Seems to me we're teetering on the line of deserving investigation by the league. (Not saying that the players or Chauncey aren't giving their all - I'm talking about decisions on whether or not players play.)
This is kind of why I wish we had relegation in the NBA. Not that anybody would ever vote to institute it, and the logistics are a nightmare, but let me tell you, my EPL team Leeds United is just above the relegation zone and EVERY GAME MATTERS. If anything fans are more invested than fans of teams at the top.
Has any team ever been punished for intentionally tanking? I'm assuming not (for one thing, how would you prove it?). But I think they should dangle yanking draft picks, or pushing the draft pick to the bottom of the first round as punishment.
There's no such thing as a league investigation into tanking that I've ever read or heard about from a reliable source. Marc Cuban once blatantly said that his team was doing it and was reportedly fined $600k for saying that his team was tanking because he wanted them to... never on court but just like what we're doing but so many teams have tanked far more blatantly than this and never been investigated for it because the NBA knows that it would have to prove intent and it doesn't have an actual rule against it. They've now reformed the draft lottery to keep teams from being incentivised to tank all the way to the bottom but that's not what we're doing. We're just trying to get to the best spot we can in the lottery/draft order which is likely going to be 5th without a lotto win and obviously that's going to take some help from other teams that shouldn't have too much incentive to win themselves.
It seems as though doing anything on the court to intentionally lose would draw the wrath of the commissioner. I don’t know that holding out players with legitimate but minor injuries is going to cross the line, and that seems to be the Blazers’ plan. Cuban was fined a few years ago for publicly stating that winning wasn’t in the Mavs’ best interests: http://es.pn/2oD7sn2
Silver has said that if the league can prove it that they would punish it swiftly or some shit like that but there's never been a public report of an investigation but I guess one could have been done and kept under wraps. Intent would be hard to prove unless they had something on record but I'm sure teams are really smart about not putting anything down with a digital footprint. This is the Marc Cuban incident and it kind of tells you how blatant it has to be and how "swift" the penalties are: https://www.nba.com/news/dallas-mavericks-owner-mark-cuban-fined-comments-tanking
To me, the objectionable thing is that I think even now, if the Blazers activated Dame, Simons and Nurk, they could still make the play-in.
I don't see how that's objectionable. If the team has the opportunity to try and make itself markedly better instead of staying in a holding pattern around making the first round of the playoffs just to be shown the door, then theirs nothing wrong with it. Sure Adam Silver probably doesn't like it and he might audit our team's digital communications but I'm sure we're being careful with how things are being said. This has been done many times before, I really don't see anything wrong with it. I'm just glad that they showed yesterday that this lineup can lose to the bad teams we're going to need to lose to down the stretch.
Cronin is making a calculated gamble to try to get two first round picks. If it works, then it’s probably the right play. OTOH, NO is now in the 9th spot in the West and, if CJ pushes them to hold onto that spot, will probably play the not-too-scary Clippers in the play-in. I’ll take the Pelicans in that matchup. If that happens tanking will have cost the Blazers that second pick AND a shot at the playoffs where anything could happen. I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but karma can be a bitch.
If Portland was "blatantly" tanking, Hart would not be playing and Winslow would have not returned. So, the worst they could be accused of is artfully tanking what the Blazers are doing is no worse than what other teams have done over the year, even recently like the Warriors besides that, several of the injuries Portland has are definitely legitimate: Dame-Little-Ingles-Louzada. Nurk has plantar faciitis and that has caused many players to miss many games, especially if it's a severe case. Atlanta's John Collins may miss the rest of the season and they aren't tanking. Winslow and Bledsoe both have Achilles issues and that's a potential injury you absolutely do not risk. All 7 of those injured players have, or could have, valid injuries Simons is the one that seems a little iffy. Last I heard it was a thigh contusion. I'm not sure how many times a player has missed a month for a thigh contusion seems to me that there is going to be a really broad gray area between teams being cautious with injuries and teams blatantly tanking. And if any team has a right to be cautious, it's Portland
If they are in the ninth spot they will have to win two games. If the seeding maintains it will be one against the team in the tenth (Lakers) spot in NOLA and the next against the loser of the 7 (Wolves) v 8 (Clippers) game. So having to beat the Lakers with AD back if when he comes back he can stay healthy that long. Some people might favor the Pelicans if they have Ingram but the Lakers will have the two best players on the court if healthy. Then the odds are that the Wolves will have beat the Clippers and the Pelicans will have to play them in LA. I think both LA teams will be betting favorites in their games against the Pelicans. I do not see the Pelicans getting through both LA teams but it's obviously possible. It's all a big wait and see game between now and May 17th after the lottery. I fucking hate it that Cronin made the most valuable piece that we got back for CJ such a gamble and it's a gamble against CJ which is fucking stupid but there are two really good teams in between the Pelicans and the playoffs. I'm not saying that the healthy Lakers are great or that there's even a guarantee that they'll be healthy and I don't think the Clippers without Kawhi, PG13 and Norm are great either but both are probably better than the Pelicans without Zion but again, we'll see about all of that.
The quad contusion turned into patellar tendinopathy. https://www.espn.com/nba/team/injuries/_/name/por
ok...thanks! I missed that although I don't really know what that means. I've had a thigh contusion before and it was really painful for a couple of weeks. But I was over 50 and in shape for mild remodeling; not under 25 and in shape for the NBA
We're doing exactly what OKC & Houston have been doing the past two years. Ours just looks more blatant because we don't have any high level youngsters currently playing and our roster is filled with non-NBA guys. Considering how prolonged other tanks around the league have been, I think Silver will turn a blind eye towards our 30 game tank.
You must be new to the world of the NBA. Tanking has been around since the league went to an actual draft (as opposed to the original “regional” drafts). And every time the league tweaks the rules to discourage tanking, teams find creative ways to get around it. Teams have tanked for years and have gotten away with it. Why should we clutch our pearls now that Portland is doing it? The only reason to be pissed off about it is if it doesn’t lead to the preferred results……and that is the only downside worth worrying about.
This as I just said in the thread that this actual thread should have just been a post in, is the end game. That is the last piece of the tank put into place. Hart will now join everyone that has a chance at being a starter on our team next season on our injured list for the rest of the season. I do think we will lose the next 12 games to wrap up the season with a 16 game losing streak. I also think that will put us in the fifth spot as far as lottery odds go.
