Everything Tanking ;) Raptor still have a long shot at 3rd worst record...

[theycallmeZZ]

It's so great to have the poisonous tanking mindset behind us!

[stretch]

It's starting all over again.

Just lose, baby!

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Top 3 games remaining on the 'tanking schedule':

New Orleans and Golden State play Tuesday
Cleveland and Washington play Wednesday
New Jersey and Toronto play Thursday

Bonus 'tanking matches':

Sacramento and OKC (minus Harden)
Sacramento and LAL (at SAC where they are 15-17 with Laker distractions everywhere)

I'd even settle with Toronto finishing in a tie for 5th worse with Cleveland, which would give them both a 7.5% chance. The NJ game is big for Tank Nation, as it could conceivably put the losing team at the T-5 position (7.5%) and the winning team at the #7 position (4%)... one meaningless game could be the difference between drafting Beal/Barnes and drafting from the next tier (Sullinger, Jones, Jones III, Lamb, Lillard, Marshall).

[mcHAPPY]

So I'm here looking at the standings and I'm seeing this:

                                                          LOTTERY
   	                W	 L	PCT	STRK    Chances	Odds
1	Charlotte 	7	57	0.109	Lost 21	250	25%
2	Washington 	18	46	0.281	Won 4	199	20%
3	New Orleans 	20	44	0.313	Lost 1	156	16%
4	Cleveland 	21	43	0.328	Lost 2	119	12%
5	Sacramento 	21	43	0.328	Won 1	88	9%
6	New Jersey 	22	43	0.338	Lost 5	63	6%
7	Toronto 	22	43	0.338	Lost 4	43	4%
8	Golden State 	23	41	0.359	Won 1	28	3%

If the Raptors lose the last two they could conceivably finish with or tied for 4th worst record in the league. I guess 3rd isn't officially out but it's a massive long shot.

Top 3 games remaining on the 'tanking schedule':

New Orleans and Golden State play Tuesday
Cleveland and Washington play Wednesday
New Jersey and Toronto play Thursday

Bonus 'tanking matches':

Sacramento and OKC (minus Harden)
Sacramento and LAL (at SAC where they are 15-17 with Laker distractions everywhere)

[Apollo]

It's a pathetic race but it's wide open

So I'm here looking at the standings and I'm seeing this:

                                                          LOTTERY
   	                W	 L	PCT	STRK    Chances	Odds
1	Charlotte 	7	57	0.109	Lost 21	250	25%
2	Washington 	18	46	0.281	Won 4	199	20%
3	New Orleans 	20	44	0.313	Lost 1	156	16%
4	Cleveland 	21	43	0.328	Lost 2	119	12%
5	Sacramento 	21	43	0.328	Won 1	88	9%
6	New Jersey 	22	43	0.338	Lost 5	63	6%
7	Toronto 	22	43	0.338	Lost 4	43	4%
8	Golden State 	23	41	0.359	Won 1	28	3%

If the Raptors lose the last two they could conceivably finish with or tied for 4th worst record in the league. I guess 3rd isn't officially out but it's a massive long shot.

[NoPropsneeded]

i find that stupid too. I seriously doubt players have the same perspective to tanking as fans. We think it'll make us better, but to them it should be an insult thinking a younger kid can come in and turn the team around, but they can't.

[jbml]

I can't buy that.

Would you expect a player to admit that they wanted to loose. Imagine what that would open up!

[themasao]

i heard somewhere that Garcia wasn't upset cause he made the shot and he wanted to "Tank", its because Thornton shot it a little too early on the clock so the other team still had a chance to win it.

Ya I heard that too -- it's definitely possible. I mean its all speculation really, but I still find it kinda suspect how Garcia still seemed pissed off after the buzzer sounded. Not to mention, the play was clearly designed as a curl around a screen for a spot up shot. Gordon would have been an idiot (from a non-tanking perspective) to do anything other than catch-and-shoot.

[NoPropsneeded]

i heard somewhere that Garcia wasn't upset cause he made the shot and he wanted to "Tank", its because Thornton shot it a little too early on the clock so the other team still had a chance to win it.

[mcHAPPY]

I don't understand why tanking is an issue all-of-a-sudden. It's been this way for years, and is basically the same way in all major sports.

