GAME NIGHT - Grizzly

When I first moved to Vancouver a decade ago, about the only thing that reminded me of the U.S. was the Grizzlies. Between the metric system, Celsius, an obsession with America’s ignorance of Canadian culture (whatever that is), and all the other bizarro-world qualities of Canada, at least I had the NBA. I was even fortunate enough to glom onto a press pass for a couple of years, enabling me to see Bryant Reeves far closer than any man should.

With the departure of Stromile Swift to Houston, the only remaining piece of Vancouver Grizzlies’ basketball has left the franchise. Yes, there are remnants of Vancouver scattered throughout the league – a Bibby here, an Abdur-Rahim there – but they left the franchise long ago. Stro was the last link to a dismal franchise, and now even he has left the ship.

I suppose I may be the only person bemoaning Stromile Swift’s presence – or, rather, the lack thereof – on Memphis’ roster. In our world, we quickly move from what was to what is, and, besides, nostalgia is a vain emotion at best.

Still, I miss the Grizzlies. In a way, rooting for the Grizzlies in Vancouver was like rooting for the Mariners in the 1980s – another fruitless passion of mine. Neither team rewarded us with many victories, but there was something to be said for staying with your team despite the ridicule you faced from other, much-wiser fans (in fact, if you replace the Seahawks with the Canucks, you’d get a pretty good picture of what it was like). Just as I vividly remember being mocked for rooting for Phil Bradley and Mike Moore, I just as vividly remember the joy in seeing Shareef post another 20-10 game, or Big Country putting on his bi-monthly displays of skill.

In any event, the Sonics play the Grizzlies tonight in Memphis. Somewhere, Grant Long and Cherokee Parks are watching.

SPREAD: Grizzlies by 4 1/2
OVER/UNDER: 188

The Griz turned in a good-ol’ fashioned barn-burner the other night against the Cavs, winning 113-106 behind 29 from Sr. Gasol. Like Seattle, Memphis will be spending much of the next two weeks on the road, so they’ve got high motivation to grab a win here. That said, the Sonics played well against the Griz last year, taking both games in Memphis. Add in the Grizzlies’ weak rebounding and the Sonics’ strong showing in that department, and you’re looking at what could be a very winnable game for Seattle.

PICK: Seattle 102 – Grizzlies 96
PETE’S RECORD: 0-1

Early Returns

I wouldn't normally project results from such minimal samples, but, heck, if the networks can pick who the next president will be after eight guys in New Hampshire cast their votes, well, it can't be that wrong, can it?

• Through 2 games, Ray Allen is, quite obviously, the greatest player in Sonic history through 2 games. How much does he help the Sonics' offense? Well, Seattle is averaging 40 fewer points per 48 minutes with him wearing a warmup jackup than without.
• The Sonics are holding opponent 2 guards to 7 points a game.
• Flip Murray's stats are so bad, it makes me wish for Jon Sundvold.
• Did you know? Danny Fortson leads the NBA in fouls/game.

Other important tidbits gleaned from other sources: Mateen Cleaves has replaced Flip Murray in the rotation, at least temporarily. It appears he will join the Omen in a high-energy "spark off the bench" type thing. Thank you, Mr. Flint ... Rick Brunson is on the inactive list with a sore left foot he reinjured in the Clipper game. Not known if he'll play against the Grizzlies on Tuesday night.

Vote for Petro!

I heard some guy call in to D-Locke's show after the opener, saying "Vote for Petro" as he hung up. Brilliant! I don't know if he came up with it, or if I'm just late to the party, but regardless the Johan Petro for Less Pine Time campaign should be in full swing by now.

The rook showed some surprising grit to go along with the expected jitters vs. the Clips. For every time he finished nicely around the rim, just as often he'd get stuffed or swarmed before he could even move. Stranger still, the short-in-the-tooth rookie had more poise than his comparatively walrus-like substitute, Danny Fortson. In 12 minutes, Petro had 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting, 5 boards, a block, 3 fouls, and sure, 3 turnovers.

Meanwhile, Fortson in his 7-odd minutes had only the "Personal Fouls" column filled in his line, with five. Granted, there may be nights when you can swap those Petro stats for Fortson's, but good ol' Fort can always fall back on his league-leading "Boneheaded Momentum-Deflating Play" figures.

One night is not going to get Petro anointed the savior. But he performed well enough to warrant extended play. Steal time from Reggie, who after some quick buckets in the first quarter decided he was the first option on offense. Take time from Danny. Shoot, team the kid up with Vitaly for a Petro-Potato twin tower thing. (Mmm, French-fried Potatapenkos).

I'm ready to believe Petro could be solid for this team. The fact that he did some goofy poppin' and lockin' for his silhouetted pre-game intro was reason enough for me. But if you need more convincing, the reviews in the Times, Tribune and P-I have been positive--not glowing, mind you--but nevertheless favorable.

So Mr. Sonics Post Game Caller, please save me a spot on the "Vote for Petro" campaign bandwagon. Before all the deserters from The Bob Swift Veterans for Truth pile on...

Fortson Flips, Sonics Get Clipped

Shoulda. Woulda. Coulda.

It started out so promising, with Johan Petro looking like the second coming of Hakeem and Reggie Evans scoring six points (!) in the first quarter. Then, reality came crashing down like David Thompson at a disco. The Sonics suddenly remembered to forget how to play defense and let the Clippers score over 100 points (!!), losing 101-93.

Despite a complete lack of "D" most of the night, the Sonics tied the score late in the game. In the end, though, three things sealed the Supes' doom:

1) Sam Cassel hit three 3-pointers in the final five minutes.
2) Danny Fortson had five fouls in eight minutes.
3) Flip Murray still thinks he can dribble.

Let the grumbing begin . . .

Game Night # 1 - The Clips (again)

As a year ago, the Sonics open with the Clips, aka Duke, So-Cal Style. The Clippers have added Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley in an effort to corner the market on point guards who wish they were two guards. Can Steve Francis and Nate Archibald be far behind?

As always, Elton Brand will be the key for Seattle’s defense. They held the big fella to less than 20 ppg last year, but with no JJ around, and the Potato possibly MIA, it will be up to the mish-mash of 4s and 5s to do the job tonight.

As a year ago, the Sonics are favored to win. It doesn’t take a genius to see the Clippers are not a legitimate player in the west and the Sonics are. Of course, the Hornets had no chance in their home opener, either, so there you go. In any event, here’s the scoop:

SPREAD – Sonics by 6
OVER/UNDER – 194
PETE’S PICK: Seattle 100 – Clippers 88

Incoherent on Opening Night

I thought it was considerate of them to put a nice big picture of Ray on the tickets, for us po' folks in the upper, upper bowl.

Is it 7 o' clock yet? And whose dumb idea was this whole "Spring Forward/Fall Back" thing anyway? Stupid Pacific Standard Time, making me wait another 5+ hours until ZHO-han Pet-trow steps into the halfcourt circle for the tip...

At any rate, Supersonicsoul will be there in full partial force! Big ups to my brother, the aptly named "Chunk's Brother," for coming through with the tickets. The first Miller Genuine Draft is on me.

But enough with my retarded monkeytypings already--I'm sure Mr. Nussbaum is crafting another one of his patented Game Night previews as we speak. Admittedly, prognos... prognosti... prognostification is not my strong suit. Nor is word talking. Thank goodness I can yell and act a fool at sporting events, or I'd be completely useless to this crew.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go warm up: "GO! ...SONICS! GO! ...SONICS!"

I’m super like the Sonics
I jab you with the left
and swing a hook without the phonics
--DAS EFX, "Underground Rappa"

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.