March Tankapalooza

[Smokeeye123]

March looks like an excellent month to pile up some losses and comes at a good time. If we lose tonight against SAC which is a road game back to back and then against the Jazz (Who nearly beat the trailblazers last night) we will be in prime spot to get the 4th worst record.

I think it's safe to say now that there is no way we are catching PHI or MIL so the race is on for 3rd place. ORL has the lead but buying out Glen Davis does make their roster worse. Still we are only two games ahead of them and I believe they own the tiebreaker. ORL also verses PHI twice in the next 5 games so they should win both those games.

Anyways even if we dont catch ORL I think the stars are aligning for us to do no better than 5th. Which is big.

Our next ten games are as follows...

@Kings L
@ Jazz
Hawks
Pacers
Warriors
Nets
Pistons
@Pacers
Knicks
Suns
@Pelicans

Thats a pretty tough stretch. Unless we pull off an upset somewhere I dont see us doing better than 3-7 tops especially with the road games against western conference teams.

[JBcat]

For the pro tankers those Nets Hawks games will be tough as they are within a few games of not making the playoffs.

[hwangjini_1]

thanks for the update and anticipated march schedule. tp.

also, a good resource for keeping up on this year's who's who of tanking is this site:

http://www.tankathon.com/

[Mr October]

Forget the next 10 games. The entirety of March is brutal. Even the teams with loosing records are putting together a run for the playoffs.

I think a 3-12 record for Boston is fairly likely.

I believe they have won only 4 games against teams with winning records all year.

[Mr October]

The Lakers surprised me last night. They look better than expected. They have quality size and skill around the basket, a stack of players who can bomb away from 3 point land, and then a bunch of guards who can penetrate and set up the shooters. They might actually win a bunch more games, and possibly more than Boston or Sacramento.

Sacramento should be winning more games. But with Rudy gay and cousins ailing a bit, they are also hard to predict.

I am enjoying the fall of the Hawks, and am now hoping to see Brooklyn loose some of their momentum. Gimme a nice pick!

[SHAQATTACK]

The Lakers surprised me last night. They look better than expected. They have quality size and skill around the basket, a stack of players who can bomb away from 3 point land, and then a bunch of guards who can penetrate and set up the shooters. They might actually win a bunch more games, and possibly more than Boston or Sacramento.

Sacramento should be winning more games. But with Rudy gay and cousins ailing a bit, they are also hard to predict.

I am enjoying the fall of the Hawks, and am now hoping to see Brooklyn loose some of their momentum. Gimme a nice pick!

Nice post.....all this   ..TP 

Lakers get nick young back soon to .....and this will help them pick up a few extra wins.

I'm not sure Kobe  playing helps them ....he looked really ruff before....in every way.......until he fully recovers and gets his mojo back .....they might win more with out him. This year

I think the Magic will catch us .  In losses ,  looking for Nets to win less than 1/2 their remaining games,  hoping for at least the same from Hawks .

It's March tank fest madness .......  Wiggins and Parker .......ping pong ball battle

Let the tanking begin..... Tonight

[indeedproceed]

Lakers get nick young back soon to .....and this will help them pick up a few extra wins.

First time anyone's ever said this? First time anyone's ever said this.

[SHAQATTACK]

Lakers get nick young back soon to .....and this will help them pick up a few extra wins.

First time anyone's ever said this? First time anyone's ever said this.

Oh I'm a nick young hater in the worst way ... He'd be garbage on Boston like Brookes.

He was playing better than the pitiful Kobe return .......for the Lakers ....his dream team

He and Brooks were born to be Lakers ...they each dream of being the next Kobe .....

I look for them to bomb the Lakers  into a few wins .....as they try to impress Kobe 

[Smokeeye123]

Speaking of the Lakers it makes zero sense for Kobe to return this season. I would be completely shocked  if they brought Kobe back at all this year.

Theyd go from a possible 3-6 pick to a 6-10 pick.

