Realistic goals for the Detroit Pistons in the 2018-2019 season
By Travis Gibbs
The Detroit Pistons have missed the postseason in eight of their last nine seasons. Is this the year they finally get back on track?
This upcoming season has a different feeling than the last few for the Detroit Pistons. They have a new coaching staff and have re-tooled their front office.
The Pistons have a roster that’s ready to win games now. A combination of Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson makes this a tough team in the Eastern conference.
The last two seasons they’ve been on the fringe of the playoffs and just missed. Is this the year they finally get over the hump?
When we talk about goals, typically there’s a high bar set. Not all goals are attainable. The ones listed below for the Detroit Pistons are very attainable this upcoming season.
Core stays healthy
Injuries have been the major reason why the Pistons have not been able to play basketball beyond the regular season. Mainly, injuries to Jackson.
“The pistons missed the playoffs cause they’re ass” “Reggie Jackson doesn’t make that much of a difference” pic.twitter.com/VOW73rDEsI
— Eli Bashi (@EliBashiNBA) July 7, 2018
He makes this team better in many different areas. He was a big reason for their postseason appearance in 2016 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Outside of earlier in his career, Drummond has always been an iron man. Griffin’s health has been a bit of a concern throughout his career.
He’s finished the regular season with appearing in less than 65 games in each of the last three seasons. If any of these three players go down with an significant injury, the Pistons will most likely struggle to keep their heads above water.
Detroit Pistons reach 50 wins
Why not, right? With a healthy team, the success should follow. LeBron James is no longer in the Eastern conference. More importantly, he’s no longer in the same division as the Pistons.
The conference as a whole is relatively weak and has a lot of teams pointing towards the future rather than trying to win now. That is why 50 wins doesn’t seem so unattainable.
How many teams can you honestly say are head and shoulders better than the Pistons in the Eastern conference? Right now, maybe three or four.
The Pistons haven’t won 50 or more games since the 2007-2008 season. It could be argued the team they have now is the best one they’ve had since that season. That’s not saying much considering the last decade has been one to forget.
Winning a playoff series
This idea is one that builds off of some of the points in the previous sequence. Look at last year’s playoff seeding.
The Washington Wizards as the eighth seed took the top-seeded Toronto Raptors to seven games in the opening round. The Indiana Pacers took the Cavaliers to seven games as well.
As long as the Pistons don’t get matched up with Boston or Philadelphia, winning a playoff series in the Eastern conference is not impossible.
If the team manages to reach the goal of 50 wins as well, that would put them in good position to have home court advantage. Cleveland won 50 games last season and was the fourth seed.
If this team can stay healthy and be on the floor together, all of these goals are within reach.