Pickin'

"If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me."
-William Shakespeare

The prediction season is upon us, so let the indignation begin.

You say my team can’t win its division? You’re an imbecile. You say my favorite player can’t defend the pick and roll and shrinks in the clutch? Well, you can’t possibly have watched as many of his games as I have.

In all honesty, none of us know what to expect. If the weatherman on my television set can’t even predict what it will do tomorrow with any semblance of accuracy, how can we expect any more when predicting the behavior of 300-odd professional athletes? After all, look only at my prediction last season of the Sonics finishing so far in the basement they would need a sump-pump to see playoffs.

This year, though? Cautious optimism is my way of thinking. Lewis and Allen are still in their peaks, Ridnour and Collison are on the way up, the Omen looks good, and Frenchie may have some skills after all.

Of course, lest we forget, our starting center is apparently physically incapable of stringing together two consecutive healthy months, our starting power forward couldn’t hit two consecutive jump shots if his mother’s life depended upon it, and our backup power foward is as likely to score 2 points as he is to score 22.

Still, the NW Division is a shoddy one. Denver is this year’s trendy pick, but I fail to see how Camby, Melo, and K-Mart will be healthy for 82 games, and the George Karl milk carton is rapidly approaching its “Best By” date. The T-Wolves have a rookie coach and a suspect backcourt. Oh, and their center is Michael Olowokandi.

Utah is supposedly better, but the jury is still out. I’ll like them better with 82 games of AK-47. Funnily enough, the Blazers seem like a reasonably good team to me. If Nate can get the young fellows to keep their heads about them when the inevitable losing streaks pop up, they could approach .500.

But enough of the prelude. Where will the Sonics see themselves this spring? I’ll be honest, I like the Potato. I don’t like Mr. Glass. I’m ambivalent about Radman. I think Collison could average double-figures in the right situation this year. I think Rashard will get 20+. Sugar Ray will be Sugar Ray. And Ridnour is plenty good enough.

Mark it down as 48 wins, first in the NW, and the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Boo!

(Courtesy of Danny F)

The Third Man

Anyone else catch this quote from Bob Weiss after Thursday night’s loss to the Clippers?

"I'm looking for a lot more balance. We need a consistent third scorer." (courtesy Seattle Times)

With less than a week to go before the start of the regular season, this isn’t the sort of quote you’d hope to hear from a team that expects to contend for the upper half of the playoffs. Even more telling, it comes a big slap in the face to one Vladimir Radmanovic, the guy who wanted $50 million, settled for $3 million, and now hopes to prove this season that he’s worth more than $50 million. Got all that? Well, here’s how the $50 million man has done, game-by-game, in the preseason:

DNP
16 min., 6 pts, 1/5 from field
17 min., 10 pts, 2/7
22 min., 8 pts., 2/5
21 min., 5 pts, 2/6
32 min., 2 pts, 1/6
19 min., 1 pt, 0/3

In a total of 127 minutes, Radman has scored the grand total of 32 points. Folks, that’s 10 points per 40 minutes, a ridiculously bad average for a guy whose function is to score.

Is it rustiness? Not likely, considering Radman spent the summer losing the European championships. Is he tired? Possibly, but he’s not going to get a chance to rest until spring, so that doesn’t do us any good, either.

No, I think Weiss is right. Radman is a maddeningly frustating player, capable of scoring 25 in 29 minutes on Tuesday, and following it up with 5 points on 2 of 12 shooting the next. Let’s all pray the good Radman decides to show up in at least 60% of Seattle’s games this year.

Green and Gold Tonight

Have any plans tonight? The Sonics are having their annual Green and Gold Scrimmage in Kenmore this evening. Chunk is out of town, Nussbaum is in Canada, and I'm working overtime for The Plumber this week, so we call on you, our loyal Supersonic Souljahs, to grab your digital camera and head over to the eastside tonight to give us the full scoop. If we use your story and pictures, we'll send you an official Supersonicsoul T-Shirt. Don't worry—I'll tape "My Name is Earl" for you.

Halloween

Hey kids, Halloween is inching closer, and if you haven’t grabbed your costume yet and you’re hoping to infuse your evening with green and gold, look no further!

