RS 16/17 - G77 - Mavericks @ Kings (Apr. 4 - 10:30PM EST)

[Dirk]

[SOUNDCHASER]

Dirk and Seth might miss this game. Here is hoping that Barnes will choose to have a bad game and so will everyone else.

So far in the loss column the tank leaders are as follows

TEAM # of losses
1. Brooklyn 59
2. Phoenix 56
3. Lakers 55
4. Orlando 50
5. Philadelphia 49
6. New York 48
7. Sacramento 47
8. Minnesota 45
9. Dallas 44
10. New Orleans 44 plus they have one more win than we do

remaining games
Dallas: 6 games SAC, LAC, Spurs, Phoenix, Denver & Memphis.

Minnesota: 7 games Port, GSW, Port, Jazz, LAL, OKC & Hou.

The LA game is a must win for Minn from our perspective they could lose all the rest if these teams are going full on to win as many games without resting anyone or trying to lose to gain a certain match up. We may win against SAC and PHO and be unable to sneak past Minn for a higher pick which at this point looks like a best case scenario as we could be passed up in the picking order by NOP.

New Orleans: 5 games DEN, DEN, GSW, LAL & Port.



If we win 2 more games and NOP lose to everyone but the lakers then we fall to 10th if we pull out 2 or more wins against PHO and SAC.

We lost to PHO last game pretty badly so we may feel motivated to win even more. SAC is a must lose game for our pick position not to worsen.

That being said NOP beat DEN 115 to 90 last time they played 5 games back at home on the 21st of March while early in OCT on the 26th DEN won by the score of 107 to 102.

A split would give NOP an identical record to us if we still pull out 2 more wins.

Hoping that Houston rests starters against MINN might be a real thing to hope for since 3rd place Houston is 5 games ahead of Utah and SAN is 8 games ahead of them in the standings.

GSW with 14 wins and SAN with 17 are only 3 games apart so they continue to play tough till the final week. Utah (47-30) only 1/2 game ahead of the Clippers (47-31) followed up by OKC (43-33) MEM (42-35) PORT (38-38) DEN (36-40)

FACT: If we win zero games out of the final 6 and Minnesota goes on a losing streak against everyone with a worse record they cement their spot at 8. They need to win some more games for us to pass them. They lost by 123 to 117 to SAC last game so they may be in tank mode.

FACT: If we stay tied with New Orleans the following rule applies. Tied lottery teams split their ping pong balls evenly, and any odd remainder and the better draft order position are given to the coin flip winner.

interesting take on the draft found here.
http://www.tankathon.com

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

They show us taking Frank Ntilikina over Fox who they say goes next followed by
Zach Collins at 11
John Collins at 12
Hartenstein at 13
and finally Markannen at 14

[dirkforpres]

Any word on Nowitzki or Curry? Not having either would probably tip the scales in the Kings favor... Wouldn't help my fantasy team though

[Pinkyring]

There is zero reason to play dirk again this season and not even for tanking purposes, if that Achilles is bothering him there's no point of rolling him out there, an Achilles tear in a meaningless regular season game ends his career

[Texas Chuck]

Spoiler:

Dirk and Seth might miss this game. Here is hoping that Barnes will choose to have a bad game and so will everyone else.

So far in the loss column the tank leaders are as follows

TEAM # of losses
1. Brooklyn 59
2. Phoenix 56
3. Lakers 55
4. Orlando 50
5. Philadelphia 49
6. New York 48
7. Sacramento 47
8. Minnesota 45
9. Dallas 44
10. New Orleans 44 plus they have one more win than we do

remaining games
Dallas: 6 games SAC, LAC, Spurs, Phoenix, Denver & Memphis.

Minnesota: 7 games Port, GSW, Port, Jazz, LAL, OKC & Hou.

