They're not the worst team though. NY is definitely worse. With the emergence of Noel, they have been better than Sactown and Orlando for sure. Philly is also pissed at management. They picked up a player at the last second to get to the minimum cap number. The money below the cap would have been evenly dispersed amongst the players on the roster. So management basically screwed every player on that roster. They want to win badly because they know management doesn't want them to. Like one coumnist said, It's like the movie Major League. Of all the sucky teams, Philly is the one that wants to win the most.
We have 4 very winnable games in that stretch. A little scary with Orlando playing essentially murderers row. The Sixers could honestly win any of their next 7.
Well, that I did not know. I'm not sure NY is worse, but I guess they could be. I hope you guys are right, moving to 3rd would be fantastic, as it opens up the possibility of getting even the #1 pick. Well, if you're the Cavs anyway.
These next ten games will be the determining factor I think. If Orlando catches up to us in the next ten games, then it's all up for grabs. I don't think they will though. I think we'll survive the next ten games up by a game or a game and a half.
We win against Sixers at home and 1 more, puts us at 19, Orlando will hopefully win 1 game and we have a 3 game margin. But looking at the schedule i thought we could catch Minny, but the Sixers are really playing good ATM-some unexpected wins, and they are close every game-not getting blown out like NYK.
SAC pouring on the tank...they were up big (18) at halftime and now with just under 3 minutes to go in the 3rd they are up just 2.
That may not sound like much but given the Lakers luck over the past three years the odds of losing the pick are way too high for comfort. I hope the front office feels the same as fans do about it and can apply some pressure on Byron to go on an extended losing streak...like every game until the draft spot is locked up
The 4 most important games are the 2 against the Sixers and 2 against the Twolves. We absolutely need to lose those 4 games, and if we do, we guarantee ourselves a top 5 pick with the 2nd worst record overall. Honestly, having the 3rd or 4th worst record is just too close for comfort..with our luck last 3 years or so, I don't trust it. They'll find a way to screw us again...but then again, everyone is going to cry wolf if the SIXERS get 2 top ten picks again this year..and then draft Towns or Okafor, and trade Embiid or Noel for more first round picks... I really hope we just go on a huge losing streak now....we've been way too competitive lately, and thank GOD we lost to the Knicks. That makes up for the win over Detroit.
Weez that's unfair. The Sixers have been a LOT like us these last few games. They've won or lost the last 7 games by less than 12 points. They beat the Hawks (and the Kings) and they just barely lost to the Thunder not too long ago. The players are starting to fight like ours are.
I was just lamenting our situation out loud. Even trying to win the Sixers freaking suck, absolute pros at tanking.
Honestly I would only feel comfortable if we end up in the top three worst records. I think we'd be safe with room for two other lottery teams sneaking in to the top 5. Not to go Magic Johnson on it right now, but I'd be ecstatic if we lost every game from here on in. That would pretty much cement a Top 3 spot and give us a 96% of keeping that pick. The pick is the only thing that matters. We can't really lose with picks 1-5. Every position we need is represented in the players in that range. 1 or 2 gives us Okafor or Towns for that Center position, then from there Mudiay gives us a PG, Russell a combo guard and Johnson gives us a legit SF. Just lose out. Every single win takes us away from our goal. Any real Laker fan knows this right now. If we keep this pick we are in rock solid shape. If we lose it we are screwed. It's very simple right now. We have one shot at redeeming this terrible season and that's to ensure that we keep the pick. There's nothing else left. None of the other teams that are tanking have as much at stake as we do. The FO needs to make sure that Byron is on board and doesn't try to do some heroic nonsense right now. I have a feeling that after this year they will make those changes they talked about to discouraging tanking anyway. No one likes how Philly is doing their thing and I'm not saying we follow their footsteps. They have been tanking now for a few years going. That's not what we are talking about. The Lakers need to bite the bullet this one time and tank as hard as possible right now. Lose these two games to Philly at any cost, and the games to Minny as well. Sit whoever you have to. Experiment as hard and as awkwardly as you have to. Start Kelly at the 1, Sacre at the 2, Lin at center, I don't care. Just lose, and especially those head to head games with our tank competition.
