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How do you assess the Celtics trading Chauncey Billups for Kenny Anderson six months after drafting him at #3?
The Power Tankings: Race for the #1 Pick.
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How do you assess the Celtics trading Chauncey Billups for Kenny Anderson six months after drafting him at #3?
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'Tis the season to update the Power Tankings.
Hope you all enjoyed the Christmas period with good food and good company. Perhaps you even watched a good Christmas movie or 10...
1. Philadelphia 76ers (8-20). Previous Rank: 8
The Mike D'Antoni pose.
You know the one, face contorted into a mess, fists clenched in front of him as if trying to forcefully squeeze out the the frustration from his inner being.
It's a sight that, until recently, was restricted to the Lakers sidelines. This season however we have seen this anguished pose on another of the league's head coaches...
And where does Brett Brown's source of frustration come from?
Help Defense.
Rotations are late or muddled, with two 76ers players often scrambling to the same individual opponent, eventually leading to an easy bucket for an unguarded player left Home Alone underneath the basket, who is probably thinking "I made the defense disappear?!?"
It's this learn-on-the-fly defense, coupled with their fast pace of play, that has seen the 76ers give up some big point totals. The last 4 games alone have seen them concede:
In fact, it is that loss to the Bucks sees the 76ers secure the #1 spot in these rankings.
The team is in learning mode and the losses are starting to crush their psyche - Thad Young was the first to crack, asking for a trade out of Philly.
The problem now is not one of winning too much (remember those heady early-season days, Sixers fans?), but rather keeping the young guys motivated, hungry and eager to continually learn in the face of constant losing.
2. Milwaukee Bucks (6-22). PR: 3
So there I was sitting on the couch on Christmas night, unable to move with my belly weighed down by a big Christmas lunch. On the TV was National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where as per usual everything was going horrifically wrong in the Griswold household.
It then dawned on me that Bucks Owner Herb Kohl is just like Clark Griswold:
Each man desperately tries to orchestrate the success of a single goal (a perfect Christmas/A playoff berth)...
...yet everything is collapsing around him (A Christmas Tree that burns down and a squirrel on the loose/A multiude of injuries and Larry Sanders' nightclub injury in which CCTV footage showed he looked like a deer on the loose).
At the end of Christmas Vacation Clark Griswold finally snaps, before finally surveying the destruction around him and realising that it's not the Christmas Tree, Dinner or Gifts that are important - what matters most is the fact that the family are together to celebrate.
Herb Kohl hasn't reached his breaking point yet, but with his Bucks team struggling on the court, one hopes he eventually realises that it's not the Playoffs or the Wins that are important - what matters most is the fact that the team may have a high 2014 Draft Pick to celebrate.
3. Orlando Magic (8-20). PR: 4
Now this is how you tank.
The Magic went 2-12 in December, including close losses to Power Tanking rivals the 76ers, Cavs, Jazz and Kings (not to mention the Power Tanking ineligible Knicks...lol what a royal clusterf*ck the Knicks are).
In fact, only 2 of the 12 losses were blowouts as the Magic appear to have perfected the art of the "hard-fought loss"...I guess if you're gonna blow things up and tank, you might as make the losses look good.
In that way it's kinda like Die Hard, where Bruce Willis looks the part while he blows up things in style, after Christmas Partygoers at Nakatomi Tower are held hostage by Hans Gruber (great villain name, BTW).
The Orlando Magic's record right now is free falling faster than Gruber fell to his death from atop Nakatomi Tower...and that's not a bad thing as, unlike Hans Gruber, the fall will not result in a grisly death but rather a high Draft Pick.
Time to embrace the fall Magic fans, and say goodbye to the wins with style..."Yippee-ki-yay motherf*cker."
4. Sacramento Kings (8-19). PR: 5
One man is has been at his place of employment for quite a while now, and he's getting tired of his situation. Just before Christmas he is assigned a new partner - someone with a bad reputation in his department who doesn't like to do things by the book.
Sounds like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon right?
Well, the description could also apply to the odd pairing of DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay (although neither is white and has a bad mullet).
Yes, Rudy is the guy who has a bad reputation amongst stat-nerds, but this is a movie that is nowhere near it's conclusion, and given Gay's player option it's unknown whether there will be a multitude of sequels in future seasons.