The LA game is a must win for Minn from our perspective they could lose all the rest if these teams are going full on to win as many games without resting anyone or trying to lose to gain a certain match up. We may win against SAC and PHO and be unable to sneak past Minn for a higher pick which at this point looks like a best case scenario as we could be passed up in the picking order by NOP.

New Orleans: 5 games DEN, DEN, GSW, LAL & Port.



If we win 2 more games and NOP lose to everyone but the lakers then we fall to 10th if we pull out 2 or more wins against PHO and SAC.

We lost to PHO last game pretty badly so we may feel motivated to win even more. SAC is a must lose game for our pick position not to worsen.

That being said NOP beat DEN 115 to 90 last time they played 5 games back at home on the 21st of March while early in OCT on the 26th DEN won by the score of 107 to 102.

A split would give NOP an identical record to us if we still pull out 2 more wins.

Hoping that Houston rests starters against MINN might be a real thing to hope for since 3rd place Houston is 5 games ahead of Utah and SAN is 8 games ahead of them in the standings.

GSW with 14 wins and SAN with 17 are only 3 games apart so they continue to play tough till the final week. Utah (47-30) only 1/2 game ahead of the Clippers (47-31) followed up by OKC (43-33) MEM (42-35) PORT (38-38) DEN (36-40)

FACT: If we win zero games out of the final 6 and Minnesota goes on a losing streak against everyone with a worse record they cement their spot at 8. They need to win some more games for us to pass them. They lost by 123 to 117 to SAC last game so they may be in tank mode.

FACT: If we stay tied with New Orleans the following rule applies. Tied lottery teams split their ping pong balls evenly, and any odd remainder and the better draft order position are given to the coin flip winner.

interesting take on the draft found here.
http://www.tankathon.com

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

They show us taking Frank Ntilikina over Fox who they say goes next followed by
Zach Collins at 11
John Collins at 12
Hartenstein at 13
and finally Markannen at 14

Regardless of which side a poster falls on the late season tanking issue, this is a tremendous breakdown.

[Texas Chuck]

Spoiler:

Dirk and Seth might miss this game. Here is hoping that Barnes will choose to have a bad game and so will everyone else.

So far in the loss column the tank leaders are as follows

TEAM # of losses
1. Brooklyn 59
2. Phoenix 56
3. Lakers 55
4. Orlando 50
5. Philadelphia 49
6. New York 48
7. Sacramento 47
8. Minnesota 45
9. Dallas 44
10. New Orleans 44 plus they have one more win than we do

remaining games
Dallas: 6 games SAC, LAC, Spurs, Phoenix, Denver & Memphis.

Minnesota: 7 games Port, GSW, Port, Jazz, LAL, OKC & Hou.

The LA game is a must win for Minn from our perspective they could lose all the rest if these teams are going full on to win as many games without resting anyone or trying to lose to gain a certain match up. We may win against SAC and PHO and be unable to sneak past Minn for a higher pick which at this point looks like a best case scenario as we could be passed up in the picking order by NOP.

New Orleans: 5 games DEN, DEN, GSW, LAL & Port.



If we win 2 more games and NOP lose to everyone but the lakers then we fall to 10th if we pull out 2 or more wins against PHO and SAC.

We lost to PHO last game pretty badly so we may feel motivated to win even more. SAC is a must lose game for our pick position not to worsen.

That being said NOP beat DEN 115 to 90 last time they played 5 games back at home on the 21st of March while early in OCT on the 26th DEN won by the score of 107 to 102.

A split would give NOP an identical record to us if we still pull out 2 more wins.

Hoping that Houston rests starters against MINN might be a real thing to hope for since 3rd place Houston is 5 games ahead of Utah and SAN is 8 games ahead of them in the standings.

