Bizarro Wide World of Sports Lin Championship

[fnordius]

How does Phx loose so many games? I can see us behind Memphis and Atl, but Phx not being able to win with Payton booker Warrin Chris and Jackson is astonishing. They should be right where the lakers are.

Whatever their secret is, total consistency is part of it. There has been no stretch in their season where they did well. Like the Kings, they are just as bad at home as on the road, a rare trait. And now it may pay off.

Since everyone's in a bleak mood at the moment, I thought I'd take a pessimistic view of the schedule, and see how bad it can be. I'm assuming that lottery teams will lin over playoff teams, and that Memphis, Phoenix, Atlanta and Orlando will lin any time they're not playing each other. The rest of the time, I'm going off their recent records, and picking linners based on that. Where competitors are too close, I assume the result will be random. I am also pessimistically assuming that Kangz will not get a lin over *any* team in the bottom 10.

Results:
#1 Memphis, 18 wins, goes on a 30+ lin streak
#2 Phoenix, 19.5 (50-50 chance of a lin over Orlando on the 24th, lins all other games)
#3 Atlanta, 20.5 (possible lin over Orlando on Apr 1, lins every other game)
#4 Orlando, 21 (see two possible fail games above, lins all others)
#5 Dallas, 24 (wins over Memphis today, then Orlando on Apr 4th and Phoenix on the 10th. Possible wins over NY and Brooklyn.)
#6 Brooklyn, 24.5 (wins over Orlando and Memphis, two tossup games vs Chicago and one vs Dallas)
#7 Sacramento, 25 (wins over Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and Memphis. Assuming lin vs Detroit on the 19th.)
#8 NY, 26 (win vs Orlando, tossups vs Chicago and Charlotte. Assuming lin vs Detroit.)
#9 Chicago, 26.5 (wins vs Atlanta, Memphis and Orlando, two tossups vs Brooklyn, and one vs NY)
#10 and beyond, 32+, irrelevant.

Assuming that Dallas is the only team ahead of us who won't tank to perfection, 1-4 are obviously out, but 5-9 are all easily possible. Linning when Dallas visits (unlikely, they stink on the road) could be enough for 5th, but failing that and beating Detroit could mean 9th. If Orlando screws up badly and Joerger does great, 4th is not yet out of the question. Management, are you listening?

 

[Dime Dropper]

Joerger was positively in ecstasy over the win against Orlando. I've never seen him happier in a post-game, talking about the great effort of the team. Probably had something to do with his 200th win. (The only one happier was Kayte, who announced she was pregnant; I guess the 200th for Joerger is like a new baby boy). As Reynolds said, it was the veterans that won this one - Temple, Koufos, Carter, with 23, 18, and 15 points respectively. That's from a 31-year old, a a 29-year old, and a 41-year old. There's your core. Man, I got this one wrong. I was sure that rationality would prevail and that after the break it would be full-on youngins because it would give the youngins that much more experience and because it would be an implicit tank, yielding the Kings a top 5 pick. After all, when you don't have a pick for next year, doesn't this year's #1 become even more important? When I see Vlade giving high fives in the last win and Joerger gushing over this win I'm just left wondering - what do they know that I don't? Is there some top-secret pick they know about that nobody else does in the 6-10 range of the draft? Is a fantastic trade in the offing for the summer? What exactly. If they are gushing about increasing their odds on losing Ayton, Bagley, and Jackson they have to think those guys are over-rated, right? I mean, who needs those guys when you can have Knox, Bridges, or the half-decade project in Bamba. I'm just left searching for answers. Maybe they are totally fatalistic about the whole thing and are just leaving it to mythical basketball gods to win the lottery for them. Seems like a make-believe world to me, but what do I know.

I rarely agree with you Kingster, and still don't agree with this entirely, but this post is 99% spot on. I'm not at all convinced anymore that Vlade has the first clue what he's doing. I had been giving him the benefit of the doubt but the lack of planning or conviction is absolutely pathetic here.

Someone said we're on a path to nowheresville and that couldn't be more correct. Where are the people that were happy with the Cousins trade because we'd be stuck in mediocrity? Well instead of having any faith in his ability to actually put together a team around a top 10 player, Vlade has traded him for damn all, along with next year's pick in an even worse deal, and we are still in the same draft position.

I'm going to wait until closer to the end of the season before I really explode. But this s**t better stop soon. I thought the atrocious Cousins deal was the last straw for me but managed to stick around. I cannot waste another 10 years of my life only to find us back in the same position. We need competency in this organisation. Someone who is not afraid to rebuild properly and who doesn't care about fans who have no idea how to build a winning team.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Management, are you listening?

Of course not. Why do the outrageously obvious smart thing for the future, when they can have instant gratification that f**ks the franchise over for the next decade?

