CB's forum is so capricious. Maybe it's because when the team's winning one set of fans speak louder while when the team's losing another does.
I don't agree that the team is as bad as some say. Not that I think this is a contender.
The recent, Pre-Harden Rockets teams and the current Suns team I'd say are pretty comparable to this roster. Maybe the Bucks of last year as well.
You have decent role player talent in Hump, in AB, just all around decency.
The difference imo is in the coaching. Some teams have rosters like this yet have been epic failures.
Guys like Stevens and Hornacek...Jerry Sloan had a few seasons with mediocre rosters...they find the diamonds in the rough. And it's quite the sight to see.
Right now, the Suns are basically 48 minutes of fast break and hustle. On the flip side, when we were good, our C's got hot in a hurry with their jump shooting and the bigs have the green light to shoot 3's. The 3's turn out to be a fantastic equalizer keeping games close.
Like I said before, I don't think the team has had the same 13 active players for more than 3 games in the past month and a half. Trades were made, players injured, Rondo returned. The past several weeks have been quite the journey.
And, again, I've said this before. Sully and AB are no all stars but they're still among the team's best players. Considering the game is played 5 players a time, having TWO of your best injured is bound to hurt.
Unlike the Suns, this team was not constructed with any forethought. Multiple power forwards and multiple guards but Brad Stevens coached through it all. Stevens's success is very impressive to me for this reason.
I'd be interested to see how Stevens adjusts. The guard position is finally thinning out. Rondo's return and gradual recovery adds to the intrigue.
I mean, you didn't just compare Brad Stevens to Jerry Sloan after half a season, did you?
More Hornacek if anything.
My point was not to proclaim Brad Stevens a legendary coach. The point here is to compare the talent.
But, of course, since I don't think this team sucks butt I must be a delusional fool who thinks Rondo is the best of all time, that Stevens is a legendary coach.
Hell, Don Nelson. Another coach who's turned bad teams on paper into decent playoff teams.
Is mediocrity totally terrible? I don't deny getting a top pick can potentially help. But there could be benefits to fielding a semi-competitive team...
Completely bottoming out could have been detrimental since Stevens would be wasting a year. Instead, Stevens had and has some toys to play with and to get a grasp of the talent, of what it takes to win at this level. After a certain amount of time, I'd venture to guess you just don't learn much from constant 15, 20, 30 point beat downs.
Having a surprisingly winning team also plays up the value of some players. Both trades executed this season may not have happened had we had a god awful season.
I guess the past month was the perfect storm. A trade and then a string of injuries. Again, I don't deny a top pick helps. So maybe "competitive losses" are for the best, hurting our record just enough to put us in the lottery.
But, no, I don't think Ainge is deliberately tanking. Hell, that's part of my point. If Ainge were to tank, he wouldn't half-ass it. He'd suck up all the bad contracts in the world. Some talk about trading Rondo as the ultimate tank move, but while you may not think much of Bass or Green, moving them wouldn't be too incredibly hard, and tanking that way would be surefire. Why would he "risk" a better record?
My theory (tinfoil hats!) is that he's just going with the flow, doing the right moves. If we are to be rewarded with a top 5 pick, so be it. If not, so be it. The many, many picks to come in the next few years could be more important than any single pick.
Some like to celebrate every loss and trash the team. They like rejoicing about the fact that the team is on a horrific losing streak. They like to think Ainge has been masterminding Jabari in green for the past 10 years.
Perhaps I'm completely off base here. Perhaps Ainge truly is tanking. But so many things must fall into place.
What if (God forbid) we draft a Milicic, or a Sam Bowie, or an Oden, or (R.I.P.) Len Bias? What if our lottery pick screws us and pulls a Melo? Hell, perhaps drafting 1 position later could have saved us from a potential disaster.
And what can you do about powerhouse teams like the Heat?
And injuries. [dang] you injuries.
Sure, you have a guaranteed top 5 pick if you're god awful. But that's not a guaranteed playoff spot, not a guaranteed championship, not a guaranteed dynasty.
As Boxscoregeeks put it in a way I couldn't do any better, the draft is a numbers game. Ainge has been playing it very well.
No doubt that
one pick in 2014 could be a huge part of a dynasty. But betting all your chips on one thing? I feel like that's farther from the workings of a mastermind and ruthless, rational businessperson (which is the picture people seem to be painting of Ainge's alleged tanking) and closer to being an chronic gambler.
I've been completely derailed towards the end. Tl;Dr, don't think the team sucks.
Topic: Need to avoid short term winning streak (Read 8703 times)