GSW with 14 wins and SAN with 17 are only 3 games apart so they continue to play tough till the final week. Utah (47-30) only 1/2 game ahead of the Clippers (47-31) followed up by OKC (43-33) MEM (42-35) PORT (38-38) DEN (36-40)

FACT: If we win zero games out of the final 6 and Minnesota goes on a losing streak against everyone with a worse record they cement their spot at 8. They need to win some more games for us to pass them. They lost by 123 to 117 to SAC last game so they may be in tank mode.

FACT: If we stay tied with New Orleans the following rule applies. Tied lottery teams split their ping pong balls evenly, and any odd remainder and the better draft order position are given to the coin flip winner.

interesting take on the draft found here.
http://www.tankathon.com

http://www.tankathon.com/mock_draft

They show us taking Frank Ntilikina over Fox who they say goes next followed by
Zach Collins at 11
John Collins at 12
Hartenstein at 13
and finally Markannen at 14

Regardless of which side a poster falls on the late season tanking issue, this is a tremendous breakdown.

[Devassa]

They show us taking Frank Ntilikina over Fox who they say goes next followed by
Zach Collins at 11
John Collins at 12
Hartenstein at 13
and finally Markannen

If Fox is available and we pass on him, I will lose my f***ing mind. I highly doubt he falls that far though. He's top 5 in my rankings

[2011Champs]

Dumbass Carlisle will probably try to play Dirk super heavy minutes to win the game and in the process watch Dirk rupture his Achilles and end his career

[Pinkyring]

Good win by minny tonight only a game behind us, Sacramento game is a must lose

[2011Champs]

Good win by minny tonight only a game behind us, Sacramento game is a must lose

Carlisle will push that much harder to win then

[Texas Chuck]

They show us taking Frank Ntilikina over Fox who they say goes next followed by
Zach Collins at 11
John Collins at 12
Hartenstein at 13
and finally Markannen

If Fox is available and we pass on him, I will lose my f***ing mind. I highly doubt he falls that far though. He's top 5 in my rankings

I feel the same way, but he's definitely not what Rick likes in his PG. Tho I tell myself we could still take him and just play him with Curry in the backcourt in much the same way Barea and Harris play together off the bench. I don't see how Fox even gets to Dallas but if he's there I'm taking him.

And while I know he's not a great fit with Noel here, I've loved what I've seen from Zach Collins this year and while with the Zags they use him close to the basket--supposedly he shoots it pretty well. If Fox was gone I'd rather take him than Ntilikina.

[dirkforpres]

Good win by minny tonight only a game behind us, Sacramento game is a must lose

Carlisle will push that much harder to win then

Hate to disappoint you, Pinkyring, but Sacramento is tanking even harder than Dallas is. Only chance we have of losing is if Seth and Dirk are out, and even then it'll be close.

[Dirk]

Dumbass Carlisle will probably try to play Dirk super heavy minutes to win the game and in the process watch Dirk rupture his Achilles and end his career

Dirk had an issue against the Bucks. He wanted to go back into the game. The staff didn't let him.

"Out of nowhere, at the end of the second quarter, it started to get a little tight on me and I played the third quarter and wanted to finish the game but they made the decision to sit this one out."

At the start of the year, they were extra careful and he missed a ton of games. It's easy to see that the Mavs have been careful with players this year. Even when they were close to the 8th spot, they were not forcing anyone to play.

Hate to disappoint you, Pinkyring, but Sacramento is tanking even harder than Dallas is. Only chance we have of losing is if Seth and Dirk are out, and even then it'll be close.

The Kings have won more games than they should. They have beaten the likes of Memphis, Clippers and just the other day... the Wolves on the road. I imagine their rotation will remain intact for the game tonight.

On the other hand, the Mavs have:

J.J. Barea (rest) — questionable
Harrison Barnes (rest) — questionable
Seth Curry (left shoulder) — questionable
Dirk (sore right Achilles) — questionable
Wesley Matthews (rest) — out

The bookies have the Kings as favorites.

[dirkforpres]

Hate to disappoint you, Pinkyring, but Sacramento is tanking even harder than Dallas is. Only chance we have of losing is if Seth and Dirk are out, and even then it'll be close.

