Game Night # 12

A matchup of Northwest Division superpowers in Minnesota as the Sonics tangle with the T-Wolves. Kevin Garnett is, well, probably the best statistical player in the league and is coming off a near triple-double in Minny's last game.

Good Sign: Seattle's interior presence is better than last year.
Bad Sign: The Wolves took 3 of 4 last year.

Questions: Will Danny Forston get some calls from the zebras? Is Sam Cassell fully healthy? Can the Sonics keep Garnett in some sort of check, and who's going to shut him down?

Notes: What was the name of that guy who was supposed to help the Sonics drain 3's off the bench? Ibawhat? ... Michael Olowokandi could miss the game with the flu ... Fortson pulled a trifecta in the Seattle media, as all 3 papers ran stories about his lack of respect from NBA refs ... Garnett shot 68% against the Sonics in 4 games last season ... Ray Allen has made more 3's this year (36) than any T-Wolf has attempted (35, Hudson) ... Allen is hitting only 40% from the field over the last 3 games.

Vegas line: T-Wolves by 6 1/2
Over/Under: 191 1/2
Prediction: T-Wolves 97-Sonics 83
Record Against the Spread: 4-2

Amazing

Credit my brother with pointing this out:

The Pistons get into a huge on-court fight with Indiana, it spills out onto the crowd, the game is ended prematurely, a guy gets suspended for the season, four others get suspended for lengthy terms...

and Rasheed Wallace didn't have anything to do with it.

It's Go Time

The rubber is about to meet the road. The Sonics – and their playoff-thirsty fans – are on the verge of finding out if their early-season successes are a legitimate indication of talent or just that – early-season successes.

For the first 11 games of the year, Sonics opponents were less than stellar, with a cumulative record of 48-52, for a 48% winning percentage.

Contrast that to the next 11 games, when Seattle will go up against teams with a record of 59-46 (56 %).

Utah, Minnesota, Dallas, San Antonio – they all await. Thankfully, the Sonics will meet Eastern power Indiana while the Pacers are still reeling from the Malice at Auburn Hills, but the schedule is nonetheless intimidating. This next fortnight will tell us the truth about the Sonics; if they win less than 5 games, then this team is no different than the ‘02-‘03 version that stormed out of the gate at 8-2 before crashing into the guiderail within a month.

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Some random notes:

According to 82games.com, Seattle’s four best players are Radmanovic, Daniels, Allen, and Fortson. It’s worth noting that the Sonics produce a 73% winning percentage with AD as opposed to Ridnour’s 60% ... Using John Hollinger’s PER rating (15 is considered the league average), Seattle’s 2-guards are at 25.6 per game while opponents’ 2-guards are at 11.6 ... This isn’t about the Sonics, but it’s worth mentioning. After Vince Carter’s iPod debacle last week, Carter happened to notice Tim Duncan using same before their game on Sunday. Air(head) Carter pointed out said fact to a reporter, who ratted out Duncan. Nice work, Vince. Too bad you couldn’t score more than four points against the Spurs, though.

Streaky Sonics stopped by Celitcs, 102-83

Well, I guess winning 80 games this year was a little much to ask:

BOSTON — And on the seventh day they lost.

After enduring a week's worth of late-night airplane flights, unexpected bus trips and hotel food, the Sonics traveled to the fourth city of their six-game, 10-day odyssey yesterday and looked exhausted.

Their crisp shooting, which had been largely responsible for their nine-game winning streak, disappeared for long stretches of last night's 102-83 loss to the Boston Celtics, giving Seattle (9-2) its first loss since the season opener Nov. 3.

Read more at The Seattle Times and Celticsblog .

Now that we've seen (or heard, I guess) Gary play again, does anyone want to bring him back to Seattle? Make sure to take our Payton Poll!

New Commenting System

Due to the utter crappiness and unreliability of Blogger's commenting system, I've switched over to Haloscan. That means no more missing message pages and no more registration hassles... just straight-up trash talking! If you're looking for your old comments, you can still view them in the permalinks (the one with the time) and the Archives (lower right-hand column).

So start commenting, peoples!

Could the Glove still fit in Seattle?

Gary is bummed in Beantown.

Gary Payton, who faces off against the Sonics this afternoon, wants to come back to Seattle:

"I wish I could have stayed in Seattle and I wish I can go back and finish my career there," Payton said. "It's never going to be that I don't like Seattle. I love Seattle. And it might happen. It could happen and it couldn't. But I think it could. It could. That's just something that's going to have to be seen in the future."

When asked again if he's serious about a return to the city where he spent the first 13 years of his NBA career, the 36-year-old Payton reaffirmed his statement.

Yeah, because I would want the fans to come back and see me retire where I started and all of that," he said. "I would like to make my last hurrah there."

from the Seattle Times.

