Okay, I don't get it???

[317]

clearly all the balls can have there display number changed from behind the scenes, there actually being displayed on a super small video monitor. >_>

[vjcsmoke]

I'd love for one of the conspiracy nuts to watch that video and tell me if they still think it's fixed.

It's boring as hell and the guy pulling the ball looks bored.  LOL.
Until I see the behind the scenes video of the Duncan draft, I'll still be convinced we got jobbed though!  Hehehe

[DesertDweller]

The part I don't understand is where it says, If the one unassigned combination is drawn, the balls are drawn to the top again.  shouldn't it read, assigned instead of unassigned???

[LooseCannon]

The part I don't understand is where it says, If the one unassigned combination is drawn, the balls are drawn to the top again.  shouldn't it read, assigned instead of unassigned???

There are 1,001 possible combinations.  1,000 combinations have been assigned to teams.  1 combination remains unassigned.  They redraw if the unassigned combination comes out of the top of the barrel.

[pearljammer10]

They re-draw for the second position.

It's one of the reasons why the lottery wouldn't be that exciting if televised.

Roy, are you saying that this wouldn't be must-see TV?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKI-fToATpQ

You can feel yourself aging as you watch this.

Oh man... I always knew this was how it was done, but I didn't realize they had released video.  That had always been one of the critiques from the conspiracy theory nuts... "Why don't they show video of the actual drawing and put this to rest?"...

That solves that.

I dont know. I think this could just be the NBA putting together a good piece of hilariousness to the fan base. Who the heck knows what those charts say? I think the NBA front offices got together in a meeting and said lets videotape us picking a bunch of random numbered sequences and say thats how we come up with the lottery order....Brilliant!

[LarBrd33]

I'd love for one of the conspiracy nuts to watch that video and tell me if they still think it's fixed.

You can't reason something out of something they were never reasoned into in the first place.

Still, didn't know that video was out there.  Probably a good policy even though it'll never stop the conspiracy-minded.

I said in another thread last week... I look at the lotto-conspiracy folks the same way I look at people who say they "don't believe in evolution".  It's not whether or not you believe/disbelieve... it's whether or not you understand/don't understand.   Vast majority of the time when someone says they "don't believe in evolution", they simply don't understand how it works... or have been given misinformation.  It's a misunderstanding. 

I feel like the vast majority of the time when someone claims the lotto is rigged, they don't understand how it works.  They think it's envelopes or a fake "ping pong drawing" where each team has their logo on one ball.  They don't understand how the process works, so they make wild assumptions.  I'd love to see conspiracy-believer read up on how the process works, watch that video.. an still tell me if they think it's fixed.   I feel like it's just a misunderstanding.

Of course, this isn't limited to just these two things... this kind of stuff happens all the time.  People run their mouths and form silly opinions on things they don't even get.

[LarBrd33]

I'd love for one of the conspiracy nuts to watch that video and tell me if they still think it's fixed.

It's boring as hell and the guy pulling the ball looks bored.  LOL.
Until I see the behind the scenes video of the Duncan draft, I'll still be convinced we got jobbed though!  Hehehe

Yeah I'm sure the league was itching to get Tim DUncan to the Spurs instead of giving him to one of their premiere franchises.    Lol. 

[LarBrd33]

They re-draw for the second position.

It's one of the reasons why the lottery wouldn't be that exciting if televised.

Roy, are you saying that this wouldn't be must-see TV?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKI-fToATpQ

You can feel yourself aging as you watch this.

Oh man... I always knew this was how it was done, but I didn't realize they had released video.  That had always been one of the critiques from the conspiracy theory nuts... "Why don't they show video of the actual drawing and put this to rest?"...

That solves that.

I dont know. I think this could just be the NBA putting together a good piece of hilariousness to the fan base. Who the heck knows what those charts say? I think the NBA front offices got together in a meeting and said lets videotape us picking a bunch of random numbered sequences and say thats how we come up with the lottery order....Brilliant!

