Game Night: Rock Steady

Is anyone else's all-time favorite Sonic memory the incredible run they made back in the spring of 1987, knocking off the Mavs and the Rockets before falling to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals? I vividly recall racing home after baseball practice to watch Seattle take on Sampson, Olajuwon & Co. For crying out loud, a double OT deciding game, Bernie Bickerstaff getting named coach of the year, Dale Ellis is most improved ... man, the good times were gonna roll for us weren't they?

Well, it didn't quite happen as expected. Ellis, X, and Chambers couldn't maintain the glory they achieved that year, and it took almost ten years before Seattle rose to that sort of level again.

With my rambling done, let's look at tonight's game. In their only meeting this season, Seattle knocked off Houston 87-85 thanks in part to 10 more FTAs, a 50-37 rebounding edge, and in spite of hitting only 4 of 25 3 pointers. Yao took the Sonics to school, scoring 30 points before fouling out - a big reason why Seattle outscored Houston 26-19 in the 4th quarter.

Some writers will lead you to believe the loss to the Sonics was the switch that turned off the Rockets' red glare. After all, before their loss to Seattle, Houston had won 8 straight. Following that game, they went on a slide the featuring 3 straight losses.

I think the real culprit is Bobby Sura's back, though. After putting up Oscar Roberston-like numbers (or at least Fat Lever-like) for a couple of months, Sura's back has caused him to miss the last 6 games, during which time Houston's gone 2-4. A coincidence? I think not.

Since it looks like Sura won't play tonight, I think the smart money is on the Sonics. Hey, if they can knock off the Pistons at home, they shouldn't have any trouble with the Rockets.

Spread: Sonics by 4
Prediction: Seattle 96 - Rockets 87
Record against the spread: 15-11

Reggie the Rebounder

Seriously, can we get working on a nickname for Reggie Evans? According to this article from espn's John Hollinger, the guy's having an historical rebounding season, among the rarified air of Dennis Rodman. It's a good article, written by a guy who's knowledge of basketball stats is Rainman-esque.

I think I heard Calabro call him "The Collector," but while that's a wonderful name, it conjures up - at least to me - an image of the fat comic book store guy on The Simpsons. How about "The Recoverer?"

SLAM Cover Boy: Ray Allen

Cribbed from Slamonline.com

This month's SLAM magazine features none other than Seattle's own Ray Allen on the cover (West Coast, anyway). For someone who sports zero tattoos, Ray gets a decent write-up from a mag that panders a bit much to the white kids who like the gangsta rap 'cuz it frightens their parents. (I love to read the letters to the editor, where suburban kids hilariously try out their flimsy grasp of Ebonics.) (Despite all that, I've been a fan since Issue #1 with Larry Johnson and only missed a coupla issues during the strike year, but I digress.)

Bonus Seattle Content! On page 39 there's a shot of Kevin Calabro droppin' knowledge as a part of their rave about NBA League Pass. Excerpt:

League Pass is all about tuning in to Sonics games to hear Kevin Calabro, probably the best play-by-play announcer in the League not on national TV. His smooth, laid-back delivery and constant command of the action is one of League Pass' greatest pleasures.

Slam hasn't given Seattle this much love since Shawn Kemp rocked the high top fade. This almost makes up for the ugly-ass Gary Payton cover they ran a few years back, where he looks like a velociraptor.

For some reason, I got mailed the East Coast version with Dwyane "Dwayne" Wade. Last I checked, Renton was on the Left side of the map. But I ain't complainin'. If you're not a subscriber, the issue should be on store shelves soon, so keep an eye out.

Power Ranking Rankings

While wondering whether God uses a "Power Ranking" to determine who gets into Heaven, and where Mohammed would fit on that list, I thought I'd check and see where all these "Power Rankings" have the Sonics.

