The easiest thing to do is to dismiss the Pistons and everything they've done thus far.
  The 14-6 start.
  Their stellar home record.
  The idea that they will make the playoffs comfortably.
  Instead, the focus is on the awful West Coast trip that snowballed into NBA hell -- the Pistons lost 13 of the next 15, some in ugly fashion.
  But they aren't that far off from the kind of team they really are -- a better-than-.500 team with a trip to the playoffs at the end.
  They weren't the team that was on pace to win 60 or so after the first 20 games and they aren't a team at the bottom of the scrap heap. In both cases, the schedule played a big part in the Pistons' successes and failures.
  That's why fans shouldn't be disappointed about the Pistons' record to this point. After Tuesday night's loss against the Toronto Raptors at The Palace, the Pistons are 17-19 and 5 1/2 games out of first place in the Central Division.
  "We're not as far off as people think," forward Michael Curry said before the game. "What was happening is that we were getting far off in our play, from where we want to be.
  "We always say the record at the end of the season will take care of itself."