SO... What now? The Tank!

[basketballwacko2]

Danny out 3 weeks, Dunleavy hurt, Tinsley still on the roster, what now? Are we going in the tank? 2nd half looks bleak. How is Daniels can he play? Will Dun be back soon enough to fill in for Granger? Lots of questions for us now. Qusestion 1 is do we buy our Jamaal or do we ride it thru to the draft and try to deal him in the summer.

[cdash]

Haha, I just posted this in another thread. Time to tank.

[basketballwacko2]

Well they can merge them if they want.

[granger05]

I say we give Hibbert and Rush plenty of minutes for starters. That shouldn't be hard for Rush especially with both Dunleavy and Granger out. I also say that we bring Tinsley back as a 3rd guard. He hasn't gotten himself in any trouble during this time off from the team so I say we try to rehabilitate him. We have nothing to lose.

We were close on some deals for Felton, but here are Felton's numbers versus Jamal's (career stats for both)
Tinsley: 10.4ppg, 7.0apg, 1.7spg, 3.4rpg, 39.5fg%, 30.7 3fg%
Felton: 13.5ppg, 6.6apg, 1.4spg, 3.4rpg, 39.6fg%, 32.5 3fg%

This is like adding Felton for free with the possible drawback that another player on our team may get shot if they happen to spend any off-time with Jamal. His trade value can't get worse so why not try to build it up or maybe let bygones be bygones. He's no Ron Artest, he hasn't even demanded a trade really. My big complaint with him in the past was that he was hurt too much and when he missed time we had no viable backup which made it worse, but that part wasn't his fault. Now we have 2 other decent PG options so any inconsistency from him won't matter much. I'm starting the free-Jamal bandwagon. Get on board while there's room.

[granger05]

I was just on draftexpress.com. What a s*&$y year to tank.

[MillerTime101]

The draft isnt that bad, we could easily end up with a top 5 pick with our 2 best players out. The more we tank the better shot we have at Blake Griffin, sign me up.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

Time to develope rookies.

I usually don't like tanking...but developing our rookies is more important now. If we aren't going to win anyway, lets strengthen our team for next year.

[granger05]

Even if we assume that Granger and Dunleavy shut it down (which I think they should at this point), I don't think we'll get caught by WAS, LAC, OKC, SAC, or MEM. We're at least 6 games up on each of those teams. I could see TOR, GS, and Minny catching us though which would put us in the 6th spot in the lotto.

After the trade deadline and with an injury to boot, I'm now forced to project out to the lottery. At least I am optimistic that the young guys will get some burn now.

[Miller4ever]

We're going to get out-tanked. We're so bad, we're bad at being bad, haha.

[Gremz]

Rig the Lottery!!!

[PR07]

Brandon Rush will be given an opportunity to shine. Hopefully, he plays well.

[chatard5]

If the lottery is rigged then we should win it. Our attendence can be great if we can a team that gets 48-52 wins. Some other teams, like the Bobcats or something would probably still have awful attendence. We would make the NBA more money!

[bballpacen]

Lets not call it "tanking", rather "PREPARING FOR NEXT YEAR"... First off, sit Danny until he is healthy... If it is next year, so be it... I think that Danny would be the type to come in next year feeling the need to prove himself all over...
Secondly... Rookies are getting the majority of burn the rest of the way... I think that 20 minutes should be a minimum for Roy and Brandon, but set a target of 32 mins... And we roll with them rain or shine... Same for JJ... We need to see if we want him back, and how he could fit in the future plans...
Thirdly... Have as much fun as possible under these circumstances...
Lastly... DO NOT BUY OUT JT... Unless it is for significant less $$, then he can stay at home... Now, granger05 makes, at least to me, an interesting point... Can you bring back JT, let him prove he can play the rest of the year, and hope that he improves his stock and is movable in the off season... Why not?? His value is already rock bottom, and I dont think that the few fans still going to the games are going to boycott if JT dresses...
Personally, I am on the fence... I am an admitted JT fan, and think that he will rise to the occasion, but I know that there are alot of people that would be against it... And for good reason... What would the average fan think if after the PR campaign that has been ran all year, and the "cleansing" of the organization has been performed, JT plays ball again... It would make TPTB and more specifically Bird look hypocritical, and could virtually eliminate the PR improvements...

[bballpacen]

If the lottery is rigged then we should win it. Our attendence can be great if we can a team that gets 48-52 wins. Some other teams, like the Bobcats or something would probably still have awful attendence. We would make the NBA more money!

According to what David Morway said, we wouldnt make money for the NBA, we would just lose less than the Bobcats in the same situation you mention...

[cdash]

All kidding aside...let Tinsley play. Worst case scenario: He gets booed at home, injures himself, gets himself shot. At which point we would still be stuck with him and his contract. Best case scenario: He plays decent, stays out of trouble, and builds himself a little trade value so he can relocate in the offseason. We are shorthanded. Start TJ, let Diener get the lion's share of the backup minutes and give Tinsley some time. Let Jack play at the 2.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

All kidding aside...let Tinsley play. Worst case scenario: He gets booed at home, injures himself, gets himself shot. At which point we would still be stuck with him and his contract. Best case scenario: He plays decent, stays out of trouble, and builds himself a little trade value so he can relocate in the offseason. We are shorthanded. Start TJ, let Diener get the lion's share of the backup minutes and give Tinsley some time. Let Jack play at the 2.

I agree and don't agree. I never thought we should have sat him to begin with. Its been so long since hes played that most people seem to be under the impression that he sucks. That being said, we have Ford and Jack now, plus Diener has been good for us. With all that Tinsley has done, I can't justify playing him over them.

I don't and have never believed Tinsley was the cancer people made him out to be. He has never not gotten along with anyone on the team that I've ever heard of. He just has a crap work ethic and goes to clubs....I don't think hes ever been suspended by the NBA. I think by telling him to stay away from the team, we tattooed many different red flags on him.

[cdash]

At this point, I really don't think we could bring him back. I'm just bored and slightly annoyed that we didn't make any moves. I'm about 95% sure that we could have traded Tinsley for Mohammad, but Bird is a stubborn old mule and is under the impression that we could have gotten something of value for him. Go fish.

[freeman]

I'm also quite disappointed with how the trade deadline passed without Larry doing something.
And with the injuries to Mike and Danny, it's hard to stay optimistic about a shot at the playoffs.
I'd say we better prepare for the next year, and just sort or evaluate the guys for the remainder of the season so that Larry could have better plans in the offseason.
I don't think there are teams that are overly interested in Tinsley unless they see him play. So how about Larry doing a marketing video for Tinsley? I mean let him play in practice and film him to strengthen the proof that he can still play. That sounds desperate i know but I myself wouldn't be really interested in Tinsley unless he do a turn-around, fade-away dunk right in my face. Larry's got to pump up Tinsley's lost value somehow.
And another, i agree with letting Hibbert and Rush play more.
And let's try to see how Obie's system works with Rasho as the point guard, maybe that could turn things around and eventually help Larry to think more clearer.

[Miller4ever]

I would get pissed off seeing Tinsley take to the court. It may not be a bad idea, but whenever I'm playing 2k9 and he gets subbed in when I'm up by 15+ in the 4th, I immediately take him out, if I have any timeouts. It's a matter of principle.

[Gremz]

^^You actually leave him on your team??? Tisk Tisk....