Philly up by 10 in the 4th against Denver. They'll win this game. We'll still only be 1 game out of the 3rd seed.
Now, if we can sit our vets in the 4th quarter against Philly like we did tonight, we stand a decent chance of losing that game. We need to do what we did tonight for the rest of the season and not just a 4 or 5 game stretch.
Hard to lose this one. We benched Boozer and Hill and sat Lin for the fourth and OT. Minny played Wiggins and no one else. Not sure how you can out tank that short of running out four guys.
Eric Pincus @EricPincus · 33m33 minutes ago All not lost for the Lakers in chase for 3rd - Sixers up 91-83 at Denver - Lakers still play in Philly on Monday Eric Pincus @EricPincus · 32m32 minutes ago Lakers still play Wolves again - but even if Minny wins the head-to-head, I don't think the Lakers catch them - certainly not NY Eric Pincus @EricPincus · 32m32 minutes ago If Lakers can get to 3 or even tie for 3 - improves odds from 83.8% at 4 (for top-5 pick)
That's kinda half my point. That team is tanking at the next level. We're adjusting to try to compete with that level of tanking but... They're just better at it.
Unfortunately, we're also one game closer to Orlando, who's only ahead of us by 3 games. Getting the 5th pick is better than none, but I'd rather have a legit shot at frontcourt prospects like Towns, Okafor, and Cauley-Stein. Cauley-Stein may still be available at #5, but I'm still not comfortable at that position.
Well, i for one am bummed. It's one thing to try and win against C Bags, Clips or even Cavs, but to win another game against the tankers by point or two is just stupid. Instead of a fast, bright future with either Okafor or Towns, we'll be praying to the ping-pong ball God to have a pick at all.
-At this point, it's basically 4th or bust. They won't catch Philly and Minnesota is a lost cause. All those meaningless wins, having to watch Lin and Wes Johnson's tongue wagging after some of those horrible wins.. Just infuriating. I get it, it's their jobs to do their best.. But those guys aren't going to be here next season, and it's imperative that they get this pick. -They better hope Orlando doesn't pass them. If so, kiss it goodbye. There is no way that at least one team isn't going to leapfrog, it always happens. Even at 4th, it's going to be nail-biting as possibly 2 teams leap ahead and then there they are at 6th. And there is Philly smiling, arms wide open. -At this point, even if they end up at the four spot, and even if a team jumps over them at the draft lottery, heck after all the ugliness and irritation this season has put us through.. I'll be more than happy to have that 5th pick.
Yeah, once again count me in as worried the most about Orlando right now. Cannot let them bump us to the five spot. That would be pretty disastrous.
Orlando is breathing down our necks. With a game against Philly and Minny and TWO games against Sactown to close the season, we could easily lose this pick at this point. I see Orlando winning only 1-2 more games meaning we are going to have to lose to Philly, Minny or Sactown to stay in the 4 spot in addition to losing all the games we are supposed to lose.
You guys realize that even if the worst thing happened and Orlando moved to 4th, we could still very well keep the pick right?
But that's my point, unless we get to the Bottom 2 nothing is guaranteed. I'm gonna hope for three things: 1) continued development of Clarkson and Black, 2) a hard fought loss in which our guys fight hard in the game, and 3) that we get the pick. But I'm gonna do it in that order and I'm not going to stress about the positioning. Last season the Cavaliers magically jumped up from #9. If those ***holes can do it so can anyone else including us! And we won't even be at #9! Just like @abeer3 said... This summer will more or less prove if karma exists in the NBA! I believe!
I'll believe when I see it, unfortunately. CLE got help every time, we know why. We, on the other hand, got screwed, starting with the CP3 trade. But who knows, maybe it's time for the league to throw us a bone here.
That's what I'm hoping for... The Lakers are their best brand and they've spent the last 3 years letting us fester and die. I'm not saying they need to help us because the numbers show we're certainly deserving of a #1 pick... But I can't for the life of me imagine a world where the Sixers are rewarded with two Top 10 picks and the Lakers are left out in the rain again.
We shall see. I hope you guys are right. If Stern had control of the ship, I would be even more concerned about us getting screwed. As it stands, I feel like we will keep the pick, but wish we could make this even more of a lock.