GT #32: Wizards @ Bobcats 7 PM CSN

[FAH1223]

Keep the losing going..

Wouldn't it be crazy if Kemba Walker leads his team to the playoffs before Wall and Kyrie

[Upper Decker]

I didn't even bother watching the GSW game. Have no intentions of viewing tonights pukefest. I encourage all of you to boycott. It'll be liberating and refreshing.

[dlts20]

This is a John Wall game. He should either win it or if we lose, its close because he went for 30 plus like the game at Toronto. I know a ton of stars and regular players who go off against there hometown team. Walker is going to be hyped up to play him and both teams will want to break there slide. Im sure Wall will have a ton of people in attendance. I expect to see him be super aggressive and the rest of the team follow to get us back on track.

Also, I believe when teams "who think they are good" go into a funk, they start truly believing that a certain thing will get them out of it. Like I can tell from the interviews that they truly believe they focus more and play better on the road right now for some reason so they will come out this game like they are unbeatable on the road. The problem is that if they lose this one which is on the road and to a bad team so there is no excuses, then where will they turn? Could be a bad time then. Which is why they will win or atleast they better....lol

[nate33]

I really don't care much anymore. I'll probably get back into things when the Wizards go on their next 3-game win streak, but right now I'm completely apathetic. I'm kind of hoping for losses just to make sure EG gets canned. The only problem with that mindset is I don't think we can possibly lose enough to miss the playoffs and get our pick back.

[Zonkerbl]

Uh... if the West's records continue to be much better than those of the east, isn't it mathematically possible to make the playoffs and still keep the pick?

Zards current .452 record has them better than 13 teams overall.

The pick is protected to #12 so right now they'd lose the pick.

[MJG]

Uh... if the West's records continue to be much better than those of the east, isn't it mathematically possible to make the playoffs and still keep the pick?

Zards current .452 record has them better than 13 teams overall.

The pick is protected to #12 so right now they'd lose the pick.

Only non-playoff teams go into the lottery, regardless of record.

[Zonkerbl]

But it's not lottery protected. It's top 12 protected.

[TGW]

Double digit loss here.

[MJG]

But it's not lottery protected. It's top 12 protected.

Top 12 protection means you keep the pick if it's among the top 12 in the draft, not that you keep the pick if we have one of the 12 worst records in the league. If someone uses the phrase "lottery protected", what they're really saying is "top 14 protected", since there are 14 picks in the lottery.

For us, since the highest our own pick can land if we make the playoffs is 15th, and our pick only has top 12 protection, it's impossible to both make the playoffs and keep the pick, regardless of record.

[nate33]

But it's not lottery protected. It's top 12 protected.

Top 12 protection means you keep the pick if it's among the top 12 in the draft, not that you keep the pick if we have one of the 12 worst records in the league. If someone uses the phrase "lottery protected", what they're really saying is "top 14 protected", since there are 14 picks in the lottery.

For us, since the highest our own pick can land if we make the playoffs is 15th, and our pick only has top 12 protection, it's impossible to both make the playoffs and keep the pick, regardless of record.

Exactly.

The inverse is true. It's possible to miss the playoffs and still lose the pick. Fortunately, that seems unlikely given the disparity between East and West. If we miss the playoffs in the East, it's a pretty sure bet that at least two of the non-playoff teams in the West would still have a better record than us. They would pick 14th and 13th respectively, leaving us with a top 12 pick and the protection would kick in.

[Zonkerbl]

That doesn't make any sense.

The lottery determines the draft pick position of the teams that didn't make the playoffs.

So if you don't make the playoffs you have a chance of improving (or degrading) your draft position.

Otherwise the draft order is determined by your record. If the lottery had no effect on anyone's draft position, right now Detroit would pick tenth. They would also make the playoffs in the East.

So if the Zards make the playoffs they will have zero chance at the #1 pick. But their draft position will still be determined by their record.

Moot point probably -- I think the weird East vs. West discrepancy will even out, at least somewhat, by the end of the season.

[JWallConnect]

Can we start Nene please?

[miller31time]

Can we start Nene please?

[Something about deck chairs and the Titanic]

[JWallConnect]

Can we start Nene please?