1. Marc Stein, espn: Sonics ranked #3, Suns #1
2. Marty Burns si: Sonics #3, Suns #1
3. Tony Mejia, cbs: Sonics #6, Spurs #1
4. Mike Greenfield, teamrankings.com: Sonics #4, Spurs #1
5. HoopsHype: Sonics #5, Spurs #1
6. InsideHoops: Sonics #3, Spurs #1
7. basketball.com: Sonics #5, Heat #1
8. JDeuce, sportscolumns.com: Sonics #2, Suns #1
9. Percy Allen, Seattle Times: Sonics #3, Spurs #1
10. Hank's Power Picks: Sonics #4, Spurs #1
11. nba.com: Sonics #4, Spurs #1

What does all this mean? Nothing, other than I have too much time on my hands today.

Battle in Seattle: Sonics vs. Suns

The Sonics are taking on the Phoenix Suns tonight at Key Arena. Since I haven't had my coffee yet, I'll leave the whole "preview" thingy to the fine folks at Yahoo! Sports.

Yes, I am a lazy bastard.

Game Night: Detroit Rock City

This isn't the same Pistons team that Larry Brown was bemoaning earlier in the year. Well, being that Larry would bemoan St. Peter for his inability to defend the screen and roll adequately (hey, Larry, you try moving laterally in leather sandals), maybe that's not a good opening statement.

In any event, the Pistons are hotter than a '79 Buick with a leaky radiator. On Jan. 26, Detroit stood at 23-18, hardly a record befitting a defending champion. As of today, they're 36-20, which even for a math-plagued guy like me means they've gone 13-2 in that time, including a recent 8-game win streak the Suns snapped the other night.

How have they done it? Simple - rebounding, defense, and an improved Tayshaun Prince. Even in their loss to the Suns, Detroit outrebounded Nash & Co. 56-37, and only a 34-point 4Q enabled the Suns to grab a close (100-97) win.

No, the Sonics are going to be in trouble tonight. The Pistons hold opponents to a eFG% of only 45.9%, compared to Seattle's nearly 50% (yeah, that's right, eFG, eFG = Effective FG% = (FGM+3PM/2)/FGA)). They don't commit alot of fouls (either offensively or defensively) and they defend the hell out of the interior. You want to know the difference between a team with good interior defense (Detroit) and one that, well, isn't so good (Seattle)? Here it is: On close-range shots Seattle's opponents make 59% of their shots. Detroit's foes? 49%.

Luckily, the Sonics are back home and Detroit is playing its fifth road game in a week. The line says Sonics by a point and a half. I say take the Pistons and the points and run to your nearest bookie.

WORTH NOTING: The Suns were able to knock down their 3's against the Pistons, connecting on 11 of 20. That's a good sign for the Sonics ... Tayshaun Prince has emerged as a scoring threat for Detroit, keying their run. He averaged 20 ppg in February, and followed up a 48% 3-point pct. in Jan. with a 46% mark in Feb. ... Sonic stat of the month for February: AD posted 14 assists for every turnover he committed. For perspective, Luke had the next best mark with a 4:1 ratio.

Prediction: Pistons 95 - Sonics 88
Record Against the Spread: 15-10

Ray for MVP?

Am I the only one puzzled that Ray Allen isn't getting any serious consideration for MVP? Marc Stein's latest piece mentions Duncan and - ugh - Steve Nash, but Allen is relegated to a second tier.

My question is, why? I can see if Nash's team was head and shoulders above the Sonics, but I fail to see why a 3.5 game lead (Phoenix over Seattle) means one team is light years ahead of the other. Throw in the fact that Ray's got one all-star teammate to Nash's two, and it seems to me Ray is worth some mentioning.

Of course, you can add in that Duncan is playing with only one all-star, but Tony Parker is easily better than the third-best Sonic (Radman? AD? Luke?), so Allen's got the edge there, too.

No, I'm starting to think that the Ray-for-MVP bandwagon ought to have some more people on it, and if we can't say it, then who can?

