re: Pelicans @ Portland | Season Finale Game Thread

What are our odds with 11 wins, and our odds with 6 wins as far acquiring a top 3 pick?

Assuming you beat Orlando in the tiebreaker you're looking at 29% at 5 vs 4% at 10. Do you increase your chances of winning 7 times by going from 10 to 5? Yes, and that sounds like a lot, but it's still a 71% chance that it doesn't happen and all of your tanking is for naught. In NBA 2k where nothing else matters sure you take that less than 30 percent chance at free stuff. But IRL you have a coach and GM trying to keep their jobs, players playing for new contracts and roster spots, and 2 superstar level talents that are tired of not winning.

Even if you fired Gentry, why do you assume Interim HC Darren Erman would do worse if Gentry is such a bad HC and this team's strongest feature is the defense Erman has implemented? Erman's not going to not try in his first and perhaps only crack at being a HC.

You've called the people here that are trying to hope for the best with what Loomis is giving us naively optimistic, yet you're the one assuming the best case scenario on your alternate tanking path. This board has been largely pro tank every year since CP3 left except for the playoff season. If tanking was the way to go, this board would heartily embrace it.

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This board has been largely pro tank every year since CP3 left except for the playoff season. If tanking was the way to go, this board would heartily embrace it.

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Eh, I think the hype of Cousins is the sole reason for that. This boards nearsighted tendencies come to light again. Extremely extremely reactionary .

Dude, we had people on this board and twitter saying they can't wait to see the mismatch we would give the Warriors in Rd 1

Fine and dandy but 2-6 post trade should have killed that.

And you're gonna tell me to trust this boards pulse on tanking?

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Assuming you beat Orlando in the tiebreaker you're looking at 29% at 5 vs 4% at 10.

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So practically no chance to some chance? I'll take that

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But IRL you have a coach and GM trying to keep their jobs, players playing for new contracts and roster spots, and 2 superstar level talents that are tired of not winni

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No one is gonba fricking remember these post trade games in 2 months much less a year or 2. Goddamn why do y'all keep saying this? You want to talk nba2k and video games, this line of thinking is fantasy.

But you know what they would remember is if we were able to turn an assets with this potential pick which has absolutely no chance to hit now thanks to our idiot leaders

You tank to get a DeMarcus Cousins level talent. Nobody is denying that it'd be great to swindle Sacramento even more and keep the pick, but the cost of trying to make that happen is not zero. Even if it's just you start out 5-3 next year instead of 2-6, those 3 games could make a difference. David Fisher was pondering the strength of the West earlier today.

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David Fisher? @DavidFisherTBW 1 hour ago

Pelicans path to home court in the first round is more difficult than some will expect. GSW and SAS are given. Two spots remain.

Houston, LAC, and Utah still all far ahead. Pelicans will hope one of LAC/Utah breaks up this summer.

Portland played like a 50+ win team in the last half of the season and owns THREE first round picks this draft to make moves.

Minnesota will still lurk as a team waiting to make a jump. All of these teams have a better coach, more continuity, and better GM history.

The West might look more like the 2013-14 version, when 48 wins didn't get Phoenix into the playoffs, next year.

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So if it takes 48 wins to make the playoffs, would you rather 3 more wins because you didn't tank and figured some things out, or a 30% chance at a top 3 pick? Just a reminder that 30% means it's less likely to occur than Solomon Hill hitting a 3.

Bunchie I don't read those sites. Those thoughts were a real (delusional) thing that I read on these boards.

Point is, 2-6 out the gate should have told everyone it was time to tank. If we can tank with 5 games left you can justify doing it with 20 left.

In the end we still tank, we don't play AD or Cousins. Why aren't y'all worried they will get their feelings hurt?

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No one is gonba fricking remember these post trade games in 2 months much less a year or 2. Goddamn why do y'all keep saying this? You want to talk nba2k and video games, this line of thinking is fantasy.

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I said the people who would be in charge of implementing the tank have a variety of reasons to not implement the tank. Your response to this is essentially "they're stupid and you're stupid" They're not stupid, they just have different motivations than you do. I'm not stupid because I'm trying to take all of the relevant factors into consideration. How do you say my line of thought is a fantasy when you're the one wanting to ignore all the tiny, annoying real world factors in and consequences of tanking?

ETA and I wasn't accusing you of calling names, that just seemed like the easiest way to convey my take on your response.

I know I'm cursing a lot but this really has me ticked off, so I'm not trying to be combative.

For this franchise to move forward it still needs drastic changes, starting at the top. You can't worry about feelings or stepping on toes , we are way past that point. Who's feelings are you worried about? What consequences?

Dude if we win 50 games next year, no one remembers these 20 games. If we lose 50, everyone is pissed about that. No one will remember these 20.

I just don't get it. Are you worried about free agents? We gonna sell them on 20 games, of which we started 2-6 with? I think most rational people realize you were gonna try to fit a square peg in a round hole given our system & roster coming off this trade. There was gonna be losing . This trade should have never been about this year but everyone bought into it because of the name hype

You're just flat out wrong in my opinion man. Sorry.

You're a smart poster. You can realize that this isn't a science experiment in a lab.

There are real human factors involved on multiple fronts here that you simply refuse to recognize.

And I firmly disagree that getting AD and Demarcus playing well together (which they did) wasn't worth it.

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If we can tank with 5 games left you can justify doing it with 20 left

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the tanking for the last 5 games is a bit of a slap in the face. now maybe Cousins is nicked more than we know. and Davis might be nursing something. but i havent seen too much about that.

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For this franchise to move forward it still needs drastic changes, starting at the top

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of course you're right. but it goes much deeper than just Demps/Gentry. that's treating the symptom, not the disease.

Benson/Loomis were not going to tank while the playoffs were still a possibility. they did the same thing last year, forcing Gentry to apologize for calling the team "not a playoff team" while 10 games under .500 in the spring. who do you think ordered that?

to piggyback on ATL's point, forget Demps/Gentry for a second. what incentive does Benson have to tank? based on all his moves as owner, when have the Pels showed any thinking beyond the next week?

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This trade should have never been about this year

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which is why you keep playing Davis/Cousins together to figure out to accommodate both of them on the court at the same. you play Holiday with them a ton to see if he can fit in with the new world order.

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Well I hope they resign after Gentry sat then recently!! Man they will really remember these 5 games in a few years!

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Sitting the last few games is a lot different than 17 games. they were by all accounts still in contention for a playoff spot.

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Bunchie, sitting AD & Cousins was not necessary to tank. They could have gotten time and we still could have tanked. This roster is so devoid of talented secondary players that it wouldn't have been that hard.

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so, play cousins/davis <30MPG. You think they're ok with that? Have Gentry forcefully play worse rotations? Not sign Crawford? We won games because cousins/davis played normal minutes, what do we do then??

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We traded all our depth for Cousins. Then Casspi got hurt.

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yeah, and?

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Yea this isn't a science experiment, but it is a message board where people think these players will remember what happened in these games when October comes around, or when Cousins has to make a decision. This is indeed contrived message board bullshite.

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AD kind of being forced sit out last year was definitely something easily forgotten too.

The reality is Cousins has gone through a sinking ship in Sacramento in terms of 'management' and as of right now, Davis is too. You just want to keep showing the ship is sinking and act as if the players and their agents don't pay attention.

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Teams tank, and there is no script for it. This isn't something I'm making up.

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bad teams with no stars. hell, look at LAL they should be tanking and yet they won 4 of their last 5 games...