[fearless]

This is critical to decide because New Orleans is -1.5 at Milwaukee today. If Bill Simmons is right, New Orleans would be a great bet today. What do you think?

Milwaukee has lost six in a row. Bill Simmons is convinced they're tanking on purpose and he's said, "If gambling were legal, I'd be wagering against the Celtics and Bucks for the rest of the season." and "The Bucks will not win another game this season"

This is pretty shocking evidence here (from a Bill Simmons article):

"I don't know if you saw any of the Bucks/Mavs game last night, but if you want a FANTASTIC example of tanking, there you go. Michael Redd was having one of his crazy hot nights, and was 14-18 from the field with 34 points when he was subbed with :33 left in the third. The Bucks were up 82-77. Redd then sits on the bench until 4:35 left to go in the fourth quarter! He gets one more shot the entire quarter, and the Mavs win 105-103. Oh, and in spite of how hot Redd was, and the fact that he is their $90 million star player, he's not their go to guy in the fourth (that's some dude named Ersan Ilyasova -- who had two turnovers in the final minute). Don't get me wrong; I'm a Mavs fan, and I'm glad we won (the fact that that was our 60th win is overshadowing the tanking), but seriously! You're not even trying to hide it!"

He's right. The Bucks will not win another game this season -- they'll cripple Michael Redd like Kathy Bates hobbled James Caan in "Misery" if they have to. Just look around the league. Ray Allen isn't coming back. Neither is Joe Johnson. Charlotte is "resting" its big guys. Minnesota pretty much threw the Sonics game two night ago. And so on and so on. Everyone's pushing their chips into the middle of the lottery table.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/page...chName=simmons

[babaoriley]

Rainbow, I've already faded the Bucks the last two games and covered this in a couple threads. The players will try to win. The front office will try to put the players in position to lose. I'm fading the Bucks again, tonight, though smaller plays when they are at home.

Yes, it's key for gambling purposes and yes, Milwaukee is tanking (though that doesn't mean they'll necessarily lose out--if they have a draft position locked up, there's no need to tank. Follow the standings closely.

[fearless]

Rainbow, I've already faded the Bucks the last two games and covered this in a couple threads. The players will try to win. The front office will try to put the players in position to lose. I'm fading the Bucks again, tonight, though smaller plays when they are at home.

Yes, it's key for gambling purposes and yes, Milwaukee is tanking (though that doesn't mean they'll necessarily lose out--if they have a draft position locked up, there's no need to tank. Follow the standings closely.

Thanks for that. Excellent analysis, imho. About that info about how games are fixed, it doesn't always work like that theory, obviously. What I've noticed is that when a team is hot or really expected to win, it does work like that though. Today was a good day for the theory (all these teams apparently followed suit, so far):

Washington Wizards
Detroit Pistons
San Antonio Spurs
Phoenix Suns

If anyone wants the theory, they can PM me.