![\"\"](\"http:\/\/totfc.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/tankadelphia.jpg\")
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I used to really like basketball when I was younger, but now I really dislike it.\u00a0 At first, it was the NBA, because after they went on strike in 1999, it was a downhill spiral from there, and it\u2019s stuck in this unappealing mire of bullshit to this day, and still managing to sink further with each passing season (except the Spurs, I ♥ the Spurs still).\u00a0 College basketball is still superior, but I\u2019m also growing tired of how corporate it, and college football are becoming because of all the monetary potential in them, and how greedy people are leading children down a slippery slope of pursuing quick greed, fame and fortune instead of the educations that they\u2019re often times getting for free just to play sports.<\/span><\/p>\n But today, we\u2019re here to talk about the NBA, and namely the tanking that has become notoriously blatant.\u00a0 If you weren\u2019t aware, tanking is basically when a team loses on purpose, so that they can position themselves in an optimal position in the following year\u2019s draft, with hopes that they can get the first, or at least a top-5 pick, which are usually highly talented, difference-making players.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Teams tank for a variety of reasons; most of the time, it\u2019s because the season is deemed \u201cover,\u201d as in that they\u2019re mathematically out of contention, so that there\u2019s no point in trying for the remainder of it, or they\u2019ve really got such a big picture in mind, and they\u2019re anticipating a college stud to be going pro the following year, and they really really want them, even if it means embarrassing themselves for a year.\u00a0 There are also isolated cases where a person or persons has an agenda, and they want to get someone fired or traded, so tanking is done to facilitate such an objective, but for the most part, the vast majority of tanking is done with next year\u2019s draft positioning in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n Tanking is not illegal by any means, but it is still highly frowned upon, because it\u2019s completely sending the absolute wrong message, diluting true talent, and if fans knew that they paid actual money to see a team not actually trying, they would undoubtedly be enraged and feel cheated, with all sorts of potential backlash there.\u00a0 Regardless, teams still tank, and have been tanking for the better part of the last 30 years, because drafting a college stud or studzzzplural is usually the most efficient way at rebuilding a sustainable contender.<\/span><\/p>\n The difference is that in spite of the fact that it\u2019s undoubtedly been going on for decades, it hasn\u2019t been nearly as blatant as it\u2019s been in recent seasons.\u00a0 The 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers have lost 26 straight games at the time I\u2019m writing this (and was the impetus for this post), which has tied an NBA record.\u00a0 The NBA\u2019s been around for a long long time, and for them to manage to actually tie, and probably \u201cbeat\u201d an entire organizational record is pretty astounding, and a horrific symbol of futility.\u00a0 Granted, it\u2019s a team from Philadelphia, so that\u2019s no surprise but that\u2019s a completely different story.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not really so much the fact that the 76ers are tanking, it\u2019s the fact that they\u2019ve been so obvious and blatant about it.\u00a0 They\u2019re\u00a0routinely<\/em>\u00a0losing games by 20-point deficits, and from the highlights I\u2019ve seen, they have pretty much stopped playing defense outright.\u00a0 Anyone with a name to them will still play offense, to boost those ever-important personal statistics so that they can have some ammunition to negotiate with in the future, but they couldn\u2019t possibly appear to care any less about the fact that their team is losing every single game, and at this point, very literally.<\/span><\/p>\n In the past, tanking was removing the truly talented stars from the game, and citing some bullshit health ailment or injury prevention.\u00a0 And\/or it was replacing them with young and inexperienced players, citing such rhetoric as \u201cthey need the real-game experience,\u201d but it still accomplished the same thing.\u00a0 Ultimately, the goal is to compromise the possibility of winning games, but not be too obvious about doing it.\u00a0 However, in the case of the 76ers of this year, and numerous other teams in recent years, even that\u2019s too difficult to do, and teams are pretty much showing up without actually showing up on a routinely basis nowadays.<\/span><\/p>\n I hate to sound like a square or so old fashioned, but it begs to ask the question where integrity has disappeared to?\u00a0 I know that integrity doesn\u2019t pay the bills, and that integrity doesn\u2019t win games, but I don\u2019t know, it\u2019s still important to people like me to have a little bit of respect to actually try and do your job, no matter the circumstances.\u00a0 Such is an issue larger than just tanking, so we\u2019ll get back to the point at hand.<\/span><\/p>\n Tanking isn\u2019t illegal, tanking has been done for well, ever, we\u2019ve established that.\u00a0 However, tanking does work.\u00a0 There are teams that are good now that weren\u2019t good not too long ago, that probably employed tanking to get the talent that made them good now.\u00a0 Still, it\u2019s still a blight on the game for people who pay money thinking they\u2019re going to see top-tier talent, and the kids who look up to, and admire basketball players, and I would like to see it not be done so blatantly, if at all.<\/span><\/p>\n SO, ten paragraphs later, let\u2019s get to my idea on how to combat tanking in the NBA:<\/span><\/p>\n If players aren\u2019t going to show up and play basketball to their best of their ability, get rid of them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Sure, it\u2019s not that simple, but give me some time to explain this idea.