Well, no matter what the Sonics did last season, you had to know the experts wouldn't be fond of them this year. And, guess what, SI's picked them to finish 7th, and 2nd in the Northwest behind mighty Denver. I guess since the Nuggets played well in the 2nd half and the Sonics played well in the first, that means Denver is better, right? I missed the memo where it was revealed that Julius Hodge can shoot with either hand from 35 feet out. Whatever.As a side note, you've got to love SI's "Telling Number" about the Sonics. Apparently, Seattle ranked last in the league in assists last year, a telling indication the Sonics are not for real. After all, the league champ in assists was Sacramento, and we all know the Kings are much better than the Sonics, right?
8 comments:
Boy, this is the weakest preview I've seen from Sports Illustrated in, well, forever. Not because of where they pick the Sonics (though I disagree with it, of course), but because it's the flimsiest, lesat in-depth team-by-team preview I've ever seen.
Sadly for the Lakers, it looks like the leading candidate to be their starting PG is Smush Parker. And people think they're a playoff squad...
The Lakers released Conroy today. Looks like it's Smush-time in LA, baby!
Danny Fortson NEEDS to be traded!
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2002569620_soni19.html
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/245117_sonx19.html
At any rate, the most plausible scenerio regarding Fortson -- including any chance, no matter how small it may be, of acquiring Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics -- is that of trading him away to another ballclub for a player with a similar salary who has expiring contract (e.g., Indiana's Scott Pollard); consequently, it would allow the Supersonics to release the incoming player, which would thereby make room on the regular-season roster for shooting guard Alex Scales.
If Fortson's albatross of a contract were gone, then the regular-season roster -- along with minutes per game -- would most likely be the following:
C Vitaly Potapenko (12)
PF Reggie Evans (24)
SF Rashard Lewis (32)
SG Ray Allen (40)
PG Luke Ridnour (32)
C Mikki Moore (8)
C Robert Swift (NBDL)
C Johan Petro (NBDL)
PF Nick Collison (24)
PF Vladimir Radmanovic (28)
SF Damien Wilkins (16)
SG Ronald Murray (8)
SG Alex Scales (Inactive)
PG Rick Brunson (8)
PG Mateen Cleaves (8)
DannyF's right. No matter what anybody says, the one key ingredient to all great, non-Jordan teams is a strong presence at center.
In fact, you'd have to go back to the 70s to find a championship team without and all-star caliber C and/or PF (with the exception of the '88 Lakers, and they only had the highest scoring player in NBA history, Kareem, averaging 14.6 ppg). Paul Pierce ain't no center, and he ain't going to put us over the top, any more than he's put the Celtics over the top.
Huh? Well, D.F., you didn't properly read my scenerio; I suggest that you read it again.
In any case, if Rick Sund was to ever inquire about acquiring Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics, then Rashard Lewis would be the centerpiece of the deal.
Also, in any of my previous posts wherein I specifically outlined any situation concerning trade proposals, did I ever refer to Pierce as a center? Yeah, I didn't think so . . .
Ultimately, even though my ideas are somewhat far-fetched and idealistic, they are nevertheless plausible; I'm not a goddamn idiot.
Anyhow, that notwithstanding, the manner in which you attempted to refute my arguement was flat-out illogical. I will wholeheartedly agree, however, that the members of the Indiana Pacers front office most likely want nothing to do with Danny Fortson. Hell, who in their right mind would want Danny Fortson on their team? Answer: Nobody.
At any rate, Danny Fortson is a completely useless player. Fortson will, so long as he's on the roster, cause numerous problems this season; I have no doubt about it.
Anyway, in regards to the center position, both Vitaly Potapenko (who is still overpaid, as no other team would've probably offered him more than a one-year deal worth the veteran's minimum) and Mikki Moore -- along with Johan Petro and, especially, Robert Swift -- are pretty much worthless.
As it is, Vladimir Radmanovic will probably get a lot of the minutes in lieu of the abovementioned bums, while Reggie Evans and Nick Collison shift over from power forward to the post when Radmanovic is on the court.
Lastly, I'd almost rather have Calvin Booth around still instead of Danny Fortson, since Booth -- who has since been replaced by a quasi-clone in Moore -- was at least a team player who, on occassion, blocked his fair share of shots.
They, like me, realize that Johan Petro was the final piece of the puzzle to the championship.
In all reality, Robert Swift's closest equivalent in the NBA, oddly enough, is Curtis Borchardt.
Anyhow, Jeff Foster is a glass-pounding, close-range shooting (via offensive rebounds) power forward who plays center in Indiana due to the Pacers' lack of a true center -- 'xcept for second-year reserve David Harrison, who is practically a clone of Benoit Benjamin -- and has a totally different style of play than does Swift.
In the end, sadly, I predict that Swift will, just like Borchardt, be a complete and utter bust.
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