# Tank Battle: 2014!



## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Philly & Boston have fired the first shots. Who's next in the race to the bottom? Which contenders are going to benefit from shitty teams trading away guys that could cost them ping pong balls? Which mediocre teams are going to swing for the fences like New Orleans?


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

The Bobcats are in the race for sure.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Basel said:


> The Bobcats are in the race for sure.


You don't think Zeller leads them to the 8th seed? lol


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Suns.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Orlando.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)




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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Suns are still worse than Boston and Orlando. I don't see any positive signs of Sacramento getting any better, either.


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## Maravilla (Jul 6, 2010)

RollWithEm said:


> Suns are still worse than Boston and Orlando. I don't see any positive signs of Sacramento getting any better, either.


Sure hope so. Hoping to get worse too with Scola/Gortat/Dudley/etc/etc/etc trades.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Orlando is actually more talented than Boston these days. And, at the least, their team can play a little D. Boston has the worst PF/C rotation in the NBA these days. This team can't score and might need to average 120 to beat opponents. But no fear, Rondo's next on the outbound ship. And probably to Phoenix or Sacramento.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

E.H. Munro said:


> Orlando is actually more talented than Boston these days. And, at the least, their team can play a little D. Boston has the worst PF/C rotation in the NBA these days. This team can't score and might need to average 120 to beat opponents. But no fear, Rondo's next on the outbound ship. And probably to Phoenix or Sacramento.


Jameer, Harkless(who I'd prefer) or Nicholson, and the 2014 first Denver owes Orlando for Rondo. Lets get this done.


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## Mrs. Thang (Apr 14, 2011)

Boston still looks like a 30 win team, which with the way things have been going makes them like 9th or 10th in the lottery. I don't think they are bad enough.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Mrs. Thang said:


> Boston still looks like a 30 win team, which with the way things have been going makes them like 9th or 10th in the lottery. I don't think they are bad enough.


Depends on how Rondo comes back. If he's more or less the same guy at the very start of the season, he and Green are probably good enough to cost Boston one of the top picks. If that's the case, though, I imagine that Ainge will allow him to play long enough to prove he's healthy and then move him along to a team looking to solidify themselves as a playoff squad.


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## Mrs. Thang (Apr 14, 2011)

Look, the Lakers are getting the #1 pick next year. The sooner everybody comes to grips with that the better.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Mrs. Thang said:


> Boston still looks like a 30 win team, which with the way things have been going makes them like 9th or 10th in the lottery. I don't think they are bad enough.


Teams without primary scorers have a ruinous track record in this league. Teams without primary scorers with offensively challenged rotation players are even worse. Teams without primary scorers, with offensively challenged rotation players that couldn't defend Kobe in a Lakers forum tend to be 18-24 win teams. Boston falls into that third category. 

As of today their starting C is the slow-footed, bad-backed, 6'8" Jared Sullinger. Their primary scorer functions poorly in the Rondo Show and their ball-dominant offensive focal point couldn't score on Lindsay Lohan with a half ki of coke and a million dollars in bling. They won't win 30 games next year.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Mrs. Thang said:


> Look, the Lakers are getting the #1 pick next year. The sooner everybody comes to grips with that the better.


That'll be the first time a non-lottery team wins the lottery.


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## JonMatrix (Apr 8, 2003)

Mrs. Thang said:


> Look, the Lakers are getting the #1 pick next year. The sooner everybody comes to grips with that the better.


Haha the Lakers might be legitimately bad enough to win the lotto too. Doesn't matter though, the conspiracy theories will rage regardless.

I heard Kobe might be out until Jan-Feb? Dwight is supposedly gone, and Pau will probably pout and play like he's depressed. Metta, Jamison, and Nash are all too old to put them into the playoffs out west without help.

As for the Tank Battle, Philly will struggle to get to 25 wins. Noel isn't going to be ready for the start of the year and probably isn't strong enough to make an impact anyways. Maybe Thad Young or Evan Turner finally turn into primary scorers, but who knows?

Sacramento is going to be even more of a trainwreck than it has been for the last 5 years. Tyreke Evans is playing for a new contract, DeMarcus Cousins wants a max extension, they have a logjam of young guards (most of them former lotto picks) that are going to want minutes.