I don't think the Kings have the balls to do what they need to do.

It's depressing that we went from expecting a top 3 pick to being resigned to a likely 7th or 8th pick.

 

[gunks]

Of course not. Why do the outrageously obvious smart thing for the future, when they can have instant gratification that f**ks the franchise over for the next decade?

I don't think the Kings have the balls to do what they need to do.

It's depressing that we went from expecting a top 3 pick to being resigned to a likely 7th or 8th pick.

Depressingly typical.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

How does Phx loose so many games? I can see us behind Memphis and Atl, but Phx not being able to win with Payton booker Warrin Chris and Jackson is astonishing. They should be right where the lakers are.

Maybe those PHX players that some on this site have been gushing over the past few years really aren't that good?

Perhaps Mr. 70 points-in-a-game-that-PHX-was-losing-by-double-digits-but-kept-fouling-to-get-the-mark is really Kevin Martin 2.0 , albeit a much more athletic version? Perhaps Marquese Chriss isn't better than the player the Kings have in Skal Labissiere?

Whatever the reasons. PHX still sucks.

 

[Joshoua]

Maybe those PHX players that some on this site have been gushing over the past few years really aren't that good?

Perhaps Mr. 70 points-in-a-game-that-PHX-was-losing-by-double-digits-but-kept-fouling-to-get-the-mark is really Kevin Martin 2.0 , albeit a much more athletic version? Perhaps Marquese Chriss isn't better than the player the Kings have in Skal Labissiere?

Whatever the reasons. PHX still sucks.

Chriss isn’t better than Skal
Jackson won’t be better than Fox

Booker wouldn’t know what defense was if it hit him in the face but he is good.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Booker wouldn’t know what defense was if it hit him in the face but he is good.

Kevin Martin was really good at one time too. But not a winner. Not a guy that'd lead a team anywhere. Just a guy that was a prolific shooter/scorer. It's my belief Booker is and will always be that same kind of player.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Chriss isn’t better than Skal
Jackson won’t be better than Fox.

Agree with both these points.

I also think in 2-3 seasons, Donovan Mitchell won't be considered better than FOX either. Kinda like Curry moving past Tyreke.

I like Mitchell, but I see his career going down a similar path as say Steve Francis. Once the elite athleticism fades a bit, he won't be able to overcome it at his size. His game will decline. Same could be said of FOX and his speed/quickness, but I think those attributes can last longer.

 

[fnordius]

That 43 point 4th quarter surprised me, but the outcome didn't.

On to Memphis@Dallas, where I only regret that they can't both win. They both deserve to!

 

[fnordius]

Dang. Memphis shot 4-24 in the first quarter. Dallas' bench can't compete with that.

 

[Joshoua]

Memphis will end the season on a 30 game losing streak they need to be punished

 

[sactowndog]

Silver has no credibility on this topic... to penalize Mark Cuban for saying its in the teams best interest but doing nothing to Memphis which is ridiculously tanking with 38 points in the 3rd against Dallas

 

[Sam0ah]

I have been thinking the same thing. Memphis needs to be hit with some kind of penalty.

 

[fnordius]

"The NBA is proud to announce its end of the year tanking competition, in which teams may be awarded honorary wins!"

 

[gunks]

Here's one to ponder:

If B-Mac suddenly puts it together and becomes a 20ppg scorer, leading the Griz to several wins down the stretch, would you...

.... be happy for the tank?

Or

... angry we gave up on him too soon?

 

[VF21]

Here's one to ponder:

If B-Mac suddenly puts it together and becomes a 20ppg scorer, leading the Griz to several wins down the stretch, would you...

.... be happy for the tank?

Or

... angry we gave up on him too soon?

What does B-Mac have to do with the tank? (EDIT: Oh wait. I figured it out. Never mind. )

And no, I will never be angry we finally got rid of him, any more than I was upset about Hassan Whiteside. One can only hit oneself in the head with a hammer for so long before one has to just stop.

 

[LoungeLizard]

I honestly don’t see how Memphis wins another game this year. The roster they are putting out there is complete trash, sans Gasol who seems to play once a week. If I was the commissioner, I’d call up their owner and say “so, you like to play a line up full of GLeaguers, do you? Well, congratulations, you get to play in the GLeague next year”

 

[Joshoua]

Here's one to ponder:

If B-Mac suddenly puts it together and becomes a 20ppg scorer, leading the Griz to several wins down the stretch, would you...

.... be happy for the tank?

Or

... angry we gave up on him too soon?

Memphis isn’t winning another game they can’t even get to 50 at halftime

 

[King-Da-Yah]

Oh boy...delved into the newest edition of SI today, its cover feature, a look at all the amazing bigs in the draft...talk about kicking a Kings fan when they are down.

