tanking sucks.

[Robo_Claw]

Couple of thoughts from last night especially but this season as a whole.

WARNING LONG AND OCCASIONALLY ANGRY SLIGHTLY ALL OVER THE PLACE RANT

Tanking sucks, i get its the only way to get good in the current NBA but its so so so hard to watch.

Lloyd is an excellent tank commander.
i know he's a rookie hc who is learning on the job and looks damn good in a suit but dang man we aren't nearly talented enough to play all willy nilly on offense OR defense. run some damn plays to get some guys open every once in a while. everyone just kinda stands around waiting for something to happen most of the time, which often it doesn't because everyones just standing around or throwing the ball out of bounds.

Speaking of, i KNOW you can ball Kevin Huerter. stop standing or at best wandering aimlessly around the 3 pt line all the time man. use a screen or hell even just run in a straight line somewhere every once in a while so you can get a decent shot off. I'm high on the kid but he just looks overwhelmed and maybe thinking too much instead of just making the play. hopefully thats not permanent.

I like it when Trae barrels down to the hoop, for a little guy he's actually pretty crafty with those off the glass shots. He's struggling with his shot but i'll give him the benefit of the doubt being a rookie pg on a young team that has a pretty awful offense. Its gonna take him a few years to put it all together at NBA game speed as well as bulk up a little bit.

I like spellman too, i'll admit i was disappointed with the pick during the draft but he has impressed me so far. i dont know why but he strikes me as the type of player that will break out for a different team down the road.

i know we lack talent when you look at our roster but at some points in every game i have to ask myself, what is this? Why are jeremy lin and miles plumlee on a basketball court right now. why does taurean prince think he's lebron half the time? and how does he actually make some of these shots? I know we are trying to lose this season but do we have to be so good at it?

and this brings me to our front office.

i don't see the plan unless this is going to be a 5+ year tank strategy.
we are currently paying 43,856,308 MILLION DOLLARS for 30.1 PPG COMBINED from miles plumlee, kent bazemore, and jeremy lin.
woof.
thats just under 40% of the cap this year. id be cool with losing this much with a young team with lots of upside that just has to reach its potential but i dunno about whats going on right now.


TLDR:

i don't know maybe all the losing is rubbing me the wrong way and now i cant stop seeing how many flaws we have.
also eff the bucks for constantly snatching up the draft picks i want right before us. we should have giannis and divincenzo!
i'm death spiraling into negativity, anyone got anything positive to talk about up to this point to bring me back?

[MaceCase]

#toosoon

[jayu70]

#16Games

[jayu70]

and this brings me to our front office.

i don't see the plan unless this is going to be a 5+ year tank strategy.
we are currently paying 43,856,308 MILLION DOLLARS for 30.1 PPG COMBINED from miles plumlee, kent bazemore, and jeremy lin.
woof.
thats just under 40% of the cap this year. id be cool with losing this much with a young team with lots of upside that just has to reach its potential but i dunno about whats going on right now.

Might as well add in the $20+ mil we are paying Melo to not play for us. - yeah I know, you said something positive.

Seriously though:

1. We have 1 top 5 pick on this team.
2. Hawks haven't been in the lottery in 10 years. Where do you get young players with upside? More often than not, in the lottery.
3. This is where we are now (lottery bound) and trying to get the young guys with lots of upside in this next draft.
4. Hopefully, Baze and Lin (expiring) will be moved at the deadline for young assets/pick(s). We'll have to ride out Plumlee's contract.
5. Even if Baze and Plum are on the team next season, our capsheet still looks pristine.
6. John Collins is back and in his limited minutes he has looked FANTASTIC!
7. Worry less about actual wins and more about how the young guys are playing and more importantly, developing. Divide the season into quarters - are they getting better in games 22-41 than they were in games 1-21?
8. Set realistic expectations for a team in a rebuild.
9. Buckle in and enjoy the ride.
10. As Always - GO HAWKS!!!

[Vae Victus]

I'm only here cuz of Lin. I'm a Laker fan first and foremost. So let me share a story of my recent suffering, for both my favorite player and team.

The past 5 years post Kobe being a relevant player (after he shredded his achilles) have been some of THE WORSE BBALL i've seen in my life in Los Angeles. Hiring Byronn Scott to shamefully tank for 3 years was just utterly pathetic. Watching him throw out lineups that had no business being out there and then ISOing our worst players up constantly, just so we can rack up the Ls was just so bad many fans stopped watching.

