never ever talk about tanking again, just let the young guys play and wait till the big guy comes back, everything will take care of itself.
No, that was Marcus Camby. Van Horn went #2 behind Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft. http://www.nba.com/history/draft_top13.html
The last thread regarding 'tanking' First of all, ‘tanking’ has no place in competitive sports. None. If it even exists at the professional level at all, it is an anomaly. There is never a time to ‘tank,’ and I simply don’t believe it’s done. This topic has been discussed much on this board and I am still not sure what the proponents of ‘tanking’ are suggesting. Should the 09-10 Rockets lay down? Is 0-82 the ultimate success? Maybe win 8-10 games so it looks like the teams trying but not enough to jeopardize the ping-pong balls? Isn’t that ‘tanking?’ Maybe those suggesting the Rockets should ‘tank’ are really just hoping that management remains conservative. I’m with you. Nobody wants another Maloney or Cato type albatross hanging over our ability to be a player in future off-seasons. Why handcuff yourself in 2010 with an overpaid player that might be able to help the team net at best the 6th seed in 2009? If this is what the ‘let’s tank’ folks are talking about then I guess I am on board; however, I don’t call that ‘tanking.’ I call it good management. A GM should always put together the most competitive team for a given market while keeping the flexibility to take advantage of future markets. Maybe its just a matter of semantics. You say tomato... Reality Check: The Rockets, barring a miraculous ping-pong ball bounce, will end up with somewhere between the 12th-18th pick. As has been discussed in other threads the difference in this range is negligible. With their current roster they cannot end up much worse than a few games under .500. They will show up to play every night, they will fight their asses off, they will represent the city well, and I think they will most likely have a winning record and squeak into the playoffs. The young players will get more playoff experience, and in 2010 the Rockets will bring in a player or two via free agency that will mesh with the guys on the roster and hopefully put us over the top for a nice run the following few years. According to many of the ‘pro-tankers’ the scenario I just described would be a disaster. Really? I just don’t get it. To me, as I stated earlier, ‘tanking’ means collectively (management, coaches, & players) taking a dive. Throwing games. Laying down. I don’t understand how anyone who is truly a sports fan can argue the merits of not competing to win. Can we stop with all the “Rocket have got to tank threads?” Please.
Hell yeah man tanking is just stupid and i remember an article where if you are caught intentionally losing games you lose your lottery pick and it's right. You don't get paid millions of dollars to tank plus i don't know why there are so many pessimists here if this season we can't win a championship let it be a development season where our young guys get a chance to improve for the next season
Tank! Tank! Tank! I don't care what you guys say. We don't have the guys to make it to or deep in the playoffs, so mind as well have one down year, get a high draft pick, and hopefully sign a marquee free agent next season, and Yao being back that up coming season, we'll be back as contenders for sure.
ok, maybe, just maybe, we won't be "tanking", but just look at the talent level of the current roster we have, and compare it to the team with the worst record last season the Kings: they had: Salmons Martin Miller Udrih Thompson we have this season projected: Brooks Battier Ariza Scola Andersen apart from probably the point guard position, which one of our starters is better than any of their starters??? Salmons played like an allstar last season, Miller is heaps and bounds better than our rookie Andersen, KMart when healthy can probably beat our whole team on his own...and Uridh isn't that much worse than Brooks if you were to factor in consistency. Even if we don't "tank"...we aint going anywhere but the lottery. and how does your theory say we're going to get 12-18th pick??? there is absolutely NO WAY for us to get a pick from 15-19! In the west where you need like a record thats better than the 4th or 5th seed in the EAST just to become the 8TH seed in the west...all the spots from 15-19 are taken by the east playoff teams. chances are we're getting a top 5 pick unless adelman works magic with this roster or we make a massive trade to bring in a legit guard scorer.
I don't know much about Sacramento, but I would observe that Adelman is a far superior coach to anyone they've got, we've got very good chemistrry, and Anderson is no rookie. Besides, I would argue that we're not that much better or worse than teams like New Orleans or Golden State - we can still make the playoffs, and we should definitely go for it.
A team is a dynamic thing. When comparing teams I think a lot more has to be considered than 'this guy is a better player than that guy.' For instance, it is possible that Battier or Hayes or Ariza may be a better fit on a given team than a Salmons or a Kevin Martin. The reality is that in pro sports, and the NBA is no different, there is much less difference in talent level from team to team than the media or most fans like to admit. The difference between winning and losing comes down to player buy in to a system, team chemisrty, character, heart, grit, and of course the superstar factor. The Rockets, minus the superstar (kind of a big one), have all of these factors in spades. I really don't see the guys they have ending up much worse than .500. You may be right. The Rockets may be lottery bound, but I will be shocked if they are truly one of the 5 worst teams in the league. Did you know the Kings actually had a better winning percentage after dealing Salmons and Miller? They definitely didn't look better on paper, but they did win at a slightly higher rate. Good point about draft position. I totally whiffed on the fact that 7th or 8th in the West may actually mean 10th or 11th in the league. I agree the draft position prediction I made in my previous post is impossible unless the league has some new found parity which it won't. I appreciate you checking me on that. Later.
Sacramento lost so much because they were the worst defensive team in the league. That's a common thread among the really bad teams. Every lotto team from the West was in the bottom 3rd of the league in defense. The Rockets were 4th. While there might be a dropoff without Yao and Artest, I don't think that they drop THAT far which gives them a better chance at being competitive. And don't forget the McGrady factor. He IS coming back and while it remains to be seen how he'll be coming off surgery, he WILL be better than the haters want to believe. I'd expect a win total somewhere in the range of 30. That would put us in the lotto but outside of the top 5 you think we're a virtual lock for.
supporting for a club that is working hard but still lose is bad enough. Now you want to lose on purpose?