\u00a0 Start with the starting five.\u00a0 If a team is suspected to be tanking, bench or suspend the starting five, whatever it takes to prevent them from getting in the game.\u00a0 These are the guys that are supposed to be the best players on the team, and the ones expected to play the majority of the games.\u00a0 These are also the guys most probable to be the ones doing the tanking, since they\u2019re on the court for the majority of the game\u2019s minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n Removing these players from the game outright prevents them from getting the opportunity to accumulate personal stats, make highlights and simply gain national exposure.\u00a0 All of which, when had, are great ways to accumulate wealth.\u00a0 Affect their bottom line and potential to earn money, and I\u2019m fairly confident that they\u2019ll shape up very quick.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s worth mentioning that this idea and this punishment needs to come from those outside and above the team, meaning the NBA directly.\u00a0 Because whether it\u2019s a team\u2019s general manager, or a coach with his eyes on tomorrow, it\u2019s usually not the players\u2019 choice to whether they should tank or not, unless they\u2019re deliberately trying to get the coach fired.\u00a0 That being said, it kind of sucks to target the players when it might not even be their decision, but they\u2019re the chief representatives of the team, and therefore the perfect targets to punish.<\/span><\/p>\n The irony is that punishing the starting players by removing them from the game still indirectly accomplishes the goal of tanking, because by now forcing bench players, whom are all usually perceived to be of lesser talent, into starting roles, will typically not be the most optimal scorers and defenders, and the losses will still pile up.\u00a0 But if there are star players suspended or sitting on the bench and unable to prove their earning capabilities, it can be assured that the tanking wouldn\u2019t be nearly as harmonious as it is today, for the coach and\/or management of the team.<\/span><\/p>\n However, let\u2019s say punishing the star players doesn\u2019t work, and it still doesn\u2019t scare teams into not deliberately tanking; I have an idea for that too:<\/span><\/p>\n Get rid of the team.\u00a0 And replace them with their affiliated NBA Developmental League team.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Sure, this sounds extreme, and is full of holes, but this is all theoretical and nobody\u2019s ever going to really read this anyway.\u00a0 But let\u2019s explain this with an example.<\/span><\/p>\n Say, the 76ers continue to tank, break the historic NBA losing games streak, and finish out the season 15-67.\u00a0 So they\u2019ve managed to be the worst team in the NBA with a winning percentage of .183. \u00a0Absolutely embarrassing.<\/span><\/p>\n So punish them by removing them from the NBA for a season.\u00a0 And in their spot in the Eastern Conference, replace them with the\u00a0Delaware 87ers<\/strong>, their D-League team.\u00a0 If the 76ers are going to play .183 ball, could the 87ers really be any worse?<\/span><\/p>\n The flaw to this logic is that not every team has their own D-League team, although most of them do.\u00a0 In that case, I\u2019d modify the rule to where the worst team in the NBA is replaced by the team that won the D-League championship for the entire following season.<\/span><\/p>\n The bottom line is that if an NBA team isn\u2019t willing to play basketball, replace the team with one that is.\u00a0 D-League players are akin to the minor leagues of baseball, and as anyone who\u2019s seen a minor league baseball game knows, these are the guys busting their ass on a nightly basis, because they\u2019re\u00a0trying<\/em>\u00a0to get to the Majors.\u00a0 If the NBA guys want to tank and slog their way through a season, replace them with guys in the D-League who might just be willing to play a little bit harder and more competitively than they would.<\/span><\/p>\n Let the 76ers play in a smaller arena and stay at Holiday Inn Expresses and ride buses from city to city.\u00a0 While the 87ers get the NBA treatment with fatty stipends, chartered jets, first-class hotels under assumed identities and NBA-grade gold diggers.\u00a0 Give them a taste of the big leagues, and hope it lights a fire under their ass to want to stay there.<\/span><\/p>\n The irony here too, is that the goal of tanking might still be accomplished, by bringing in third-rate talent to play in the NBA.\u00a0 But now a team has an entire 12-15 man roster livid and furious that they\u2019re not getting NBA treatment, NBA exposure, and if it were up to me, NBA salaries.\u00a0 Given the amount of bitching and whining the primadonnas of the NBA do now, imagine how much worse it would be when they\u2019re stripped of\u00a0everything<\/em>\u00a0they already have?<\/span><\/p>\n It just might make them think twice about such blatant tanking.\u00a0 After all, competition at the highest level is what the fans are already paying to expect to see.\u00a0 If an NBA team or its players don\u2019t want to play basketball, simply replace them with a team and players that do.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I used to really like basketball when I was younger, but now I really dislike it.\u00a0 At first, it was the NBA, because after they went on strike in 1999, it was a downhill spiral from there, and it\u2019s stuck in this unappealing mire of bullshit to this day, and still managing to sink further … Continue reading A proposal to combat tanking in the NBA<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[59,45,15],"class_list":["post-38600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brog","tag-basketball","tag-fail","tag-og"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38602,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38600\/revisions\/38602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}