[LilRip]

thanks for the update and anticipated march schedule. tp.

also, a good resource for keeping up on this year's who's who of tanking is this site:

http://www.tankathon.com/

TP for the site. interesting they have a "mock lottery" option. I played it 5 times in a row and i got the following results:

#1, #2, #6, #6 and #1

While it would indeed be great if we land #1, I just hope we land in the top 3.

[indeedproceed]

Speaking of the Lakers it makes zero sense for Kobe to return this season. I would be completely shocked  if they brought Kobe back at all this year.

Theyd go from a possible 3-6 pick to a 6-10 pick.

Has nothing to do with what's smart though. Has everything to do with what Kobe wants, and every game he sits out diminishes his chance of catching Kareem. Plus, the guy is crazy competitive, if he can play, he'll play.

[Spilling Green Dye]

Oh I fully anticipate the Celtics losing a bunch in March, but it's April that will define where the Celtics finish in this tankathon. 

In April the C's play the Wizards twice, 76ers twice, Cavs, bobcats, Pistons, and Hawks.  That could be a very winnable stretch that moves us back to the 5 to 8 range. 

Does anyone else find themselves occasionally looking up the remaining schedule for the Lakers, Kings, Magic, etc?  Lol.

[Smokeeye123]

Oh I fully anticipate the Celtics losing a bunch in March, but it's April that will define where the Celtics finish in this tankathon. 

In April the C's play the Wizards twice, 76ers twice, Cavs, bobcats, Pistons, and Hawks.  That could be a very winnable stretch that moves us back to the 5 to 8 range. 

Does anyone else find themselves occasionally looking up the remaining schedule for the Lakers, Kings, Magic, etc?  Lol.

Yes lol. I hoenstly think if the Kings were in the East they could be the 8 seed. They aren't as horrible as a lot of these tanking teams. Same with the Jazz. The jazz have a complete team and are capable of winning games.

Also on your prior statement the only locked wins should be those philly games which is O.K. All the other teams are better than us on paper and I think wed only win in an upset one or two of those ones....Also you have to wonder if theres only 10 games left is Ainge/Stevens decides its best to play Vitor, Olynyk, and pressey a lot more and "develop" them. (AKA rest better players to help the tank)

[Smokeeye123]

Speaking of the Lakers it makes zero sense for Kobe to return this season. I would be completely shocked  if they brought Kobe back at all this year.

Theyd go from a possible 3-6 pick to a 6-10 pick.

Has nothing to do with what's smart though. Has everything to do with what Kobe wants, and every game he sits out diminishes his chance of catching Kareem. Plus, the guy is crazy competitive, if he can play, he'll play.

True but Kobe has to realize that playing could mean the difference between 3 or 4 spots in the lottery...It comes down to what he thinks is more important, the scoring title, or possibly winning another championship.

[Boris Badenov]

thanks for the update and anticipated march schedule. tp.

also, a good resource for keeping up on this year's who's who of tanking is this site:

http://www.tankathon.com/

That is great HJ, TP.

I wish they would show upcoming game info though (home/away, strength of schedule etc.).

Speaking of the Lakers it makes zero sense for Kobe to return this season. I would be completely shocked  if they brought Kobe back at all this year.

Theyd go from a possible 3-6 pick to a 6-10 pick.

Has nothing to do with what's smart though. Has everything to do with what Kobe wants, and every game he sits out diminishes his chance of catching Kareem. Plus, the guy is crazy competitive, if he can play, he'll play.

True but Kobe has to realize that playing could mean the difference between 3 or 4 spots in the lottery...It comes down to what he thinks is more important, the scoring title, or possibly winning another championship.

For Kobe it's championship or nothing. He wants to match MJ's 6 rings.

But I've said this elsewhere, it's LA - a top pick isn't as crucial for them. They can hang out and wait for top FAs to sign with them.

I think Kobe knows this and I think he comes back. The scoring matters a lot to him too.