tanks, but no tanks... or maybe?

It's that time of year again.

While the college game is heating up (whoops, I guess I need to start paying attention to that for bracket busters), teams in the pro circuit face the stretch run. Aside from the wild playoff run in the west, which changes seemingly everyday (the Rockets are 3rd now???) there are a few teams in the east that are facing a slightly different challenge:

to tank or not to tank?

People have debated for years (notably Simmons) the merits and risks of mailing it in for the season. I write this now on the heels of two key events: the Sixers improbably making a playoff run and the Heat shutting down Dwyane Wade for the rest of the season (thanks, to you and Jermaine O'Neal, you were only the cornerstones of my fantasy team, it's okay, I still have John Salmons... jerks...). Two teams facing the challenge and taking opposite actions for it. How will this play out?

Actually, I don't think you can fault the Heat for this. They tried this year. They really did. They just failed miserably. They even made a late trade to give them veteran help (though, you could argue that anyone who trades for Ricky Davis is going for a disaster... maybe it was a conspiracy by Pat Riley all along?). Wade hasn't been playing great and they tried to win with him. They don't want him to get hurt for the long term, and they can't possibly make the playoffs. It's not pretty, but I think this is one of the more forgivable tank jobs. They do need to look at some young guys.

As for Pat Riley taking games off to scout.... umm.... shouldn't he resign as coach if he just wants to be the G.M.? It would be nice if he had a successor in place - oh wait, he did... three years ago, and then he pushed him off a cliff. Maybe we shouldn't forgive them.

Now, as for the hometown team, I openly campaigned for them to lose this year. And last year. I like Thaddeous Young, and he's been great.... but I'd still rather have Horford or Durant. This year, I thought they should dump Andre Miller for picks and young guys. But now? I'm getting on board. They're playing well, and they don't seem to have much competition for the last two spots. In fact, if they just go .500 from now on, they could make it easily. It's nice for a franchise that everyone thought was dead about a year ago.

But is it the best option? They look like they're having fun and raising the positive vibes in the city, which is always a good thing. There's even a distinct chance that they will make the playoffs and the Nuggets (with Iverson) won't, which might be seen as poetic justice if it didn't underscore just how unbalanced the conferences are. I can't blame them. They need some good news.

The rest of the teams in the East? Perhaps not. They all seem to be treading water. Atlanta is the only team that feels any pressure, because they don't have their pick, and they traded a lot for Bibby to win now. Chicago is in a weird state, Indiana has too many injuries, Charlotte has injuries and needs more people, and Jersey has to be thinking about the future without Kidd. Milwaukee needs an enforcer to be serious, and they need to maybe move some people (and hire Simmons to light a fire under this depressing franchise). Atlanta and Philly have the most to gain from making the playoffs, so I'd encourage the other teams to step aside.

[The sad thing about the east this year is that it's bad even when teams tried to be good. All those teams I just mentioned were not in rebuilding mode at the start of the season; they all wanted to make the playoffs. The Knicks and the Heat did, too. All of them would feel a little better with a playoff appearance, but none of them can seem to put anything together. Compare that to the west, where the bad teams at least knew they'd be bad and have young teams with plans for the future. This imbalance might be around for a while....]

So why tank this year? Because the west is so good, the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs could be worth three spots in the draft. We know that a very good team is getting shur out of the playoffs, like Denver or Golden State. It also appears that Sacramento and Portland are going to finish around .500. So, the last team out in the east will still get the 11th pick, most likely. In that cluster of teams, you might not think it matters who finishes where, but it could.

Right now, the 11 worst teams in order are the Heat, Wolves, Grizzlies, Sonics, Knicks, Clippers, Bucks, Pacers, Bobcats, Bulls, and Nets. After the Clippers, those last 5 teams are all within 3 games of each other. Why is this important? It's been a trend for years in the lottery that the worst team does not get the first pick - in fact, that rarely happens. Often, it's a team from the middle of the pack, like the 5th, 6th, or 7th worst team. Last year, none of the teams with the three worst records made it to the top three picks - Portland and Seattle lucked in with middle-lottery finishes.

Thus, my advice to those eastern teams who think they could sneak in and get killed by the Celtics: stop. Being the 7th worst team in the league is a nice position this year. I'd rather be there than be the 8th seed in the playoffs, quite honestly. There are only 7 or 8 guys that are really getting buzz in this draft; after that, it's a toss up. Plus, you might have a good shot at getting a high pick. Yes, I'm telling all of you not named Philly or Atlanta to think about the ol' tanker. Trust me, it's not such a bad idea this year.