Last year after the Cousins trade, I was so ready to hit abort...but I am a Kings fan. Will always be a Kings fan. This is beyond rough though. Silver won’t reward us for integrity.

There is no silver lining to this...it absolutely will set us back further. We need a Boogie level star. Not going to get that picking 7-10, unless Mikal really is Kawhi II.

I would say let’s go ahead and trade up in this draft, but what assets do we have to trade to pull such a thing off? I love VF21, but they are wrong. Its an awful time to be a kings fan.

It is not a good time to be a Kings fan. Things are worse than ever, and there is no end in sight. I have been down in the dumps a lot today, I just dont see an out for us.

We will never get FA, we don’t have a GM that can pull off a hugely beneficial trade for us...and worst of all we do not have a superstar in the making on the roster.

Looking forward to maybe landing a top 5 pick next year...oh wait...FUDGE!!!!!!! Kill me now...it would be a mercy at this point. I don’t want to subject my kids to this teams evil!!!

 

[fnordius]

Mighty strange 2nd half at Staples, with Orlando playing hard against the Clippers, who trailed all through the 3rd. It's like a whole different team than we saw the other night.

edit: Well, I guess I jinxed the heck out of that.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Now that the Kings are officially eliminated from the playoffs (although the Jazz/Nuggets/Clippers/Spurs haven't earned 38 wins yet, common games and tiebreakers ensure that we can't get in) it should safely be time to think about next year. Since JCNTKINGFAN has opted to take a break, it appears that somebody needs to pick up the slack around here. Now, I tend to view things in my own unique way, so the table is going to be a bit different than before. I suspect it's pretty self-explanatory - there are 1000 combos that the tanking teams are fighting for. I'll include every team not currently in the playoffs, even though some of them are not legitimate threats to the Kings' tank.

Relevant games for 3/11:
Kings at Nuggets
Bulls at Hawks
Raptors at Knicks
Rockets at Mavericks
Sixers at Nets

Seven teams out of the bottom nine play on Sunday, with the Nuggets/Kings and Bulls/Hawks matchups sure to add two wins to the table. The remaining three lintenders all host games, but the Mavs and Knicks are going up against the respective division leaders and will probably safely lock down the LIN.

Meanwhile, make sure to watch the NCAA Tournament Selection show on TBS or live stream at 3 PM Pacific (6 ET) to see whether top prospects like Bamba and Young (both Texas and Oklahoma are firmly on the bubble) will make it to the big dance.

 

[gunks]

Oh boy...delved into the newest edition of SI today, its cover feature, a look at all the amazing bigs in the draft...talk about kicking a Kings fan when they are down.

Ayton, Bagley, JJJ, Bamba...

There's a chance a team picking ahead of us falls in love with Porter, Young, or Sexton... Not a huge chance, but you never know. We could have a shot at a big at pick 7 or whatever.

And the top 5 pick door hasn't quite slammed shut yet, but I reckon we're gonna rattle off Ws against every tanking team we go up against, so I get the pessimism around here.

It's frustrating that we haven't gone full tank, but our roster's inherent crappiness might pull through in the end. We are also way overdue for lotto luck.

 

[fnordius]

Bulls at Hawks

The temptation is to say that the Hawks can't be out-tanked, but they aren't too terrible at home (15-19), and the Bulls are 7-25 on the road. Could get interesting, in a B movie sort of way.

 

[rosa u podne]

Whatever their secret is, total consistency is part of it. There has been no stretch in their season where they did well. Like the Kings, they are just as bad at home as on the road, a rare trait. And now it may pay off.

Since everyone's in a bleak mood at the moment, I thought I'd take a pessimistic view of the schedule, and see how bad it can be. I'm assuming that lottery teams will lin over playoff teams, and that Memphis, Phoenix, Atlanta and Orlando will lin any time they're not playing each other. The rest of the time, I'm going off their recent records, and picking linners based on that. Where competitors are too close, I assume the result will be random. I am also pessimistically assuming that Kangz will not get a lin over *any* team in the bottom 10.

Results:
#1 Memphis, 18 wins, goes on a 30+ lin streak
#2 Phoenix, 19.5 (50-50 chance of a lin over Orlando on the 24th, lins all other games)
#3 Atlanta, 20.5 (possible lin over Orlando on Apr 1, lins every other game)
#4 Orlando, 21 (see two possible fail games above, lins all others)
#5 Dallas, 24 (wins over Memphis today, then Orlando on Apr 4th and Phoenix on the 10th. Possible wins over NY and Brooklyn.)
#6 Brooklyn, 24.5 (wins over Orlando and Memphis, two tossup games vs Chicago and one vs Dallas)
#7 Sacramento, 25 (wins over Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and Memphis. Assuming lin vs Detroit on the 19th.)
#8 NY, 26 (win vs Orlando, tossups vs Chicago and Charlotte. Assuming lin vs Detroit.)
#9 Chicago, 26.5 (wins vs Atlanta, Memphis and Orlando, two tossups vs Brooklyn, and one vs NY)
#10 and beyond, 32+, irrelevant.

