Seriously some of us started the cheering for losses way long time ago and when we did there were multitudes who lashed out at us. Now all of a sudden it's all good and losses are welcome? I thought It was wrong to root for your team to lose? I thought any Loyal fan would never root for losses? We aren't mathematically eliminated, so why am I seeing more happiness from almost everyone with each loss?

[Edited by - TrueBlue on 03-09-2008 8:50 PM]

Dude, wake up. Isiad-iot will probably only win 20 games. It's over.

I'm not happy because we will be in better draft position. I'm happy because Isiad-iot is getting everything he deserves! Vindication has arrived.

Posted by TMS:

i've long been an advocate of tanking games when it became clear the team had no hope of making any kind of playoff run... during the year Lebron was lated to come out i called for a tank of the season on another forum even before the season even began & got called a fake fan along w/Bip & a few others... this season i had the team losing 37 games & missing out on the playoffs even before the season began & they're even worse than i had imagined, so of course losing more games & finishing w/a better lottery pick is a much preferred outcome to another 2003 debacle where we end up w/the next Mike Sweetney rather than Lebron, Wade, Bosh or Melo... hell, i'd have preferred Darko Milicic over what we got... doesn't mean if you see the team playing hard, u don't also find yourself rooting for the W at times... i know i do... but in the big picture every loss is a good one for this franchise at this point.

[Edited by - TMS on 03-09-2008 6:17 PM]

I made the same case on another board myself about Lebron. No one thought it was even possible. I always try to think big. People just aren't motivated to think big and into the far future. It's always instant satisfaction and cheap quick moves that they think are going to save this franchise.

I say to each and everyone of you's. THINK BIG!!!

I tried it with Kobe. I tried it with Lebron. I even tried several years ago with Tim Duncan, but no one believes we can have true superstars on thsi team. I remember the big arguments about how Charlie Ward and Allan Houston where going to be our franchise players and now we know what they've become. I think we have to change our attitudes about winning and demanding more than we been getting over the years. I say to people here and on every board, stop with the cheap skate deals, stop with the sick management and wake up and see what we really can be.

The draft will never' save us. Do people realize that the best drafts we have ever had was Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier, Bill Cartwright and Patrick Ewing?! 60 years and that's the best we could do.

Totally agree.

Posted by arkrud:

Tanking is not fans problem.
It is NBA problem.
Look at NHL - only 3 teams out of 30 are with negative record with 13 games left.
And all but 3 temas can still make the play-offs.
NBA is the ultimate joke-league.

100% agree. I can't stand tanking but understand the climate of the league encourages it and has to be done. It needs to be addressed. Seeing Superstars/All-Stars(or any other players for the matter) be shutdown with 1/4 of the season left to play when season ticket holders have shelled out major coin is PURE GARBAGE. Not to mention maybe fans who planned or purchased tickets later in the season with the desire to see these guys play. ALso the idea the league should fix a lottery to help major market teams is also PURE GARBAGE. Where's has the INTEGRITY gone? I want the Knicks to get the #1 pick but not via GIMMICKS.

Travla, i feel u on that post & i don't think supporters should be dissed on these forums the way they are on a regular basis... ur right, it spoils the otherwise great exchange of opinions on this board that drew me here to begin with... i personally am rooting for losses because i think it would do more good for us to get a higher draft pick at this point than winning a few meaningless games down the stretch of a season where we won't be making the playoffs anyway, but i can respect the fact that you wanna stick to the ideology that losing on purpose won't ever win your respect.

it does annoy me when posters who believe such as you do (not saying you do this) will bash on anyone who's rooting for losses because they feel it's not the honorable thing to do or goes against the spirit of competition... the goal here is to win a championship, bottomline... will we achieve that faster by tanking games & getting the highest lottery pick we can in a lost season such as this, or will we get there faster by trying to win every game from here on out & finish on a high note even if we're pretty much guaranteed of not making the playoffs & finishing w/a mediocre pick in the draft by going that route?

