I used the term 'retreat'. Dan Marang of Blazer's Edge refers to it as: "Yes, tactical retreat is a euphemism for tanking. Why? Because I’m tired of hearing this team shouldn’t tank this season. Instead, retreat." https://www.blazersedge.com/2019/12/10/21003970/portland-trail-blazers-2019-20-record-trades-olshey
Portland is 4 wins too many away from the #5 spot....which is quite a bit given the bottom 5 teams have between 4-6 wins. Take away that 3-game wining streak against the hapless Bulls and the going nowhere Thunder (which we just lost to) and Portland would be knocking on the door of that #5 Lottery spot. 1-9 against teams over .500 but the 9-6 record against teams that won't sniff the Playoffs is just keeping them from being quite that bad. Maybe they can turn that around a bit as they still have a favorable schedule till the end of the month. Outside of Denver, the Lakers on the 28th is the only other really good team they will face. Over the next 9 games still the end of 2019, only 3 have winning records and the Jazz barely so. Are there more than 4-5 wins in that 9 game stretch? So far, this season would indicate that to be a big 'no'. So maybe 14-20 or 15-19 at the end of 2019? With the Warriors and Spurs out of their historically much higher win rate, the West is not at the level of requiring a high 40's win total to make the Playoffs. So some bad teams will be in the hunt for the cannon fodder Playoff spots much like the east has been for years.
Despite the belief that some of you have, there is no way this team is going to tank as long as Dame has a pulse and there’s still a chance to make the playoffs. Only a couple of games out at this point? Forget about it.
Tanking is a losers mentality. Fortunately the team doesn't have that mentality that some posters have.
Losers tank. Competitors never tank. Which do you think any NBA player worth his salt fits into? Poll our players on that subject and then tell them how you feel. After that you'd better look for a fast avenue of escape.
Serious amateur or professional athletes would never consider tanking as it goes against everything that competition stands for. If a player or a team gets caught shaving points or throwing a game because they don't give a damn about the integrity of the game, it's a career ending offense, if caught. If an organization asked players not to concern themselves about making playoffs or winning games as a strategic tactic, that too, violates the integrity of players. If a player like Dame thought this organization was manipulating tanking he'd be asking for a trade in quick fashion. Dame would look at anyone who advocates tanking, including fan's, as totally contrary to what he's made of and beliefs and he would let you know too. He's been looked at as loyalty in the highest because the team and fans have backed him from day one and attempting to tank would ruin that relationship.
Kawhi tanked 22 games last year. The mentality that says "I'll not compete in several earlier games so that I can be more effective in later ones" is the same mentality that says, "We should not compete this season so that we can be more effective in future seasons".
Interesting response. I on the other hand expected more from you. What was Toronto's record when Kawhi (tanked) sat out?
It doesn't matter what the athletes think. We're missing 60% of our starting lineup. You must do what is right for the organization. In this case it's tanking.
It most certainly does matter. They are the ones on the floor playing. Tanking is also against the rules.
I don't know of anyone who thinks they will Tank with Dame here. It's more a discussion of what could be better for the franchise in the long run....which could be as soon as next year. THIS
I'm totally in favor of tanking in the right situations so I'm not arguing that the team shouldn't ever tank but the post of yours that I quote above is exactly why anyone who thinks a team can just tank on purpose is wrong in this case. The Blazers are too good to lose all the games necessary to fully tank. You can't just go out there and lose to bad teams like the Bulls and Knicks. I totally understand that they're gonna finish either just in or out of the playoffs and you're absolutely right that this particular season that is probably not the ideal landing spot for future success but that doesn't make them easily able to just start losing games like last night that they can't lose, even on purpose. You can argue that they could make moves to make the team lose more. Maybe they shouldn't have signed Melo. It's too late to change that now though so it's weird to keep bringing up the tanking like the team will actually do it this early in the season. You keep telling me why they should tank and I get it but you still fail to present a realistic way of how to tank in this current situation. Asking Dame to sit out or not try as hard isn't an option and you know it. So unless there is an injury please explain how they would make this happen. You could trade Whiteside for a bad contract and a pick or young asset. Then promote Hoard and Brown from the G-League which would basically leave Skal and Brown as our only centers. Have Little (or Hoard) start at the 3 and give all the young guys at least 20 minutes a game. Even doing all that I think they are good enough to finish in the back half of the lottery so it wouldn't really work to the point where they'd be in the bottom 5. What specifically would you do?