AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 07
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Stop the madness
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While there have been plenty of foolish things posted in this space the past few months (by yours truly and others), nothing is quite as ridiculous as this “tanking” that some are advocating for the Hapless Hawks (that’s their new nickname until they win again).
Forget that Tony Robbins “power of positive thinking” mess about willing something into existence. My theory is that losing deliberately is the best way to foul up your karma and deliver that draft pick to the Suns.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said it better than I could have when he told the Boston Herald: “I know there are a lot of fans out there that love the (No. 1 draft) pick. But you don’t know if you’re going to get it, first of all, and even if we do, we still have to teach him. It’s never bad to win a game. There are no guarantees with the picks and there are no guarantees that (certain) kids are coming out. If we’re ever going to be a good team, we can’t not try to win. We’ve got young players as it is. We don’t teach them anything by losing.”
(The Celtics tried tanking before, the year Tim Duncan was the top pick in the draft, and lost out to a Spurs team that already had a Hall of Fame center in David Robinson on the roster.)
That applies to the Hapless Hawks as well (though, they are blindly helping their own cause by losing in the midst of trying as hard as they know how to win games).
All the coaches and players can do is continue to grind away this season and try and win as many games as they can (my 30 wins prediction is looking more and more on point by the day). The draft lottery will take care of itself come May 22. It’s up to the decision makers (owners, GMs, assistant GMs, etc.) to make things happen around draft time, not the players and coaches.
And if the right guys (Oden and Durant) do declare for the draft, I have a feeling that there will be no shortage of teams interested in jumping into the draft fray, which means teams will be willing to part with current assets in an attempt to snag some promising young talent. That bodes well for the entire league, because it means the fear that strangled the league’s shot-callers at last month’s trade deadline will have disappeared by June.
But tanking, is absolutely the most foolish thing circulated around here.
Stop the madness.
