buddha

Another thought, all these rule changes and tweaks have just made tanking worse. if a team could tank and get a superstar, they would get better and gradually rise in the standings. but when you tweak the lottery and the worst teams keep getting screwed (like the pistons did), they keep being mired in that desperate attempt to get a superstar player. ultimately, as long as there is a draft and no relegation there will be tanking.

relegation would stop it, but we dont do that here. you could take away ping pong balls if you lose x amount of games. dropping protections might help on the margins, mandate that you can only protect top 2 or something like that. but that will hinder trades and no one wants that to happen. the ultimate reason is the draft, you get rewarded for losing. and the draft has become so ingrained in sporting culture here that it isnt going anywhere. i thought the play-in tournament was supposed to be a temporary covid year thing and now they've made it permanent.

only way you stop it is to get rid of the draft or completely randomize it.

"hurt"

neither did KAT or Og Anonoby. the pistons whupped them, but the knicks were shorthanded. fun game to watch.

what's the pistons' rotation in the playoffs? who sits?

he is totally dominating the knicks bench in a 30 point game. 😉 but seriously, he looks good tonight for sure.

knicks also without half their starting lineup.

where's huerter?

mike brown looks confused. i guess that's normal considering there is a basketball game going on.

caris has made three good plays in a row. what is happening?

the knicks arent even close to making a shot. one brick or air ball after another. some wide open.

i turn this game on in time to see caris get cooked by JOSH HART. he is so bad. cade, otoh, is so very very good.

If skubal leaves i'll still root for him unless he goes to Boston or the White Sox, twins or indians. Then he can rot in hell. bu assuming he's a good person and wouldnt sully himself with the filth of those franchises and their repulsive fans, i'll pull for him. kind of like stafford. i'm glad he won an mvp and a super bowl if the lions couldnt win. i'll root for skubal to do well and will always consider him a tiger. but i do expect him to leave after this year, and i'm happy the tigers finally did something to bring him some extra help. now let's hope the tigers are in position to add a difference maker at the deadline this year and actually do it.

knicks injury report: Karl Anthony-Towns: Frightened

is cade/duren/ausar a championship core?

if there is a huge pool of players every year, the price per player will be lower. the superstars will get paid and most other people wont.

Lonzo is a bigger guard with experience. you dont have to cut jenkins. cut bobi or somebody equally as worthless at the end of the bench. the pistons arent going 13 deep in the playoffs.

how am i mocking the 97 win brewers? i'm holding up the 97 win small market brewers as an example of how the sky is not falling and small market teams can compete when they are run well, and that big market teams who spend money are often disasters, like the angels.

sure, and throwing out the sad sack pirates as an example of how smaller markets cant compete is not an argument that the system must be changed. move to nashville if you cant compete in pittsburgh. times change. rays, royals, brewers, indians, tigers, padres, twins. all have competed and won lots of games. more games than many well heeled organizations. yes, you have smaller margins for error. yes, you need to be better. i think that's ok. use the tools you have to your advantage. some organizations do it well. other organizations turn into the angels. again, i dont need to have every team spending the exact same amount of money, or to prevent teams from spending money in order to enjoy the game. parity is boring. why should the tigers have tarik skubal for life? why should the pirates get paul skeenes for eternity? because they were awful the year he was availble for them to "draft" and then immensely UNDERPAY for the next seven or eight years? nyah. the pirates have plenty of advantages when it comes to the modern game, the fact that they cant sign 30 year old outfielders, or re-sign one of the best talents in the game after having him for 1/3 to 1/2 of his career for next to nothing is not a problem, imo.

yeah who knows, the poor brewers might just have to go out and win 97 games again like last year. HOW WILL THE POOR BREWERS COMPETE?????

sign lonzo.

i dont know who is more upset that washington won this game, detroit or washington. beaten at home by a team TRYING TO LOSE, and duren gets hurt. this is the basketball gods smacking trajan langdon for sitting on his ass at the trade deadline.

ive been in insurance claims for 15 years, the plaintiff's bar is its own circle of hell.

its like that in every state. 😞