Portland is young and could fall pretty fast if Lamarcus Aldridge is injured or traded.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Tyreke is gone from Sacramento. Didn't they say publicly that they were matching any offers?


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## ChrisWoj (May 17, 2005)

Oh what a time to be mediocre. The Pistons, going into the most loaded draft in years, have Joe Dumars trying to save his job. He's going to be able to slide this team in the playoffs, save his own neck, get an extension... and then once the world rights itself in a year, once tankapalooza is over, they'll be a lotto team again.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Tankapalooza. :laugh: I like that.


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## Floods (Oct 25, 2005)

Is Philly really a serious contender? That looks more like a high 20s or low 30s win team.

The cynic in me thinks the Celtics will overachieve.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Lakers aren't tanking next season. Kobe will be back by October (soonest) or December (latest).


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## kbdullah (Jul 8, 2010)

Dang i was hoping this thread would be about post apocalyptic warfare


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## JonMatrix (Apr 8, 2003)

RollWithEm said:


> Tyreke is gone from Sacramento. Didn't they say publicly that they were matching any offers?


http://www.faniq.com/blog/Kings-prepared-to-lose-RFA-Tyreke-Evans-Blog-68429

Not sure about the source, but the Kings are prepared to lose him. The thing is, who wants him? He could be back with the QO if he doesn't get an offer he likes.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Ainge loves Tyreke. I can see a 'Reke/picks for Rondo deal being appealing to him.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

There is a lot of teams that should be tanking top amongst them for me is Phoenix. They are the only bad team with no young players consistently in the rotation or with any signs of becoming an All Star. 

Dragic Scola Beasley Gortat Frye all need to be traded for expirings and picks


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Well, Boston traded up into the lottery to assure themselves of the chance to draft the poor man's Steve Novak and it turns out he has bad feet. That's shot #2 in *Tank Battle: 2014!*



kbdullah said:


> Dang i was hoping this thread would be about post apocalyptic warfare


Just wait until you see a Boston/Philly game next year.


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## l0st1 (Jul 2, 2010)

RollWithEm said:


> Suns are still worse than Boston and Orlando. I don't see any positive signs of Sacramento getting any better, either.


Really? Suns are worse than Boston? Orlando I agree with they have I mean Vucevic, Harkless, Nelson, Afflalo, Big Baby, Harris, and Oladipo. Seems like a hell of a lot more talent though no true identity.

But Boston? Jeff Green, Rondo(if he comes back the same), then what? Gerald Wallace? Courtney Lee? Humphries? Bradley? Brooks? Olynyk? I mean that team is a lost cause this year. That team was barely .500 last year with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. 

76ers are clearing the worst team. They are a barren wasteland.

I think if the Suns can dump Gortat we will pretty damn bad. At the moment I think we are probably 25-35 win team. If Dragic gets hurt we will be a disaster as well.

I'd love to see the Suns plummet and guaranteed a top 5 pick(so basically worst or second worse record wise).


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

l0st1 said:


> But Boston? Jeff Green, Rondo(if he comes back the same), then what? Gerald Wallace? Courtney Lee? Humphries? Bradley? Brooks? Olynyk? I mean that team is a lost cause this year. That team was barely .500 last year with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
> 
> 76ers are clearing the worst team. They are a barren wasteland.
> 
> ...


I feel like as you typed this post, you began to realize that the Suns are worse than the Celtics - but more specifically just worse than you thought when you started typing. Am I right?


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## Jzilla (Dec 25, 2011)

Wish my Bucks would tank. Looking like it'll be another season of mediocrity though.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

RollWithEm said:


> I feel like as you typed this post, you began to realize that the Suns are worse than the Celtics - but more specifically just worse than you thought when you started typing. Am I right?


I think both teams are kind of in the same boat. Teams without primary scorers suck and suck hard. That being said Gortat is closer to that than anyone on the Boston roster at the moment. But I think both teams are headed for 25 win seasons. 

