If two tanking teams meet at the end of the regular season, is there a winner?
The Hornets take on the Golden State Warriors tonight, a team that is pursuing the tank harder than anyone else this season. It’s a little easier for them than anyone else because they aren’t tanking for a chance at a pick, instead they are tanking so they can have a pick in this draft. If they don’t have a top-7 pick, they give it to Utah. In an related move, the Warriors have shut down David Lee and had Steph Curry and Andrew Bogut get their ankle surgeries done now. Good times.
So tonight, we’ll see if Monty’s young guys – who are fighting for their right to be in the league – outplay the Warriors, who have a lot of veteran players who are more established and maybe don’t have as much to play for. (Except for McNamara’s boy Charles Jenkins)
Key to Victory
- There are no “Keys” tonight. There is one key when playing the Warriors: Crush them on the glass. The Warriors are the worst team in the league when it comes to boardwork. They give up a tremendous number of offensive rebounds, and that results in easy baskets at the rim for all their opponents. The Warriors are decent at shooting, at free throw rate and at turnovers, but you can punish them on the glass. With Aminu and Landry around, the Hornets should be capable of doing so.
Enjoy the game! I’m betting on the Hornets in this one. Who you got?
20 responses to “Game On: Tankapalooza (NOH v GSW)”
MUST lose game- in fact the next two are.
Best case scenario:
Hornets lose out, Cavs lose out, Wiz win out, and NJ beats Toronto
In this scenario, Hornets get 3rd most ping pong balls (15.6% chance at Davis) and Portland gets no better than 7th pick from New Jersey. Also, Hornets will have a 90+% chance of at least one top 5 pick.
Worst case scenario:
Hornets win out, Cavs and Kings lose out, Toronto beats New Jersey
Hornets slip to a tie for 5th, have only 7% chance at 1st pick and could actually finish with a worse pick than Portland depending on a coin flip. Would have less than a 40% chance at a top 5 pick.
That is a HUGE difference, and for what? Hate to say it, but you gotta tank here.
Don’t quite get yall’s fetish for Portland, a team with historically atrocious luck in disarray right now.
Just standing back- would you rather have a roster with Batum, Aldridge, pick 5 and pick 11
or
Gordon, role players, picks 6, and 10
If Hornets don’t outdraft Portland, they will just be another young western conference team that we will have to overcome in the future. I got one eye on OKC and the other one split between Utah and Port as far as team we will have to deal with in 3 years when we are ready (hopefully) to break out
You’re black and whiting it way to much for a number of reasons.
1) We have Monty.
2) Batum is a RFA yes? Do they have to pay 12m a year to keep him? If so, he isn’t worth that to me.
3) It could be argued that you’d want a ton of Hornets at their current contracts over anyone on Portland past Aldridge/Batum including the overpaid Wesley Matthews.
4) They suck right now and they’ve been fairly healthy all season. We get our best player back and we’re winning 70% of games without arguably 2nd, 3rd, 4th best behind him.
That trade with NJ was a coup for them I agree but they’re nothing special. Ironically I’d worry more about their other division rivals (Denver and Minnesota) before those 2.
I just wrote about Hornets on Bleacher Report – I think what Hornets fans should hope for, other than losing next two games – is being able to use their second pick on Kendall Marshall:
http://bit.ly/IDjBfK
I actually really like Jerome Dyson.
It’s so frustrating being a Hornets fan.
You spend the entire season rooting against your team watching them lose night in and night out and for what? A marginal win over a tanking Golden State? If we’re actually trying then can we watch our star players and have a fun blowout romp?
Beli proves once again why he is my least favorite player on this team. I hope Demps doesn’t have the love affair with him that Monty does.
what the F%$K Marco???
If I paid serious coin for season tickets, then I guarantee you that I’d be seriously angry if the team purposefully tanked.
EFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF…… Seriously Jenkins, you don’t know what last shot means? What a dick.
I have 2 theories:
1. We were promised the #1 pick no matter what.
2. We don’t want to touch Anthony Davis.
Either way, the tank does not exist in NOLA…and thats unfortunate! So much hope yet we appear to be blowing it. This team sure knows how to rattle our nerves.
That unibrow scares me. Makes him look demented.
I’m at a loss for words right now. Just Disgusted.
There’s a problem with sports when you’re rooting for your team to lose.
Top 3 pick. All I’m hoping for.
To all the Beli haters… get off of Marco’s case. He’ll finish the season as the Hornets point total leader, most minutes played, he has more than twice as many made threes as the next highest Hornets player. He’s posted a career high scoring average this season. And as Monty says, he plays the right way. He may not be with NOLA next year, but he will be in the NBA. And, if he’s not there, the Hornets will miss the stability he brings.
I think we should draft Beal if we fall below three in the draft or possibly trade that pick for portland’s two picks and take Rivers with one of those. I know Beal is similar to Gordon but Gordon has been injured every year and we know what this team is w/o him.
We should still have Marco if Gordon goes down. Obviously Monty loves Marco.