By that standard – and who are we to argue with Sparky? – it’s now OK to draw some conclusions about the NBA season. The Pistons have played 20 games now – roughly 25 percent of the 82-game regular season – and they’re winning almost twice as often as they lose.

They’ve had nine home games and 11 road games, they’ve taken one of their two major Western road swings, they’ve survived minor injury problems and they’re dealing with the problems associated with incorporating offseason additions to the playing rotation. In other words, they’ve experienced a little of most everything that an NBA season can throw at them. Which is why 20 games begin to constitute a representative sample. The quirks that skew records two or three weeks into the season have begun to balance out.

So where are we, exactly? The Pistons are feeling OK about themselves, and they should be. No one’s having a career year that makes you think a tumble is due. There’s reason to expect improvement from Antonio McDyess, who typically gets better as the season unfolds. Flip Murray and Carlos Delfino show signs they’re ready for more responsibility. Nobody in the East has the quality of frontcourt depth the Pistons have with Dale Davis and Jason Maxiell as the Nos. 4 and 5 options. Put another way, the Pistons have far more room for improvement this year than they did a year ago.

Ten quick observations from around the league at the quarter-pole:

1. Phil Jackson’s a pretty good coach – Yeah, I know, he’s smarmy and condescending, but he also has the Lakers sitting at 14-6 through 20 games with Smush Parker as his point guard and 18-year-old Andrew Bynum and retread Kwame Brown splitting time at center.

2. There’s an ocean between the Atlantic and the Pacific – Sacramento’s 9-10 record is good for last place in the Pacific Division but would have the Kings 1½ games ahead of the pack in the Atlantic. The gulf between the Eastern and Western conferences is really as simple as that – fix the Atlantic and there’s no imbalance of power.

3. What’s up with New Jersey? – The Nets have played 12 of their 20 games at home are they’re 8-12. With Nenad Kristic emerging as one of the game’s top true centers to join the Kidd-Carter-Jefferson triumvirate, New Jersey qualifies as the biggest disappointment of the first quarter. Can Larry Brown be far away?

4. Philly makes the Knicks look harmonious – OK, not really. It must cause David Stern great distress that two of the league’s bedrock franchises are in such perpetual disarray. Throw in Boston – combined records of teams in three huge markets: 20-43 – and you have a huge net drag on the league.

5. Orlando might be for real – The Magic are even further along with their season with 23 games behind them. Dwight Howard has emerged as a legit All-Star, Grant Hill is healthy, Jameer Nelson and Carlos Arroyo are providing solid play at the point … in the East, that’s going to be enough to challenge for a top-four playoff seed.

6. Cleveland should be in better shape – The Cavs didn’t do much in the offseason aside from adding David Wesley, which doesn’t bode well for their chances of dramatically improving upon their 12-8 start. Of all teams, they should have had the least adjustment accommodations.

7. Phoenix rising – How close Amare Stoudemire can come to 100 percent by the time the playoffs roll around will determine how legitimately the Suns can challenge for an NBA title. There’s still skepticism that this team is built for postseason success, but Steve Nash (20.3 points, 11.8 assists), Shawn Marion and a hale Stoudemire are as good as anyone’s 1-2-3. If they ever start getting anything out of James Jones and Jalen Rose, watch out.

8. Houston, you have a problem – Even if Tracy McGrady’s most recent back flareup isn’t seriously debilitating, the Rockets are always holding their breath with the league’s most fragile superstar. With Yao Ming entering the MVP discussion, the Rockets (14-6) can hold their own even in the stacked Southwest Division. But they’ll need McGrady at his best.

9. One to watch – Eric Musselman doesn’t have much of a chance for meaningful success with the current roster in Sacramento, but the fact he has the Kings playing competitively pretty much every night is not going unnoticed. If the Kings ever let him get away, he’ll be established enough that a legitimate contender would be wise to snap him up.

10. All eyes on Riley – Miami’s shot at a title defense ultimately comes down to Shaquille O’Neal’s back and knees. If he’s capable of playing 30 hard minutes come mid-April, then it would be foolish to dismiss the Heat. But Pat Riley is going to have to come up with a few tinkering moves – nothing dramatic – to fill in all the holes around Shaq and Dwyane Wade.