We all know GS put a tanking clinic on. In order to lose that game Utah would have had to do it on purpose. That's what tanking is. If Harp finds that fact offensive maybe he's the guy not willing to face reality.
Look, Brownie. I actually like you as a poster. I agree with a lot of your opinions, and I can appreciate anyone who comes in here after the Jazz lose a game, and defends the players and coach when everyone else is freaking out and calling for their heads. Having said that, I am completely baffled how anyone, after all the discussion we've had during the season, could STILL not understand that the difference between tanking and losing on purpose.
Losing on purpose just flat out DOES NOT HAPPEN in the NBA, nor would I ever want or suggest the Jazz should do so. GS absolutely did tank, but in no way were the players throwing games, or I can guarantee you that there would have been no chance of losing the pick on a coin toss. Tanking, on the other hand, is something that happens every single year, and to a degree, has been done by every single team in the NBA. It has nothing to do with players losing on purpose. It's simply about management making moves that are more about improving in the future than they are in the present, and it doesn't always mean that the team loses games, even if that's what management intended. Not every team has taken it to the level that GS did, but anyone who believes it doesn't happen routinely, IS naive to the way things work in the NBA. There are a lot of people who have an idealistic idea of how they think things should work in the NBA, but unfortunately, it just isn't reality, and quite honestly, I have no idea why anyone would want their team's GM to be playing checkers, when every other GM in the league is playing chess. Regardless, it doesn't matter. There is a reason why KOC and other GMs in the league aren't screaming bloody murder over GS tanking.
The fact is, if Utah had played the young guys more and still won the same amount of games Harp would still be mad. It is not about developing anything, it's just about assets. He further fails to recognize that all the young players improved, particularly Favors, despite the idea that Corbs kept the leash so tight.
There is absolutely no truth to any of this. I have defended the Jazz FO to a fault for years, and have been called a KOC apologist as recently as a week ago. I can honestly say that I've never once complained about a draft pick at the time it was made, because even though I had my doubts at times, I'm completely realistic about their available resources and effort put into making those decisions, compared to me just watching a few college games. I've defended pretty much every bad contract they've given out, including AK's( even though I was very much against it, even at the time), because I appreciate the fact that Utah doesn't have players knocking down the door to play here. When Utah first made the playoffs with Deron, we had basically the same kind of discussion in regards to pick vs. playoffs, and I was completely in the corner of playoffs, because at that time, it really WAS just about a single draft pick.
If you look back through this thread, you'll notice that I said KOC has been a good GM overall, and even though I think things should have been handled differently this year, I'm not even sure it wasn't more about ownership not wanting to risk a drop in ticket sales, so much as a bad move by KOC. Anyone who has been around here for any length of time, knows that if anything, I'm much more likely to take the side of management than I ever am to side with the complainers. I just happen to feel strongly about my opinion on this, and I get sick of the lame-*** arguments that always seem to use terms like "single draft pick", "too much youth", "loser mentality", and "losing on purpose", when those things have all been addressed a thousand times.
And just to be clear, I'm not even a true tanker. At the first of the season, I was all in favor of Utah waiting until the deadline to make a decision on trading Al or making a run at the playoffs. Needless to say, I don't care for the direction they took.
