In todays sports it seems like more and more every year we come across teams that are willing to tank, forfeit or flat out not attend competition in order to reach their team goals. But where do we draw the line and say this behavior is unacceptable and who do we place the blame on. Do we hold the competition committee at fault for not fixing a obviously flawed system or should teams simple hold there selves to a standard that is above losing to win.
As a Philadelphia native I know a lot about the tanking because its all you hear about in Philadelphia sports discussions. Though I am not a fan of the Sixers or tanking in general, I believe that the Sixers and teams in situations should tank. You gain nothing by being a 7 or 8th seed team in the NBA so why would you strive for that position.If your goal is to win the NBA championship you need to aqurie future talent that could help you do that. Unfortenually if your team isn’t in a huge market the only way you can add talent is through the draft. If the NBA sees tanking as problem the only way to fix this is to reconstruct the way the draft picks are given.
Suggestion To Fix: The NBA could flat out give every team that does not make the playoffs the same % chance of winning the #1 pick. This stops team from making moves to get to last place and the 7th and 8th place teams in the conference will be less likely to drop out the playoffs for 1/14 chance of at the #1 pick.
A more recent problem in ultimate has been Cincinnati mens team who thanks to a broken ranking algorithm are ranked 14th in the nation and are being reward with a 2nd strength bid to nationals for their region. Even though the team is the 0-2 to other top 20 competition and the only team in the top 20 without a top 25 win. So in order to keep the ranking “broken” the team has withdrawn from it last regular season tournament ultimately locking in the bid. I feel that both parties are at fault for what is transpiring. The USA Ultimate has the responsibility to make sure teams play all of their originally scheduled games. But Cincinnati should also be a shamed for what they are doing because not only are they sending the message that they could hold on to their ranking but they also negatively affect others with this decision. The tournament director now has to scramble days before the event to find a team to replace them so that the other 15 teams registered for event can get the max number of games through out the weekend.Unlike tanking were both teams of the game get what they want the Tanking team gets closer to the draft choice and the other team gets a easy win., the only team that gains from this is Cincinnati.
Suggestion to Fix: Just as all teams most submit there 10 player minimum with the option to add players all the way up to the playoffs series. There should be a deadline for teams to submit there tournament schedule and most be able to provide serious reasoning be hide not attending a event.If they can’t provide a excuse the teams they should had played each receive a 15-0 win a there expense. Teams will still have the option of adding tournaments throughout the season but must submit 2 tournaments since USAU currently requires teams to play 10 games in order to play in the series.
Montana D Morris says
I really like your idea for a flat percentage of those out of the playoffs. It would still be a lottery system designed to make the league fair but would atleast diminish the return on being at the bottom of your league. Interesting post, I really enjoyed reading it.
Kenneth C Grozier says
You’re right that tanking is a problem. However, I disagree with your statement that the Sixers are tanking. As a lifelong Philly sports fan I get a little heated when people make this claim because the Sixers aren’t even the worst team in basketball. If anybody in the NBA is taking its probably the Knicks.
Jack Gergel says
I agree that tanking is a big problem with the NBA right now, as the Sixers appear to definitely be tanking in order to have a better chance at the number 1 draft pick to build talent for the future. I like your suggestion to fix this issue in the NBA. It would provide more of an incentive to make the playoffs, but still ensure that teams who didn’t make the playoffs have a higher chance of getting a better draft pick. The situation you brought up about ultimate also seems very unfair, and I believe your solution is a solid way to prevent this from happening again. Teams should not be allowed to withdraw from a tournament to ensure that they lock up a spot in nationals, and by giving them a loss in the tournaments they withdraw from would probably prevent this from occurring another time.