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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
It's good strategy, but it just ruins the game for everybody, point blank. The game shouldn't have to be all about matchups. A championship team should be able to take on whatever is thrown their way.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mel_13
It's pretty amusing that you perceive my posts as "meltdowns"..."angry"...
lol
Just stating facts...
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mr.Bottomtooth
It's good strategy, but it just ruins the game for everybody, point blank. The game shouldn't have to be all about matchups. A championship team should be able to take on whatever is thrown their way.
lol, I agree. If you're tanking for better positioning & matchups, you're not winning the championship.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Many past champions became champions because they were able to avoid bad playoff matchups.
I get the whole bring it on mentality but i don't know if Spurfan realizes they don't get Duncan without tanking and they probably dont get 07 without the Warriors beating the Mavs.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
Fabbs
Popovich is one of, if not the best coach the Lakers have ever had.
So avoiding the Lakers may be a good thing out of respect for Pops abilities.
:lol
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
silverblk mystix
It's pretty amusing that you perceive my posts as "meltdowns"..."angry"...
lol
Just stating facts...
:lmao
Your posts are classic, textbook meltdowns. That you think otherwise just shows the level of your delusion.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mugen
Many past champions became champions because they were able to avoid bad playoff matchups.
I get the whole bring it on mentality but i don't know if Spurfan realizes they don't get Duncan without tanking and they probably dont get 07 without the Warriors beating the Mavs.
Two things in the 2007 season in the West:
1. Dallas had the regular season locked up for some time before the playoffs hit.
2. Golden State snuck in the playoffs on the final day of regular season.
There was no tanking involved there.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
Venti Quattro
Two things in the 2007 season in the West:
1. Dallas had the regular season locked up for some time before the playoffs hit.
2. Golden State snuck in the playoffs on the final day of regular season.
There was no tanking involved there.
My point was that positioning for seeding is a smart move. But positioning doesn't necessarily mean tanking.
Pretty sure GSW sweeped Dallas in the regular season that year so Dallas knew they were a matchup issue. And Dallas let the Warriors sneak into the playoffs by losing to them late in the season by resting their guys.
If Dallas won late in the regular season and kept the Warriors out of the playoffs then they probably ring that year.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
It's a non issue. Tanking games for strategy is not against the law. People only remember rings. Rings are all that matters.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mel_13
:lmao
Your posts are classic, textbook meltdowns. That you think otherwise just shows the level of your delusion.
I always post with a tongue planted firmly in cheek and always enjoy pulling people's strings....
Pretty amusing...maybe it looks like I am an angry poster but most of the time it is all in fun....
... your strings are always easy to pull...
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
silverblk mystix
I always post with a tongue planted firmly in cheek and always enjoy pulling people's strings....
Pretty amusing...maybe it looks like I am an angry poster but most of the time it is all in fun....
... your strings are always easy to pull...
:lmao
So you're just pretending to be an angry, hysterical fool.
Gotcha
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Kurt Rambis, Skip Bayless and Jemele Hill had an interesting discussion on this topic on First Take, prompted by Shaq's admission last night that the Lakers tanked games in his day to avoid playing the Jazz. It should re-air next hour.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
silverblk mystix
I always post with a tongue planted firmly in cheek and always enjoy pulling people's strings....
Pretty amusing...maybe it looks like I am an angry poster but most of the time it is all in fun....
... your strings are always easy to pull...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mel_13
:lmao
So you're just pretending to be an angry, hysterical fool.
Gotcha
:lmao :lmao :lmao
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
Keepin' it real
Kurt Rambis, Skip Bayless and Jemele Hill had an interesting discussion on this topic on First Take, prompted by Shaq's admission last night that the Lakers tanked games in his day to avoid playing the Jazz. It should re-air next hour.
Thanks, I'll try and catch that. It will be interesting to see what Rambis has to say, especially. I have no doubt that the Lakers tanked out the 04-05 season, which got them Andrew Bynum. Boston tanked 06-07 (Ryan Gomes even said so) which ultimately got them Ray Allen and Glenn Davis, and their latest championship. And Miami tanked 02-03, along with several other teams trying to get LeBron - their consolation prize was Dwayne Wade.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
Seventyniner
Um, try actually reading Shaq's words. Phil Jackson DID tank games, specifically to avoid the Jazz.
I don't buy that. Maybe Shaq is talking about some other Lakers coach. PJ has specifically talked against tanking and called Pop out for it. He was surprised when Pop tanked that last Lakers game last season. He's said that the league doesn't like it because it's not fair to the fans. Why do you think Kobe has played all 82 several seasons? He used to routinely play Jordan, Pippen all 82.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Keepin' it real
Kurt Rambis, Skip Bayless and Jemele Hill had an interesting discussion on this topic on First Take, prompted by Shaq's admission last night that the Lakers tanked games in his day to avoid playing the Jazz. It should re-air next hour.
Well, I just saw the segment. Rambis did exactly what I expected, and showed why he's a talking head and not a coach.
I'll keep it short. Rambis doesn't believe that the Lakers ever tanked games to avoid a matchup (Shaq must have made that up?). He doesn't believe that Memphis tanked last year, to get San Antonio in the first round. And he doesn't believe that what happens in the regular season determines what happens in the post-season. So just because a team sweeps you in the regular season, there's no reason to try to avoid them in the playoffs.
