Dallas Mavericks: Did they tank too much or not enough?
By Reid Hanson
In light of recent comments from Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, the Mavs are under fire for ‘tanking’ some games last season. Was that wrong or not wrong enough?
Opinions are all over the place regarding how the Dallas Mavericks handled the 2016-17 NBA season. The idea of “tanking”, purposely losing games in order to gain a better draft position, is nothing new to pro sports.
The application of tanking, though, polarizes fans like no other. The purists believe it is a professional’s obligation to do everything necessary to win. Playing to lose does nothing more than teach players how to be losers.
This is all a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.
The realists see tanking more as a painful step to expedite the rebuilding process and maximize returns on a lost season. If you’re going to miss the playoffs you might as well miss big and cash in big. At the end of the day that’s the fastest way to get back to becoming a playoff team.
This is also a sentiment I believe in.
What is “Tanking”?
If it sounds like I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth then let me explain further – the devil is in the details. As Gil LeBrenton explained in his most recent article in the Star-telegram, it all starts with the definition of “tanking”.
Rick Carlisle managed a nearly unmanageable situation. He maintained the integrity of his program all while developing youth.
If tanking is a “deliberate attempt to lose”, then it’s a deplorable action and deserves league punishment. But if tanking is simply playing young guys so they can earn some on-the-job-training (like the Mavs did), then it’s wise, and frankly, commendable.
In Mark Cuban’s interview on the Dan Patrick Show, he admitted the Dallas Mavericks did the latter.
Still, NBA fans fell for the “click-bait” articles (as LeBrenton rightfully called them) that spawned off the interview and many are now calling for possible discipline.
What the Mavs did was compete as hard as they could all season. Once the season was lost, they favored their youth – but still tried to win. Does anyone honestly think Rick Carlisle would coach to lose? I think not.
The Mavs simply embraced the inevitable growing pains once they were eliminated from the playoffs.
Should the Mavs have tanked more?
Still, some have been scrutinizing the Mavs for not tanking enough. Kevin Sherrington over at DMN thinks so:
"“If there was any year for the Mavs to be bad, this was it. If only they’d been worse.”"
There’s some good logic to that. If the Mavs had committed to tanking from the start, they could be holding one of those all-important top-2 picks. Not No. 9.
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The Dallas Mavericks played it perfectly
You could say the Dallas Mavericks protected the culture of winning by playing the way they did. They made every effort to make the playoffs, even when we all knew it was a futile effort .
Only when they were eliminated did they change their game plan and play the young guys.
Even then, you could say they were playing to win. Look at the effort. Those kids were playing their hearts out.
Rick Carlisle managed a nearly unmanageable situation. He maintained the integrity of his program all while developing youth.
The byproduct was of that was losing but losing was not the objective but rather a likely outcome.
It would have been difficult for the Dallas Mavericks to have lost many more games and still been able to walk away with their heads held high. They could have played the veterans more down the stretch but that would have done nothing for the short-term (they were already eliminated) and been bad for the long-term (they would have fallen deeper in the lottery).
Next: Mavs Chat: Melo, the Draft, and Free Agency
Did the Dallas Mavericks tank too many games or not enough? You’ll find solid opinions on that everywhere and no matter how contrasting they may be, they’re all kinda correct. But the Mavs played it perfectly for both the short-term and long-term good of the franchise.