roomtemp Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 So tsn is/was doing a special about that team and tanking especially considering the top end talent in next year's draft http://www.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?TSN+Original%3A+Playing+To+Lose&id=455356 But man oh man the butterfly effect if the Devils were first over all. From Stevens to Lou to who the hell knows where the Penguins go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 29th Pick Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 So tsn is/was doing a special about that team and tanking especially considering the top end talent in next year's draft http://www.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?TSN+Original%3A+Playing+To+Lose&id=455356 But man oh man the butterfly effect if the Devils were first over all. From Stevens to Lou to who the hell knows where the Penguins go. yeah who knows if Mario would own the Devils today ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 So great when the coach says "Oh yeah we tried to lose, GM asked us wtf we were doing when we were up 3-0 after the first" and GM is in the next shot saying "oh no I'd never ask anybody to lose on purpose". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) Devils got off to a 2-18 start in 1983-84 and McMullen was already tired of the constant losing (Devils were 19-69-14 since the move from Colorado at that point). He brought in Tom McVie to turn things around, and unfortunately McVie did just that...just enough, anyway (they went 15-38-7 under him). Especially costly was a home-and-home Devils sweep of the Penguins on January 6 and 7. McVie's own players were perplexed by the sudden urgency to win, especially with Lemieux being the obvious #1 pick. I forget which game(s) it was on the schedule, but I think there was one or two against the Devils where the Penguins put in a bunch of scrubs. At any rate, there's no smoking gun as far as the season series went...Penguins actually won the series 4 games to 3. Devils had been playing some decent hockey from 2/4-3/17 too (6-7-2), before dropping their final 8 games of the season...not saying the Devils were throwing games, but maybe they decided they too weren't going to try terribly hard to win (a bit too late). Anyway, here's the Pittsburgh coach (Lou Angotti) basically admitting yeah, we weren't exactly trying to turn it all around: http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/04088/292486.stm Though I don't hate the Penguins, I've always hated the fact that they sucked their way into getting not one but two generational talents. That's how it goes sometimes, and other franchises have tanked to set themselves up (the Spurs did it to get Tim Duncan). Edited June 22, 2014 by Colorado Rockies 1976 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Though I don't hate the Penguins, I've always hated the fact that they sucked their way into getting not one but two generational talents. That's how it goes sometimes, and other franchises have tanked to set themselves up (the Spurs did it to get Tim Duncan). The Colts have been the masters at that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) The Spurs and Colts both got fortunate in a sense that David Robinson and Peyton Manning both had season-ending injuries in years where they got great picks out of it. Edited June 22, 2014 by NJDevs4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 The Duncan draft year Boston actually had the worst record and the most ping-pong balls. Rick Pitino was counting on building around Duncan. That's why its called a lottery though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 The Duncan draft year Boston actually had the worst record and the most ping-pong balls. Rick Pitino was counting on building around Duncan. That's why its called a lottery though. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/40780/when-tankers-tell-the-truth 1996-97 Boston Celtics One of the most notorious years for tanking was 1997. It’s widely believed that the San Antonio Spurs tanked the season by holding out David Robinson longer than necessary to secure a higher draft pick, which became the most coveted player available, Tim Duncan. In fact, to many, this is one of the most incredibly successful tank jobs in NBA history, in part because the Spurs were already a very good team, and they have won four titles and counting with Duncan leading the way. But to our knowledge, no one involved has admitted that the Spurs were tanking. The same year, though, the Boston Celtics did indeed tank, according to longtime Celtic M.L. Carr, who coached the team from 1995 to 1997. In 1996-97, the Celtics fell from 33 wins the previous season to 15 wins. According to Mark Cofman of the Boston Herald, in 2001: Carr suggested his last season as Celtics coach in 1996-97, during which the team suffered through a franchise-worst 15-67 record, was a tank job designed to deliver the incoming coach (Rick Pitino) with strong draft position. "That was part of the orchestration," said Carr, an obvious indictment of the entire organization and its part in encouraging a losing season in an attempt to get the first overall pick (Tim Duncan). As it turned out, the Celtics lost out on Duncan and settled for the third and sixth overall picks. Pitino’s tenure as Boston coach would be a great disappointment, and he often lamented that he had taken the job with the expectation that the Celtics would get Duncan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/40780/when-tankers-tell-the-truth 1996-97 Boston Celtics One of the most notorious years for tanking was 1997. It’s widely believed that the San Antonio Spurs tanked the season by holding out David Robinson longer than necessary to secure a higher draft pick, which became the most coveted player available, Tim Duncan. In fact, to many, this is one of the most incredibly successful tank jobs in NBA history, in part because the Spurs were already a very good team, and they have won four titles and counting with Duncan leading the way. But to our knowledge, no one involved has admitted that the Spurs were tanking. The same year, though, the Boston Celtics did indeed tank, according to longtime Celtic M.L. Carr, who coached the team from 1995 to 1997. In 1996-97, the Celtics fell from 33 wins the previous season to 15 wins. According to Mark Cofman of the Boston Herald, in 2001: Carr suggested his last season as Celtics coach in 1996-97, during which the team suffered through a franchise-worst 15-67 record, was a tank job designed to deliver the incoming coach (Rick Pitino) with strong draft position. "That was part of the orchestration," said Carr, an obvious indictment of the entire organization and its part in encouraging a losing season in an attempt to get the first overall pick (Tim Duncan). As it turned out, the Celtics lost out on Duncan and settled for the third and sixth overall picks. Pitino’s tenure as Boston coach would be a great disappointment, and he often lamented that he had taken the job with the expectation that the Celtics would get Duncan. There is a tanking problem in the NBA, but it's also a good lottery where there are no guarantees at all. The 76ers played with two NBA caliber players for the back-half of the season and only got the 3rd pick in the end. The most anticipated draft in NBA history was won by a team that was only two games out of a playoff spot with a week left in the season. What the Spurs did in 97 is very similar to what the Lakers did this year with Kobe. Sitting healthy guys can be common down the stretch, but at the same time, why even risk any long-term health of your star players if the season is over. Didn't Parise want to play in the end of 2011 with the Devils, and he did, then the Devils said fvck this and shut him down again? As for that draft, the Celtics had the 3rd and 6th picks and whiffed on both. Edited June 22, 2014 by devilsrule33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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