What’s worse: underperforming or tanking?
Tanking can be freeing. The stakes are low. You’re expected to lose. There’s something quite Zen about watching your team and not placing stock in the result.
Underperforming comes with an incredible amount of frustration. The team isn’t playing as well as you would like. It’s always difficult to understand why. If there was one reason, it could be addressed (with the players, through game strategy, a trade, etc.). But usually, there are several reasons that conspire to throw a potential contender off course.
Rockets fans have dealt with some frustrating seasons over the last couple of years, but none were necessarily underperforming.