Weekend Anchor

Much like when the weekend news telecast is staffed by the JV news-reader squad (KING 5: BAILEY Sports!), good ol' chunk is here to tide you over 'til Pete and Paul return from their weekly two-day break from high-speed internet connections.

I was there last night! It was a schizophrenic game, with a strange rhythm to it. The Supes would fall behind by 9 or so, giving the ball away, forcing shots in half court, letting the T-wolves shoot open jumpers. Then they'd pull even on good d, rebounding, and running the ball. Repeat. They seemed to flip some kind of switch in the 4th though. Watson's aggressiveness seemed to infect the whole team--even Lewis and Swift got aggressive.

I was really surprised that, given the dearth of street parking last night and the draw of a genuine superstar in Kevin Garnett, that the arena was so empty. Lots of red seatbacks were visible. Where were all the people who took my free parking? Was there a Yanni concert at Memorial Stadium I wasn't aware of?

It seemed to verify the fact that Seattle fans will always back a winner, and ignore mediocrity. Plus, you can't discount the fact that the games from here on out are meaningless. There were times last night, however, that the crowd's noise level would fool you into thinking it was a full house cheering for a playoff contender. Sigh... If only that were true...

Still, I think this team is loads more entertaining to watch now than it was, say, 2 weeks ago. For example, my unofficial statistics show that, since the trades for Watson and Wilcox, the rate of alley-oops has gone up a staggering 3000%. Bet you didn't know that. Seriously though, when Flip Murray would miss as many dunks in a game as Wilcox, Petro, and Swift are making, it makes for a more satisfying brand of b-ball.

after the buzzer thoughts:

• The past two games I've attended (G-State, Minny) have not featured half-time "entertainment" per se, but rather more basketball of a less polished variety, to which I say bravo. At G-State a biddy b-ball team from Redmond scrimmaged. Last night, the Sonics youth wheelchair team had an intra-squad exhibition. This kind of halftime show is exponentially more entertaining than some lame magic act or the "#2 ranked doubles trampoline team in the nation" (they really had that one time. ugh.)
  
• Sonics Boom Squad? Good. Sonics Dance Team wearing yellow rain slickers while dancing to "It's Raining Men"? Not good. Sonics Dance Team peeling slickers off at the chorus? They were wearing clothes underneath, but still: Good...
  
• I've mentioned this before, but the more I watch him, the more it bugs me. Rashard Lewis has forgotten how to dunk. Even as recently as last season, when he boomed that baseline slam against the Mavs in Dallas, 'shard used to take it strong. No more. Even with a full head of steam and a defender pinned under the basket, he still jumps and floats, waiting for contact, and then flips up a weak-ass layup. After such a play last night, I thought, "Shawn Marion would have dunked that. Ricky Davis would have dunked that. Flip Murray would have... tried to dunk that." Point is, how is it that dudes smaller than Rashard are unafraid to take it strong, yet this 6-10 kid with hops is going for dipsy-do scoop shots?
• If Supersonicsoul ever hit it big, there's no way our luxury box would ever, ever be empty, no matter how many games out of first the Supes are. There were two at the southeast(?) end of the arena that were totally dark and deserted. Probably belonged to some dot-coms that went nipples up in '01. What a fuggin' waste...