"I think every team should have an equal chance at winning the lottery, from the best team all the way down," Van Gundy told The Houston Chronicle. "I don't want to accuse anyone of anything. I would say to take away any possible conflict of interest, everyone should have an equal chance at the top pick all the way down. That way there would be absolutely no question by anybody about anything.
"If it's better for the game, they should do it. I never quite understood why losing is rewarded, other than [for] parity."
Obviously this will never happen, but is this guy serious? Does he think teams tanking games is that serious/rampant of a problem? If this happens, it happens once every 4 or 5 years, MAYBE. And even in those years, it's done by maybe 1 or 2 teams. I think giving the lower performing teams the chance to draft a franchise player (what Van Gundy calls "parity") is "better for the game" than trying to curb a nearly nonexistent problem.
Considering one of the reasons for the creation of the lottery was the Rockets 'questionable' play in pursuit of Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon in the early 80's, that is a franchise that shouldn't be bringing forth the subject. And, I wonder if Jeff would have wanted the draft lottery open to everyone the year the Rockets ended up #1 with Yao? Even if you tank games, you still have a less than 50/50 shot of getting either the #1 or #2 pick. Now, if you want to get into the situation of last season where Memphis played the Clippers in the 'Dump Game' where the loser ended up being the 6 seed with a far easier opponent and homecourt advantage in the 1st round while the winner had to play the Mavericks as the 5 seed, I could completely understand.
Originally posted by redsoxnationConsidering one of the reasons for the creation of the lottery was the Rockets 'questionable' play in pursuit of Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon in the early 80's, that is a franchise that shouldn't be bringing forth the subject. And, I wonder if Jeff would have wanted the draft lottery open to everyone the year the Rockets ended up #1 with Yao?
So, since the 83-4 Rockets tanked to get into the coin flip, the franchise can't ever, ever, ever comment on changing the lottery? Even though neither the coach (Bill Fitch) nor owner nor GM nor anyone remotely associated with the 83-84 team (except for Rudy T, but he's a lifer) are around anymore. Come on.
And, given that JVG was winding down his tenure at the Knicks and about to embark on his tv career, I don't think he would have cared if the lottery was open to everyone the year the Rockets got the #1 pick.
"Teach children that they have great potential because they are human." -Warrior
Originally posted by BullittIf anything, each team that doesn't make the playoffs should have an equal shot at winning the lottery.
That's how the lottery was in the first place, and the first thing that happened was that the team with the worst record ended up drawing the final spot, which led to the no-worse-than-4th system which led to the ping pong balls.
Overall, though, this might be Jeff Van Gundy's worst idea this side of trying to play peacemaker for Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson.
I don't think it would be a terrible idea to overhaul the lottery so that all of the teams were included, so long as the best teams had a REALLY miniscule chance of winning it compared to the worst teams. I wouldn't mind if they tied in the odds of winning to the number of wins a team had instead of their place in the standings, either. It would certainly make trades for draft picks much more interesting.
OTOH, the NBA's whole way of doing business is so messed up with their salary cap and guaranteed contracts that I don't think anything will help until they really fix that first.
EDIT: Also, with the D-League existing, what I would REALLY like to see is a four or six-round draft.
(edited by JayJayDean on 28.3.07 0729) Holy fuck shit motherfucker shit. Read comics. Fuck shit shit fuck shit I sold out when I did my job. Fuck fuck fuck shit fuck. Sorry had to do it....
*snip*
Revenge of the Sith = one thumb up from me. Fuck shit. I want to tittie fuck your ass. -- The Guinness. to Cerebus
As long as Shaq and Wade set the example between them for everyone else to follow, things should stay in order. Because my sense of what happened in 2003-04 is that as Shaq and Kobe went, so did the rest of the Lakers.
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