Anyone else catch this quote from Bob Weiss after Thursday night’s loss to the Clippers?
"I'm looking for a lot more balance. We need a consistent third scorer." (courtesy Seattle Times)
With less than a week to go before the start of the regular season, this isn’t the sort of quote you’d hope to hear from a team that expects to contend for the upper half of the playoffs. Even more telling, it comes a big slap in the face to one Vladimir Radmanovic, the guy who wanted $50 million, settled for $3 million, and now hopes to prove this season that he’s worth more than $50 million. Got all that? Well, here’s how the $50 million man has done, game-by-game, in the preseason:
DNP
16 min., 6 pts, 1/5 from field
17 min., 10 pts, 2/7
22 min., 8 pts., 2/5
21 min., 5 pts, 2/6
32 min., 2 pts, 1/6
19 min., 1 pt, 0/3
In a total of 127 minutes, Radman has scored the grand total of 32 points. Folks, that’s 10 points per 40 minutes, a ridiculously bad average for a guy whose function is to score.
Is it rustiness? Not likely, considering Radman spent the summer losing the European championships. Is he tired? Possibly, but he’s not going to get a chance to rest until spring, so that doesn’t do us any good, either.
No, I think Weiss is right. Radman is a maddeningly frustating player, capable of scoring 25 in 29 minutes on Tuesday, and following it up with 5 points on 2 of 12 shooting the next. Let’s all pray the good Radman decides to show up in at least 60% of Seattle’s games this year.
15 comments:
i think we need to do a write-off. vlad rad is a sonics version of timmy thomas or rodney rodgers
-fp
While I hate writing off guys as young as Vlad, I too have had similar leanings. My problems with Vlad are that he still hasn't figured out a way to consistantly get points without spotting up. While he's improved his ability to drive with the ball, he's still marginal at that aspect of the game. He has practically no post-up game, and of course is a black hole on defense.
I think the truth of the matter for the Sonics is that they don't have a traditional third scorer. What they do have are a number of guys who can serve as a third scorer on any given night. Vlad, Luke, Nick, Omen, DFort...any of those guys can give them 15 points any given night.
Lets hope that Collison or Ridnour becomes that 3rd guy... if Collison could come in and be a consistent 12pt scorer, that would bode very well for this team all year long.
During the run in '96, Det rarely got over 16 pts a game, but ALWAYS got at least 11. You could set your watch to it.
I know we are asking Luke to do a lot right now, but the guy never backs down from a challenge. I know he will up his scoring average this year. Questions is: will it be enough?
It'll be curious to see how Ridnour develops. One of the players basketball-reference.com deems most similar to Ridnour at this point in his career is Fat Lever.
Like Ridnour, Lever was/is not a big guy (6'4", 170 to Frodo's 6'3" 175). The crazy thing is that in his third year in the league, Lever moved to Denver (from Portland), and became a rebounding dynamo, averaging about 9 a game - AS A 6'4" GUARD.
I'll type that again, Lever was averaging close to a triple double. Now, alot of that is due to Doug Moe's high-scoring offense that generated way more rebound opportunities than Lever saw in Portland.
Regardless, the point I'm trying to make is that there is no clear definition of where Ridnour is headed. Unlike Lever, Ridnour takes alot of 3's, which brings his FG % to a rather lousy 41%. Like Lever, Ridnour is a good ballhandler. Unlike Lever, Ridnour is a phenomenal FT shooter (Fat was very good, but not like Frodo).
I don't think it is likely Luke Ridnour will average 18 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists this year. I do, however, think he can get close to 12 ppg, with around 8 assists and a few boards. To me, that's enough.
Well, the other problem with Vlad is that he's playing out of position. He should be a three, just not on this team.
Vlad's problem has always been that he's a mental baby.
Couple of interesting pieces of information from espn's NBA preview:
1. Apparently, the Warriors, Lakers, and Bucks will finish ahead of Seattle this year. This proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Marc Stein is a complete and utter imbecile.
2. Luke Ridnour was the 33rd-best PG in the league last year, ranking behind Gary Payton, Earl Boykins, Mike James, and Dan Dickau. Um, yeah.
3. Larry Hughes was better than Ray Allen last year.
It's funny, but in Stein's comment about the Sonics, he justifies his placement of them by mentioning that "Seattle's frontcourt rotation was a huge key last season ... but James is gone."
Let's see, on Stein's own web site, John Hollinger ranked Jerome James as the 58th-best center in the league last year. Among the players ranked higher were Brian Grant, Shawn Bradley, Francisco Elson, Etan Thomas, and Melvin Ely.
Just so I understand correctly, last year, the Sonics made the playoffs and advanced to the 2nd round because of Jerome James? The same JJ who is the 3rd-string C in NY? The same JJ who averaged 5 points a game? The same JJ who averaged 16 minutes a game?
I tell you, it drives a man crazy.
