Tennessee girls teams banned from post season for tanking

[Bad Zebra]

http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commen...ned-postseason

Interesting story. Note how game officials reports were factored into penalties.

[mutantducky]

reminded me of the Olympic story


http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/stor...-tanking-games

[jeremy341a]

How would winning the game make them end up playing a better team than losing? How does that tournament work?

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by jeremy341a

How would winning the game make them end up playing a better team than losing? How does that tournament work?

I was wondering that too -- form a local paper:

"By losing the consolation game, Riverdale was placed in the opposite side of the Region 4-AAA from defending state and national champion Blackman. The Lady Warriors wouldn't meet Blackman until the region finals had both teams advanced. Both region finalists advance to the state sectionals."

http://www.tennessean.com/story/spor...ason/23889277/

Looks like they were both going on to the next level playoffs, and their place would determine which part of the bracket they ended up in.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by jeremy341a

How would winning the game make them end up playing a better team than losing? How does that tournament work?

Winner was going to be the 4th seed, loser the 5th. It was merely going to prolong the inevitable give them a better shot at getting 2nd place, I guess.

Funny, if only one team had done it, no one would have likely caught on.

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by Adam

Winner was going to be the 4th seed, loser the 5th. It was merely going to prolong the inevitable give them a better shot at getting 2nd place, I guess.

Funny, if only one team had done it, no one would have likely caught on.

If I'm reading it right, they cared about that because the second place team would go on to the state finals.

[Pantherdreams]

If they feel like they are the 2nd best team and only want to play the top team again in the final to take their shot then they have to ensure they are on the opposite side of the bracket.

Happens a lot in our high school playoffs where being 4 in the southwest send you with the 2 seed to play the 1 and 4 in the north east for playdowns to the final. SW traditionally stronger and 1 seeds host. so being 2 and 4 means you will most likely be playing on a neutral floor against each other to proceed to finals. Where as 3 in the SW will have to play 1 on the neutral floor. Not so much a problem with format as a disparity between NE and SW regions.

Should point out not as blatantly as in the video. No intentional violations or missed shots. But suddenly nicked up starters get the game off, players don't play to avoid getting hurt in the next round. Teams start working on new tactics and getting players "playoff experience".

[Rich]

One and out here. Seems much simpler.

[JRutledge]

Everyone makes the playoffs here. And if you are a lower seed, you play a higher seed. It is simple. This system sounds silly.

Peace

[SNIPERBBB]

Here in ohio playoff seeding for most sports depends on where your fellow coaches vote you to at the sectional meetings. Record,schedule, etc don't matter.

[WDEvol]

It works like this: top 4 teams from each district tournament advance to the regional tournament. Top seed from District 1 plays #4 team from District 2, and so forth. Then, the champion and runner-up from each regional tournament play in a sub-state game. Champion of Region 1 hosts runner-up from Region 2; R1 champ hosts R2 runner-up. Winner goes to Murfreesboro for the state tournament.

In this scenario, the top team in the district (Blackman) was the top team in the state. The No. 4 seed from the same district would not have to face Blackman until the regional final, if they made it that far. Then, even if they lost, they would get to play a sub-state game and still have a chance to get to the state tournament.

A team could theoretically lose three times in the postseason - district semifinal, district consolation game, regional championship game - and still win the state title. Perhaps this incident will cause the TSSAA to revisit the way they structure the basketball postseason. Problem is, the state makes way too much money off all these extra tournament games to change much of anything.

[crosscountry55]

I've worked in seven states and not one has had a similar playoff and seeding system. C'est la vie; you abide by the rules you're given.

I will say this: If TSSAA has a bylaw that states outright a determination of a team intentionally trying to lose is grounds for a post-season ban, then I'm all for that. This may have been the case here. If so, I'm ok with the result.

If not, they (and all state associations, for that matter) need to encode such a bylaw ASAP. That will stop this kind of thing.

Also, not to excuse the teams, but shame on TSSAA for having an established playoff seeding system that rewards a loser. Fix that. Winning should provide better seeding. Period. If that didn't happen here, shame on TSSAA.

[bainsey]

Originally Posted by crosscountry55

Also, not to excuse the teams, but shame on TSSAA for having an established playoff seeding system that rewards a loser. Fix that. Winning should provide better seeding. Period. If that didn't happen here, shame on TSSAA.

I think any league that thinks a team won't expose a long-term benefit through losing is being naïve.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by bainsey

I think any league that thinks a team won't expose a long-term benefit through losing is being naive.

Draft choices. Wait? I'm being told ... What? Not the Knicks? High school? Never mind.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by bainsey

I think any league that thinks a team won't expose a long-term benefit through losing is being naïve.

I'm guessing it happens far more often than they think. They just don't notice because it never involved both teams doing it at the same time.