I just can't figure out why the Lakers didn't make him permanent head coach.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Yeah, I didn't care for him calling shaq a liar about tanking. But, as someone who endured the '95 elimination to the Rockets after sweeping them in the regular season, I remember that regular season success does not equal playoff success.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GSH
Well, I just saw the segment. Rambis did exactly what I expected, and showed why he's a talking head and not a coach.
I'll keep it short. Rambis doesn't believe that the Lakers ever tanked games to avoid a matchup (Shaq must have made that up?). He doesn't believe that Memphis tanked last year, to get San Antonio in the first round. And he doesn't believe that what happens in the regular season determines what happens in the post-season. So just because a team sweeps you in the regular season, there's no reason to try to avoid them in the playoffs.
I just can't figure out why the Lakers didn't make him permanent head coach.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
Keepin' it real
Yeah, I didn't care for him calling shaq a liar about tanking. But, as someone who endured the '95 elimination to the Rockets after sweeping them in the regular season, I remember that regular season success does not equal playoff success.
Yeah I would take even less from a regular season series between an eastern and western conference opponent. The sample size is way too small. So many things can impact it such as travel, injuries, schedule.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
jestersmash
I think if the 1 seed in each conference was allowed to choose its opponent from 5 through 8 (and then the 2 seed chooses from what's left, and finally the 3 seed gets last pick) it'd make things rather interesting.
Seeds 5 through 8 no longer have an incentive to tank games, though on the flip side, if they are guaranteed a playoff spot near the end of the regular season and they're too far from the 3 seed (or 4 seed for HCA 1st round), they don't necessarily have an incentive to win games either now.
This system could really make regular season games near the end interesting for the 1 through 4 seeds, though.
I've been an advocate for this idea for long time. The best records should be rewarded with their choice of opponent. Outside of helping with the playoff position tanking issue, it will also create interesting matchup/bulletin board material when, for example a number 1 seed chooses someone other than the 8 seed.
Also, I think there needs to be some $incentive$ for each individual game. Not only for the players, but the coaches and owners.
Another thing the league can do is change the draft completely.
Set it up to where everyone gets a chance to have a number one pick.
Do it in a cycle where every team gets to pick at every position once, then repeat. BUT don't do it in an announced schedule, so college players declare/not declare based on knowing the draft order. Do it in a form of lottery. Once a team is randomly drawn and receives the top pick, they're removed from getting the top pick until the cycle completes.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
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Originally Posted by
therealtruth
I don't buy that. Maybe Shaq is talking about some other Lakers coach. PJ has specifically talked against tanking and called Pop out for it. He was surprised when Pop tanked that last Lakers game last season. He's said that the league doesn't like it because it's not fair to the fans. Why do you think Kobe has played all 82 several seasons? He used to routinely play Jordan, Pippen all 82.
Well, let's see. In Shaq's first two seasons in LA, the coach was Del Harris, and the Lakers lost to... wait for it... the Utah Jazz in the playoffs. His third year was the lockout season, coached by Kurt Rambis (and Rambis says that HE never tanked). So who else is left? Every other season Shaq was in LA, the coach was Phil Jackson.
After losing to the Jazz twice in the playoffs right before that, Shaq's story makes perfect sense to me. Of course, when I go look at the actual game logs, I can see that he was kept out of some games near the ends of seasons. It's hard to say, without doing a lot more work than I'm willing to do, whether it was done to try and manipulate seedings, or if it was just to give him some rest. They weren't the last couple of games, but maybe the seedings had been determined by then.
There's no way to prove any of it. Shaq sounded like he meant it, and it makes sense that they would have preferred to avoid Utah. Ryan Gomes sounded pretty believable when he said Boston tanked. Would doc rivers do that? Who knows?
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Keepin' it real
Yeah, I didn't care for him calling shaq a liar about tanking. But, as someone who endured the '95 elimination to the Rockets after sweeping them in the regular season, I remember that regular season success does not equal playoff success.
No, you're right. It doens't always mean anything. But you're a lot smarter than Kurt Rambis, and when you say it there's a reason. :D I just think Rambis is a total meathead.
For the record, I do think Dallas had a pretty good reason to have avoided Golden State (and Don Nelson) if they could have. And we all had a pretty good idea that Memphis was going to be a problem last year, based on the regular season. And I believe that the Lakers knew that Utah had the best shot at taking them out of the playoffs. Did they tank to avoid the Jazz? Who knows? Did they have reason to? Definitely.
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Re: Is it cowardly to avoid a bad post-season matchup?
Not EVERY post season since our 2007 title, Spurs have had a HELL of a path to the FINALS I remember having to PLOW through PHX and THEN the Dallas CUBANS then only to play the FAKERS in the WCF. It was EXHAUSTING, and we'd play fairly tired and flat. Meanwhile the FAKERS were given nearly a Red-carpet CAKE-WALK to the WCF for several years and be primed and ready to throw their best 4 games at the Spurs.
It's time that Spurs get the "Royal Treatment" in the post season, and if it means tanking a few games to get there, SO BE IT.
It's NEVER how you START the post season, it's the journey there and how you FINISH.
ALL HAIL POP!!