Actually, I think Orlando's struggles have more to do with bad coaching than outright tanking, honestly.
I can't stress this enough how bad that news is because they aren't winning a game the next 1-2 weeks with the opponents they are playing.
been saying it for a couple weeks: Orlando could be our undoing. they REALLY, REALLY know how to lose.
We are going to need ORL to somehow pull off an upset or two, and the Lakers to lose a few winnable games.
Magic play Cavs, rockets, Mavs, blazers, hawks, spurs, 6 out of the next 8 games. Im calling they take the 4th worst record by april 3rd. Lakers have about 7 winnable games in the next 15 or so. Now philly has lots of winnable games commin up....But its philly
Not looking good with our coaches not knowing how to lose... Byron's thickheadedness will cause his dismissal I'm afraid.
This is what I don't get with him. Let's say he can win 55 games over this season and next. If it's 25 then 30, he gets fired. If it's 17 and then 38, he's made a 20 game improvement and likely has momentum and support from the front office and fans. Winning these games makes it that much harder to keep his job after next season. No one is going to remember him coaching this team to a win over Detroit in March. People will look at the record over the last two seasons and see no improvement from year to year.
I was looking at the schedule earlier today. I was thinking something very similar. It honestly looks like we have a better chance of catching Philly then holding off the charging Orlando. If we finish with the 4th worst record, I think it will likely be Philly in the 5th spot, not the Magic. Which is astounding if you ask me. Orlando has enough talent they should be in the playoffs in the East, maybe even fighting for .500. They have 4 guys on their roster that are better than anyone not named Kobe. (not counting Randle due to him not playing at all or Clarkson because it's a little early to tell) Harris, Vucevic, Oladipo and lately Payton are better than anyone we got.
Count me in as one who is considered about the Magic as well. They shouldn't be as bad as they are record wise IMO. And we definitely shouldn't pass them in wins. But they are losing heavily right now. Good news about Philly winning though.
Philly held on tonight, and as I mentioned their the best chance we have at advancing to the 3rd seed. 2-3 in their last 5, 2 of those losses being in OT and 1 they lost by 6. Nerlens Noel has been playing great in this stretch of basketball. vs. Brooklyn @ Boston vs. Detroit vs. Knicks @ Lakers @ Sacramento @ Denver vs. Clippers @ Cleveland vs. Lakers @ Washington @ Charlotte @ Knicks vs Washington @ Chicago vs. Milwaukee vs. Miami The next 7 opponents that Philly faces have below .500 records. Our schedule the rest of the way; 9 out of 18 games vs teams below .500 Lakers Opponents .750 and better: Atlanta, @ Golden State .600-.750: @ Toronto, Portland, Dallas .500-.600: OKC, New Orleans, Clippers, @ Clippers .400-.500: Utah .250-.400: @ Brooklyn, @ Denver, Sacramento, @ Sacramento .250 and worse: Philadelphia, @ Minnesota, @ Philadelphia, Minnesota
I think you guys overestimate Phily. The schedule means less to me when you are the worst team in the NBA, because that means every single team is better than you. Yeah they won tonight, but when was the last time before that? It won't continue, they have that few wins for a reason.
The last game they won was March 7; the next game they lost in OT to the Bulls. I'm not overestimating Philly, and it's quite possible that our chances to overtake them are remote at this point in the season with few games remaining. Nevertheless, I wanted to emphasize that we have a better shot catching them than a Wolves team who have a tougher schedule ahead of them. That's it.
Lakers next 10- Hawks, @ GS, Jazz, Sixers, Thunder, @ Wolves, @ Raptors, @ Nets, @ Sixers, Pelicans Sixers next 10- Nets, @ C Bags, Pistons, Knicks, @ Lakers, @ Kings, @ Nuggets, Clippers, @ Cavs, @ Washington Magic next 10- Cavs, @ Rockets, @ Mavs, Portland, Nuggets, Hawks, Pistons, Spurs, @ Wolves, @ Bucks Knicks next 10- @ GS, @ Suns, Spurs, Wolves, @ Sixers, @ Raptors, Grizzlies, Clippers, C Bags, @ Bulls I don't think anyone moves up or down after the next 10 games. If we move anywhere, it'll be down under the Sixers but I'm not convinced it'll happen.
Check this out Philadelphia got an earful from coach Brett Brown on Friday before overcoming an 18-point deficit to beat Sacramento 114-107. "Coach got on us pretty bad," said backup point guard Ish Smith, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half and matched a career high with nine assists. "He got on us really bad at halftime. ... He just wasn't happy. Anything you can think of, we weren't doing anything well. ... Coach was like, 'That's not the culture we're trying to build here.'" Philly trying to win games? Miracle. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/preview?gameId=400579270
Although, I'm not convinced...just something interesting I thought I'd pass along in this race for tank supremacy
After Scott's last rip on the team I am back in the "scared" department with the definite possibility of him being too pig headed and prideful-for-stupid-reasons, in doing what's needed at this point. Putting us in jeopardy needlessly of losing our pick. He rides too fine a line every game. We are so close now with only 18 games or so left in this lost season. Don't f*** this up Byron.