Ok... so you were probably kidding, but that's the only rebuttal I'll accept... the idea that the entire league is collectively aware and supports a fixed lottery.  And that's a rather big leap to make considering how much a guy like LeBron James can impact the bottom line for an individual team.  These are business owners.  Yes, they'd have to ALL be in on it ... and that doesn't really make sense.  And why would the league have collective decided, "ok let's just keep giving the #1 pick to the Cavs".  Silly.   Boston is the biggest proof that the draft ISN'T fixed.  We have one of the top sports markets in the country... a rabid NBA fanbase.  We would have won in 97 or 07 had the league had their best interests in mind.

But then again... maybe they did.  Maybe they intended to fix the lotto balls and get us Oden, but the machine broke... so Stern forced the Timberwolves to give us Kevin Garnett... then had the refs rig the playoffs so that he could milk a lucrative Laker/Celtic finals... then fixed the finals so we could have a championship and return to relevance.  Slippery slope

[DesertDweller]

I guess I'm just not asking the question properly as to what I don't understand but it has nothing to do with whether the lottery is fixed or not. the answers I am getting are way more advanced for the simple question I am asking which I guess has more to do with the math involved.
What makes it difficult for me to explain what I'm not understanding calls for multiple answers to different questions that are too long to type out here so I will just try and figure it out myself. thanks for all your input.

[fairweatherfan]

I'd love for one of the conspiracy nuts to watch that video and tell me if they still think it's fixed.

You can't reason something out of something they were never reasoned into in the first place.

Still, didn't know that video was out there.  Probably a good policy even though it'll never stop the conspiracy-minded.

I said in another thread last week... I look at the lotto-conspiracy folks the same way I look at people who say they "don't believe in evolution".  It's not whether or not you believe/disbelieve... it's whether or not you understand/don't understand.   Vast majority of the time when someone says they "don't believe in evolution", they simply don't understand how it works... or have been given misinformation.  It's a misunderstanding. 

I feel like the vast majority of the time when someone claims the lotto is rigged, they don't understand how it works.  They think it's envelopes or a fake "ping pong drawing" where each team has their logo on one ball.  They don't understand how the process works, so they make wild assumptions.  I'd love to see conspiracy-believer read up on how the process works, watch that video.. an still tell me if they think it's fixed.   I feel like it's just a misunderstanding.

Of course, this isn't limited to just these two things... this kind of stuff happens all the time.  People run their mouths and form silly opinions on things they don't even get.

Well, yes and no.  Stuff like that is grounded in ignorance, but once people become emotionally invested in "the lotto is rigged" or "evolution is a hoax", they usually become actively resistant to learning how it actually works.  They'll even go out of their way to find information that justifies their ignorance, and misinterpret all kinds of innocuous or irrelevant stuff to prop up their belief.

I don't know if you've ever tried to explain something like this one-on-one with someone who has strong feelings about an irrational conclusion, but they will almost always push back every step of the way and disregard anything that doesn't fit their conclusion for basically any rationalization they can come up with.  Even if you're just giving facts and not pushing a specific perspective, they don't want to know, because hanging on to the conclusion becomes more important than actually understanding the process. 

[fairweatherfan]

I guess I'm just not asking the question properly as to what I don't understand but it has nothing to do with whether the lottery is fixed or not. the answers I am getting are way more advanced for the simple question I am asking which I guess has more to do with the math involved.
What makes it difficult for me to explain what I'm not understanding calls for multiple answers to different questions that are too long to type out here so I will just try and figure it out myself. thanks for all your input.

I've only seen you ask two questions in the thread, and they were both pretty straightforward and answered directly.  What else are you confused about?

[DesertDweller]

I guess I'm just not asking the question properly as to what I don't understand but it has nothing to do with whether the lottery is fixed or not. the answers I am getting are way more advanced for the simple question I am asking which I guess has more to do with the math involved.
What makes it difficult for me to explain what I'm not understanding calls for multiple answers to different questions that are too long to type out here so I will just try and figure it out myself. thanks for all your input.

I've only seen you ask two questions in the thread, and they were both pretty straightforward and answered directly.  What else are you confused about?

Anything you see in italics and bold font are taken from "Basketball 101: NBA draft.

There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Prior to the Lottery, 1,000 combinations are assigned to the Lottery teams based on their order of finish during the regular season.

Specifically how many of these 1000 combinations belong to the Celtics as opposed to other teams in the lottery???

