Now who's changing details??? I said DEEP playoff run. The last time we were making deep playoff runs, guys like Scottie Pippen and Steve Smith wanted to play here. BNM
The claim was that unless HOU won the title, if we end up in the lottery, we will have had a more productive season. That was the assertion I take exception with. A deep playoff run, without winning the title, puts you MUCH closer to actually winning a title than being in the lottery. BNM
Guys wanted to come because PA was writing blank checks. Cant do that anymore. Teams like ours HAVE to build through the draft. That is why gettinf a good pick would be more beneficial to us than Houston not winning a title, but still not having room to improve
I never said it was. I was arguing that us being in the lottery does NOT make us more "productive" than HOU making a deep playoff run, but not winning it all. Here's what I actually replied to: "As long as they don't win a title, we would have had a more productive season if we land in the lottery" And I think that's complete bullshit. I'd rather come close to winning a title and then build on that success than be one of the worst teams in the league and hope you get lucky in the lottery. HOU went further than us in the playoffs last year and their fans have much more to look forward to this season than getting excited about sucking so bad and losing so many games that we'll get more ping pong balls in the lottery next June. Talk about polishing a turd. If we suck bad enough, we might only suck for a few more years while we wait for our next lottery pick to pan out, or not, or leave us for greener pastures if he does. Losing sucks - PERIOD. Ask MIN, SAC and PHI how well being in the lottery year after year after year has worked out for them. That said, I am excited about watching our young players, but I'm excited about watching them WIN. I will NEVER cheer for our team to lose, not matter how many more ping pong balls it gets us. BNM
Unless you are distributed, everyone would rather win than lose.what i am saying, which we all know youll disagree with with is this. Minnesota landed Towns in the draft and are on their way. That to me is productive. We made it to the playoffs and lost 4/5ths of our starting lineup. Who had the more productive year in their quest to win a title? I say Minnesota.
Stuck is the operative word here. Teams that reach the 8 seed with veteran players and large contacts get "stuck" in the middle. Teams that reach the 8 seed primarily with young players with potential (and on rare occasions, also tons of cap space) are on the upswing and have a bright future. If this team is able to win 40+ games, we're the latter, not the former. Contrary to the claims of many in here, that would be a good thing.
I get what you're saying. In a way, it's better to be contending or really bad, not mediocre. (no offense) But, there are no guarantees. You could go the Minnesota way thinking you're on the way up and injuries kill you, or a guy turns out to be a douchebag, etc. Twice, in the last 10 years the Blazers were called 'contenders' and we know what happened with Roy/Oden. Then, the Wes thing and the ensuing avalanche of misfortune. No MM, you never know, so I think you go hard all the time with a winning culture and play to win.
So, now MIN is the model of success? That's a pretty low bar. Towns is the 10th lottery pick MIN has had since the last time they made the playoffs. So is Towns the lottery pick that finally propels MIN to the promised land? I'll believe i when I see it. They have to make the playoffs first. Something they haven't done since 2003-04. In that 11-year span, they haven't had a single winning season, and have won 17, or fewer games 3 times. That's a LOT of losing to endure in the hope that this year's lottery pick will be the one that FINALLY helps them make the playoffs. No thanks. If winning 50+ games is considered stuck in mediocrity, I'll take that over being stuck losing 60+ games hoping that you'll finally get lucky in this years' lottery. BNM
And that's fine--you're entitled to your pessimism. I was specifically addressing this statement of yours: It's one thing to say that you simply don't believe this team is capable of winning 40+ (due to youth, talent, coaching, what-have-you). It's another thing entirely to say that you'd prefer that they lose. If this team were already at its peak, I'd understand that. But with a team of youngsters, winning is absolutely preferable.
I think so too. I never understand why these go towards tanking. I guess the best way my 1/2 brain can explain it is this. Houston s goal is to win a title. Our goal is to acquire assets. If they dont win and in turn we acquire a good asset, we were more productive this year
I'm going to try and be as explicit as I can here. FOR THIS YEAR, given the situation with with our pick and the likelihood that we're probably going to be in the lottery anyway, I'd rather see this team lose big and improve their draft position over scrapping out 38 wins and the 9th seed.
Perhaps we don't all believe that the goal this year is to acquire assets. In my mind, our goal this year is to maximize asset value. 10 young players playing well is more valuable than 3 that are decent and 7 that suck, plus a top-5 pick.
It is absolutely true that the draft does not guarantee success. I would still prefer the #1 pick to the #10 pick, or the #10 pick to none at all. I'm just too much of a flinty pragmatist to turn down any tool that might make us better.
And that's because you've already decided that the players on this team are short on talent, so "scrapping out" wins would be the only way they could win 38. I however, have a higher opinion of the potential on this team, and believe they are capable of winning 38 without necessarily playing above their heads, thereby leaving room for further growth, as well as potentially even being an attractive destination for another free agent or two next summer. Hence the basis of my opinion that THIS YEAR, notwithstanding the situation with our pick, I'd rather see this team win 38 with room to grow than see them suck terribly, win 25 and get a top-5 pick.
