Friday, April 4

Sene Back to Idaho

Mo Sene is headed for Idaho, so that he can participate in their playoff games.

Before I get too hot and bothered, this was the plan from the outset, that Sene would be summoned to Seattle to play for a few weeks, but that he would head back to Idaho in time for the D-League playoffs.

But, still, the whole situation is ridiculous. Here you have the Sonics, mired in futility, with nothing to lose or play for, and yet Sene can't get any time on the court. In the 13 games he spent in Seattle, Sene got a grand total of 60 minutes of playing time.

60 minutes!

As if that wasn't enough, PJ Carlesimo told Eric Williams of the TNT that the team needed to spend the next few weeks "evaluating big men Francisco Elson and Donyell Marshall."

Now, I've written for this blog for four years now. In that time, I have yet to curse once in any article. To my way of thinking, using swear words in your writing is just illustrating that you have no talent, that you are resorting to cursing because you cannot find the proper adjective to do the work for you.

But evaluating Donyell Marshall? Are you fucking kidding me?

Donyell Marshall has been in the NBA since the first half of the Clinton Administration. He has played almost 25,000 minutes in this league. What in holy hell do you need to evaluate, PJ? Are you that much of an idiot that you can't figure out what Marshall can do after 25,000 minutes, not including the time you saw him as a college coach at Seton Hall?

You know, I'd say the Sonics are working my last nerve, but that nerve packed up and left three months ago. What is happening in this city is a disgrace and the league out to be ashamed of itself. If PJ Carlesimo and Sam Presti were members of Congress, they'd be in front of a Senate Subcommittee right now. If they were on Wall Street, the SEC would be calling them. If they were doing anything other than destroying a sports franchise they'd be fired.

The worst aspect of the whole deal is lack of regard for the fans. I know Carlesimo is not dumb and I know that Presti is not, either. As someone who has spent as much time around basketball as PJ has, he knows full well what Donyell Marshall can and cannot do, what his strengths are, the best way to utilize him, and what he's likely to do next year. And yet, he parrots this inanity about "evaluating" Marshall as a reason for not using Sene.

Look, Sene is not the answer to the Sonics' problems, not by a longshot. But he is a uniquely talented big man, and last time I checked, the Sonics are not exactly overrun with quality centers. To completely ignore the possibility of running him out there this season because you want to evaluate Donyell Marshall and Francisco Elson is patently ridiculous.

I hope you enjoy the money, PJ, because, honestly, this will probably be your last shot as an NBA head coach.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

10 days late and way too many dollars short, but it's a brilliant piece. (Because I'm one of those idiot's who can't refrain from writing curses in what I write I whole heartedly agree. It is stupid. Yet I continue to do it.)

I think the Sonics roster, as a whole is too awful as a whole, to make it work. Wilcox needs to be gone, but because his contract expires in 2009 the Sonics can get something for that. The problem as I see is that this team has too many forwards, and too many players who duplicate what each other does, and not enough of those players to distinguish themselves from anyone else on the roster. That's a problem with 20 win teams. Usually they're totally talent deficient. The problem with the Sonics is that they're mis matched, and the ownership situation is affecting the roster configuration.

I wonder if the Sonics stay will that be the case next season too.