I wanted the Sonics to make a move for Gary last summer, but now that the team is off to such a great start, do they really want to mess with success? Granted, the guy is a fan favorite (and a Supersonicsoul favorite!) and a future hall of famer, but on a team stacked with small-fry guards, who would you deal for G.P.? Daniels? Ridnour? Murray? Take our new poll here!

Sonics rock Raptors, 101-94

Nine in a row! There's a party going on right here...

TORONTO (AP) -- The Seattle SuperSonics aren't satisfied with just having the NBA's best record.

Rashard Lewis scored 27 points and Ray Allen had 24 to lead the SuperSonics to their ninth straight victory, 101-94 over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Seattle is 9-1.

``We have to get better. We have to start doing some things better to continue to win,'' SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan said. ``We're not happy with just winning these games. It's a way we want to win. We're working hard and doing some good things, but to beat those good teams in the NBA you've got to have consistency in your defensive effort, your halfcourt execution, because teams will find ways to slow you down. We're finding ways to win games.''

from Yahoo!

Game Night # 10

This could be Vince Carter's last appearance in Toronto - or he might be traded before tip-off, so who knows what will happen tonight in Hogtown (Did you know that that's Toronto's nickname? Jesus, what kind of bet do you have to lose to get stuck with that monicker?). It would appear the smart money is on the Sonics, with all the turmoil surrounding Carter's rumored departure for Portland, not to mention his insistence on playing the soundtrack to "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" over the clubhouse speakers after the NBA banned him from using his iPod.

Good Sign: For crying out loud, they've won 8 straight!
Bad Sign: The Raptors hung in tough with the Sonics last week before losing by a point in Seattle.

Questions: Will Ray Allen find his shot again tonight? Will Carter and Jalen Rose be with the team? Again, why call yourself Hogtown?

Notes: The Raptors outscored Seattle 28-18 in the 3rd quarter of last week's game, nearly eclipsing the Sonics' 14-point halftime lead ... Carter's 15 ppg is the worst of his career. Not to mention his 38% FG percentage ...

Vegas line: Pick 'em
Over/Under: 200 1/2
Prediction: Sonics 97-Raptors 89.
Record Against the Spread: 3-2

The Sports Guy Scouts Supes

The ever-quotable Bill Simmons had a little blurb on our beloved SuperSonics. An excerpt:

But here's what they do have: Radmanovic and Lewis can shoot the lights out. So can Allen, who's in a contract year (and we know what that means). Luke Ridnour looked nervous on opening night, but he gives them a classic slash-and-kick point guard, like the kind that always gives USA teams trouble in international games. Antonio Daniels has evolved into one of the better bench guys in the league. So why not gear everything around those five guys and try to shoot the lights out every game? For instance, they made a whopping 18 threes in Philly Tuesday night ... you're not losing many games when that happens.

He then goes on to outline some interesting trade scenarios, none of which include Ray Allen?! The tidbit about the Suns was intriguing too--haven't caught them on TV yet, but they sound like a fun squad.

Sonics cut down Nets, 79-68.

It wasn't pretty, but the Sonics won their eighth in a row tonight in New Jersey, 79-68.

The Sonics only scored 36 points in the first half, but luckily the Nets only scored 29. Ray Allen struggled against Richard Jefferson, but in the end it was defense that won the game. Danny Fortson was a beast again, knocking Alonzo Mourning around down low (watch the kidneys!) and taking up space in the paint.

The Sonics won another hard-nosed, east-coast basketball game on the road. Who says they're just a bunch of shooters?

Sonics stop Sixers, 103-95

The Sonics are an unstoppable force of unstoppableness!

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Wide open or contested, the Seattle SuperSonics hit 3-pointers from all over the court.

Ray Allen scored a season-high 37 points, Rashard Lewis had 21 and Vladimir Radmanovic added 20, leading Seattle to its seventh straight victory, 103-95 over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night.

The Sonics are off to their best start since opening 10-0 in 1993. They haven't lost since dropping their opener to the Los Angeles Clippers by 30 points after going 2-6 in exhibition games.

``Everybody stepped up and played their part,'' Allen said. ``We had it working on all cylinders.''

from Yahoo!

Bring on the Sixers

It's less than an hour to tip-off. A win tonight against the Sixers will give Seattle their best start since the '93 squad started 10-0. That team, of course, went on to win 63 games, and advanced all the way to game seven of the Western Conference Finals.

Danny Fortson returns to the court after serving a one-game suspension for head-butting Chris Bosh last week. As Fortson said yesterday, "If Danny Fortson tones it down, then Danny Fortson is a non-factor."

Wait, did he speak in the third-person TWICE in one sentence? That's bordering on Ricky Henderson territory. Sweet.