Pistons Move Up in Rankings, but Down in People's Confidence.

This weeks NBA Power rankings are out and the Pistons have moved back into the top ten. After 5 weeks in the teens, the Pistons are now back.

Since Rodney Stuckey entered into the starting lineup, the Pistons are 13-3 and are now on a 7-game win streak which helped boost them in the rankings. But when many are beginning to think that the Pistons are back, others are thinking that they are on the decline.

What I mean is that the Pistons' regular apperance in the Eastern Conference Finals is now over. With so many teams moving up in the standings from the Eastern Conference, four to be exact, critics are beginning to think that the Pistons will lose early in the playoffs this year.

ESPN The Magazine writer Chris Broussard had this to say of the current Eastern Conference shake up:

“I know it doesn’t make me Nostradamus to say the East will come down to Boston and Cleveland. But if there’s a third team that can disrupt the expected Eastern Conference final, I say it’s Orlando, not Detroit. The nice little run the Pistons had is officially over. Not only will they fail to reach the conference finals for the first time in seven years, but they will be ousted from the playoffs in the first round—by Atlanta!”

Man, oh man, no faith in our Pistons' team. They are finally beginning to click, and what happens; people begin to lose faith in the Pistons. Like I posted last week, Winning after Jan. 1 is a Pistons' tradition, the Pistons always begin to win after the New Year. They have not had a season where they have had less than 35 wins since before the 2003-04 season.

Chris Broussard thinks that Boston and Cleveland will own the East. Cleveland I am sure will earn the No. 1 spot in the playoffs, but Boston I’m not sure if they will last. They are currently on a slide after only winning two of their last six games (their last lost coming from the New York Knicks).

What am I getting at? I’m saying that I am not worried about the Pistons making the Eastern Conference Finals, rather it may be a little painful to watch at times during the playoffs as they may lose a couple games they should have won. But overall we will see the Pistons go far in this year's playoffs.