Then combined with drafting players that really arent anything special year after year made things even more frustrating (Randle who broke his leg in the 1st game of his rookie year, DLo, Ingram, Lonzo, only bright spots are late hits FRPs in Nance, Hart, Kuzma). I then tuned back in for a season when Lin got traded to that garbage dumpster fire. Sadly his ass got benched 20 games through when it becamse clear he might help win some unneeded games, replaced by Ronnie "Head of the Snake" Price, who was so bad on offense it was basically 4v5 with Price's man doubling off of him onto Kobe for entire games. Lin was actually doing well the 1st 20 games, then had 1 bad shooting night and Scott went with, "oh Lin's defense sucks and we need Price in there to lead the tan... err defense!"

Add in putrid signings of Mozgov and Deng with the team still sucking like no tmw and the Buss family civil war, really made following the Lakers a pure waste of time.

Luckily for LA, Magic has no qualms in violating tampering rules, eating fines, and is now linked to every major FA. Missed on trading/signing PG13, trading for Kawhi, but miraculously signed Lebron and has wisely put the team into position to sign another mega max FA in 2019, where the team has a 35% max slot available (after waiving some of our non guaranteeds).

BBall gods willing Magic can fool teams into thinking that Ingram, Lonzo, Hart, and Kuzma are shinies worth a damn. Dream trade of packaging 3 of 4 together for Anthony Davis.

Simply put, tanking is a necessary evil. The important thing is to also properly develop the talent that you take in the high lotto. Otherwise you suffer the likes of ORL, SAC, and LAL where year after year a high pick turns into crap. Hopefully ATL has the right coach, GM, and system to turn a necessary short tank period into a good foundation. Just look at BRK, they were in a even WORSE sitaution with Billy King literally trading awy their entire future. Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson turned that team's culture around, made smart trades, and drafted gems that they developed. They broght Lin in to be a culture setter and face of franchise (Lin sells tix to Asians) during their down years. It's just a goddamn shame his career got derailed by that gruesome injury, he was poised for a breakout season as being the #1 option on that team.

Lin was a great addition to ATL. He's got no ego and will happily do whatever he can to help Trae get better (unlike Shroeder who rightly fears the kid taking his starting spot), especially for off court prep activities. Lin's a humble dude who knows he's lucky to be in a the league having scrapped like a dog as hard as he has. He's a great role model for all the youngsters to look up to for

[ATL Boy]

Agreed, tanking does suck, but it's a necessary evil in today's NBA. No matter how much Adam Silver, David Stern before him and the league want to eradicate it, this is their doing -- they helped make the NBA into a superstar driven league where you can't win without star power (Stern mostly, but Silver sure as heck hasn't done anything to help stifle it). The main way to try and get a superstar without the benefit of free agency (which we don't have) is through high lottery picks.

The most important thing is hitting on those picks. If Trae ends up being as good as advertised and we hit on what should be two lotto picks next season, we'll most likely be back in the playoffs with a solid free agent signing.

[tbhawksfan1]

218 days until the next wave of feel better gets here. Cam / Bol for example. Until then, there's Trae / Collins / Prince / Heurt / Omari to watch grow...aint that bad

We were"nt in a position to win much even if we hadn't rebuilt

[graymule]

For all you tank fans, all good things must end. Sooner or later this Hawk team will win again.
Maybe this week!!

[Geaux_Hawks]

Just think about the Atlanta Braves, and smile knowing there's light at the end of the tunnel

[Jamaaliver]

You aren't alone, Roboclaw.

A year plus of this has been hard to accept. Especially with Trae struggling as much as he has.

PS Tanking under a rookie HC who might possibly be in over his head is unnecessarily cruel. I learned that 16 years ago under Lon Kruger.

It's still true today.

Sent from my RC555L using RealGM mobile app

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Sent from my RC555L using RealGM mobile app

[Spud2nique]

I'm only here cuz of Lin. I'm a Laker fan first and foremost. So let me share a story of my recent suffering, for both my favorite player and team.

The past 5 years post Kobe being a relevant player (after he shredded his achilles) have been some of THE WORSE BBALL i've seen in my life in Los Angeles. Hiring Byronn Scott to shamefully tank for 3 years was just utterly pathetic. Watching him throw out lineups that had no business being out there and then ISOing our worst players up constantly, just so we can rack up the Ls was just so bad many fans stopped watching.

