PJ Carlesimo is going to have to be creative when he looks at the bench tonight in Golden State.Donyell Marshall: Out with the flu
Chris Wilcox: Making the trip, but doubtful to play
Earl Watson: Out with the flu
Damien Wilkins: Getting MRI on wrist
Which means the Sonics have gone from having three point guards to one, with Mickael Gelabale slated to back up Luke Ridnour. The third-string point guard is expected to be ... I don't know, Derrick McKey? Percy Allen at the Times has the full recap of the sketchy, 9-man lineup available to PJ tonight.
Speaking of Gelly, both Allen and Gary Washburn at the PI, as well as Eric Williams at the TNT, have pieces proclaiming his goodness. Here's what I noticed about Mickael in Sunday's game against the Lakers:
-Still not strong enough to guard guys in the post; Kobe Bryant backed him down like he was being guarded by, well, me.
-Always under control, which is great considering his lack of NBA experience.
-Jumps through the roof.
If Gelabale can continue to improve his defense, he's a wonderful bench player in the league, the exact type of player all championship teams have - the Bruce Bowen, Antonio Daniels, Michael Cooper-type who can guard three positions, hit the shot when necessary, play the point if you want. Any team would love to have a guy like that, and Gelabale is capable of doing it.
Washburn also brings up an interesting story regarding the ongoing case between the city and the team. As per Washburn, Judge Marsha Peachman, who will be presiding over the June trial, has ruled "the Sonics owners must give Seattle's lawyers copies of e-mails sent from or to its eight board members that could potentially be relevant to the case. " The team has 14 days to turn over the emails.
Nuss, I'm pretty sure Eric Williams' editor hasn't told him I've replaced him on the Sonics beat yet. He's going to be crushed!
ReplyDeleteWhoops. I've fixed it. Apologies to both Erics.
ReplyDeleteFrom Chad Ford at ESPN today
ReplyDelete"The Sonics will have room if they decide to let Robert Swift walk. If Swift is off the books, they could have between $8.5 million and $9.5 million to spend, depending on where they pick in the draft."
Which backs up what I've said before, despite all the shedding of contracts, the Sonics aren't going to make any big moves this summer. If you look at the money they have and the players available, I just don't see anything happening until next summer.
wow, look what Luke did with the starting gig, 15 assists. I am biased towards him, but I think giving him free reign like two years ago makes the team better.
ReplyDeleteRidnour dishing out 15 assists, Nick Collison having a 20-13 night, Jeff Green forcing a double-double and Durant hitting with an acceptable percentage, adding 7 assists and 4 rebounds to make it a slightly all-around play - that was what I always dreamt about!
ReplyDeletea nice night, if only guys could pull out the win at the end of the game.