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What happened to them they started off good but have lost six straight

Tough schedule

Last several games have been against teams that are probably or definitely going to make the playoffs and a bunch of them have been on the road.

Someone mentioned that they've had the second toughest schedule over the past month in term's of their opponent's winning percentage.

In their first 14 games they played 4 good teams - the rest were all mediocre or bad teams excluding the Sixers who aren't there yet but will be good/great at some point. They won 9/14 games and then, as most people expected, lost to those 3 good teams they managed to beat previously in the Warriors, Celtics and Bucks on top of losing to the Spurs and Sixers and Wizards (the latter 2 for the 2nd time this season).

So far, the Pistons are who we all thought they were. Great against the worst teams, not so great against the good teams.
If they catch any team sleeping, they can pull off a win. They aren't an elite team though and with Jackson + Drummond, they never will be. To me, they're similar to the Raptors though a notch down in terms of talent. Good for the regular season because they play in the East, but won't do much in terms of Championship aspirations - which is fine.

Bakuto wrote:Last several games have been against teams that are probably or definitely going to make the playoffs and a bunch of them have been on the road.

Someone mentioned that they've had the second toughest schedule over the past month in term's of their opponent's winning percentage.

Do you find it concerning that the Pistons have lost to all their Eastern conference playoff competitors multiple times this season already? They have multiple losses against the Sixers, Wizards, Bucks and even a loss against the Pacers - 4 teams they will be vying for position with come playoff time. I think that speaks volumes to what the expectations should be - a hot start because of an easy schedule shouldn't cloud peoples judgement about what the Pistons are and what they can be.

That was a rough 6 game stretch. We need to just win a game now that it lightens up to get some confidence back.

Overall the team is still just a playoff 4-8 playoff contender still that can either beat the best or get a big losing streak against the best. They aren't a upper echelon team that can get away with just talent. They have to play as a unit and that stretch of loses has thrown us off for the time being.

Now it's time to see how they react to inferior opponents coming off this losing streak to determine the season.

they played 4/6 games on the road, six games in nine days, all six opponents were above .500, played three of the best teams in the league (spurs, warriors, celtics), every game was competitive except for the wizards game, etc.

so far 16/26 of their games have been against teams currently in the playoffs.


bottom line, they're not an elite team and have struggled a bit but a rough stretch of schedule is what makes it look a lot worse than it actually is.

Law of averages.

That’s why I never trust early season records. People take small sample sizes too seriously.

And I still take current games with a game of salt.

Edit: *Grain of salt

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I think they are more where I expected then to be, fighting for a 4-8 seed. But if you looked at their SRS/point differential, they were playing a little above themselves when they were 10-3.

Still a solid playoff team.

There a playoff team but they never good enough to be a too 4 seed. That was not sustainable

We really need a star though who can carry a offensive load consistently. Drummond is good but he's more of a star role player that you want as your second fiddle and not your best player.

Flash Falcon X wrote:Law of averages.

That’s why I never trust early season records. People take small sample sizes too seriously.

And I still take current games with a game of salt.


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Two weeks in there was a thread claiming Kemba Waller to be the best point guard in the East. I was thinking you really have to wait until January before you get a true barometer of the season.

Very difficult schedule over the past month or so and they're losing a bunch of close games. Their last 5 losses were against the Warriors, Spurs, Sixers, Bucks, Celtics...4 of them by 5 or less points, the other by 10.

NashtyNas wrote:So far, the Pistons are who we all thought they were. Great against the worst teams, not so great against the good teams.
If they catch any team sleeping, they can pull off a win. They aren't an elite team though and with Jackson + Drummond, they never will be. To me, they're in the same tier as the Raptors. Good for the regular season because they play in the East, but won't do much in terms of Championship aspirations - which is fine.

They are not in the same tier as the Raptors, the Pistons are a first round exit playoff team at best. I wouldn't even consider them a lock to make the playoffs.

whitehops wrote:they played 4/6 games on the road, six games in nine days, all six opponents were above .500, played three of the best teams in the league (spurs, warriors, celtics), every game was competitive except for the wizards game, etc.

so far 16/26 of their games have been against teams currently in the playoffs.


bottom line, they're not an elite team and have struggled a bit but a rough stretch of schedule is what makes it look a lot worse than it actually is.

The problem is they might not be more than a 7th or 8th seed - if they can qualify.
They already have multiple losses against the Bucks, Wizards and Sixers (4th, 6th and 8th respectively) at this point in the season and they have had some wins that no one expects them to repeat against teams like the W's and the C's.

Luckily they've had the Knicks and Heat's number and within the next 3 weeks they play 4 games against the Knicks, Heat and Pacers.
Basically, barring a miracle or two, we'll know by January 5th whether the Pistons should continue fighting for a playoff spot or start selling off some assets.

Reeko wrote:

NashtyNas wrote:So far, the Pistons are who we all thought they were. Great against the worst teams, not so great against the good teams.
If they catch any team sleeping, they can pull off a win. They aren't an elite team though and with Jackson + Drummond, they never will be. To me, they're in the same tier as the Raptors. Good for the regular season because they play in the East, but won't do much in terms of Championship aspirations - which is fine.

They are not in the same tier as the Raptors, the Pistons are a first round exit playoff team at best. I wouldn't even consider them a lock to make the playoffs.

I don't disagree and I had already changed my wording before you responded.

They Piston themselves

They are just reverting back to what they really are.

NashtyNas wrote:

whitehops wrote:they played 4/6 games on the road, six games in nine days, all six opponents were above .500, played three of the best teams in the league (spurs, warriors, celtics), every game was competitive except for the wizards game, etc.

so far 16/26 of their games have been against teams currently in the playoffs.


bottom line, they're not an elite team and have struggled a bit but a rough stretch of schedule is what makes it look a lot worse than it actually is.

The problem is they might not be more than a 7th or 8th seed - if they can qualify.
They already have multiple losses against the Bucks, Wizards and Sixers (4th, 6th and 8th respectively) at this point in the season and they have had some wins that no one expects them to repeat against teams like the W's and the C's.

Luckily they've had the Knicks and Heat's number and within the next 3 weeks they play 4 games against the Knicks, Heat and Pacers.
Basically, barring a miracle or two, we'll know by January 5th whether the Pistons should continue fighting for a playoff spot or start selling off some assets.

Out of the playoffs is hard to imagine. I guess as a outsider it looks worse trying to play it out but they just look better and more talented this year for this to continue and miss the playoffs. There's just not enough teams better to scare me like that.

Honestly outside of Cleveland I'm not even scared of a 7 game series in the East this year. We can definitely compete and aren't that kind of a fluke.

Heat is catching up.
They are lucky Embiid seems to revert back on missing games.

Pistons are a playoff team but they were never as great as they looked. Detroit was a poor shooting team last year and they’re basically reverting back to their level after a hot start.

My expectations for them are probably 5-8 seed and loss on first round , unless they make a major move to improve their offense.