Tanking

There's been a lot of talk about "tanking" lately, especially now since it's playoff race time. "Tanking" means to purposely lose games so that a team can get a higher draft pick. The Knicks have been accused of it recently and their actions were obvious. Two nights ago, they were in a close game with the Pacers... a tie at 83. With several minutes left in the 4th quarter, they benched Jamal Crawford, their leading scorer and best 4th quarter player. They also benched Zach Randolph, their second best player. They ended up losing by double-digits as Indiana made a big "4th quarter run."

The Bulls are also having a terrible season. It would be easy for them to "tank it" and fake some injuries. They don't have a real coach and they keep getting into team slumps. But they're preserving the integrity of the game by still playing hard. They play every minute... otherwise they wouldn't be squeezing out wins. Their young guys know that they need to build up a good reputation so they're giving it their best for the minutes they receive. Honestly, it's unlikely that they'll inch into the 8th seed. You can't do that by winning 1 game for every 2 losses. But I believe in fighting until the very end. The 8th seed doesn't even mean much other than a 1st round sweep by the Celtics.

Teams that get caught "tanking" should get penalized in the draft and those that play hard should get bonus points. I know it would be hard to regulate something like that, but that's the way it should be. Players get paid to play no matter how bad their record is. They make more money than the average person. So they should always play hard.