Amen. You know, I happily paid too much for League Pass again, as I have for a few years now, but towards the end of the season I was looking forward to seeing what the young guys could do, and didn't give a damn about winning the games, not after there wasn't a mathematical chance of squeaking into the playoffs. I figured this would finally be the time to do just what DD said... see what the youngsters could do, and just enjoy it. If we ended up with a better position in the lottery, that was icing on a cake that had collapsed in an oven of a season ruined by injuries. That we could have doubled our chances of getting into the top three picks by a loss, here and there, was fine by me. As has been pointed out, some of today's best teams, and our own Rocks back in the day, tanked to try and move up, when faced by a "lost season." All due respect, Almu, but I think your whining is just a day late, and a dollar short.
I am not sure I can ever prove it to people here on this BBS, but I will tell you how I know. I was a sports intern in San Antonio back in college, and there was a rumor of a tape going around made by Patterson, where Hakeem asks for a new contract, and Patterson and Thomas say no, so Hakeem allegedly said "fine, my leg hurts then". The Rockets suspended him based upon that tape, don't you find it ironic that the league never punished the team? I never heard the tape, but the reporters from Houston who I talked to said it was absolutely rock solid that Hakeem tanked. Of course this led to the Hakeem and Charlie Thomas sit down on a plane to Japan the next preseason, and things worked out, but in my mind, I don't doubt that it happened one bit. DD
Well that would mean Hakeem is still lying about it because he still totally denies it (like in the Hakeem the Dream video).
Ok, so he is lying about it, so what? He was young, made a bad decision, and then worked it out. Still one of the greatest players of all time, and the greatest Rocket ever. I have no issues with anything he did, or didn't do. DD
The story goes that it was Rudy who managed to massage the Thomas - Dream feud such that Hakeem did not become an ex-Rocket (and probably a Miami Heat).
good topic, you guys say you want to lose yet you disgrace Minnesota for tanking in the last game? Hypocrites
I think most are pissed about playing vets big minutes against the scrubs from other teams when we have young guys that need a chance to show what they can do.
I think that sums things up nicely. Frankly, it's a bit difficult to understand why that's not apparent to anyone. I've been following the Rocks since they moved to Houston. No one wants them to win more than I do, something almost everyone here would say. When the team has no chance at the playoffs, why on earth do you manage the team any other way?
Welcome to the capitalistic world and economics. It's not that complicated. If we misses the playoffs without anything in return, it's a minus to our resources. If we misses the playoffs with a decent player in return. It makes up for our loss in our resources. Choosing winning meaningless and harmful games is the way that leads to being a beggar and real loser, as the result of losing resources. As for the loser mentality, maybe the winning fundamentalists like you and JVG should consider, that if you lose to a 5 year old on purpose, it doesn't mean you are a loser nor a winner, because the game is meaningless. Stop being a petty man who brags about winning over a 5 year old and look at the big picture ahead.
I hate losing intentionally too, I still have bad taste in my mouth when people actually say things like "stupid Howard, why did he have to make that shot to win the game" when we're supposed to tank. I'm so getting over it by now. I'm already looking forward to next season. Life is all golden and good again when the miserable season finally over.
Dead on with those comments. The end of the season was pretend basketball. Not only do we not know the answers, but we lost a couple spots in the draft. Infuriating. JVG may be completely out of his mind. Seriously.
Cleveland tanked to get Lebron. I'm not saying its right or wrong but their in much better shape now than they were before Lebron.
Actually, that might be one of the most calculated tank jobs ever. It was a wire-to-wire job where all the vets got benched and the young kids did whatever they want on the court. It wasn't even a case of "star player gets hurt and shuts down". It was a bad team that tried its best to lose. I'm guessing if you asked Cavs fans what they thought of the organization move in the year before Lebron, they'd say it's the correct one.
If we were both running franchises, it'd be like me having Tim Duncan, and you having Keith Vanhorn. Bravo, good move, I'm sure that the Timberwolves were elated.
Actually if both of you were running franchises and you I assumed would have tanked at all costs in 1997, the Tim Duncan draft... and ended the season with the worst or 2nd worst record. Guess what you wouldnt have been the winner of the Tim Duncan sweepstakes... you woulda won the Keith Van Horn Sweepstakes as thats what the team with the 2nd worst record Boston Celtics got. Turns out it was actually the team with the third worst record that won the lottery, the spurs. The team with the worst record was 2nd year vancouver grizzlies, who were inelible for the top pick.
As long as the NBA draft system rewards failure - tanking will be part of the game. I also don't think beating a 5 year old at anything is really commendable.
