bartshan-83 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I know this is off-topic since it revolves around basketball, but I thought it might be relevant since there is a contingent of people who seem to think no good comes out of a bad team winning and hurting its draft stock. Elton Brand just signed with the Sixers and I watched his press conference. He was offered more money from a different team as well as numerous other perks that the Sixers couldn't match. But when they asked him what the main reason he came to Philly was, he said that he took notice of how well they played in the 2nd half of last season and how the young core group of players fought for every inch. He said he respected how they dug deep with holes on their roster and gutted out a great end of the season and scratched their way into the playoffs. He said he felt if they could do that the way they were, then he felt his presence could really push them far. Now I know the situations are a little different. The Sixers ended up making the playoffs barely, so its not totally analogous to a 4-9 team gutting out 2 or 3 wins at the end of a season. But the lesson remains the same. Players take note of how other teams respond to adversity and how their character and toughness comes out. Fans might just see 1 or 2 "meaningless" wins at the end of a losing season as just a way to screw up the chance to get that "perfect" draft pick that would have been available. But the impact on potential FAs and just on league-wide player awareness cannot be measured with numbers. Players take pride in how well they play despite the cynical perception that they could care less as they laugh all the way to the bank. Just something to maybe think about next time you're about to complain because our team "screwed up" by gutting out a few "meaningless" wins at the end of a losing campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I pray that The Bills go 0-16 next year so they get to pick the #1 player in next year's draft. By the way, who is it that Mel says is #1 this week? Deluca, where are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biglukes Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 And I doubt that the extra few mil less out of the what 80+ he got is going to hurt him much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPicc2114 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Difference is... the sixers made the playoffs The Bills havent made it since 99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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