[Something about deck chairs and the Titanic]

[nate33]

Can we start Nene please?

I'm not sure why some have diagnosed that starting Nene is going to fix anything. Yes, Nene is clearly a better player than Booker, but that's not the issue. The issue is that we need 96 minutes of coverage at the two big man positions. Nene is only going to provide about 30 of those minutes. How do we best juggle the minutes with the other players on the team to provide us the best chances of winning?

I still wholeheartedly believe that we are better off with Nene on the 2nd unit to be on the court when Wall sits. If you can find a way to do that and have Nene start while still limiting his minutes to around 30, I'm all ears. Otherwise, Nene should continue to come off the bench.

And with Nene coming off the bench, it's pretty obvious to me that the next two best options to start in our front court are Gortat and Booker. The only other reasonable option is to start Ariza at PF. That might be the best option in the short run, but I have doubts about whether Ariza can hold up to the wear and tear at PF for the entire season. I think we're better off starting Booker at PF but playing Ariza there for 10-15 minutes a game at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters.

[nate33]

That doesn't make any sense.

The lottery determines the draft pick position of the teams that didn't make the playoffs.

So if you don't make the playoffs you have a chance of improving (or degrading) your draft position.

Otherwise the draft order is determined by your record. If the lottery had no effect on anyone's draft position, right now Detroit would pick tenth. They would also make the playoffs in the East.

So if the Zards make the playoffs they will have zero chance at the #1 pick. But their draft position will still be determined by their record.

Moot point probably -- I think the weird East vs. West discrepancy will even out, at least somewhat, by the end of the season.

Interesting. So you propose to continue using the existing system as far as determining how lotto balls are allocated, but after the 3 lotto winners are determined, we should go ahead and order the rest of the draft purely by record. That would have the bottom 3 playoff teams in the East picking higher than some of the non-playoff teams in the West.

That makes sense to me.

[tontoz]

That doesn't make any sense.

The lottery determines the draft pick position of the teams that didn't make the playoffs.

So if you don't make the playoffs you have a chance of improving (or degrading) your draft position.

Otherwise the draft order is determined by your record. If the lottery had no effect on anyone's draft position, right now Detroit would pick tenth. They would also make the playoffs in the East.

So if the Zards make the playoffs they will have zero chance at the #1 pick. But their draft position will still be determined by their record.

Moot point probably -- I think the weird East vs. West discrepancy will even out, at least somewhat, by the end of the season.

Last year the Bucks had the 13th worst record but picked 15th because they made the playoffs. Utah had a better record but missed the playoffs. They were going to pick 14th until they traded the pick to Minny.

[Nivek]

I'd rather see the league expand the draft lottery to include teams eliminated in the first round. And, I'd like to see them do away with weighting. Every eligible team gets one entry. And I'd have the drawing be for each of the top 22 slots. Talk about no incentive for tanking.

[Ruzious]

I'd rather see the league expand the draft lottery to include teams eliminated in the first round. And, I'd like to see them do away with weighting. Every eligible team gets one entry. And I'd have the drawing be for each of the top 22 slots. Talk about no incentive for tanking.

I could see something like that happening - because of ratings. Having 22 teams in it would make it much more interesting to practically double the fans. They could have a 2 hour show just for the lottery. And as you say - it completely takes away the incentive to tank. Best of both worlds.

[nate33]

I'd rather see the league expand the draft lottery to include teams eliminated in the first round. And, I'd like to see them do away with weighting. Every eligible team gets one entry. And I'd have the drawing be for each of the top 22 slots. Talk about no incentive for tanking.

I could see something like that happening - because of ratings. Having 22 teams in it would make it much more interesting to practically double the fans. They could have a 2 hour show just for the lottery. And as you say - it completely takes away the incentive to tank. Best of both worlds.

I think the effect would be just the opposite. Sure, the league might be able to sell a few more commercials on lottery day, but that would pale in comparison to the revenues lost by bad franchises who now have no hope for the short and intermediate term future.

Teams like Milwaukee, Charlotte, Utah and Sacramento would have no realistic chance of ever getting out of their hole. Contending teams would forever be confined to just a handful of deep-pocketed teams with large media markets. Franchises would fold left and right and the league would lose revenue.