I like the idea someone mentioned awhile back. Have a playoff system to determine the draft order. Make it single elimination and for the teams that lose in the same round just use the same method they use for tiebreakers now. This would take care of the rockets dilemma. I agree with JVG 100%, but the way the system is, "competing" doesn't help you any!
While I have to admit that I'd like this better, I don't see tanking to get out of 8th seed to be that hard. Most years. the gap between 8th and 9th in the west is very small, and if it could mean the first overall pick for your team, I'd imagine people would find a way to lose. I think a compromise between the current system and yours is the better solution. Increase the odds of the better teams getting the top 3 picks, but not to the point where it's even. Maybe a more linear trend statistical trend where the worst team would have no more than a 12% percent to get the top pick would be better. Right now the Bobcats have more than a 25% chance of winning.
I'm not actually talking about tanking in season. As it's not reasonable to expect coaches and players to take a dive at the cost of their own careers. I'm speaking more in terms of team-building. How do you have a roster that's not-quite playoff team? I guess result wise Morey has done it perfectly. But this year, if KMart and/or Lowry had been healthier, the Rockets probably would make the playoffs. It's really hard to find the right mix of talent for a team that's around .500. It takes a lot less skill to field a team that sucks. Heck, even Michael Jordan can do it, he who found Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison at the top of drafts. Either way, at least teams like the Rockets compete. That they can take games off of contenders. So you don't have as many games where the winner is never in doubt like many are in the NBA. To me that's more the core of the problem. Well, that and in my system the Rockets would have a much brighter future.
so that's why jvg liked t-mac so much. he must have worked hard. that pretty much debunks all the myths the t-mac haters spit.
The problem is teams that maximize the talent on their roster get punished by never having a chance at getting a superstar. I'm ok with rewarding bad teams, but what sucks is punishing well run teams. IMO any team that is not in the playoffs deserves an equal shot at a superstar, but then teams near the 9th seed might tank into the lottery. The main thing preventing tanking in the NFL was the rookie wage scale which made it prohibitively expensive to have high draft picks year after year. With the new CBA rookie contracts are much more appealing (just like in the NBA). The NFL also has the advantage of being able to find significant contributors much later in the draft. Other than QB, one player does not make-or-break the team. In the NBA one superstar is everything. But with the insane boon the Rams received this year and all the trading up we saw, there is going to be a huge incentive to tank this year in the NFL, much more than ever before. It will be amusing if/when the NFL decides to institute a lottery to mitigate this problem.
I see your point, but nonetheless, its not a good idea to put this much stake in regular season games. One loss could completely change a franchise, but I digress. System needs change, that's the bottom line. Any change would be better. If lottery teams were to have these odds it would give the better teams much high odds of winning. 10 percent is not a very high percentage. It would also discourage teams from building a trash team. 9.52 9.33 9.05 8.76 8.57 8.10 7.62 6.67 6.19 5.71 5.52 5.24 4.95 4.76
You don't literally say lose on purpose when tanking. You just blow it up, more playing to scrubs, less substitutions etc
The problem with that approach is that it would be extremely difficult to be as bad as the teams are that are at the bottom right now. The chances of you being the worst team in the league without purposely sucking is slim. How bad would this team have to become in order to have the best shot at the number one pick? Answer - the worst team in NBA history. That is not as full-proof or as easy to implement a plan as is professed on this forum.
tanking is not easy. winning is not easy. Then Rockets chose the easiest way out: being mediocre. Bravo. I do not understand why someone could say Rockets were trying to win. Just look at the results. Rockets are the 14th worst team 3 years in a row. There are at least 7 tanking teams in those 13 worse teams. Was it that hard to be 14th worst team if Morey, the genius, was going all out with all that payroll? -------------- conclusion: Rockets has been tanking for at least two seasons already. the only thing is that Morey and Les does not know how to tank properly. They messed up their own plan. ------------------
Tanking is easy to force on the coaches and players. You blow up the team with only young ones and rookies left and let them play. That is what us who at this time have decided to support tanking wants to Rockets to do, because the real plan right is working just soooo well.
who said tanking just had to be telling players to lose? it's not like coaches are going up to players and say. "don't make any shots". "don't hustle". "don't put any effort on the glass". these coaches jobs and reputation is on the line as well. "rebuilding" can be simply getting rid of the older players and letting the young guys get minutes. the players on the court are still competing but if we lose, we lose trade martin and scola and don't trade for short term band-aids like camby.