Assuming that Dallas is the only team ahead of us who won't tank to perfection, 1-4 are obviously out, but 5-9 are all easily possible. Linning when Dallas visits (unlikely, they stink on the road) could be enough for 5th, but failing that and beating Detroit could mean 9th. If Orlando screws up badly and Joerger does great, 4th is not yet out of the question. Management, are you listening?

Nets do not have benefit from tanking, so I assume they win 2 of 3 vs Bulls and Mavs. That could move Kings to #6. Still very good player should ba available.

 

[jiimbob]

Ayton, Bagley, JJJ, Bamba...

There's a chance a team picking ahead of us falls in love with Porter, Young, or Sexton... Not a huge chance, but you never know. We could have a shot at a big at pick 7 or whatever.

And the top 5 pick door hasn't quite slammed shut yet, but I reckon we're gonna rattle off Ws against every tanking team we go up against, so I get the pessimism around here.

It's frustrating that we haven't gone full tank, but our roster's inherent crappiness might pull through in the end. We are also way overdue for lotto luck.

We had lotto luck last year jumping into the top 3. Vlades brilliance then turned it into a 5th pick, but hey that could have been worse if Emblid and Simmons had played last season.
With 16 games left is it safe to say we have the easiest schedule amongst the LIN crowd, two at home against Atlanta and Dallas, two on the road against Memphis and Phoenix. Maybe by then Memphis and Phoenix will know their draft positions and actually show up to play.

 

[burekijogurt]

Ayton, Bagley, JJJ, Bamba...

There's a chance a team picking ahead of us falls in love with Porter, Young, or Sexton... Not a huge chance, but you never know. We could have a shot at a big at pick 7 or whatever

Running the lottery/mock draft on tankathon leaves us picking 6th or7th in majority of the cases and ending up with either Bagely or Bamba depending on who picked ahead of us (given tankathon's opinion of the teams' draft preferences)....

 

[Joshoua]

We had lotto luck last year jumping into the top 3. Vlades brilliance then turned it into a 5th pick, but hey that could have been worse if Emblid and Simmons had played last season.
With 16 games left is it safe to say we have the easiest schedule amongst the LIN crowd, two at home against Atlanta and Dallas, two on the road against Memphis and Phoenix. Maybe by then Memphis and Phoenix will know their draft positions and actually show up to play.

Honestly we got lucky with the Philadelphia switch. We probably would have traded up to 1 to get Faultz and all of us would have celebrated but look at Faultz now. Also I’d take Fox over Jackson who we probably take at 3

 

[sactowndog]

Maybe those PHX players that some on this site have been gushing over the past few years really aren't that good?

Perhaps Mr. 70 points-in-a-game-that-PHX-was-losing-by-double-digits-but-kept-fouling-to-get-the-mark is really Kevin Martin 2.0 , albeit a much more athletic version? Perhaps Marquese Chriss isn't better than the player the Kings have in Skal Labissiere?

Whatever the reasons. PHX still sucks.

I’m okay with Pheonix being bad because they are playing players they play to have on their rooster next year. I have a bigger issue with Memphis which is holding out guys to fake injuries and playing imported D leaguers who will never be on the roster.

The way to fix tanking is not to tinker with the draft. The best fix is for teams eliminated from the playoffs: anyone playing more than 15 min a game by rule has to be on your 15 man roster next year or if they are a free agent you have to extend a qualifying offer.

 

[chief bromden]

Ayton, Bagley, JJJ, Bamba...

There's a chance a team picking ahead of us falls in love with Porter, Young, or Sexton... Not a huge chance, but you never know. We could have a shot at a big at pick 7 or whatever.

And the top 5 pick door hasn't quite slammed shut yet, but I reckon we're gonna rattle off Ws against every tanking team we go up against, so I get the pessimism around here.

It's frustrating that we haven't gone full tank, but our roster's inherent crappiness might pull through in the end. We are also way overdue for lotto luck.

Why are we overdue for lotto luck? Last year the Kings hit on that luck, but preemptively Kangz'd themselves with the pick swap. The beauty of it all...

Nevermind, several posters already hit on it. Hahaha, man... if that isn't the epitome of the Kings. Pick swap ruins their lotto luck, veterans win enough games to move Kings out of position to get an impact player, and then we have no pick. The Nets West, with John Salmons as our version of Joe Johnson. No wonder that was one of the best games of the year....

 

[gunks]

Re: us being overdue for good luck.

Last year doesn't count, because of the swap. Just like it won't count next year, when we send the 1st overall pick to Philly!