My guess though is that if the Cousins/Gay pairing stay together, the result will be similar to those Lethal Weapons sequels: a shitload of the same-old mediocrity.
5. Utah Jazz (8-20). PR: 1
Hang on, something's not right here. The Jazz were Tank leaders until only weeks ago, but the lead up to Christmas has seen the team go a respectable 4-6 in it's last 10 (all wins were away from home no less).
There must be a Gremlin in the system, and I think I know what it is...a rookie Point Guard by the name of Trey Burke, who has taken the majority of the ball-handling duties away from the baby-faced Gizmo, err, I mean Gordon Hayward.
The effectiveness of Burke has caused havoc to Utah's tanking aspirations. Other previously invisible Gremlins are following Burke's lead, with Jeremy Evans and Alec Burks contributing off the bench and Brandon Rush even popping up here and there.
These wins need to stop somehow...I'd suggest the Jazz management need to stop feeding Burke after midnight.
6. Cleveland Cavaliers (10-18). PR: 7
The Cavs are erratic, aimless and lacking clear leadership...sort of like the Billy Bob Thornton's group of bumbling theives in Bad Santa.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to one day see Mike Brown sitting courtside, looking disheveled in a Santa suit, beard unshaven and a bottle of bourbon in one hand...slurring out drunken offense intstructions to his players:
"yerr, iso to Kyrie..."
"less juss let Dion do whatever..."
"uhh, have I run an iso for Kyrie yet?"
7. Boston Celtics (12-17). PR: 2
The Celtics, with their storied tradition, are above all this "losing on purpose" nonsense. Nope, unlike the other awful teams, this Christmas-time Tanking stuff is not for Beantown.
Instead, it's a "Festivus for the rest-of-us" as far Boston is concerned, and the team is doing it's best to uphold each Festivus tradition:
Gerald Wallace begun the Festivus celebration with his constant whining serving as the "Airing of Grievances", and apparently Rajon Rondo's final hurdle to complete his return from injury is to take part in the "Feats of Strength" during which he has to pin down Danny Ainge in a wrestling match in order to be allowed to return to the court.
The fact the Celtics are on a 3-losing streak leading up to the holiday break is a Festivus miracle.
They're clearly hoping for another Festivus miracle come Draft Lottery time.
8. Toronto Raptors (11-15). PR: -
Sometimes, things don't work out as planned. The trade of Rudy Gay was supposed to weaken this team - leaving it paper thin on the wings and crippling its offense.
Instead, this Raptors team has failed only once to reach the 100 point barrier in the 8 games since the trade. Even worse, the Raptors have managed to win 5 of those games.
This recent winning form has been a major hurdle to Toronto's draft lottery aspirations. In fact it's been such a problem that the Raptors now sit atop the Atlantic Division and in 4th place in the East.
For Toronto's Tanking aspirations, the wins leading up to December 25 have definitely been The Nightmare Before Christmas.
9. Memphis Grizzlies (12-16). PR: -
It pains me to put the Grit and Grind Grizzlies here, but the fact is that this Memphis team cannot beat any half-decent win right now: you have to go back over a month to find the last time it beat a team with a +.500 record.
Anyone who still believes the Grizzlies are a Playoff team would probably be institutionalised for insanity.
In fact, if Memphis do somehow reach the Playoffs from this depressing situation, you'd probably call it The Miracle on34th Beale Street.
10. L.A. Lakers (13-16). PR: -
The bumbling Buss brothers Jim and Johnny are treating this storied franchise like a twisted experiment, transforming the cash-laden powerhouse to a Lottery team of second-hand parts.
As far as the Playoff race is concerned, the Lakers are now on the outside looking in, Trading Places with previous Power Tanking fixture the Phoenix Suns.
It's a sad tale for the Lakers (OK, not really, I'm sure all us non-Laker fans are quitely revelling in their struggles...well, except for the Nash situation which is just flat out sad to think about), with a high-paid superstar on the sidelines, a normally good citizen grumbling about his post-touches and a pair of Point Guards on the shelf.
Oh and of course there's the Mike D'Antoni, who has done nothing to prove that he is not ill-suited for this team.
...And so we end where we began: with a frustrated coach on the sidelines on Christmas Day, his team facing another loss, this time to the Miami Heat.
The coach's face is a contorted mess and his fists are clenched in front of him.
