Whether the Pistons were 14-6 or 20-20, President Joe Dumars had the same response to those wondering about his team.
  "We are who we are," he said.
  And just who are these Pistons? At the midpoint of the season it would appear they are a team that will have to scratch and claw to stay at or near the .500 mark, and a team that should remain in the hunt for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
  "We still have a chance to do some things," said Jerry Stackhouse. "Maybe we aren't as good as we want to be. But I think it's been proven that in the Eastern Conference, .500 basketball isn't terrible."
  Maybe the fast start fed some false hope, but it did not fool Dumars. Nor did the subsequent slide overly discourage him.