Then combined with drafting players that really arent anything special year after year made things even more frustrating (Randle who broke his leg in the 1st game of his rookie year, DLo, Ingram, Lonzo, only bright spots are late hits FRPs in Nance, Hart, Kuzma). I then tuned back in for a season when Lin got traded to that garbage dumpster fire. Sadly his ass got benched 20 games through when it becamse clear he might help win some unneeded games, replaced by Ronnie "Head of the Snake" Price, who was so bad on offense it was basically 4v5 with Price's man doubling off of him onto Kobe for entire games. Lin was actually doing well the 1st 20 games, then had 1 bad shooting night and Scott went with, "oh Lin's defense sucks and we need Price in there to lead the tan... err defense!"

Add in putrid signings of Mozgov and Deng with the team still sucking like no tmw and the Buss family civil war, really made following the Lakers a pure waste of time.

Luckily for LA, Magic has no qualms in violating tampering rules, eating fines, and is now linked to every major FA. Missed on trading/signing PG13, trading for Kawhi, but miraculously signed Lebron and has wisely put the team into position to sign another mega max FA in 2019, where the team has a 35% max slot available (after waiving some of our non guaranteeds).

BBall gods willing Magic can fool teams into thinking that Ingram, Lonzo, Hart, and Kuzma are shinies worth a damn. Dream trade of packaging 3 of 4 together for Anthony Davis.

Simply put, tanking is a necessary evil. The important thing is to also properly develop the talent that you take in the high lotto. Otherwise you suffer the likes of ORL, SAC, and LAL where year after year a high pick turns into crap. Hopefully ATL has the right coach, GM, and system to turn a necessary short tank period into a good foundation. Just look at BRK, they were in a even WORSE sitaution with Billy King literally trading awy their entire future. Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson turned that team's culture around, made smart trades, and drafted gems that they developed. They broght Lin in to be a culture setter and face of franchise (Lin sells tix to Asians) during their down years. It's just a goddamn shame his career got derailed by that gruesome injury, he was poised for a breakout season as being the #1 option on that team.

Lin was a great addition to ATL. He's got no ego and will happily do whatever he can to help Trae get better (unlike Shroeder who rightly fears the kid taking his starting spot), especially for off court prep activities. Lin's a humble dude who knows he's lucky to be in a the league having scrapped like a dog as hard as he has. He's a great role model for all the youngsters to look up to for

Trade Lin. Hate that guy.

[Vae Victus]

Trade Lin. Hate that guy.

Yea, he's a hateable **** aint he? But as a ATL fan im sure you'd like to him off to the next sucker for the most you can skin em for. Best to play Lin a bunch to fluff his trade value, amirite?

[bws94]

I don't think NBA teams should tank. I think play to win and be competitive. If it results in losses, so be it. But make them competitive. Fans pay good money to watch games, at least those that go to the stadium or subscribe in some way to the team.

Trae is healthy and going through his ups and downs as an NBA rookie. He's putting up great numbers. I hate the Trae vs. Doncic stuff, Trae is on the Hawks and doing his thing. Some good high-character vets are on the team too, so that vet-rookie balance is good and provides positivity for Trae and other rooks. I'm not sure about PIerce, I don't understand his lineups and substitutions. But, team plays kinda hard for him.

[tbhawksfan1]

The reason you have 5-8 teams tanking each year now is competitive imbalance in the league. This is caused by two primary reasons; NBA cap structure combined with big market advantage and chicken crap players that would rather join the best than beat them.

Sad for the NBA

Hard cap solves alot of this and would reduce the number of tankers.

[tbhawksfan1]

I don't like the soft cap / lux tax crap that allows a rich team to greatly increase their odds using only monetary advantage, but I'm not completely against tanking. It's a rational / reasonable strategy for the very worst teams to improve talent.

[CP War Hawks]

As it stands, they are on pace to win 13 games. You could have the worst record, and legitimately land at spots 3-4 which would not be ideal.

You'd still come away with your future swingman.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

[lin is ok]

can we beat the brooklyn nets please, Lin's revenge game

[13th Man]

Not sure if you know the difference between tanking and sucking. The Hawks were projected to be the last place team in the NBA and they're just running its course.