Praise the Lord and pass the Crunk——the Sonics actually won a game today, beating the Toronto Raptors 126-121 in overtime. Of course, they blew an 18-point lead in the fourth to the worst team in the league, but losers can't be choosers so we'll take what we can get! Here are some things that immediately leap from the box score:- Lewis was obviously the star today, scoring 41 points, but check out the free throws: 14-16! Does this mean Shard is finally going to be more aggressive and start playing with some passion, or is it just another Derrick McKey-like tease? Only time will tell.
- After being benched for two games, Petro Power not only started, but had his best NBA game so far, grabbing 10 boards in 38 minutes. Nice job, Le Pew!
- Look who didn't suck today: Flip Murray! 15 points in 29 minutes is exactly the kind of performance we need from Flipper. (Of course, he had three turnovers, but hey, Ray-Ray had six and you don't hear me squawking!)
- Look who barely played: (Not so) Radman! Despite the extra quarter, the rat-tailed one only played 13 minutes. Guess who's going to be bitching to his agent tonight?
(P.S. It's been brought to my attention that I forgot to mention Nick "Caveman" Collison's excellent game (20pts, 10 boards). As usual, Ni-Co's no-frills brilliance flew under my radar—sorry Nick!)
28 comments:
Radman played pretty well though. I think we'll be seeing more of this eight man rotation with Flip, Vlade, and Fortson logging the most minutes off the bench. Potato, Wilkins, and Evans will probably see spot minutes for defensive assignments or energy boosts as well. It's awesome that Petro can get 40 minutes of experience while helping the team. He needs to practice those free throws a lot though. Do the Rick Barry, Johan, if that's what it takes!
This was an awful win, as neither team deserved the victory; both clubs played like crap.
1-6 from the field, 1-6 from the line . . . hey, at least the rook is consistent!
Supes will be this year's Nugs, they started out crappy too. we have too much talent to suck.
DENVER vs. SEATTLE
Marcus Camby > Johan Petro
Maybyner "Nenê" Hilario* > Vitaly Potapenko
Francisco Elson > Mikki Moore
Kenyon Martin > Nick Collison
Eduardo Najera > Reggie Evans
Linas Kleiza < Danny Fortson
Carmelo Anthony > Rashard Lewis
DerMarr Johnson < Vladimir Radmanovic
Bryon Russell < Damien Wilkins
Voshon Lenard < Ray Allen
Greg Buckner < Ronald "Flip" Murray
Julius Hodge = Robert Swift
Andre Miller > Luke Ridnour
Earl Boykins > Rick Brunson
Earl Watson > Mateen Cleaves
The Denver Nuggets, to put it bluntly, are better than the Seattle Supersonics.
*Although "Nenê" is injured, I would still rather have him on my team instead of Potapenko.
You forgot the most important one, AK:
Karl>Weiss
Still, any win is a good win at this point. As painful as the past week has been, maybe Weiss has indeed finally found his magic rotation.
(Magic rotation totally sounds dirty.)
AK, do you ever have anything good to say or are you a fatalist? Its always easier to be a critic so you are never disapointed. I read some of your old posts and I can't find one that has anything positive to say (about the Sonics, now Paul Pierce is a different subject). Your negativity is really getting old. And before you jump on me for saying negative things about Radman or Flip, I also say positive things about the other players. Please, before I stop reading your posts, come up with something positve.
I think Ray Allen is one of the top-10 players in the NBA; he is the franchise's savior.
thank you, Lord, for that win! *jumps up and down* THANK YOU!
Come on, no love for Collison? 20 and 12? Keep that man in the starting lineup the rest of the way!
Mateo, I think you're dead on right. It's kind of a shame that somewhere along the line no one taught AK how to read.
I think we very well could have growing pains for a good portion of the early part of the year, only to catch fire later on and make a run to the playoffs.
Seattle's going to have to get used to running with Petro on the court and Nick's going to have to stay out of foul trouble.