Perhaps if he learned to embrace the Tank he would be having a Merry Christmas.
Hope you all enjoyed the Christmas period with good food and good company. Perhaps you even watched a good Christmas movie or 10...
The Mike D'Antoni pose.
You know the one, face contorted into a mess, fists clenched in front of him as if trying to forcefully squeeze out the the frustration from his inner being.
It's a sight that, until recently, was restricted to the Lakers sidelines. This season however we have seen this anguished pose on another of the league's head coaches...
And where does Brett Brown's source of frustration come from?
Help Defense.
Rotations are late or muddled, with two 76ers players often scrambling to the same individual opponent, eventually leading to an easy bucket for an unguarded player left Home Alone underneath the basket, who is probably thinking "I made the defense disappear?!?"
It's this learn-on-the-fly defense, coupled with their fast pace of play, that has seen the 76ers give up some big point totals. The last 4 games alone have seen them concede:
- 139 points in a loss to Portland
- 130 points to a Nets team missing Brook Lopez
- 116 points to, of all teams, Milwaukee
In fact, it is that loss to the Bucks sees the 76ers secure the #1 spot in these rankings.
The team is in learning mode and the losses are starting to crush their psyche - Thad Young was the first to crack, asking for a trade out of Philly.
The problem now is not one of winning too much (remember those heady early-season days, Sixers fans?), but rather keeping the young guys motivated, hungry and eager to continually learn in the face of constant losing.
So there I was sitting on the couch on Christmas night, unable to move with my belly weighed down by a big Christmas lunch. On the TV was National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where as per usual everything was going horrifically wrong in the Griswold household.
It then dawned on me that Bucks Owner Herb Kohl is just like Clark Griswold:
Each man desperately tries to orchestrate the success of a single goal (a perfect Christmas/A playoff berth)...
...yet everything is collapsing around him (A Christmas Tree that burns down and a squirrel on the loose/A multiude of injuries and Larry Sanders' nightclub injury in which CCTV footage showed he looked like a deer on the loose).
At the end of Christmas Vacation Clark Griswold finally snaps, before finally surveying the destruction around him and realising that it's not the Christmas Tree, Dinner or Gifts that are important - what matters most is the fact that the family are together to celebrate.
Herb Kohl hasn't reached his breaking point yet, but with his Bucks team struggling on the court, one hopes he eventually realises that it's not the Playoffs or the Wins that are important - what matters most is the fact that the team may have a high 2014 Draft Pick to celebrate.
Now this is how you tank.
The Magic went 2-12 in December, including close losses to Power Tanking rivals the 76ers, Cavs, Jazz and Kings (not to mention the Power Tanking ineligible Knicks...lol what a royal clusterf*ck the Knicks are).
In fact, only 2 of the 12 losses were blowouts as the Magic appear to have perfected the art of the "hard-fought loss"...I guess if you're gonna blow things up and tank, you might as make the losses look good.
In that way it's kinda like Die Hard, where Bruce Willis looks the part while he blows up things in style, after Christmas Partygoers at Nakatomi Tower are held hostage by Hans Gruber (great villain name, BTW).
The Orlando Magic's record right now is free falling faster than Gruber fell to his death from atop Nakatomi Tower...and that's not a bad thing as, unlike Hans Gruber, the fall will not result in a grisly death but rather a high Draft Pick.
Time to embrace the fall Magic fans, and say goodbye to the wins with style..."Yippee-ki-yay motherf*cker."
One man is has been at his place of employment for quite a while now, and he's getting tired of his situation. Just before Christmas he is assigned a new partner - someone with a bad reputation in his department who doesn't like to do things by the book.
Sounds like Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon right?
Well, the description could also apply to the odd pairing of DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay (although neither is white and has a bad mullet).
Yes, Rudy is the guy who has a bad reputation amongst stat-nerds, but this is a movie that is nowhere near it's conclusion, and given Gay's player option it's unknown whether there will be a multitude of sequels in future seasons.
My guess though is that if the Cousins/Gay pairing stay together, the result will be similar to those Lethal Weapons sequels: a shitload of the same-old mediocrity.
Hang on, something's not right here. The Jazz were Tank leaders until only weeks ago, but the lead up to Christmas has seen the team go a respectable 4-6 in it's last 10 (all wins were away from home no less).
