2-1, 1 game remaining

so really 3/5 are completely up in the air and we have an advantage over orlando, but they're the furthest away from us in the standings.

if we were to just miss the playoffs we'd likely be looking at the 11th/12th seed in the lottery. that would give us a 9.4% or 7.2% chance of moving into the top 4.

Han Solo · Post #14 » by **Han Solo** » Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:41 pm

Hopefully we get in. Would be nice to watch some playoff basketball and good for Blake Griffin. With the year he’s had, it wouldn’t be right for him not to be in the playoffs.

bstein14 · Post #15 » by **bstein14** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:23 am

Remaining schedule is a bit easier than some when you only look at the opponents but we also do still have half of our back to backs for the season still remaining.

27 Games Remain
16 Away & 11 Home
6 BACK TO BACKS STILL REMAIN
13 games against playoff teams, 14 against teams currently in the lottery
17 games against the East & 10 games against West

If I had to guess I'd say we will finish at 41-41, finishing 15-12 over their last 27 games.

DetroitPistons · Post #16 » by **DetroitPistons** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 5:04 am

bstein14 wrote:Remaining schedule is a bit easier than some when you only look at the opponents but we also do still have half of our back to backs for the season still remaining.

27 Games Remain
16 Away & 11 Home
6 BACK TO BACKS STILL REMAIN
13 games against playoff teams, 14 against teams currently in the lottery
17 games against the East & 10 games against West

If I had to guess I'd say we will finish at 41-41, finishing 15-12 over their last 27 games.

With 16 games on the road, 6 back to backs, and 13 against playoff teams I think it is going to be very hard to hit .500. Hopefully you're right though. Ending at .500 would be an amazing turn around for us to end the season after most of us were all onboard the 6th pick bandwagon not too long ago. I suppose if RJ and Dre continue their play and other guys like Kennard and Ellington establish themselves then I think it could be possible.

ComboGuardCity · Post #17 » by **ComboGuardCity** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 6:46 am

We’re getting comfortable!

As of today:

6. BKN — GB
7. CHA 1.0 GB
8. DET 1.5 GB
————————
9. MIA 2.5 GB
10. ORL 3.5 GB
11. WAS 4.5 GB

Looks like we’ll head into the all star break in the playoff seat which is awesome.

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_Und3r][D4wg_ · Post #18 » by **_Und3r][D4wg_** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:14 am

ComboGuardCity wrote:We’re getting comfortable!

As of today:

6. BKN — GB
7. CHA 1.0 GB
8. DET 1.5 GB
————————
9. MIA 2.5 GB
10. ORL 3.5 GB
11. WAS 4.5 GB

Looks like we’ll head into the all star break in the playoff seat which is awesome.

Who would'a thunk it? Prior to last December's schedule-of-doom, a few actually had dreams of ending 6th-seed or better... :clap:

By end-of-year, rude reality had bloodied & battered those hopes down to the much-reviled 8th-seed... :banghead:

The onslaught of losses just wouldn't stop in January, and by month's end had most gnashing & wailing as the team continued to tailspin its way out of the playoffs chase... :waaa:

Immediate reactions after the trade deadline had most of us underwhelmed, leaving a pall of doom-&-gloom over our future that was even more gloomier & doomier than usual... :giveup:

Yet now as we settle into this easier SOS and start racking up more wins than losses, cautious optimism begins to spring up in some corners of this board. Sustained improved play from Dre & Reggie have once again given hope that perhaps we can finish better than 8th or 7th... :thumbsup:

Just the typical emotional rollercoaster that us Pistons supporters go through every year? And maybe a few more climbs, dives, loops & corkscrews before the season is over. I just hope when we finally get off at the end, we'll have enjoyed some highs and are looking forward to a brighter future, and aren't just sick to the stomach puking our guts out from disgust & despair. :pray:

MotownMadness · Post #19 » by **MotownMadness** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 1:54 pm

Kyrie should be out still against Boston too. That doesn’t guarantee anything but we should be able to handle them if we just keep up this effort type level of play

Spider156 · Post #20 » by **Spider156** » Tue Feb 12, 2019 4:01 pm

Making the playoffs sounds pretty good to me. I think our goal should be to get over 500 and grab the 6th seed. With Smith back and Stanley out, there's no reason why we can't compete for the 6th spot. After the Celtics game Wednesday (without kyrie), we've got an easy schedule. We play the Hawks first game back. All we need to do is win the Brooklyn game coming up. If we make the 6th seed I'd call this a very successful season. I believe we can absolutely beat the Pacers and we should shoot for it for sure.