At this point there is no such thing as a bad win, when you've been blown out three games in a row winning is all that matters.
Sorry Zach—I totally forgot about Caveman Collison. Please see the P.S. on the original story.
Oh, and I agree with both Zach and Anon—Petro and Nick should be starters from here on out. Let the kids play!
Just saw a footnote from seattletimes.com that Mateen Cleaves has been deactivated and Robert Swift was put on the active roster....huh??? Is Weiss hoping that Flip will have the kind of game he had last night from this point on? I still think Cleaves can contribute as a backup PG and run the team when Luke sits down.
I agree that Petro and Collision should be starters. Petro has shown some presence in the middle and Nick can provide rebounding like Evans but also adds an offensive option.
I hope the Collison experiment starting at the 4 lasts longer than a game or two. Let's see how things look with a little continuity with the starting 5.
Well with the current rules (since the NBA did away with the injured list), teams can take guys off and on the inactive list before every game. Thus, it probably just means that they don't think they'll need Cleaves much against the Nets. Besides, they need to find out what they've got in Swift sooner rather than later.
i see that Isiah is already shopping JJ. can i just say...i love this game. Thomas is an idiot and there is no other GM in the game who will take that rediculious contract and that overweight slacker off his hands. i knew this was coming i just didn't realize it would be 4 games into his $30M contract. JJ is one lucky SOB, and Thomas is just plain dumb!
Why would you sign JJ for that much when you can have the infinitly younger and more talented Zaza? His name is Zaza! how much more do you want Isiah?!
Don't know if anyone else heard about this, but Nate Robinson got into a scuffle with JJ recently during practice.
I say forget Tonya Harding; give us JJ vs the Nate Dog!
Vlade for Nate Robinson and a bag of money? Anyone, anyone? Isiah would go for that in a minute, although we might have to give up Fortson for the next three NY first round draft picks. If Isiah's gonna trade, he has to make sure it he gives away as much of the Knicks's future as possible. It's funny that the only 4 players on the Knicks any sane GM would want are their rookies and Trevor Ariza. I'd take Channing Frye, David Lee, Nate the Great, and Ariza over Starbury, J-Crwford, Quentin, and Curry anyday. Even if salaries weren't considered I still might take the youngsters...
I guess we can hope Flip can hold it down if it's just for one game. We do need to see what Freddie Krueger can do, but I'm not holding my breath.
Why does everyone want Nate Robinson? He's a 5'9" shooting guard in the body of a point guard. In the end, ultimately, he'll likely have a career similar to that of Anthony "Spud" Webb—which means he'll be an overrated third-guard/seventh-man.
Hell, I wouldn't touch a damn player -- including Robinson, Channing Frye, David Lee, Trevor Ariza, Jackie Butler, et al. -- on the New York Knicks roster; besides, their roster doesn't have many players with comperable salaries to guys on the Seattle Supersonics.
Anyway, there is no need to trade Vladimir Radmanovic -- which, mind you, is not likely to happen due to the rules within the Collective Bargaining Agreement -- as he can just play out the year in Seattle and sing elsewhere come next off-season.
Ever since the day Robert Swift was drafted, I stated that he -- unlike Al Jefferson, who I had wished was selected -- was going to be a colossal bust; I stand by that belief to this day. Why does anyone even think he is going to develop into a decent role player -- much less a starter, star, or superstar -- in the NBA? Why does the front office personnel of an NBA franchise not properly scout a player that they select with a first-round draft pick? It was a flat-out stupid decision.
No matter Jerome James, Ibrahim "Ibo" Kutluay deserves every penny of the $3,360,000 that Howard Schultz pays him.
