although i still disagree with the idea of "tanking." playing the young players is one thing, purposefully dropping games is another.
Why tank? There is a star player available and if the Rockets trade for him he won't to sign an extension with a bad team. Patrick Patterson was the 16th pick. Brooks was the 24th pick, Martin was the 26th pick, Landry and Scola were drafted in the second round. You can always find good players in the draft, but it's hard to find a star player in every draft unless you have the first pick. I don't think the Rockets want to lose 60 games to have a 25% chance at that.
For the most part I could get behind that. This team is on a trajectory for perpetual mediocrity for the next five years. The only players we have with star potential are Williams, and Brooks if things click for him and he goes to the next level. By the time we could theoretically be ready to contend, all of our other "value" players are going to be on new contracts where they are overpaid (ie Lowry, Miller), or fair value (Scola). The only players we need to worry about are those with star potential, or those who will be good values at the time those players mature into stars. Thus, our roster is almost entirely expendable if the goal is to turn the Rockets into a contending team. Holding all of our average players and signing them to average contracts isn't going to accomplish anything. Nor is developing mediocre prospects like Jordan Hill. We need to get some real prospects.
You mean to tell me that a bunch of middling draft picks can combine to form a 17-22 team? Astounding. How did you not notice that you actually proved the point you were arguing against? Perhaps you could list all of the teams in the NBA with a .600 record or better who do not have a Top 10 draft pick on their squad.
wait till the deadline,, hopefully morey pulls a trade before it.if its another deadline deal; just hope we are chasing something at that time. if we dont, tank away and seeing how there is no superstars in the draft, trade the pick in a package and acquire a superstar. its win win for morey and the organization because yaos contract is off the books so it really doesnt matter what we do this season. carmelo n nene or chris anderson would be nice to make a playoff push . need some basketball in april n may. this playoff drought is killing us rockets fans what do we have to lose?
I hate the idea of losing intentionally. It will do further damage to this ball clubs identity. If we are going to tank, then it should be done with the intention of building a team for Howard and Paul to join in 2012. This plan is way too dicy though. I say we gut majority of the team and start over. Go for the Detroit model and acquire solid 2 way players at every position, forget about role players.
Tanking doesn't mean losing intentionally, it means trading the veterans for future picks, and giving their minutes to our younger players. And it should have been done weeks ago, before a lot of meaningless victories hurt our draft position. 12th pick here we come!
Shouldn't be ashamed to tank... I wouldn't mind sacrificing a season to get someone like Blake Griffin...
Gotta wait for the big trade or the trade deadline before tanking. If Morey trades for someone like Anthony, we want to still be within striking distance to compete in the playoffs. If he instead unloads veterans, we won't need to tank to lose a bunch of games. I would definitely tank for Yao Ming.
You don't understand how tanking works. If you suddenly quit your job you're not rewarded with millions of dollars in cash. However, if you tank and win only, say, 17 games, like Cleveland did in 2003, you get rewarded with... LeBron James. In a year like this, unfortunately, there's no one near James's caliber available, but tanking definitely increases your odds. The problem is, we're a 40-win team, so even if we try to tank we may still wind up with 32 or 33 wins and not get a high draft pick. Tanking is especially effective for bad teams who are just a few bricks shy of being abysmal. It's much harder to do when you're mediocre, like us. We could still tank, but we'd need to do bizarre things like benching Scola and Martin in order to get down to the coveted 60-loss mark. Once you lose 60, you're as good as gold! I think it's more realistic - and healthier - to deal Yao for a bag of peanuts, or pray he gets into an auto accident and breaks the other leg. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for tanking, but there's a time and a place, my friend.
I suggest that you contact Daryl Morey. He is the General Manager and Managing Director Basketball Operations for the Houston Rockets. If you get a response, please let us know what he said.
a playoff appearance for the younger guys and the chance to win the series with a healthy team. Pau Gasol lost 12 straight playoff games in 3 straight playoff appearances. he is a better player because of it...
If tanking becomes our strategy to become a championship contendor, we'll stuck in the mires with the likes of the Sacramento Kings, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, etc, etc. The only team that tanking has really worked for has been the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise (and I'm leaving out the Blazers because their top players that they obtained via draft have been decimated by potentially career-ending injuries), so I'm pretty certain this isn't the direction Daryl Morey wants the team to go.
To fredv, who wrote: "Shouldn't be ashamed to tank... I wouldn't mind sacrificing a season to get someone like Blake Griffin..." I guess you didn't buy your family season tickets then... I also presume nobody advocating this played competitive sports. We are app. 4 games out of the playoffs with half the season to go. We have had terrible injuries thus far, and we've still got a good shot to make the playoffs. Once players get the idea their efforts won't matter, their play and practice digress. It is human nature. Also, no competitor wants to play on a team that doesn't care about winning the games they play in. To those who say we don't have a shot to win it all this year, I'd say you are correct. But to argue on that basis we should tank suggests that every team but 8 in the league should tank. It is ludicrous. You play to win. You always play to win. The only exception I can think of is is there are 3-4 games left in the season and you are out of the hunt and you rest your starters to avoid unnecessary injury and maybe improve your lottery prospects. Otherwise, put your best team on the floor. Give them the support they need. Compel them to win, and cheer them on when they do.