Posted by Travla:

I don't and never will root for my team to lose. If they lose while playing hard, I can live with that. If they lose purposely, I have no respect for that.....from coaches, players or management. I have been a Knick fan for a long time and have watched them go thru terrible seasons, I have never rooted for loses. For those of you who want to do so, it is your choice/opinion. What has disappointed me about this site is that those who wish for losses want to force (sly remarks behind a positive post and the like) others to follow suit. Even the moderators have joined in with the negative banter. The last Game Thread was not even worth a "Sticky". I, too have had negative things to say about the play of this team. I'm down about the play/effort of this team but I am not down on the team. It's no fun to come here on game day/night and see that no one or very few people care and to witness the negative comments. I am sure there are still some who care but they stay away because the atmosphere of the forum has been poisoned.

I agree with you.
I hate current owner, current GM/coach, and 5-6 of main players of this team and I want them to lose and go to hell. From other hand I love the Knocks and want team to excel and win it all, be respected and enjoy success.
How you want me to combine this in a way I will be NICE guy?
Waiting for suggestions...

Why would you root for this team to win?

To get a lower lottery pick?

To have Isiah Thomas and James Dolan gloat and somehow be satisfied with their product?

To have the fans forget for a night how much they shill out for this garbage?

I cant think of a reason. If this team had a DIRECTION, I could imagine rooting for wins. But for now, the way it is, I hope they lose EVERY game until the end of the season. 20 game losing streak is fine with me. So Dolan and Isiah feel GREAT about their product.

Posted by metra:

Stop trying to bait people. 25% of UK wanted to tank probably only a month before 75%. A month isn't a significant amount of time for an "I told you so."

I would only give credit to anyone who wanted to tank right after the Randolph trade - before the season even started. I doubt anyone had that much foresight.

Dude there were quite a few in this mode as soon as the new yr came around. Where have you been? I was in "Tank Mode" as soon as they fell behind LB's pace of 9-21 from the 2005-2006 which was Jan 6 just a tad over 2 months ago not 1 month ago. The same reasoning now was used by us back then. The only difference is where our confidence in the team lied. I guess some knew it was a wrap a while ago, while others didn't want to believe.

Right now I am rooting for the develop of our young guys. Lee, Nate, Collins, Balkman, Morris, and Chandler should be getting the bulk of the minutes from here on out. If they win great, if they lose, at least they are getting experience against NBA-level competition. Plus, the hopefully next GM will need to have some idea of which of our young players are worth keeping or aletnatively, to get an accurate guage of their trade value, b/c I believe most of our young guys, except for Lee and maybe Nate, are valued below their actual potential right now. I still think tanking games is a baad strategy, but I do believe in focusing on developing the young guys when the season is over. But you still must coach them and prepare them to win each game.

Posted by TheGame:

Right now I am rooting for the develop of our young guys. Lee, Nate, Collins, Balkman, Morris, and Chandler should be getting the bulk of the minutes from here on out. If they win great, if they lose, at least they are getting experience against NBA-level competition. Plus, the hopefully next GM will need to have some idea of which of our young players are worth keeping or aletnatively, to get an accurate guage of their trade value, b/c I believe most of our young guys, except for Lee and maybe Nate, are valued below their actual potential right now. I still think tanking games is a baad strategy, but I do believe in focusing on developing the young guys when the season is over. But you still must coach them and prepare them to win each game.

I agree with everything you said and repeated several things you mentioned to TKF when he and I had this discussion about 2mos ago. I think when some fans say "Tank", those who are opposed to this so-called strategy aren't saying this in the full sense of it's meaning. It's pop-culture NBA Jargon used to express an extreme course of action which will better the teams future. In no way am I in favor of giving DNP's to relatively healthy players, shutting down players with 1/4 or 1/3 of the season left to play who are part of your core and system, or blowing leads down the stretch of a game with shotty play calling, or putting line-ups out on the floor that are serious red flags to in game match-ups. As you said though I would have thrown the towel in so-to-speak on making the playoffs back in January and told my starters your playing time will be decreased because you simply don't care enough to execute with maximum effort for 48min. I would have focused more on developing the younger players, I would have tried a few extra schemes and sets for various players to see what their limitations and abilities were. Once Marbury went AWOL, there would have been no team vote, he would have been perma-benched and would've had to earn his way back into the rotation. Crawford would have been named definite pg starter with Nate as the starting 2 in the back court, and Chan and Mardy would have received at the very minimum 12min/gm in the month of November. I don't like what I'm seeing now with Zach, Craw, and Curry in complete shutdown mode.