I got a little chuckle from one of the last lines in a recent Chris Iott article on MLive summing up the Pistons’ first 20 games:
"And they appear likely to make the playoffs."
Detroit (8-12) would be ninth in the Eastern Conference and out of the playoffs if the season ended today. No immediate plans have been announced for Richard Hamilton’s and Tayshaun Prince’s returns from injury. Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva aren’t completely healthy, either.
I basically agreed with Matt Waston of Detroit Bad Boys in his playoff-chance assessment: it was certainly feasible, but it would take some work. I thought it was quite a stretch for Iott to call it “likely.”
Apparently, I was wrong.
In John Hollinger’s inaugural playoff odds, Detroit is seventh-most likely to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference at 57.4 percent. No team below the Pistons in the odds is above 50 percent.
So, for now, I guess I can feel semi-comfortable about Detroit’s playoff streak reaching nine seasons.