Game 76: Utah Jazz (35-40) @ San Antonio Spurs (19-56)

Crunch 99 · Post #1 » by **Crunch 99** » Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:37 pm

https://www.rotowire.com/basketball/nba-lineups.php

Post #2 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Wed Mar 29, 2023 4:47 pm

Somebody needs to come up for a new word for what the Spurs are doing. Not only did they tank all season long (not judging), but now they are taking it to a new level, sitting out all their best players when they were already tanking to begin with and gutted their roster. Is that 'uber-tanking?' Or maybe 'super-tanking?'

Sure, one can argue the Jazz are doing the same thing but the Jazz haven't been tanking all season long (as much as I wanted them to), and the Jazz have far better players. The roster the Spurs have does not necessitate sitting out players, as it's bad enough as it is.

red4hf · Post #3 » by **red4hf** » Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:10 pm

Popovich is a disgrace.......

SoCalJazzFan · Post #4 » by **SoCalJazzFan** » Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:34 pm

Maybe the Jazz will have some "Cavs luck" (wink, wink) and get a good lotto draw for not tanking.

If Makkanen sits out the rest of the season, this might be the last game the Jazz win.

WinterSoldier · Post #5 » by **WinterSoldier** » Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:57 pm

It's funny Silver said early in the season that they won't put up with tanking, but my guess is its more empty words from this do nothing commissioner. What they should do is let the Spurs land whenever they naturally land but exclude them from the lottery.

red4hf · Post #6 » by **red4hf** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 1:39 am

Samanic is looking good, even against Spurs' third stringers......

WinterSoldier · Post #7 » by **WinterSoldier** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 2:20 am

I knew and the Spurs knew that Jazz would be stupid enough to take the bait.

BigJimFinn · Post #8 » by **BigJimFinn** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:43 am

Inigo Montoya wrote:Somebody needs to come up for a new word for what the Spurs are doing. Not only did they tank all season long (not judging), but now they are taking it to a new level, sitting out all their best players when they were already tanking to begin with and gutted their roster. Is that 'uber-tanking?' Or maybe 'super-tanking?'

I propose stanking, because that Spurs lineup really stinks.
But seriously, of the 21 players appearing in this game, only 3 played even 1000 NBA minutes last season, and none were regular starters. Typically, when the Spurs pick a strategy, their execution is very rigorous, and it would be quite funny if the all-time best coach finished his career just like he started it, by tanking successfully for the top pick.

Post #9 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 4:11 pm

BigJimFinn wrote:
Inigo Montoya wrote:Somebody needs to come up for a new word for what the Spurs are doing. Not only did they tank all season long (not judging), but now they are taking it to a new level, sitting out all their best players when they were already tanking to begin with and gutted their roster. Is that 'uber-tanking?' Or maybe 'super-tanking?'

I propose stanking, because that Spurs lineup really stinks.
But seriously, of the 21 players appearing in this game, only 3 played even 1000 NBA minutes last season, and none were regular starters. Typically, when the Spurs pick a strategy, their execution is very rigorous, and it would be quite funny if the all-time best coach finished his career just like he started it, by tanking successfully for the top pick.

It would not be funny at all, it would be annoying as F.

I suppose I should respect that they are really going for it. After all, that's what I wanted the Jazz to do--commit to the tank instead of going half and half like they did. But it is still egregious when they only have 19 wins and essentially say "we're not bad enough, we should tank even harder." The thing is that no one will remember 5 years from now what they did, especially if they get the franchise player they want.

As for Adam Silver, he's a soft, player-friendly commissioner, and he kinda sucks. I don't believe there will be any consequences for any team for tanking, and I thought this way all along simply because I don't think there is much the league can do since teams are not breaking any rules by doing what they're doing.

Post #10 » by **Inigo Montoya** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 4:48 pm

As for the game, if THT could play tanking bottom feeders every game he'd be averaging 35 points per game. He has a long ways to go but he demonstrated he can abuse weak teams and second-team players, which certainly has some value.

zero24gravity · Post #11 » by **zero24gravity** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:29 pm

Inigo Montoya wrote:As for the game, if THT could play tanking bottom feeders every game he'd be averaging 35 points per game. He has a long ways to go but he demonstrated he can abuse weak teams and second-team players, which certainly has some value.

I have been thinking the same thing, which is why he has value for the team as like, a 7th man, beating up on undersized second unit guards.