The Tank Thread: 21-22 Edition (Currently 3rd Place)

[breezypeezy]

They just have to keep me on pins and needles till the last second tick of the final game.
We could end up tied in that 3rd/4th or even tied in a 4th/5th with the shameless Pacers who have proven they are a disgrace that refuses to win.
At least our organization refuses to stop competing.
Post All-Star the Pistons have acquired that taste for winning which is huge for us.
We just need a teeny stumble on the way out to get us to at least 4th worst. The Indy posers certainly do not deserve our slot.

[440BB]

I admit I'm stunned the Thunder didn't find a way to lose that game.

I hope we take advantage of this gift. Nice to see things break our way while the youngsters couldn't keep from winning.

[The Moose]

Looking at our final 3 games

Mavs, Bucks, Sixers

Mavs will still be playing for homecourt in round 1, so I really doubt they'll be resting anybody, they likely want to win this game and then get some rest in against the Portland G league team which is next on their schedule

Bucks will be playing on the 2nd night of a b2b, definitely a threat to be resting players, but could still be playing for seeding. Hard to know, but even their bench likely beats the lineup we ran out today against the pacers.

Sixers could definitely be resting in the last game of the seasons, but like the bucks, their bench can probably beat the Bey, Stew + reserves lineup we are running


OKC on the other hand has the Blazers, Lakers and Clippers

The blazers are the blazers, not much to say about that lineup. Thunder could win this one.

The Lakers will likely be officially knocked out of the play in at this point and running their reserves, OKC could win this one

The clippers already are locked into the 8th and will almost certainly be resting in this season finale

Looking at this, I would say its more likely the Thunder out-win us down the stretch but time will tell

[vege]

Wtf why did OKC beat Phoenix lmao

[breezypeezy]

I don't discount a young reserve with a chip on his shoulder playing "beserker" to prove themselves. I can't trust the outcomes to be certain in any of the final contests, too many moving parts and competing motivations still in play.

[Manocad]

Mavs:
@ Detroit
vs Portland
vs San Antonio
The Mavs are the 4th seed and two games ahead of Denver for the 5th seed. Staying in 4th means home court in the first round while 5th isn't, and they're one game behind Golden State for the 3rd seed. The difference between 3rd and 4th isn't a big deal but point being, they've still got something to play for. Don't want to fall from 4th to 5th and lose first round home court. They should win all three of those games.

Bucks:
@ Chicago
vs Boston
@ Detroit
@ Cleveland

76ers:
@ Indiana
@ Toronto
vs Indiana
vs Detroit

The Bucks and 76ers are the 3rd and 4th seeds but tied in wins, 3 wins above the Bulls at the 5th seed. So while neither are in any real danger of falling to the 5th seed they're obviously going to want to make sure they don't. And the 3rd seed still means you're playing the 6th seed vs 5th which in this case is Toronto vs Chicago. If it's me, I'd sure as hell rather be matched up against Toronto in the first round rather than Chicago. The Bucks could be challenged by Chicago, Boston and Cleveland in their remaining games so my guess is they're going to want to make damn sure they beat Detroit, especially given that Philly should win all their remaining games.

Panic about these three teams resting players/end of the bench lineups in and of itself isn't justified with any logic, not to mention that they'd probably still beat the lineups the Pistons will roll out anyway. And who knows; maybe OKC will get stupid again, win another game and give the Pistons a shot at the third worst record.

[whitehops]

i'm sure we're close to shutting cade down but it'd be awesome to see him play one last time vs. doncic on wednesday.

[Manocad]

i'm sure we're close to shutting cade down but it'd be awesome to see him play one last time vs. doncic on wednesday.

Yep

[NYPiston]

Mavs:
@ Detroit
vs Portland
vs San Antonio
The Mavs are the 4th seed and two games ahead of Denver for the 5th seed. Staying in 4th means home court in the first round while 5th isn't, and they're one game behind Golden State for the 3rd seed. The difference between 3rd and 4th isn't a big deal but point being, they've still got something to play for. Don't want to fall from 4th to 5th and lose first round home court. They should win all three of those games.

Bucks:
@ Chicago
vs Boston
@ Detroit
@ Cleveland

76ers:
@ Indiana
@ Toronto
vs Indiana
vs Detroit

The Bucks and 76ers are the 3rd and 4th seeds but tied in wins, 3 wins above the Bulls at the 5th seed. So while neither are in any real danger of falling to the 5th seed they're obviously going to want to make sure they don't. And the 3rd seed still means you're playing the 6th seed vs 5th which in this case is Toronto vs Chicago. If it's me, I'd sure as hell rather be matched up against Toronto in the first round rather than Chicago. The Bucks could be challenged by Chicago, Boston and Cleveland in their remaining games so my guess is they're going to want to make damn sure they beat Detroit, especially given that Philly should win all their remaining games.

Panic about these three teams resting players/end of the bench lineups in and of itself isn't justified with any logic, not to mention that they'd probably still beat the lineups the Pistons will roll out anyway. And who knows; maybe OKC will get stupid again, win another game and give the Pistons a shot at the third worst record.

Actually, you'd much rather finish 3rd in the west to avoid Phoenix in a potential 2nd round who is head and shoulders above everybody this season. I think the Mavs will almost certainly have something to play for.

The Sixers game is probably their best shot at a win, that game seems primed for a scrubs vs. scrubs clash. Then again, if the Pistons play Cade and most of the starters, they could beat any of these teams as crazy as that sounds. I can't see them shutting down Cade for the home games and cheating the fans of one or two final Cade viewings but, we'll see.

