Monday, November 15

The True Test, version 8

"It's early."

There should be a way to bet on when it is officially okay to stop saying that.

Each time the Sonics win, everyone has to revise their "True Test" criteria ("The True Test of this team's character will be apparent when they...")

Witness the team's past performance in previous True Tests:
  • ...Play a team they should beat at home. Pass: Win 106-85 vs. ATL
  • ...Play the San Antonio Spurs. Pass: Win 113-94
  • ...Play the Sacramento Kings. Pass: Win 108-78
  • ...Play on the road. Pass: Win 108-88 @ DEN. Double bonus points for winning in the second of a back-to-back!
  • ...Have a close/poor shooting game. Pass: Win 88-87
  • ...Get down big/early. Pass: Win 118-113 vs. MEM
and so on...

Tomorrow's True Test: Go On The Long-Ass East Coast Road Trip. SURELY this six-games-in-10-days stretch will expose the Sonics as pretenders, eh, doubters? Everyone's got their "I told you so's" in their back pockets, ready to whip out when the Sonics streak ends in Philly or Toronto.

And if by some miracle the Sonics pass this test, we've got these Future True Tests ready to go:
  • Do the Texas Three-Step
  • Hit the January Dog Days
  • Lose a star to injury
  • Get their team bus bombarded by radioactive meteors
  • Are featured on a Sports Illustrated cover (won't happen)
The beauty of the True Test is you can just keep coming up with more and no one, our Supersonicsoulselves included, ever, ever has to go on record saying the Sonics are any good and risk having to retract some ludicrous statement like...

"Seattle SuperSonics: NBA Champs 2004-2005!"

I bet Pistons fans would have been pegged as crazy if they said anything like that about their team this time last year. Just sayin'...

5 comments:

PN said...

I'll be the first to admit that I'm as much of a pessimist as I am a Sonics fan. That being said, a few facts:

2003-04 Sonics: Started the season 5-1, including wins against Blazers, T-Wolves (on the road), and the Bucks (on the road) ... then lost 5 of the next 7.

2002-03 Sonics: Started the season 8-2, including wins against the Jazz, Rockets (road), Heat (road), and Kings ... then lost 8 of the next 11.

There is a common denominator for the past three seasons: the Sonics start the season well. Should we enjoy it while it lasts? Of course; I love the way Fortson's play has rubbed on the rest of the team, the way Ray Allen has grasped the leadership role, how Rashard Lewis has discovered how to rebound, and the improved play of Frodo.

My point isn't that the Sonics will inevitably collapse, although I think they will. My point is to show that the reason the Sonics are winning isn't because of hustle or smart ball-handling or any of the other crap commentators love to trot out. They're winning because other teams are shooting poorly at the line, a freakish rebounding differential that is impossible to maintain, Ray Allen's unconscious 3-point shooting, and the Sonics improved ability to get to the stripe.

I'll put it this way: Anyone want to take my bet that Ray Allen will NOT hit 60% from 3-point range for the season and the Sonics will NOT continue to outrebound their opponents by 8 a game?

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chunkstyle23 said...

I, too, know better than to get too excited at this stage. But I have set up my tent at Camp Enjoy It While You Can and I'm making myself at home.

Anonymous said...

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