It is because all the big or desirable markets are in the playoffs. New York, LA, or Chicago in the lottery, this is not nearly as big an issue as it has been made out to be this year.

[Nilanka]

I don't understand why tanking is an issue all-of-a-sudden. It's been this way for years, and is basically the same way in all major sports.

[Bendit]

LOL Definately worth watching. Garcia and Hayes seem to care

Shows how difficult it is for players on the floor with adrenaline pumping to actually tank/clank a shot. Thornton ran a near perfect play to get open and shot the ball to score. With Garcia's reaction it is clear that "tanking" had to have been discussed among the players. I think muscle memory and bb dna kicks in because these guys have ALWAYS been wired to win. The same thing happened to Kleiza last night. That is one of his favourite positions and could have tied the game...he shot to make it. I would have done a Garcia if he did.

[jbml]

As an aside:

Garcia and Hayes' reaction had me laughing...and scratching my head. Do individual players really care about tanking?

LOL Definately worth watching. Garcia and Hayes seem to care

[mcHAPPY]

Tanking Isn’t All Bad: A lot has been made recently about the decision some NBA teams make to lose games rather than win them, and last night’s elimination of the Houston Rockets is a great case study in the virtues of being average in the NBA.

Before we go tossing Houston General Manager Daryl Morey under the bus, keep in mind that Les Alexander, the Rockets’ owner, refuses to lose games. He refuses to allow his team to drop low enough in the standings to secure those coveted top draft picks, so his team is doomed to be one game away from the lottery virtually every year.

Not every team is a contender, and what the pundits that are bashing the idea of deliberate or planned losing are missing is that every team’s priorities are different.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are building for tomorrow. Trading away Ramon Sessions was about opening opportunities to try on young guys at the expense of a player that was walking away in July as a free agent. Just look at what Manny Harris and Alonzo Gee have brought to the Cavs. Neither would have gotten much of a shot had the Cavs been chasing the eighth seed every year. Today they might be part of a new Cavs unit that wins playoff games in a year or two.

Sometimes dipping low into the draft lottery is where the next great player comes from, and, as they say, ‘the cheapest talent a team ever gets is its first round draft choices’.

Is that fair for the fans? Not likely. But riddle me this… as a fan would you rather have one crappy season and see it result in two or three players that fast track your team into serious playoff contention, or watch a mediocre team year after year?

The issue of teams shifting to development mode and playing young guys is not a bad thing. What has become bad is when it’s the same teams over and over every year.

Including this year, the Charlotte Bobcats have drafted in the lottery eight times in their nine-year history – their first season was 2004; they did not draft in the lottery in 2010.

This draft will also mark the 6th straight lottery selection for the Sacramento Kings, the longest streak in the projected lottery field.

Tanking games is not bad if it’s done for a season or two to amass the right kinds of talent to improve. When it’s the same teams year after year, it’s a sign of bigger issues.

Not everyone is competing for a championship, so to condemn teams that are building for tomorrow is a little naive.

The biggest knock the NBA gets from outsiders is that too many teams get into the playoffs… so if the top 16 teams is too many, why is it bad that the bottom 6 or 7 are working on improving?

Does it stink for paying fans? Absolutely. Does it stink for the broadcast partners that pay money for the rights to games? Sure.

But if you are a real fan of your team, wouldn’t you rather have a shot at Anthony Davis today than being in the perennial 14th slot like the Houston Rockets, who are just bad enough to miss the postseason and get another late teens level draft pick?

Losing games isn’t always a bad thing, what tends to be the bad thing is when you lose just enough games to miss the playoffs but not enough games to get good draft picks… that’s what stinks, because Houston will miss the Playoffs and unless they trade up they will likely miss out on the eight to ten franchise-changing players that the 2012 NBA Draft could contribute. That’s been the Rockets’ biggest problem over the last handful of years.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-am-tanking-isnt-all-bad

I think mediocrity is the worst place a team could be in the NBA. That is just my opinion though. I said this earlier in the year: it is the job of players and coaches to do everything they can to win games and it is the job of GM's to assemble a roster to compete or tank.

[Bendit]

One down 2 to go. Do it for the team.