Tanking at tanking?

[P_B_&_G]

It's the Willie special double switcheroo! 3 - 1 over the last 4. Did he not get the memo?

[b_l_p]

Ruining the only silver lining of a wasted season, being too stubborn to actually tank. Pels org is incredible at being a terrible org.

What does an actually smart org do? Look at the Spurs... Wemby goes OFS, and they immediately start losing games on purpose to the Pels.

What's next? Playing guys too many minutes in a lost season, getting someone hurt, and ruining our trade possibilities and ruining the first half of next year, too

[JJackisangry]

Willie trying to save his job. I can't blame him. Zion came out with the whole "OMG Kelly Olynyk is the player we have been missing lmao" crap so I can only guess that this is propaganda to soften the blow when Willie inevitably survives the cull. Oh well. Hopefully we pick well in the draft.

[Blattman]

I can't be mad at Willie. It's not like he's winning while taking away time from the younglins and he's letting core players like Trey or Zion experimenting like with the return of Point Zion lately

Draft history is cristal clear, tanking does not guarantee having the best prospect, it's pretty common to have a player in the late lottery becoming better than the 2nd or 3rd pick or even both.

[donato]

Don't fully agree. Antonio Reeves should be getting much more playing time. Also of course you can have better players picked later, but you give yourself a much better chance of getting a difference maker the higher you pick. Justifying winning games at this point of this season is some serious mental gymnastics.

[JJackisangry]

Don't fully agree. Antonio Reeves should be getting much more playing time. Also of course you can have better players picked later, but you give yourself a much better chance of getting a difference maker the higher you pick. Justifying winning games at this point of this season is some serious mental gymnastics.

We should be tanking. I agree. But if that is the case, we should have fired Willie and hired an interim. Willie's job is on the line so I doubt he wants to just throw in the towel. I think he should be fired out of a cannon either way but here we are.

[donato]

We should be tanking. I agree. But if that is the case, we should have fired Willie and hired an interim. Willie's job is on the line so I doubt he wants to just throw in the towel. I think he should be fired out of a cannon either way but here we are.

I don't see how he survives no matter what happens the rest of the year. He's shown too many flaws for too long. The argument for not firing him earlier was it's a lost season anyway I guess. But I think there was a time you could have fired him to see what you have in Borrego. It's just Willie has done way too little with what he had even with the injuries. He isn't improving. It's time to go separate ways.

[JJackisangry]

I don't see how he survives no matter what happens the rest of the year. He's shown too many flaws for too long. The argument for not firing him earlier was it's a lost season anyway I guess. But I think there was a time you could have fired him to see what you have in Borrego. It's just Willie has done way too little with what he had even with the injuries. He isn't improving. It's time to go separate ways.

I agree but tell the ownership that. I don't trust them to make the right decision

[donato]

I agree but tell the ownership that. I don't trust them to make the right decision

I could see them keeping him, but I really think he's gone this time.

[JJackisangry]

On the bright side, I like that Karlo and Reeves are getting good looks. If there is going to be significant squad turnover we need to find as much depth and as many pieces as possible. We have been pretty decent in the draft so I can see us getting a good pick regardless of where we end up. But damn would a top pick be nice.

[stevemadden504]

I won't watch another game with Willie as the coach I won't do it

[JJackisangry]

I won't watch another game with Willie as the coach I won't do it

I love basketball and I'd love to watch. But when I know that our ownership and management is not doing everything in their power to be the best they can be, it kind of takes the enjoyment out of it. We don't have any ambition.

[msusousaphone]

It would help if it were easy for me to watch, too. Despite promises otherwise, most of the games have not been shown in the Lake Charles market and other means would take more effort to setup than the team is putting out.

[DroopyDawg]

Tank back on track.

[P_B_&_G]

Tank back on track.

Hopefully we get many more games like last night. Fun to watch and kept it close to make it interesting but pulled out the L in the end.

