Poll: Would you rather the Celtics get the 8-seed or finish with a bottom five record in the league?

To tank, or not to tank, that is the question

Nothing gets people more fired up than the tanking debate. There are those who can bite the bullet and root for a season of losing, knowing it increases the odds of the franchise getting an elite talent in the draft. Then there are those who cannot bring themselves to root for it, but do admit that losing is in the best interest of the team's future. And then there's a third group, who refuse to even consider the notion that losing, even for a season, is the way to go. They want wins, they want a playoff appearance, and they want the young players to get acclimated to winning basketball games.

Of course, in our case, we're talking about the Celtics. The debate has been raging since the moment that KG and Pierce were shipped to Brooklyn, and isn't about to stop any time soon.

For awhile, the Cs were outplaying just about everyone's projections, reaching a high water mark of 12-14, and owning the 4-seed in an awful Eastern Conference. But lately, Boston has been playing more like the 28 win team Vegas predicted them to be, losing 11 of their last 12 to fall to 13-25 this season. That record has re-invigorated the pro-tank crowd (and for the sake of this article and all of my articles, tanking is merely losing, not throwing games or anything. I like the term "sucking" better, as I always viewed tanking as losing on purpose, but everyone else just uses tanking synonymously with losing, so I'm just going with that), as the Celtics now find themselves owners of the 5th worst record in basketball.

With that in mind, I wanted to test the waters and see where Celtics fans stand in terms of their rooting interests. What are you rooting for these final 44 games? Losing? Winning? Are you confused which way to lean? Let's have a vote.




Now let's take it a step further, you are deciding what happens with the Celtics, and you have two options. Option #1, the Celtics finish with a bottom five record in basketball, and are locked into a top eight pick in the draft. Could be first overall, and will very likely be in the top six, with a small chance it's 7th or 8th. Option #2, the Celts get the 8-seed in the playoffs. Once they get to the playoffs you no longer control what happens, maybe they shock the world, or much more likely, they get bounced very quickly.




And just to make it a little more difficult, let's now switch option #2 from the 8-seed, to a division title and the 4-seed. Option #1 remains the same.




Personally I went with: rooting for losses (although I'm pretty tepid with it, not upset when they win, just would rather a loss), Option #1, Option #1. The 8-seed is a first round destruction by Indy or Miami, and the 4-seed is the same thing in the second round. Neither gets me all that excited. This is Boston, and these are the Celtics. I want to see them build a championship (or at least near championship) caliber team, and there are guys in this draft that make that FAR more realistic. I want them. I need them.

Explain your answers in the comments, and both sides of the argument - play nice.

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