Herewith our recommendations for the Top 5 Sonic Halloween Outfits:

1. The Danny Fortson
If you’re in the need of the costume that delivers the goods, go with Da Fort! With the way Da Fort grabs rebounds, you can only imagine how fast he can grab a Tootsie Roll! Comes with hair extensions, stomach pouch, and “rump filler.”

2. The Shawn Kemp
Nothing says b-a-d like a loaded pistol and a bag of mysterious substances. You can trick AND treat with this great costume! Plus, ask some neighbourhood kids to come with you and you’ve got your own “Kemp family posse!” Optional “rump filler” included with “Orlando Shawn” outfit.

3. The Michael Cage
There are good Halloween looks and then there are great Halloween looks. Your costume will come with a 26-oz. container of “Soul Glow” hair gel, shoulder enhancers, and lime green leisure suit. If that kid in front of you at Mrs. Johnson’s house thinks he’s getting those Kit-Kats, he better come correct, or not at all.

4. The George Karl
Finding that you’ve been struggling through the first half of your candy collecting evening? Then fire your underperforming costume and get The George Karl! Comes with imitation moustache scar, mock turtleneck, and 4-page booklet “Getting Candy the Karl Way.” Bob Kloppenburg puppet optional. Please note that costume will begin to fall apart in 2nd and 3rd year of use.

5. The Frank Brickowski
Sometimes, you’ve got to want the candy more than the other kids. With the “Brick” costume, you’ll be ready to roll to the corner of the door frame. Comes with “Pushing for Pop Rocks” booklet and faux flat top hair cut.

Powell

The Sonics have said goodbye to 6'6" rookie forward Roger Powell. Powell really never entered into any of the discussions of guys who might make the roster. Those discussions have focused instead on the Cleaves-Brunson-Scales triumverate, or, as I like to call them "CleScaBrun" (give it a try, it just rolls of the tongue).

With 4 pre-season games left (including tonight in Phoenix), the situation will have to be cleared up within a week. Noel Felix will most likely be given his papers sometime soon, but at least one of the CleScaBrun will have to go as well, and Weiss and Co. are certainly playing it close to the vest.

Dress Up

I was thinking about writing 20 paragraphs about David Stern's misguided attempt at fashion policing, but then I read this quote from Jason Richardson of the Warriors, which summed up my entire range of emotions.

"You still wear a suit, you still could be a crook. You see all what happened with Enron and Martha Stewart. Just because you dress a certain way doesn't mean you're that way."

Look, Stern's right in that his employees are scaring a certain percentage of his customers by wearing the clothes and accessories they wear. In that same token, however, those same employees are attracting a far greater number of new fans. Furthermore, the NBA has had no problem backing advertisements, in print and on television, that accentuate the "playa" image he now seems to detest. Do I even need to mention the "street ball" games-within-a-game that permeate every NBA video game sold?

I'm sorry, but there is only one word to describe what Stern has done, and it isn't racist.

It's hypocrite.

Siete

Well, no matter what the Sonics did last season, you had to know the experts wouldn't be fond of them this year. And, guess what, SI's picked them to finish 7th, and 2nd in the Northwest behind mighty Denver. I guess since the Nuggets played well in the 2nd half and the Sonics played well in the first, that means Denver is better, right? I missed the memo where it was revealed that Julius Hodge can shoot with either hand from 35 feet out. Whatever.

As a side note, you've got to love SI's "Telling Number" about the Sonics. Apparently, Seattle ranked last in the league in assists last year, a telling indication the Sonics are not for real. After all, the league champ in assists was Sacramento, and we all know the Kings are much better than the Sonics, right?

Roster

Much talk in the papers (and from our more astute readers) about how Rick Brunson could be paid $1 million to hang out with Ibo Kutluay this year. Alex Scales (Go Ducks Go! #12 in the BCS, baby!) has emerged on the scene as an alternative to Brunson, and Mateen Cleaves’ deal with Satan has apparently at least one more year to go, meaning his inexplicable continuing run in the league will continue for 82 more games.