The Kings have won more games then they should. They have beaten the likes of Memphis, Clippers and Wolves on the road. I imagine their rotation will remain intact for the game tonight.

On the other hand, the Mavs will be missing a couple of starters and may likely give a rest to a couple of others.

I think being a home game will help Sacramentos chances, but that team really doesn't have a single playmaker on their roster so I still have to give the edge to Dallas even without Dirk and Curry.

As far as the Kings recent wins, they beat the Clips (who are free falling), Grizzlies (without Gasol), and the Wolves (the most hot and cold team in the league).

I'm too upset about Romo retiring to really care one way or another about this game today though, FWIW

[Dirk]

I think being a home game will help Sacramentos chances, but that team really doesn't have a single playmaker on their roster so I still have to give the edge to Dallas even without Dirk and Curry.

As far as the Kings recent wins, they beat the Clips (who are free falling), Grizzlies (without Gasol), and the Wolves (the most hot and cold team in the league).

I'm too upset about Romo retiring to really care one way or another about this game today though, FWIW

Look on the bright side... apparently he'll go to CBS and there will be no more Phil Simms in prime time.

More seriously, in a way he had basically retired as a Cowboy last year. He was not going to hang around as a backup, so this is actually a happier ending for the Cowboys than if he went to play for some other team and have success there. I imagine personal fans of Rondo will be sad though, but there is always the chance of doing a Favre at some point if his back his doing ok.

[Darren]

Another "must lose" game. Hate to say that if we lose the Bucks' game and the King's game, we could have secured a higher position. Hopefully, we finally make sure that our mind is set correctly. But still, the King sucks. It's a tough matchup in term of tanking. Actually, the Bucks had their chance late game. But the refs and their lack of perimeter shooting cost them the chance. We should not take the lead heading into 4th quarter this time. We should learn from the mistakes.

[Teffer10]

And while I know he's not a great fit with Noel here, I've loved what I've seen from Zach Collins this year and while with the Zags they use him close to the basket--supposedly he shoots it pretty well. If Fox was gone I'd rather take him than Ntilikina.

Actually think he would be a good fit here with Noel. A rotation of Barnes/Collins/Noel could be solid in a few years as Collins can stretch the floor but still has an inside game.
I've actually thought about him too and if we are picking with Markkanen as the BPA then I'd definitely consider trading down for Zach and getting another pick in the draft.
Personally I don't see much gap in talent between picks 10-22 so if we could get someone like Portland to move up, maybe they'd consider trading their top pick along with one of their other 1st rounders and then we could grab Collins and someone in the mid-20s like Trier, Hart, Mushidi, Jackson, Anunoby or maybe even Giles.

[Pinkyring]

No dirk, wes, seth, barnes and jj questionable, hallelujah

[Devassa]

No dirk, wes, seth, barnes and jj questionable, hallelujah

Yikes. Looking like a loss here, boys.

[Texas Chuck]

I think being a home game will help Sacramentos chances, but that team really doesn't have a single playmaker on their roster so I still have to give the edge to Dallas even without Dirk and Curry.

As far as the Kings recent wins, they beat the Clips (who are free falling), Grizzlies (without Gasol), and the Wolves (the most hot and cold team in the league).

I'm too upset about Romo retiring to really care one way or another about this game today though, FWIW

Look on the bright side... apparently he'll go to CBS and there will be no more Phil Simms in prime time.

More seriously, in a way he had basically retired as a Cowboy last year. He was not going to hang around as a backup, so this is actually a happier ending for the Cowboys than if he went to play for some other team and have success there. I personal fans of Rondo will be sad though. Always the chance of doing a Favre at some point if his back his doing ok.

ugly misclick there.....

But yeah I'm glad Romo isn't trying to hang on somewhere else. I want his body to still work in a decade, in 20 years, etc....