t96

We have more than enough holes that picking 4, 5 or 6 really doesn't matter. If Rhule is involved in making the pick there's a good chance it's a bust anyways. If not, I trust Fitterer/new HC to pick the right player at any of those 3 slots. And realistically NYG and NYJ are not winning next week so it won't matter one bit and we'll be picking 6 win or lose. So let's fuging kick their pansy asses.

How does losing get us closer?

Screw the Bucs, let's beat their asses and send them down to the 4th seed and a 1 and done in the playoffs against the Cardinals. If we can't drop below 6 and would need some serious luck to move up to 5 or 4 then I'll take the win this week if we can possibly get it.

Borrego's results in player development lately speak for themselves and I completely trust what he's doing with Bouknight. Bouk has a ways to go and easing him into it will be great for him in the long term. Everything is going according to plan with him.

I'm no x's and o's expert but it does seem our biggest issue defensively is a lack of a rim protector. Borrego is trying to scheme around that by having the guards and wings play off of their guys a bit and try to help defend under the basket but that leaves shooters open for 3s or space to drive the basket if the other team passes well. We really struggle against teams who have great ball movement. Also, outside of LaMelo, who still has work to do defensively, our guards and wings aren't that lengthy anyways. An elite rim protector would go a long way but I still am not that confident in our other players' ability to defend such that I'd be comfortable with that being the only move. Ideally this roster looks quite a bit different in the next few years: PG: Melo ; depth that can run an offense and defend. SG: Rozier ; Bouknight SF: Bridges ; veteran 3&D like an Iguodala or Seth Curry, Danny Green, etc. (Cody Martin has played well in this role so far this year though so I'm happy with him for now) PF: Above average defender like a Draymond Green light ; depth that can score a bit C: Elite rim protector (Myles Turner ideally/realistically) ; depth that can score a bit (a guy like Plumlee or Zeller would fit fine as our backup) That is much easier said than done but I think a trade around PJ and/or Hayward for Turner would be a great start. I do like our prospects in the pool already in McDaniels, Kai, Thor, Richards, etc. but they all have a long way to go and I'll be happy if just 1 of them can fill one of those critical roles in the next few years.

Proven winner in the NFL. It’s a no brainer if he’d be willing to come here.

Tepper may have come to this board before but if he's still been coming here in the last few months then he's got a serious masochism issue.

This team isn't even close to being where it needs to be. Mitch has his work cut out for him the next 1-2 years, we badly need to put together a good enough team around LaMelo to convince him to stay here. He says all the right things but if we keep sucking he's as good as gone. Start by getting a center and some player who can frigging defend.

It's not a misconception at all. It's just weighing the possible reward of getting a higher seed vs. the possible risk of players getting hurt/not giving banged up guys more rest to heal. We've seen plenty of coaches in the past decide to rest some starters even when seeding is up for grabs if there wasn't a bye in play.

You're kind of right. The Packers have officially clinched the 1 seed and most importantly the only bye in the NFC. We've seen coaches in the past rest starters even when seeding is up for grabs when the division isn't on the line and playoff byes aren't on the line. I didn't expect the Bucs to sit starters since that's not Arians' or Brady's MO, but they really are only playing for seeds 2-4 which some coaches may not see as mattering at all and not worth adding injuries to their already injured group. If a bye was up for grabs 100% you play for that, but there is a point where the potential benefits outweigh the injury risks, especially for a team like the Bucs who are already hurting all throughout their lineup.

Rhule/Brady/Nixon honestly make Mike Shula look like a Hall of Fame offensive coordinator.

Didn't play enough of a role to be picked over Shaq but yeah he was phenomenal in his limited role on ST and defense. Nice pickup, hopefully we can keep him around and expand his role.

Nobody really stands out. I guess Shaq or Reddick make the most sense. No one on offense or ST is even in the running and no one else on D had any consistency. Horn or McCaffrey if not for injuries would be up there.

We all thought this years ago... There are teams out there that will do anything to win, including betting on Brown behaving just well enough and contributing enough for a month or so to help bring them a SB, and they will view the risk as worth it/think they can handle him despite other teams not being able to.

On another note, his outburst along with Godwin's injury pretty much screws the Bucs playoff chances. Evans and Gronk are fine but nothing to write home about and their D really isn't good, they just let Wilson light them up and he has sucked all year. Bucs have barely scraped by and gotten lucky against some bad teams, I can't see them beating teams like the Rams, Packers, Cowboys, etc. in the playoffs. If Brown had his head on straight and Godwin were healthy they'd have a chance in any shootout with that OL and those weapons but without those 2 their biggest team strength is now merely average

I bet a team like the Chiefs or Packers or Rams picks him up for a playoff run.

Yes and no. Completely uninvested in the team at this point but with no clear franchise QB in this draft making draft position less important I would've liked to eliminate the Aints from playoff contention. They probably don't make it anyways so it'll likely be fine but I fuging hate them and would've enjoyed knocking them out in their own house.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

I don't want Rhule having a say in what QB we draft though. He's allowed Teddy and Sam to be the "answer" the past 2 years, he's lost all trust when it comes to QB decisions.

I don't think people realize how much better NFL teams are than the best college teams. Even the guys at the bottom of our below-average roster were absolute studs in college. We would absolutely demolish Alabama easily. Yes we suck in the NFL but college and pro are like 2 different universes.

FWIW Jimmy Johnson came straight from college and went 8-24 in his first 2 seasons before winning a couple SBs... Granted, he also improved by 6 wins year 1 to year 2, Rhule has declined from year 1 to year 2.

We do but he's played like 5 games the last 2 years...

Lure him out of retirement with insane money for a couple years to overhaul our OL and develop young coaches under him for the future. This guy is the greatest OL coach in the history of the league (arguably greatest position coach ever) and consistently coached average/subpar players into being top 5-10 OL units. Unsung hero of the cheaters dynasty in NE and one of the main reasons Brady is considered a future hall of famer -- always had a ton of time in the pocket his entire career with Scarnecchia in NE (then shocker he picks TB who has a stacked OL too over other teams and continues to have success). Seriously, this guy can change an entire team's fortunes, especially one like ours that already has a rock solid defense in place. Tepper should make it happen, and make his first good move as an owner in the NFL because nothing else he's done has been good at all.

Honestly though is D enough of an issue that Snow needs to be replaced? I don't really think so. We have some holes and weaknesses there but with the offensive not being able to stay on the field for more than like 1-3 minutes at a time, the D is put in as tough of a spot as they possibly can be and they still rank very well in most categories. Rhule sucks but Snow and the D have been fine. Situational coaching, halftime adjustments, etc. have been a huge issue for Rhule. In theory an experienced successful OC with head coaching experience could come in and help Rhule with that and give the offense life but I don't know who that would be and that's just in theory. In reality it likely won't matter.

Almost zero chance of that. We could beat NO if they're the scrub they're starting tomorrow sucks and starts next week too, hopefully Taylor Hillsom is back by then so he can run through our "run D."