2008 Woodie Awards
Heating it up: Tank job was in order for Sixers
Daniel Abraham
Sports | 4/17/08
Congratulations to the Philadelphia 76ers! You've done it. You won enough games to squeak into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. So that just brings me to my question: Now what?
Let's be honest, Philly isn't getting by Detroit in the first round; there's just no way that is going to happen. So basically, they ruined any chance of getting that superstar level player in the NBA draft, which in return places them in the League's purgatory for yet another season or two.
The fans in the City of Brotherly Love must be ready to pull each strand of their hair out one by one. When you don't want your team to win, they finally do. Now I see why you booed Santa Claus and have a jail in the basement of your football stadium. It's frustrating, I know.
You see, the Sixers are without a serious star player. Instead they've got the other AI, Andre Miller, and a bunch of role players. How great would it have been to have Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose?
Don't give me that "play-off experience is valuable crap" because it doesn't help you get over the hump; especially when you get swept in the opening round. And I know that "we play to win the game" and all but if you can't win it all, why play? Learn, log minutes, and find what works, but by all means don't get in the playoffs and out of the lottery.
It's supposed to be what I call "tank time."
The Miami Heat are the poster boys for this tactic. When they traded for Shawn Marion and still continued losing, that was sign one. Then head coach Pat Riley stopped trying to hide it and flat out stopped coming to games so he could scout college players for the draft the next year. Now picture Beasley or Rose playing with Marion and Dwayne Wade. That's a threesome that would be hard to deal with. That's all the Heat seem to care about. They don't care that teams are put in a lottery to see who picks first so it's not guaranteed. In fact none of the other losers of the League seem to care. They just keep dropping games on purpose. The Knicks, Clippers and Grizzlies are all jockeying for draft positions. The Super Sonics and Timberwolves, however, aren't tanking. They just flat out stink. But everyone else could easily be winning a few more games here and there.
But why should they? Why be like the Sixers and miss out on a bona fide ballers? But I don't just want to pick on Philly in this. The Atlanta Hawks traded for Mike Bibby and won just enough to earn a first round thumping at the hands of the Celtics.
So remember, NBA teams, if you're losing in the beginning of the season and you lack superstar power, then losing now means winning in the long run. Otherwise you can join Philly in NBA Purgatory.
Let's be honest, Philly isn't getting by Detroit in the first round; there's just no way that is going to happen. So basically, they ruined any chance of getting that superstar level player in the NBA draft, which in return places them in the League's purgatory for yet another season or two.
The fans in the City of Brotherly Love must be ready to pull each strand of their hair out one by one. When you don't want your team to win, they finally do. Now I see why you booed Santa Claus and have a jail in the basement of your football stadium. It's frustrating, I know.
You see, the Sixers are without a serious star player. Instead they've got the other AI, Andre Miller, and a bunch of role players. How great would it have been to have Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose?
Don't give me that "play-off experience is valuable crap" because it doesn't help you get over the hump; especially when you get swept in the opening round. And I know that "we play to win the game" and all but if you can't win it all, why play? Learn, log minutes, and find what works, but by all means don't get in the playoffs and out of the lottery.
It's supposed to be what I call "tank time."
The Miami Heat are the poster boys for this tactic. When they traded for Shawn Marion and still continued losing, that was sign one. Then head coach Pat Riley stopped trying to hide it and flat out stopped coming to games so he could scout college players for the draft the next year. Now picture Beasley or Rose playing with Marion and Dwayne Wade. That's a threesome that would be hard to deal with. That's all the Heat seem to care about. They don't care that teams are put in a lottery to see who picks first so it's not guaranteed. In fact none of the other losers of the League seem to care. They just keep dropping games on purpose. The Knicks, Clippers and Grizzlies are all jockeying for draft positions. The Super Sonics and Timberwolves, however, aren't tanking. They just flat out stink. But everyone else could easily be winning a few more games here and there.
But why should they? Why be like the Sixers and miss out on a bona fide ballers? But I don't just want to pick on Philly in this. The Atlanta Hawks traded for Mike Bibby and won just enough to earn a first round thumping at the hands of the Celtics.
So remember, NBA teams, if you're losing in the beginning of the season and you lack superstar power, then losing now means winning in the long run. Otherwise you can join Philly in NBA Purgatory.
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