Does someone on each team actually sit there and look through their list, as the 4 ping pong balls are being drawn, to see if the combination drawn, is theirs???

If there are 1001 possible combinations why are only 1000 assigned???

[fairweatherfan]

I guess I'm just not asking the question properly as to what I don't understand but it has nothing to do with whether the lottery is fixed or not. the answers I am getting are way more advanced for the simple question I am asking which I guess has more to do with the math involved.
What makes it difficult for me to explain what I'm not understanding calls for multiple answers to different questions that are too long to type out here so I will just try and figure it out myself. thanks for all your input.

I've only seen you ask two questions in the thread, and they were both pretty straightforward and answered directly.  What else are you confused about?

Anything you see in italics and bold font are taken from "Basketball 101: NBA draft.

There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Prior to the Lottery, 1,000 combinations are assigned to the Lottery teams based on their order of finish during the regular season.

Specifically how many of these 1000 combinations belong to the Celtics as opposed to other teams in the lottery???

We have 103 of the 1000.  Milwaukee has the most combinations with 250, Philly has 199, and all the way down to Phoenix with just 5. 

Does someone on each team actually sit there and look through their list, as the 4 ping pong balls are being drawn, to see if the combination drawn, is theirs???

Maybe, but I doubt it - it's probably computerized, just enter in the combo and it'll tell you which team has it, a lot faster than looking it up by hand.

If there are 1001 possible combinations why are only 1000 assigned???

I think just because people like round numbers, and it's easier to say "103 out of 1000 is 10.3%" instead of adjusting for 1001 combinations.  That is a weird way to do it though.

Hope this helps!

[LooseCannon]

I guess I'm just not asking the question properly as to what I don't understand but it has nothing to do with whether the lottery is fixed or not. the answers I am getting are way more advanced for the simple question I am asking which I guess has more to do with the math involved.
What makes it difficult for me to explain what I'm not understanding calls for multiple answers to different questions that are too long to type out here so I will just try and figure it out myself. thanks for all your input.

I've only seen you ask two questions in the thread, and they were both pretty straightforward and answered directly.  What else are you confused about?

Anything you see in italics and bold font are taken from "Basketball 101: NBA draft.

There are 1,001 possible combinations when four balls are drawn out of 14, without regard to their order of selection. Prior to the Lottery, 1,000 combinations are assigned to the Lottery teams based on their order of finish during the regular season.

Specifically how many of these 1000 combinations belong to the Celtics as opposed to other teams in the lottery???

Does someone on each team actually sit there and look through their list, as the 4 ping pong balls are being drawn, to see if the combination drawn, is theirs???

If there are 1001 possible combinations why are only 1000 assigned???

As fwf said, the Celtics have 103 out of 1000 combinations.

The combinations are assigned sequentially, I believe, so it might be that all of the Celtics' combinations contain the number 6 (but not all combinations containing a 6 belong to the Celtics) so it is easy for the team's rep to recognize immediately a high percentage of the combinations which do not belong to the team.  They look through their list because they are sequestered in a room with their cell phones confiscated until the results are revealed on TV, so they have nothing better to do.

Only 1,000 combinations are assigned because it is a round number and people like dealing with round numbers.

[LarBrd33]

And yes, to answer an earlier question... each team sends a rep there to watch the process in the closed-off room.  If you watch that video you can see that there is a list of all the combos and their matching teams on the back wall.  Each team rep has that information in front of them as well.  So as the combos are coming up, they are flipping through their booklet seeing who it matches up with.   So if we own the combo 8430 and Denver owns 8431 ...  And the number 8 comes up, they flip to the part of the book with all the 8xxx numbers.   Then 4 comes up, they scan the page to find 84xx .... 3 comes up... well you get the idea. 

They take all their electronics so they can't leak out the info.  After the process if over (as the video explains), they put the winners in the envelopes and send them to the studio for the televised reveal.  The reps in the ping pong room stay locked into that room until the process is over... so for example if the Celtics send Wyc to the ping pong room and Ainge is our rep on the televised reveal... Ainge has no communication with Wyc until after it's over.   Wyc has to sit there going out of his mind with excitement/disappointment and nobody to celebrate/mourn with until they publicly announce the results.