He did say that, and that's exactly what's happened so far. Most fans don't seem to care though, so no biggie
"We should tank!" There seems to be a giant misconception of what exactly tanking is and I see it portrayed (everywhere, not just here) as some sort of magical switch that can be turned off and on. Tanking is not telling players to lose games. I will repeat, tanking is not telling players to lose games. A coach or GM doesn't just suddenly call players into the office and tell to not try or to intentionally throw games. That's not how it works. If a player ever agreed to lose or not play hard that would be the first player you would get rid of. That player is a cancer, that player is a loser. http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/tanking-what-it-is-and-what-it-isnt.309075/
I'll repeat my question to you, then. Who are you proposing we tank for? By my (admittedly not as focused as in years past) review of the best college players, it seems that of the, say, 20 best players in college, 4 are big men. We have close to All-Stars at PG and SG, I'm pretty sure starting C is locked up for a while, and a pile of pretty good SGs and SFs and smallball PFs. Are you saying that the difference between the team that plays tonight and a contender is Lauri Markannen or Jayson Tatum? Or, given the hope that fortune smiles on us, you're planning on tanking for a shot at Josh Jackson? Or dumping that expensive clownshoe Dame and hoping that a freshman PG like Fultz/Ball/Fox/Monk/Smith can lead us to the WCF? You'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who likes the draft and draft picks more than me, Chad Ford and Jay Bilas. But who do you think is going to make the leap for this roster with a mid-to-late lotto and a couple sweetener picks?
Gotta love the title of this thread. Yes, it's absolutely critical that those of us who post in this forum make the right choice about something that we have zero influence upon. The fate of the Blazers universe is riding on this. To use the language you love to use so often, let's be clear here: nobody who owns, manages, coaches, or plays for the Blazers gives a flying fuck about your opinion on this or the outcome of your poll.
There are so many faulty assumptions and theories in the OP. Let’s try to think this win/tank topic out. Q. Does NO have a lottery player targeted he wants to draft? If so, he will need to have a plan ready to trade up, if necessary, to get him. Today, our first round pick is projected to be #12. Unless the targeted player falls into NO’s lap, moving up or down a few spots in the draft probably is not going to make much difference to land the targeted player. There are too many variables in the drafting process that NO has no control over. What will help the most to draft the targeted player is being able to trade the two other first round picks (and maybe a player) to move up, not if we lose a few extra games. I believe NO’s plan is to make a trade on draft day to get the player/s he wants. Losing a couple of extra games to get the lottery player he wants, would be a very stupid plan.
Come on now MM, this guy is a troll and just because he makes a posts that isn't horrible doesn't discount pretty much everything he has posted recently.
We have two more losses than the 8 seed and if we beat Denver on the 28th we own the season series. Given Denver's schedule, if we go about .500 the rest of the way there's a very real chance we get in. The team is never going to try to lose and I think they're too good to drop in the standings a whole lot. Even if they completely fall apart, all the teams chasing them are also well under .500. Some fans seem to think being the 8th seed this year and having something like the 15th pick means that we're going to be mediocre for years to come, but if we can somehow miss the playoffs and have the 9th pick then we'll rise from the ashes next year and be a contender. That's dumb as fuck. Season isn't over and I would of thought the Clipper series last year would have proven that anything can happen in a 7 game series.
I'm a die hard Blazer fan.....I enjoy the team and the direction we're heading in...I want them to play hard and let the cards fall where they will. Intentionally tanking could get you a pick like TRob if you move up and you could just as well lose out on a Lillard who went 6th behind TRob....seems to me the top picks are going to be guards this draft anyway...power forwards are harder to find and to get one you don't need a top 5 pick....it's too late anyway to compete with Sac or any other bottom feeder in the west for a lottery position....if folks don't enjoy the team or trust the direction....there are 29 more teams to latch onto for a season. Take your pick, I took mine decades ago. I still enjoy the Blazers. I just think they're halfway through a rebuild. This season like last season were more like training camps for roster spots. offseason we'll have a clear picture of who has value......enjoy the process! Sure the loss last night sucked...let the coaching staff deal with it and see if they bounce back.
I don't really care one way or another. I agree it is only 16 games, but as we have discussed, the Blazers end with a lot of home games, and since the only true way to tank is to "rest" your best players, that means management has to deliberately screw over the paying fans who bought tickets to see a competitive game. Those tickets are not cheap. You may want to root for a couple of slightly sprained ankles or sore backs to pull it off. I would be OK with winning 16 in a row as it would be exciting. And I would be OK with losing 16 in a row as we would get a better pick. But more than likely we will win about 5-8 of those remaining games.