The other thing about Boston is that I don't think Rondo's ego can handle being on a forgotten team. The only guy in Boston that can score does it in a way that it's impossible for Rondo to get assists. So I expect him to be demanding a trade by Christmas, at which point the bottom will _really_ drop out for Boston. I'm just hoping that it's to Milwaukee for whatever and firsts in 2014/2016/2018.


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## l0st1 (Jul 2, 2010)

RollWithEm said:


> I feel like as you typed this post, you began to realize that the Suns are worse than the Celtics - but more specifically just worse than you thought when you started typing. Am I right?


Not at all. I think the Suns have more talent than the Celtics. I don't think we are as bad as people are making us out to be. I hope we are, so we get more ping pong balls but I don't think we will be in the same league as the Sixers which some are saying we are worse than which is a joke. 

Not sure how you took my post that way ha.


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## 29380 (Feb 23, 2009)

*The art of the tank*



> *OUR TEAM ISN'T* good enough to win and we know it. So this season we want to develop and evaluate our young players, let them learn from their mistakes -- and get us in position to grab a great player. The best way for us to do that is to lose a lot of games. This draft is loaded. There are potential All-Stars at the top, maybe even franchise changers. Sometimes my job is to understand the value of losing.
> 
> I know that sounds crazy, but if you're an NBA general manager like me, the last place you want to be is in the middle. There are only two outcomes there: Either make the playoffs and be first-round fodder for one of the premier teams or miss the playoffs and pick somewhere around 11th to 14th in the draft. Either way, the odds are that you stay in that middle range. It's a recipe for disaster.
> 
> ...


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Suns fired another shot with the Gortat trade. They are taking this Wiggins race every bit as seriously as Philly if not moreso. If the 76ers are for real, they are going to have to get rid of Thad.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

That's clearly Utah's GM. Is O'Connor still running the show there? A Rondo trade is in Boston's near future, so that should be the next shoe to drop in Tank Battle! 2014. Hilariously the Wages of Wins guys are predicting that the Celtics will be a .500 team because their magic number tells them so.


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## 29380 (Feb 23, 2009)

E.H. Munro said:


> That's clearly Utah's GM. Is O'Connor still running the show there? A Rondo trade is in Boston's near future, so that should be the next shoe to drop in Tank Battle! 2014. Hilariously the Wages of Wins guys are predicting that the Celtics will be a .500 team because their magic number tells them so.


Its Ryan McDonough, Utah did not trade their vets for picks.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Magic 0-1


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

The Magic don't really look like a dreadful team. I doubt they win much over 20 games, but they don't look awful based on first impressions.


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## 29380 (Feb 23, 2009)

> @BrettNBA
> Andrew Nicholson had 18 points off the bench by halftime. The Magic didn't play him in the third quarter. #tank


...


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Diable said:


> The Magic don't really look like a dreadful team. I doubt they win much over 20 games, but they don't look awful based on first impressions.


I will comment more on this when I release my first Vucevic article this week.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Nicholson's lack of PT in the 2nd half definitely felt like a tank move.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

I'll enjoy every questionable coaching move being chalked up to tanking this year. This season's going to be a conspiracy theorist's dream.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Spent the night watching Kentucky/Mich. State and Kansas/Duke. Joel Embiid was awful, I am hoping that Boston stays far away. Wiggins is a heck of a closer. Jabari Parker dominated the first 36 minutes of the game, but Mitch Wiggins' brat just murdered Duke down the stretch. Despite his size he's not bad in the post, in another 25-30lbs he's going to be a killer.

Wayne Selden is pretty damned good. Nice mechanics on his shot and great awareness in space on the offensive end. Makes nifty post entry passes. Some team drafting 9-15 is going to be very happy with him.

Parker reminds me a little of Pierce, can score from anywhere on the floor, brutal when he gets his man in the post and just fantastic awareness on both ends of the floor.

Randle is a bit of a wildcard. At times he reminds me of Antoine Walker, then at others he reminds me of Amar'e (but in a good way). Get him the ball in the mid post and it's a near automatic two. Lure him into taking the ball away from the basket and he'll gladly launch a jumper. The Harrisons look like afterthoughts in Kentucky's offense.