There must be a Gremlin in the system, and I think I know what it is...a rookie Point Guard by the name of Trey Burke, who has taken the majority of the ball-handling duties away from the baby-faced Gizmo, err, I mean Gordon Hayward.
The effectiveness of Burke has caused havoc to Utah's tanking aspirations. Other previously invisible Gremlins are following Burke's lead, with Jeremy Evans and Alec Burks contributing off the bench and Brandon Rush even popping up here and there.
These wins need to stop somehow...I'd suggest the Jazz management need to stop feeding Burke after midnight.
The Cavs are erratic, aimless and lacking clear leadership...sort of like the Billy Bob Thornton's group of bumbling theives in Bad Santa.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to one day see Mike Brown sitting courtside, looking disheveled in a Santa suit, beard unshaven and a bottle of bourbon in one hand...slurring out drunken offense intstructions to his players:
"yerr, iso to Kyrie..."
"less juss let Dion do whatever..."
"uhh, have I run an iso for Kyrie yet?"
The Celtics, with their storied tradition, are above all this "losing on purpose" nonsense. Nope, unlike the other awful teams, this Christmas-time Tanking stuff is not for Beantown.
Instead, it's a "Festivus for the rest-of-us" as far Boston is concerned, and the team is doing it's best to uphold each Festivus tradition:
Gerald Wallace begun the Festivus celebration with his constant whining serving as the "Airing of Grievances", and apparently Rajon Rondo's final hurdle to complete his return from injury is to take part in the "Feats of Strength" during which he has to pin down Danny Ainge in a wrestling match in order to be allowed to return to the court.
The fact the Celtics are on a 3-losing streak leading up to the holiday break is a Festivus miracle.
They're clearly hoping for another Festivus miracle come Draft Lottery time.
Sometimes, things don't work out as planned. The trade of Rudy Gay was supposed to weaken this team - leaving it paper thin on the wings and crippling its offense.
Instead, this Raptors team has failed only once to reach the 100 point barrier in the 8 games since the trade. Even worse, the Raptors have managed to win 5 of those games.
This recent winning form has been a major hurdle to Toronto's draft lottery aspirations. In fact it's been such a problem that the Raptors now sit atop the Atlantic Division and in 4th place in the East.
For Toronto's Tanking aspirations, the wins leading up to December 25 have definitely been The Nightmare Before Christmas.
It pains me to put the Grit and Grind Grizzlies here, but the fact is that this Memphis team cannot beat any half-decent win right now: you have to go back over a month to find the last time it beat a team with a +.500 record.
Anyone who still believes the Grizzlies are a Playoff team would probably be institutionalised for insanity.
In fact, if Memphis do somehow reach the Playoffs from this depressing situation, you'd probably call it The Miracle on
The bumbling Buss brothers Jim and Johnny are treating this storied franchise like a twisted experiment, transforming the cash-laden powerhouse to a Lottery team of second-hand parts.
As far as the Playoff race is concerned, the Lakers are now on the outside looking in, Trading Places with previous Power Tanking fixture the Phoenix Suns.
It's a sad tale for the Lakers (OK, not really, I'm sure all us non-Laker fans are quitely revelling in their struggles...well, except for the Nash situation which is just flat out sad to think about), with a high-paid superstar on the sidelines, a normally good citizen grumbling about his post-touches and a pair of Point Guards on the shelf.
Oh and of course there's the Mike D'Antoni, who has done nothing to prove that he is not ill-suited for this team.
...And so we end where we began: with a frustrated coach on the sidelines on Christmas Day, his team facing another loss, this time to the Miami Heat.
The coach's face is a contorted mess and his fists are clenched in front of him.
Perhaps if he learned to embrace the Tank he would be having a Merry Christmas.
- May 23, 2012
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Splendid as always hans moleman
On the subject of Philly's defensive woes, I dunno if you saw this article during the week, but it was a pretty scathing indictment on the 'help defense' of one prominent Sixer in particular...
http://www.libertyballers.com/2013/...se-philadelphia-76ers-michael-carter-williams
Is it irony that Philly's best chance of landing a golden ticket at this year's Lottery sweepstakes lies in leaving their last high Lottery pick on the court as much as possible?
