Wednesday, January 4

Goodbye Cleaves, hello Watson?

The house cleaning has begun.

A day after firing head coach Bob Weiss, the Sonics released point guard Mateen "Meat" Cleaves.

Could this be a precursor to a trade (possibly involving former Sonic Earl "The Hurl" Watson), or does new coach Bob Hill just want to show everyone who's boss by axing a popular player? Maybe it's a little bit of both, how should I know? I just work here for God's sake, get off my back! (Runs off to cry in men's room.)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let's see: losing team with no pride dumps player with heart and desire.

But hey, now his contract isn't guaranteed!

Thank God I'm not a Sonics fan. May you lose the rest of your games.

Paul said...

"Thank God I'm not a Sonics fan."

And you're here because ... ?

Anonymous said...

Cleaves got his money last year as a bench riding cheerleader.

Sund waived Cleaves, not Hill.

Anonymous said...

FYI - according to KJR, Hill has opted to put Radman and Johan in the starting lineup, effective immediately.

I can see the wisdom in this move for a couple of reasons:

1. An improvement in Vlade's attitude. Put it this way, if he can't do anything starting, he won't complain when we stick him on the bench again.

2. Petro's pretty much the only guy on the team who can block a shot. Whatever we lose on offense with the movement of Evans and Collison to the bench (or whoever's playing center), it's made up for with Vlade's extra minutes.

And, the negative:

3. Rebounding. With Mr. Glass on the bench, Seattle's rebounding takes a huge hit. From what I'm reading, Shard will be spending more time down low posting up, which should help the rebounding efforts more than having him stand 24 feet from the basket.

Anonymous said...

"And you're here because ... ?"

Let's see...I'm NOT a Sonics fan, and the article is about Cleaves, so...

Well done!

However, I will admit to being a bit harsh previously. It just disturbs me that in a league full of thugs and thug-wannabes, there's no room for a class guy like Cleaves.

I don't really hope you guys lose the rest of your games.

Paul said...

Well, Anon, we love Mateen too. Sadly, when a team is stinking as bad as the Sonics are, drastic measures must be taken. I would have prefered they cut Brunson Burner or Mikki "No" Moore, but I guess money-wise Mateen was the odd man out.

As we did with Weiss, we here at Supersonicsoul will give Hill the benefit of the doubt for now and wait and see if he can turn this thing around before we gather the lynch mob. (This process usually takes about two weeks.)

Anonymous said...

"Let's see...I'm NOT a Sonics fan, and the article is about Cleaves, so..."

so you're a cleaves dick rider

Paul said...

"Flint" on Cleaves:

"hes (sic) more efficent (sic) then any pg on this roster."

I'm more "efficent" than any point guard on the roster!

Anonymous said...

im not gona lie i hope you guys loose. bob hills a joke. Mateen had more heart then anyone in the nba. He kept a team of thugs under control. Watch danny forston he will flip out more now. And Pot. wants to be traded. in an interview i read hes not happy they waived cleaves. the guys loved him. what a lame orginization the sonics have. hopefully some smart team will pick up cleaves. his highly efficent and hasnt had a chace. You cant be one of the best collge PG of all time and not do good in the nba. when did he have his chance? Some would say when he was on detroit. these people are dumb. Detroit needed a shoot first pg like billups and atkins. they didnt need mateen. hes pass first. dumars fucked up and he admits to that. he said he didnt need mateen just the pressure from fans since he was a flint native.

Paul said...

How many times has a great college PG not made it in the NBA? How about a billion times? I'm sure our resident Supersonicsoul brainiacs could supply you with an extensive list. Off the top of my head, how about Bobby Hurley? Or Sherman Douglas? Or Adonis Jordan? Or John Lucas? Anyone care to add to the list?

chunkstyle23 said...

Lance, if you weren't
a) a huge Blazers fan
b) (probably) a dude

I'd kiss you full on the lips simply for always keeping fools in check and making me laugh out loud.

Anonymous said...

"Can he be a servicable back-up somewhere? Totally. Can he be a starter on a good team? Not a chance. BTW, Mateen has been in the league for what, 5 years?"

Agree completely with the first couple comments. I don't expect Mateen will ever start in the NBA again, nor should he. But to see him today, not on a roster - as someone who watched Cleaves at MSU and knows the type of guy he is, well, that's tough to take. I know your team had some difficult decisions to make; I selfishly wish they'd chosen someone else.

As for your last comment, there are players much worse who have played in the league much longer. I can just as easily compile a list as long as Lance's, and most NBA fans could likely do the same.

Anonymous said...

Cleaves out of a job i hope he can give good head.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, I think mateen's back... now all we need is to drop potatoe and keep reggie...