Of course, Larry Hughes had a high profile signing with an "it" team this offseason so obviously he's better now, come on.
Same for JJ. Of course all of us here know that you can pull a 7 foot dude off the street and teach him to be as good as JJ in a month, but those who only saw the couple of good games he played vs. the 6'8" centers of Sacramento last year somehow think this guy is anything other than worthless.
The following are random thoughts concerning the NBA:
Seattle Supersonics GM Rick Sund has seemingly made the right decision by not re-signing Vladimir Radmanovic to a multi-year deal; Radmanovic will probably/hopefully be gone after this season.
Damien Wilkins has forced Radmanovic out of the reserve minutes behind Rashard Lewis at small forward, which thereby negates his usefulness.
Sund has seemingly made the wrong decision by re-signing Vitaly Potapenko and signing Mikki Moore to two-year deals; I'd've rather seen Noel Felix and Alex Scales, instead of Potapenko and Moore, on the team.
Johan Petro looks as if he'll be able to start at center and play a solid 20 minutes per game; Potapenko and Moore may, in turn, be rendered into useless bums.
Larry Hughes plays shutdown defense, which explains the reasoning behind why he is rated higher than Ray Allen; however, Allen, unlike Hughes, is an all-around star player and clutch shooter.
Jerome James is a stiff; Isiah Thomas is an idiot.
The Portland Trailblazers GM, John Nash, should trade Darius Miles and Ruben Patterson to the New York Knicks for Anfernee Hardaway and Jackie Butler; it'd free up space under the salary cap in Portland during the next off-season.
Robert Swift should begin the season in New Mexico; he does not currently belong on an NBA court.
Jack Sikma's job as assistant coach should hinge on the success of both Petro and Swift over the next two years.
Look for Moore and Rick Brunson -- along with Swift, who should play down in the NBDL -- to be inactive for at least the first few games; the Los Angeles Clippers suck ****.
Brunson and Mateen Cleaves will be in a constant, season-long battle for backup minutes to Luke Ridnour at point guard; Ronald "Flip" Murray, unfortunately, could receive around eight minutes per game at the point to go along with the eight minutes per game he'll receive for spelling Allen.
I wonder if "Flip" can coexist with Allen on the court for short, four minute spurts during the end of the first and third quarters; I would expect "Flip", unlike Antonio Daniels, to commit
his fare share of turnovers and missed opportunities.
The Golden State Warriors will be the Washington Wizards of this season; The Milwaukee Bucks will be the 2003-2004 Milwaukee Bucks.
I still propose that Sund should attempt to trade Danny Fortson to the Indiana Pacers for Scot Pollard; Fortson is an overpaid, overvalued player who might, perhaps, cause problems within the locker room and on the court this season.
The curse of Calvin "Shaggy" Booth resides within Fortson.
I wonder how much money in cash considerations Howard Schultz could net in return for the draft rights to the Euro-Triad of Peter Fehse, Mickaël Gelabale, and Paccelis Morlende; I would assume that San Antonio Spurs GM R.C. Buford would shill out at least $20 for each of 'em.
Andrew Bogut and Dan Gadzuric are one hell of a tandem at the reserve center and power forward slots for the Milwaukee Bucks; the Sonics would be lucky to have either one of them to start at center in the Pacific Northwest.
Reggie Evans and Nick Collison are a solid duo at the power forward postion; they should evenly split the minutes at 24 apiece, with Evans getting the first 6 of each quarter and Collison getting the last 6 of each quarter.
Why are Dwight Daub (Strength & Conditioning Coach) and Walt Rock (Video Coordinator) labeled as assistant coaches? Why is Brendan Malone labeled as a basketball consultant rather than as an assistant coach?
Bob Hill sort of looks and acts like he's Dean Demopoulos' older brother; Hill, however, is actually Orlando Magic Head Coach Brian Hill's older brother.
The Seattle Supersonics will win around 44 games this season; yet, if the team had a second superstar -- unlike the overrated Lewis -- to play alongside Allen (e.g., Paul Pierce), then they'd win around 52 games this season.
Damn AK, I almost thought you'd get through a post without mentioning Paul Pierce, but then, BAM, last sentence ruins it. I myself have struggled with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but it can be overcome with the right mix of therapy and drugs. Seek help.
Bob Hill and Brian Hill are not brothers.
Yeah, I came very, very close to not metioning him; I will, as of this post, cease bringing up his name.
I thought they, Bob Hill and Brian Hill, were brothers; it was my mistake.
there we go cleaves has got his backup spot. so many cleaves haters it stuiped. kid hasnt had a chance. just sit back and watch him this year, hes a leader.
Cleaves is totally a leader. He's the king of the 5'11 overweight bench-dwelling PG's. He's going to prove to everyone that he really can be Rick Brunson's back-up.
please.. rick brunson is such a bigger bum. He was put in a retard safe position last year.
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