On the subject of Philly's defensive woes, I dunno if you saw this article during the week, but it was a pretty scathing indictment on the 'help defense' of one prominent Sixer in particular...
http://www.libertyballers.com/2013/...se-philadelphia-76ers-michael-carter-williams
Is it irony that Philly's best chance of landing a golden ticket at this year's Lottery sweepstakes lies in leaving their last high Lottery pick on the court as much as possible?
stewie griffen
Make me an Admin!
It's OK.... Turner will be traded anyways. I'd argue Philly's problems agent just limited to help defence but... But defence in general
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Man, actually crazy the top 6 or 7 of this draft could all be very special players
Wiggins, Parker, Randle, Embiid, Exum, Smart, Gordon
Wiggins, Parker, Randle, Embiid, Exum, Smart, Gordon
The Celtics are one game back of both the division lead and a top 10 pick. The time will soon come to choose which way to go...
"
2. Milwaukee Bucks (6-22). PR: 3
Herb Kohl hasn't reached his breaking point yet, but with his Bucks team struggling on the court, one hopes he eventually realises that it's not the Playoffs or the Wins that are important - what matters most is the fact that the team may have a high 2014 Draft Pick to celebrate."
Nope.
What matters most is that, in Giannis Atentokoumpo, the Bucks already have the sort of player that teams spend high draft picks to get.
If he develops at the pace he is, then whether the Bucks pick at #1 or #10 is second to the fact that they have Giannis.
Herb Kohl hasn't reached his breaking point yet, but with his Bucks team struggling on the court, one hopes he eventually realises that it's not the Playoffs or the Wins that are important - what matters most is the fact that the team may have a high 2014 Draft Pick to celebrate."
Nope.
What matters most is that, in Giannis Atentokoumpo, the Bucks already have the sort of player that teams spend high draft picks to get.
If he develops at the pace he is, then whether the Bucks pick at #1 or #10 is second to the fact that they have Giannis.
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Denver is in an interesting predicament here... they owe Orlando the less favourable between their own and the Knicks' pick.
Rely on Knickbocker implosion or double down and play the youth? I say the latter, but the Nuggets are doing weird things.
Stop by the weekly thread brah, we were discussing the Bucks the other day.
Rely on Knickbocker implosion or double down and play the youth? I say the latter, but the Nuggets are doing weird things.
Stop by the weekly thread brah, we were discussing the Bucks the other day.
Unfortunately LA are going to get in the lottery the way they're going. Big tank matchup against Utah coming up. Utah don't look half bad with Trey Burke. I expect it to be a close one though.
Unsure if posted but this is a handy site to bookmark www.tankathon.com/
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Looking forward to the next installment of this epic series (no pressure hans) - this tankapalooza is starting to get interesting.
Can we definitely add the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls to the list of the poor and the wretched?
The Bucks hold all the cards at this point, they'd have to do something awfully silly to deprive themselves of a top-3 pick now.
Can we definitely add the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls to the list of the poor and the wretched?
The Bucks hold all the cards at this point, they'd have to do something awfully silly to deprive themselves of a top-3 pick now.
Utah tank prospects in serious jeopardy now. They're too good to tank
Damn it we want in........LET US IN!
As it currently stands PHX has 3 picks in the first round and none in the lottery. I know there is still time to change but my dreams of a top 5 pick this year allowing us to get a franchise player are slowly fading away. Bloody suns cant even tank right!
1 of those 3 picks could easily be that franchise player you never know.
If Sactown can manage a top 6 pick then there is no reason we can't pick up a "franchise player" as many in this class have been dubbed
I'd love Jabari.....or Embiid....and I love Randle's game...
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Damn, Orlando gonna be good in a few years time, especially with a top 5 pick this year.
Of course they can, but with the exposure that college bball gets, most 'franchise players' are already identified and go very high in the lottery (in this year probably the top 5).
In any case I dont see the suns keeping all three picks this year. It would be hard to integrate 3 rookies in one season so I would think they might look to trade a two for one and move higher in the draft, package some for a existing player or even trade them for future 1sts.
Wizard
Brownlow Medallist
Lillard went 6, Drummond 10.
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Gus Poyet
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Because I don't think the talent or FO is there to be a contender.
If they had all this talent they should have won more games in a weak Eastern conference by now. Philly are going better than them and they cleared the decks at the start of the season.
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