Whither Brunson, then? Here is the roster, as of today:

ALLEN
Brunson
Cleaves
COLLISON
EVANS
Felix
FORT
LEWIS
MOORE
FLIP
PETRO
POTATO
Powell
RADMAN
RIDNOUR
Scales
SWIFT
WILKINS

Those in capitals are on the roster, no matter what, and it adds up to 13 guys, the minimum roster number. However, the team is required to average 14 guys on the roster for the season, so that’s the key number to look at. (All teams are allowed to have as many as 15 on the roster at a given time). With that the case, it makes sense Seattle will keep 2 of these 3 guys: Brunson, Cleaves, Scales. I don’t think Cleaves is as much of a lock as it would appear on the surface, so it is conceivable the Sonics will keep Scales and Brunson, but Cleaves is nice insurance at the point should the Flip Murray Experiment fail miserably. To me, the best move is to say goodbye to Mateen and keep Scales and Brunson.

Game Night

Hey, the Sonics are back at the Coliseum, and while it's preseason, it's still somewhat interesting to see two of the better teams in the West go at it.

Of course, the big story is no Amare. How many wins will the Suns get this year without the big fella? Bob Weiss says there's no way they win 60 without him, and, of course, I agree. You can talk about the Canadian all you want, but Amare is and was the man for Phoenix, and with him in street clothes this team is in big trouble.

But enough about Phoenix, here's a couple of points about our guys:

1. Radman is expected to play.
2. The Potato is out again, and may miss the entire pre-season. I don't know what he did to piss the Basketball Gods off, but it must have been something big.
3. Swifty and Frenchy will get a good run again, as Mikki Moore will probably sit. Let's hope they can show some improvement over game one.

No tv, naturally, but the game is on KJR at 7:30.

It's Go Time

Well, the season has (sort of) begun. Last night the Sonics dropped a 82-75 game to the Blazers, in a matchup that had all the intrigue of spring football practice drills. Yeah, it was Weiss v Mac-10, Allen v Kobe-Killer, and all of that, but, seriously, does anyone care? After all, can you remember how the Sonics did in the pre-season last year?

Notes to take away from the game:

• Mr. Glass got the starting nod, but Radman was not in the lineup at all due to a left foot inflammation. Also absent were the Potato (hamstring) and Da Fort (conflict with previously scheduled Angerholics class in Renton).
• Former Duck (whoo!) Alex Scales dropped double figures on Portland, and was the 2nd Sonic off the bench behind the Omen.
• Mr. Glass also got to the line 6 times and hit 4 of them, hopefully a nice portent of things to come this year.
• The Sonics got all of 5 points in transition. Nice to see that up-tempo style in action, huh?
• Swifty got the start at center, and managed an airball with his first shot.

Nerd Stuff

Are you like me? Do you check this site a couple times a day, just to see if Nuss has posted any fresh screeds against Steve Nash, Brent Barry, and other "savvy" ballplayers? Like me, do you get frustrated when you load up the site, only to discover the same dumb post about Chunkstyle's adventures in fast food at the top of the site?

Like me, do you wish there was a quick way to see if anything new has been added to the site without loading up the whole gosh-darn website?

If you are like me, then congratulations, you're a dork! Moreover, your wish has been granted!

The first thing you must do is download and install Mozilla Firefox. Once you've got it running, load up this page. THEN, look for the little orange button at the bottom right corner of the Firefox window, and click on it. A little menu will pop up that reads "Subscribe to Supersonicsoul"--click on that sucker!

What that does is create a sort of uber-bookmark that you can expand to see the most recent posts to the site. Looky there--Mr. Glass is still at the top. But as soon as Webmaster Paul posts his next hi-larious bit of commentary involving Danny Fortson's backside, it will appear, like magic, at the top of the list. Clicking on it will take you directly to that post.

Ain't that a time saver?! This works with a lot of blogs. You may never visit the main page again!

... Okay, I just heard from the Webmaster. He says you should definitely visit the main page as often as possible, and what's more, click on the ads you see there. A lot.

That's it for this week's edition of Nerd Stuff. We now return you to your regularly scheduled jock talk.

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This site NOT sponsored by Mozilla. But, if they wanna kick in for the free iPod, I'll take one of those shiny black ones, please.