Dude, you need to realize that every NBA team is required by the new CBA to maintain a quota of at least one skinny, 7 foot white center. Why do you think the Sixers gave Shavlik Randolph a contract? Swift was the only tall, skinny white center available at the 12th pick. He wouldn't have been available at the second round and the Sonics would have been forced to pay a hefty fine. Swift is neccessary. He's good at what he does too. For my money, their is no one in the NBA that can be pushed around like Swift. No one has the paleness and the red hair down like him, making his flailing apendages all the more noticable. Swift is the best end-of-the-bench-white-kid-with-potential in the NBA, and I don't know how you can't see this AK. Boston, home of your beloved Paul Pierce, knew this and were set to take Swifty, knowing he would fill their white-kid quota for the foreseeable future of the franchise. But no, the Sonics wisely stole him, and as a result Boston has been forced to overpay for Brian Scalabrine, who isn't half the pathetic white kid Swift is. Swift's contract is far better than Scalabrine's and Swift has the potential that allows fan's who care about actual basketball to justify his prescence at the end of the bench. Swift is the best in the biz at what he does, and I stand by the sonic's decision wholeheatedly. He might even become a backup to Petro some day, and old white men will be able to talk about how much energy and "basketball IQ", whatever that means, Swift brings to the table. Swift is an integral part of the team, and without him we would have Brian Scalabrine or Mark "mad dog" Madsen, so count your lucky stars that Mr. Sund picked him.
Seriously though, the sonics picks have been really good game-wise aside from Swift. Petro, Collison, Ridnour, Radmanavic. These are good picks no matter what anyone says. I really hope Radmanovic learns that no one loves him out there, and that his place is in Seattle as a 6 man, because he IS ONLY 25 (26 on Saturday). I still think the future looks good with this team:
PG: Luke/?
SG: Ray/Damien
SF: Rashard/Vlade
PF: Nick/Reggie
C: Petro/Swift
Add a combo guard other than Flip and we are set, with a few ready to contribute draft picks and role players drifting in and out every year to fill out the roster.
Okay, without a doubt, the comments regarding Robert Swift included some flat-out amusing stuff; it is one of the best posts to ever be written on this website.
Anyway, on that same note, it's somewhat hilarious that Chris Anderson, Brian Scalabrine, Mark Madsen, and Matt Bonner were all signed to multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts this past off-season, even though they are all -- with the exception of Anderson -- undeniably awful players.
Likewise, Dan Dickau and Steve Blake each received multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts this past off-season, even though they, too, are both undeniably awful players.
In addition, Kyle Korver was re-signed by the Philadelphia 76ers to a six-year, $20+ million contract this off-season, and has started all seven games this year for the 'sixers while averaging 32.7 minutes per contest—even though he is nothing more than a clone of Craig Ehlo (i.e., a spot-shooting swingman whose offensive game is located solely beyond the arc and defensive game is non-existant).
Lastly, with regards to Swift, I find it odd that nearly everyone here gives him a free pass concerning his inability to play at an NBA level, while most fans of the Toronto Raptors constantly hate on Rafael Araujo.
Gee, one guy was drafted 8th overall with the notion that he'd be able to step in and play right away. The ohter was taken and the fans were told from the begining that he's 2-3 years away from being ready.
I wonder which one of these two is getting hated on considering to this point they both suck.
The other thing is we haven't actually really seen much of Swift (at least not like Raptors fans have seen Araujo). Also, when was the last time you met a Raptors fan? I kinda thought they were like unicorns...
That's another thing I miss about the Grizzlies leaving Vancouver - the annual "T-Dot versus Van City" hype-a-thon (yes, those are the actual nicknames for Toronto and Vancouver; not satisfied with sucking at music, Canadians have now branched out into sucking at nicknames).
In all seriousness, Toronto fans have really gotten the shaft from the NBA. From Isaiah to Vince Carter, from Kenny Anderson to Alonzo Mourning, and let's not forget Babcock's promise that his team wouldn't be any good this year, the Raptor fan can be forgiven for wondering what time the Maple Leafs are on tv.
Oh, and what the heck is the deal with a purple and pink logo? Was orange and maroon already taken?
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