seattlejazzfan
Well-Known Member
one of your all time best posts. i agree with everything you said here, but your first paragraph in particular. i kinda hate to admit it, but it describes me to a T. i get the added bonus that i really like watching young prospects get a lot of playing time and shots.I actually 100% agree with your initial post I replied to, and I'd add onto that by saying that many fans enjoy the low stress environment of tanking. A lot of fans were incredibly unhappy during the end years of Don+Rudy and that's because there were real expectations to win. There was a lot on the line and that created a lot of stress. The most unhappy teams are the ones who have expectations and fail to meet them. It's why so many coaches of the year get fired. They set a high expectation and it's difficult to uphold it. When you're tanking, you either win or you win. The most stress you'll get is when you win a game you wanted to lose. I think this is comfortable situation for many whether they will admit it or not.
But I made my post because I also 100% agree with tanking in this moment. Tanking is not nearly as effective as people make it out to me, but the other options besides tanking are horrible right now. I've landed on the conclusion that tanking is horrible and not a great strategy but it is still better than the other options at this moment. So I don't think it's fair to dismiss everyone that wants to tank as someone who thinks tanking is a great strategy or someone who just loves gambling. It's not taking the high road to simply say that tanking is bad.
I don't think it's an unreasonable standard to consider other alternatives because many have and we talk about all day everyday around here. If you're unwilling to offer a solution, that's fine, but at that point it's just a complaint and not a real discussion about whether tanking is a positive direction or not.
iow, it's easy for me - either be a legit contender, on your way up (young guys improving, win/loss record improving year to year, going deeper and deeper in the playoffs each year, etc), or tank. and I simply don't mind the last option at all because, as you said, it's low to zero stress, i get to watch prospects play, and along with the low stress, you get to have hope for the future.