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## 29380 (Feb 23, 2009)

I like Joel Embiid game tonight was much better than the last game showed a good feel for the game made the correct passes.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Embild is a project of epic proportions based on what I see. I have a hard time seeing him as a top five pick based on how raw he is. That looks like one hell of a reach.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

For most of his time on the floor he seemed completely unaware that he was at least half a head taller than anyone else. His shooting was biblical plague ugly. Put another way there's no way I'm wasting a top five pick on him when if I'm bound and determined to pick a center I can probably trade to the late lottery and grab Willie Cauley-Stein who at least understands how to play basketball even if he lacks Embiid's pure physicals.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

I have Randle and Parker ahead of Wiggins.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

I'd be ecstatic to have any of the three. If Boston winds up in the top three of the draft I don't really care where it is.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Parker could stay in school another year and go number 1 next year, so far as I am concerned. I'd love to see him on a team with just a bit more talent around him


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Geaux Tigers said:


> I have Randle and Parker ahead of Wiggins.


Until the 15:30 mark of the second half last night I might have agreed with you. But Wiggins was pure ice when the game was in doubt. And on both ends of the floor as he took it upon himself to smother Parker down the stretch (after the game Self commented that he'd tried to keep Wiggins off Parker to avoid fouls, but late in the second half Wiggins just ignored him). I feel _a lot_ better about him #1 after last night. However, I think Parker has a lot of Pierce in him, just a naturally strong and very sound player in every phase of the game. He doesn't have the bounce of Wiggins, but he's going to be great for a long time to come.


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## Geaux Tigers (Apr 26, 2004)

E.H. Munro said:


> Until the 15:30 mark of the second half last night I might have agreed with you. But Wiggins was pure ice when the game was in doubt. And on both ends of the floor as he took it upon himself to smother Parker down the stretch (after the game Self commented that he'd tried to keep Wiggins off Parker to avoid fouls, but late in the second half Wiggins just ignored him). I feel _a lot_ better about him #1 after last night. However, I think Parker has a lot of Pierce in him, just a naturally strong and very sound player in every phase of the game. He doesn't have the bounce of Wiggins, but he's going to be great for a long time to come.


After what Ive seen of both Parker and Wiggins I really don't understand why people are saying Parker is the less athletic of the two. Wiggins hasn't shown me freak athleticism on the college level yet. Ive seen his high school highlights and its there, but Parker has two alleyoops on the season where his head was at the rim. Not buying that at all until Wiggins proves me wrong.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

Parker really doesn't have Wiggins' bounce, but I'm not sure why that's a crime. He certainly doesn't have the speed or quickness either. But, again, Pierce has been ruthlessly effective for a decade and a half despite not having elite track athleticism. So I have no concerns about Parker, but neither do I have any concerns about Wiggins after he took Parker out of the game. He's also better in the post than I expected him to be, and that jab step step back that he flashed last night is going to be lethal.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Can I just mention that I wish I could bet on Phoenix employing a Harrison before their rookie deals are up? I don't know why they love guys with NBA siblings so much, but just off the top of my head they've had, at one point or another in the last half-decade or so, a Collins twin, Taylor Griffin, a Lopez twin, a Zeller, both the Morris twins, and a Plumlee on the roster. I wish Zoran Dragic would get a 10-day contract so I could add Goran to this list. It's insane.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Chad Ford has unveiled his official Tank Rank: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9994199/tank-rank-utah-jazz-holding-steady-top



> 1) Jazz
> 2) Kings
> 3) Bucks


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## kbdullah (Jul 8, 2010)

Tried to view it and hit the pay wall.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Chad Ford said:


> *1. Utah Jazz | Status: Tanking | Record: 1-10 (1-3 this week)*
> 
> The Jazz got their first win of the season, a 111-105 victory over the Pelicans on Wednesday, but the team quickly returned to form the rest of the week. The game marked the only time this season the Jazz have scored more than 100 points.
> 
> ...


There you go... now read this: http://www.basketballforum.com/port...649-analyzing-damian-lillard.html#post9331481


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## LeGoat06 (Jun 24, 2013)

The Jazz are tanking hard, and good for them they deserve A Wiggins/Parker/Randle


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