[zeebneeb]

Mavs:
@ Detroit
vs Portland
vs San Antonio
The Mavs are the 4th seed and two games ahead of Denver for the 5th seed. Staying in 4th means home court in the first round while 5th isn't, and they're one game behind Golden State for the 3rd seed. The difference between 3rd and 4th isn't a big deal but point being, they've still got something to play for. Don't want to fall from 4th to 5th and lose first round home court. They should win all three of those games.

Bucks:
@ Chicago
vs Boston
@ Detroit
@ Cleveland

76ers:
@ Indiana
@ Toronto
vs Indiana
vs Detroit

The Bucks and 76ers are the 3rd and 4th seeds but tied in wins, 3 wins above the Bulls at the 5th seed. So while neither are in any real danger of falling to the 5th seed they're obviously going to want to make sure they don't. And the 3rd seed still means you're playing the 6th seed vs 5th which in this case is Toronto vs Chicago. If it's me, I'd sure as hell rather be matched up against Toronto in the first round rather than Chicago. The Bucks could be challenged by Chicago, Boston and Cleveland in their remaining games so my guess is they're going to want to make damn sure they beat Detroit, especially given that Philly should win all their remaining games.

Panic about these three teams resting players/end of the bench lineups in and of itself isn't justified with any logic, not to mention that they'd probably still beat the lineups the Pistons will roll out anyway. And who knows; maybe OKC will get stupid again, win another game and give the Pistons a shot at the third worst record.

Actually, you'd much rather finish 3rd in the west to avoid Phoenix in a potential 2nd round who is head and shoulders above everybody this season. I think the Mavs will almost certainly have something to play for.

The Sixers game is probably their best shot at a win, that game seems primed for a scrubs vs. scrubs clash. Then again, if the Pistons play Cade and most of the starters, they could beat any of these teams as crazy as that sounds. I can't see them shutting down Cade for the home games and cheating the fans of one or two final Cade viewings but, we'll see.

That's exactly why I picked them to win more games then anyone thought. Cade is that good.

In the end though, I honestly don't care. I like the end of season winning, going out on a high note. It is really important to have something to build on, and the Pistons really have done that with their record over the last 20.

[440BB]

The strategy has been pretty sound but I'm not sure Casey can get whoever plays to curb their enthusiasm. Key and Edwards were a surprise, as I thought they would call up Cruise players. Good work by Weaver to mine for depth now and maybe find some. The cost is that they naturally are going to play hard to earn a job, along with most of the tank roster. Toss in Bey going off and here we are.

Digging up talent and developing a winning culture is bruising our tank journey a bit. Saddiq needs a few personal days or a hangnail or something.

[Snakebites]

After that win I expect us to double down. You’ll see more people sitting.

The Thunder really did us a solid though.

[whitehops]

let's go thunder!

they play the blazers tonight and portland is 2-17 in their last 19 games. their last win came against us on march 21st.

[bstein14]

let's go thunder!

they play the blazers tonight and portland is 2-17 in their last 19 games. their last win came against us on march 21st.

Tonight's OKC vs Portland game is for sure the best chance we have of finishing in a 3rd/4th place tie. OKC is likely going to win no more games after tonight so they will finish with 24 wins if they win tonight or 23 if Portland wins tonight.

Detroit at 23 will likely win one more on the year, finishing 1-2 in their last 3 with 24 total wins for the year.

Orlando and Houston are pretty much out of the conversation right now locked into the two worst spots.

[bstein14]

After that win I expect us to double down. You’ll see more people sitting.

The Thunder really did us a solid though.

Can't really sit more people. We need to likely go into the game with at least 9 players available. I suppose we could sit Bey and bring Lee back in but unless Garza is healthy, or we bring up other G league guys we have to play Stewart/Bey....

Of course we could also just play them a few minutes instead of a full game.

[The Moose]

Man, the Thunder are pulling out all the stops for this tank game vs Portland

Poku after having a triple double in that win last game is not playing , instead they are starting these 2 scrubs they just signed on 10 day contacts today

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.si.com/nba/thunder/.amp/news/thunder-sign-zavier-simpson-georgios-kalaitzaikis-to-10-day-hardship-deals

[bstein14]

Man, the Thunder are pulling out all the stops for this tank game vs Portland

Poku after having a triple double in that win last game is not playing , instead they are starting these 2 scrubs they just signed on 10 day contacts today

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.si.com/nba/thunder/.amp/news/thunder-sign-zavier-simpson-georgios-kalaitzaikis-to-10-day-hardship-deals

Next level tanking right there. But Portland's tank game is also really strong it'll be interesting to see which team can pull off the highly coveted L here tonight.

[The Moose]

Man, the Thunder are pulling out all the stops for this tank game vs Portland

Poku after having a triple double in that win last game is not playing , instead they are starting these 2 scrubs they just signed on 10 day contacts today

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.si.com/nba/thunder/.amp/news/thunder-sign-zavier-simpson-georgios-kalaitzaikis-to-10-day-hardship-deals

Next level tanking right there. But Portland's tank game is also really strong it'll be interesting to see which team can pull off the highly coveted L here tonight.

If I had to guess I’ll say the Blazers, OKC seems like it’s running a 7 man rotation

[edmunder_prc]

Man, the Thunder are pulling out all the stops for this tank game vs Portland

Poku after having a triple double in that win last game is not playing , instead they are starting these 2 scrubs they just signed on 10 day contacts today

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.si.com/nba/thunder/.amp/news/thunder-sign-zavier-simpson-georgios-kalaitzaikis-to-10-day-hardship-deals

There should be some kind of rule that if your team loses by 50 you get a penalty.

Then if OKC does this - the other team can play all their starters and hurt them. Like losing a 2nd round pick or a fine of $5 million. Something with teeth.

Otherwise you get guys who arent even good enough for the **** G-league.

[mattyj]

What OKC is doing is an embarrassment... Should be massive fines and loss of picks

Sent from my CPH2009 using RealGM mobile app