[Dago75]

Dear Santa,

God knows I don't ask for much, but if you could just give me Cooper Flagg and Naz Reid I promise to never bother you again and will even stop telling people you are Krampus's little **********.

Sincerely,
Dago

[msusousaphone]

Best I can offer is a Mo Bamba.

https://www.nba.com/pelicans/news/mo...6Hd04yxabJsGPQ

Pawn Stars Memefrom Pawn Stars Memes

[Silverfoxx]

Hopefully we get many more games like last night. Fun to watch and kept it close to make it interesting but pulled out the L in the end.

Not fun to me. It's stressful worrying about them winning pointless games

[P_B_&_G]

Not fun to me. It's stressful worrying about them winning pointless games

We won't win these close games, we don't have a closer.

[Blattman]

As much as I anticipate Flagg to be a superstar and the best player of this draft class, drafting him would lead to several issues.

First of all, the circus of the media saying he might return to Duke to avoid playing in NO, then it would pollute the search for a new HC, then the question about his fit alongside Zion and last the narrative of the franchise wasting his carreer

I think that the spotlight and the negativity with it may not help to build a competitive team next year.

I would surely celebrate the pels winning the lottery butif not dodging the bullet may be a blessing in disguise.

[ml wave]

As much as I anticipate Flagg to be a superstar and the best player of this draft class, drafting him would lead to several issues.

First of all, the circus of the media saying he might return to Duke to avoid playing in NO, then it would pollute the search for a new HC, then the question about his fit alongside Zion and last the narrative of the franchise wasting his carreer

I think that the spotlight and the negativity with it may not help to build a competitive team next year.

I would surely celebrate the pels winning the lottery butif not dodging the bullet may be a blessing in disguise.

Unless things have changed, the deadline to declare for the draft is well before the draft lottery, so he will have to decide whether he's returning to Duke (hint, he's not) before he knows who has the #1 pick. We'd be a much more attractive destination for a coach with the #1 pick as opposed to without it. Can't argue about wasting his career...that'll definitely be the narrative.

[JJackisangry]

It will be the same old media circus if Flagg ends up here. We didn't deserve all of that flak with Zion, but in the end we proved them right despite having a promising situation. I hate that we give these clowns ammunition to use against us. Hopefully Flagg has a good head on his shoulders if he ends up here.

[donato]

Zero chance he returns to Duke. That's a non-issue.

[Blattman]

Unless things have changed, the deadline to declare for the draft is well before the draft lottery, so he will have to decide whether he's returning to Duke (hint, he's not) before he knows who has the #1 pick. We'd be a much more attractive destination for a coach with the #1 pick as opposed to without it. Can't argue about wasting his career...that'll definitely be the narrative.

Lottery is on May 12th, withdrawal date is on June 15th. Before NIL, the withdrawal deadline date was not as important since once the prospect hired an agent they were no longer able to withdraw, for Zion it was still the case so the narrative about him withdrawing didn't last long. In Flagg's case it's 1 month of media speculation guaranteed.

For the HC hiring, having Flagg will force the FO to look for a Name or giving more talking point to the media. History say that may ends poorly because they might prefer to take the low risk route.

Again, I'm not hoping against winning the lottery but let's be real it would be insufferable with the talking heads.

[donato]

Lottery is on May 12th, withdrawal date is on June 15th. Before NIL, the withdrawal deadline date was not as important since once the prospect hired an agent they were no longer able to withdraw, for Zion it was still the case so the narrative about him withdrawing didn't last long. In Flagg's case it's 1 month of media speculation guaranteed.

For the HC hiring, having Flagg will force the FO to look for a Name or giving more talking point to the media. History say that may ends poorly because they might prefer to take the low risk route.

Again, I'm not hoping against winning the lottery but let's be real it would be insufferable with the talking heads.

Our roster is arguably in one of the best situations for any of the top prospects. In any case, he's not going back to Duke.