Magic Number Update

With the Sonics win in Cleveland last night and the "T-Woes©" losing at home to G-State, the Magic Number for Seattle to win the division is now a combination of Sonics wins and Nuggets losses.

That number? Fourteen, baby!

*T-Woes used with the express written consent of Alan. © 2005 Patents pending all rights reserved.

Game Night: Cadaverliers

Okay, the game's already started, so it's a bit late to be issuing predictions. Obviously, the Sonics can't be expected to take 2-of-2 in a back-to-back east coast swing ... can they?

No, they can't. Smart money is on Cleveland to cover the 3 points, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Sonics will cover - and win.

Final score? Sonics 99 - Cavs 93.

Sonics leaving Seattle?!

Ho-Shu: "The Key blows!"

According to the Seattle Weekly, Howard Shultz is threatening to sell the team if Key Arena isn't expanded... again:

Are the Sonics leaving Seattle? The team says it won't play that game to get an expanded venue, as the Seahawks and Mariners have. But without another expansion of city-owned KeyArena, owner and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says he might be forced to sell the team. Then the new owner can move it. It's extortion by another name, and the strategy is to snare $205 million in additional taxpayer money to expand KeyArena and add new profit-making concessions and VIP seating.

Read the rest at the Seattle Weekly (scroll down)

And I don't blame 'em one bit! No sir, I can barely stomach watching a game at that decrepit, almost a decade-old arena. Can you tell I'm being sarcastic? Oh good.

(Thanks to Susan for the story!)

Rank amateurs

According to ESPN.com, the Sonics are the 33rd-best franchise in sports. Their best ranking came in "Bang for the Buck" (i.e., wins per dollar), while the worst ranking came in affordability (i.e., how much it costs to go to a game). Among NBA teams, the Sonics finished 11th.

It's more interesting if you break it down by city. The Sonics easily outdistance the Seahawks and - surprise! - Mariners. The M's were undone by their bloated payroll and last year's craptacular season. In fact, the M's finished 90th in "Bang for the Buck", while notching a #4 spot in the stadium category. Oddly, Paul Allen's Seahawks ranked first in ownership among the 3 teams, with the Sonics 2nd and M's 3rd. I don't think Bob Whitsitt had a vote, though.

Game Night: Pick Up the Pace

Two teams coming off crappy games meet tonight in Indy. The Pacers flopped against the Knicks, while the Sonics got crammed in Milwaukee recently, ending both club's respective winning streaks.

Lucky for the Sonics, Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, and Jeff Foster are all questionably healthy, while Seattle is relatively injury-free. Here's a look at the matchups:

PF: O'Neal v Evans - The edge goes to INDIANA, naturally, but with Seattle this position isn't truly Evans' alone. With the depth of the Sonics, look for O'Neal to be winded by the 4th.

SF: Lewis v Jackson - Stephen Jackson has come on since his run-in in Detroit earlier this year, and is scoring almost as well as Lewis recently. Still, Shard's the all-star, and the edge goes to SEATTLE.

C: Pollard v James - Neither one of these guys is worth his weight in paper, let alone gold. Obviously, a PUSH.

SG: Allen v Miller - The Ancient Pacer is still capable of lighting it up (witness his 36-point outing 2 weeks ago), but come on, this is ALLEN's world, and Reggie's only living in it.

PG: Ridnour v Johnson - Now in his 8th season, Anthony Johnson is getting more minutes this season than any year since his rookie campaign. I'm sure his family is delighted, but Ridnour is clearly the better shooter, and is equal to AJ in nearly every other category. Edge to SEATTLE.

Bench: Normally, this would be a push, but with Indiana devastated by Artest's insanity, and the plethora of injuries they're enduring, SEATTLE and its' triumverate of Daniels, Radman, and Fortson/Collison/Potato clearly is more powerful off the bench.

Prediction: Sonics 98 - Pacers 90
Spread: Sonics by 1
Record Against the Spread this Year: 14-10