tank #2

いよいよシーズン開幕を迎えるアメリカバスケットボールリーグNBA。CNNにあった今季の展望から英語表現を拾います。
今回採り上げるのはtank(ing)。過去にも「(くだけて)大失敗する, へまをやる」という意味をUG先生が採り上げられていますが，加えて「〈試合〉にわざと負ける」という意味があります（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）。ここでは「誰がみてもわかるような（意図的な）敗戦」と解釈できます。（Koyamamoto）

cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20131229/1388297675

NBA 2015-16: 10 big predictions for the new season (plus the winner)
How will year two of Phil Jackson's Knicks reign -- and his first-round pick Kristaps Porzingis -- pan out?
Jackson earned 11 championship rings as a coach and two more as a player. This does not automatically qualify him as a capable NBA executive, however. Coaching and managing player rosters under the complicated NBA salary cap are two very different skill sets, as Jackson has come to find out (perhaps he will reconsider his fractious relationship with the late Bulls GM Jerry Krause).
His first season in charge was an exercise in ditching bloated contracts and outright tanking for a chance at one of the coveted top-two draft picks. And although the Knicks secured their worst season in franchise history (17-65), the draft lottery was unkind to them at No. 4.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/27/sport/nba-2016-preview-golden-state-cleveland-basketball/index.html