Celtics

[TheNoodleMan]

[ QUOTE ]
Notwithstanding my "just desserts" comment, I heard this proposal to change the draft lottery on the Radio this morning that I thought made sense.

1. Only bottom 5 teams eligible for lottery
2. Each get one ping pong ball
3. After the draw, the winning team gets the top pick and all the other teams draft in order of their respective finish.

So the worst that could happen in any given year would be a draft order of 51234. Since the lottery doesn't completely prevent tanking anyway, this seems a lot fairer.

[/ QUOTE ]

This would have resulted in even more tanking. We all saw what Boston did, imagine what they would have done if they could have guaranteed themselves at least the #2.

I feel bad for the Celtics fans, but I'm very glad that the blatant tank job wasn't rewarded.

[Jeremy517]

[ QUOTE ]
Notwithstanding my "just desserts" comment, I heard this proposal to change the draft lottery on the Radio this morning that I thought made sense.

1. Only bottom 5 teams eligible for lottery
2. Each get one ping pong ball
3. After the draw, the winning team gets the top pick and all the other teams draft in order of their respective finish.

So the worst that could happen in any given year would be a draft order of 51234. Since the lottery doesn't completely prevent tanking anyway, this seems a lot fairer.

[/ QUOTE ]

You don't think six through ten would be tanking hardcore? Also, #2 is still way better than #5 in most drafts, so you'd still have tanking in the top five.

There will always be tanking, because the only scenarios that don't reward tanking don't help the bad teams.

[Green Kool Aid]

I had an exam last night starting at 630, and live about 20 minutes from school, so I went to my friend's dorm to watch the draft lottery because otherwise I would have missed it (this is at UMass). The moment the number 5 pick was revealed, all through the halls, kids were screaming NOOOOO WHYYY!YY!YY FJFJLDKSLJK:FDKDFS:LJS

I just kinda sat there in shock, really really hoping it was just another nightmare (I had a few nightmares about this night, one of them involving us taking Joakim Noah and him shooting 3 pointers in a Celtics uniform for some reason).

Either way, I'm extremely disappointed.

Seattle will still suck, but congrats to Portland. You can search this, but I've been saying for a while that I think Portland has the BEST young talent in basketball. Adding Oden only cements that further.

As for the Celtics, trade the [censored] pick. Dangle Theo Ratliff's expiring contract + Gerald Green + #5 pick, and take best player available.

Earlier this season, Al Jefferson was quoted as saying "We don't need Greg Oden." Put your money where your mouf' is, Big Al.

Okay...back to my hiatus. I'll check in again if we trade the pick or on draft night.

[kidcolin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Notwithstanding my "just desserts" comment, I heard this proposal to change the draft lottery on the Radio this morning that I thought made sense.

1. Only bottom 5 teams eligible for lottery
2. Each get one ping pong ball
3. After the draw, the winning team gets the top pick and all the other teams draft in order of their respective finish.

So the worst that could happen in any given year would be a draft order of 51234. Since the lottery doesn't completely prevent tanking anyway, this seems a lot fairer.

[/ QUOTE ]

This would have resulted in even more tanking. We all saw what Boston did, imagine what they would have done if they could have guaranteed themselves at least the #2.

I feel bad for the Celtics fans, but I'm very glad that the blatant tank job wasn't rewarded.

[/ QUOTE ]

We weren't the worst tankers. Bucks set the standard, Memphis next, then us.

But anyway, your point is correct. ANY system is going to have a lot of tanking. An equal opportunity lottery in which every lottery team gets 1 ball will have a bunch of fringe teams tanking. Toro's suggestion would be much worse.

The system is fine.

[TheNoodleMan]

For as much as David Stern like to flaunt his sole authority over the leaugue, he should have just docked teams x balls. Just the message that would send would clean things up a lot.

[kidcolin]

eh, it's not that simple.

The Celtics had 2 obvious tank jobs. That game where they had a 12 point lead in the 4th and put in the bench unit, and the game against the Bucks where they fought fire with fire when the Bucks decided Michael Redd was injured, on top of their Bogu(s)t and Charlie V injuries. The latter was just ridiculous.

Now, Doc had an arguable position on bench players coming in. He has a young team, and they have to learn to play in all situations, and the season is already a lost cause (believe me, they weren't tanking during that 18 game losing streak. They were just that bad). So how come the Cs get penalized for that, but teams like Dallas and San Antonio can sit guys at the end of the season to rest up for the playoffs ("in the best interest of the club"). You're giving paying fans an inferior product no matter what.

[MEbenhoe]

[ QUOTE ]


We weren't the worst tankers. Bucks set the standard, Memphis next, then us.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol, Bucks went 3-7 over their last 10 including 2 wins over the Celtics and 1 over the Hawks. Games they definitely would have lost if they were setting the standard for tanking. The way the Celtics played in those Bucks/Celtics games was ridiculous. They gave up a 21 pt 11 reb performance to Dan Gadzuric in one and 32 pts to Earl Boykins in another while playing some of the most inept basketball I've ever seen.

All the bottom teams pulled their starters, the difference was the Bucks scrubs actually tried, so acting like they were somehow worse offenders is ridiculous.

[kidcolin]

The Cs scrubs tried dude. Big Al put up all-star numbers in the second of the season. Rondo and Powe played their hearts out. Perkins played through foot injuries despite how dead the season was. The team, sans Pierce, was just that bad. Gerald Green is legally retarded in terms of b-ball IQ, and he was our second scoring option.

They tanked, no doubt. But so did the Bucks, bad. And Memphis. And Minn. If you see some of my previous posts, a large part of me agrees the Cs got what they deserved. Not just for the tank job, but the whole spiel Ainge has been spewing about how everything is fine, our young core is great, and if we don't get a top 2 pick the draft is still deep enough to produce all stars.

[Toro]

So why all the concern over tanking when it's near impossible to devise a system that can't prevent it anyway.

Do they worry about tanking in MLB? Apparently not since the havenots do it virtually every year when they let their better higher priced players go to the contenders in exchange for Minor League prospects. They are in effect giving up on the current season, willing to lose more games than they would have if they kept those players for a chance to get better in the future.

Which is the exact same thing the NBA teams do when they try to move up in the draft pecking order yet there is no hue and cry with baseball probably because it's a little less evident that that's really happening.

[kidcolin]

The problem is that the talent pool in the MLB is huge, as well as the roster spots. One hot rookie prospect doesn't make or break a franchise.