Goodbye Cleaves, hello Watson?

The house cleaning has begun.

A day after firing head coach Bob Weiss, the Sonics released point guard Mateen "Meat" Cleaves.

Could this be a precursor to a trade (possibly involving former Sonic Earl "The Hurl" Watson), or does new coach Bob Hill just want to show everyone who's boss by axing a popular player? Maybe it's a little bit of both, how should I know? I just work here for God's sake, get off my back! (Runs off to cry in men's room.)

Dear Bob

Dear Bob,

It’s over.

I really wanted this to work out. Honest. After Nate and Dwayne left, and Phil Jackson and Larry Brown signed on with other teams, and Paul Silas didn’t want to come here, you were my top choice to coach the Sonics.

After another humiliating blowout loss last night, however, it’s clearly time for you to go. Nothing personal. You’re a great guy. Everyone loves your card tricks. You just can’t coach worth a crap.

I know it wasn’t all your fault. AD and Garbage Bag left. Vlad’s a bitch. Every team’s got problems, Bob. Great coaches figure out ways to make it work (see last season).

You’ve always been a team player, Bob, so now it’s time to take one for the team. You know Wally and Rick won’t fire you. Not their style. Quit now, before the entire season goes down the tube. I know you’ll end up on your feet, Bob. You’ve always got that modeling career to fall back on.

Lots of Love,

Paul Merrill
H.R. Dept, Supersonicsoul.com

p.s. Do you know where we can reach Paul Silas?

(UPDATE: Dag, that was quick! Bob Weiss was officially canned today. If I knew the Sonics would grant my every wish, I would've asked them to bring back the Wheedle too!)

His Name is Earl

Are the Sonics so desperate for a decent ball-handler that they would offer up three of their players for an over-priced backup point-guard? Answer: Yes!

Late Christmas Present

As we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day and whatever other excuse we can use to get out of work, Supersonicsoul would like to give you, the loyal Supersonicsouljahs a little gift: The complete 1979 Seattle Supersonicsonics NBA Championship LP. Enjoy!



Sonic Boom - Side One

Sonic Boom - Side Two

Danny Fortson's Secret Identity?

Danny Fortson: Power Forward or Power Ranger?

No wonder DaFort's such a bad ass—he's a freakin' Power Ranger!

Sonics Take Whiz

Antonio Daniels: OWNED!

From the PI:

Revenge wasn't the central theme of the Sonics' 111-101 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday night. This win was encouraging, as the Sonics used their poise to maintain a lead, and their emerging defense to get crucial stops.

The Sonics are past the point where they are strictly motivated by revenge. They sought to snap a four-game home skid and collect their first back-to-back wins in two weeks.

All that aside, however, beating Washington, which celebrated its 137-96 victory over the Sonics on Nov. 11 as if it had won the Super Bowl, was definitely rewarding.

Seattle used a combined 54 points from Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen and some second-half scoring punch from Luke Rudnour to pull away in the final minutes.

Read the rest here.

Radman Not Leaving

According to this report from Frank Hughes in the TNT, Radman will not ask for a trade this season, despite his ever-decreasing minutes. Further, he'll veto any trade (as is his right in the CBA) the Sonics offer. This isn't all that surprising, but it does put the kibosh on the trade rumors we hear regarding the 6'10" enigma.

As a side note, you have to love this quote from David Bauman, Radman's agent.

"They saw last week that when they play him 31 minutes, they get 23 points. If they play him 15 minutes, they are going to get seven points. That is just how it works."

Funny, when Vlade played 33 minutes against the Cavs on Nov. 9th, he scored 12. And when he played 40 minutes against the Lakers on Nov. 24, he scored 13. And when he played 26 minutes against the Warriors one week ago, he scored all of 8 points. Nice try, Bauman, but we all know the truth is that Vlade's point totals are as reliable as a Seattle weather forecast.

Rumorville

Here’s the latest from the internet regarding Sonic trade rumors:

1. MARC JACKSON:

“Starting today, players acquired over the summer can be dealt. [Marc] Jackson fits that criterion. The Nets are in the market for an athletic big man. They likely will pursue Stromile Swift, … and Reggie Evans, and perhaps Dan Gadzuric.”

Jackson is a uniquely talented big man who made the 1st team All-Rookie his first year out. Since then he’s bounced around the league a bit, but had arguably his finest season last year in Philly, averaging 12 points and 5 boards a game. In my mind, he’s really not that different from the Potato, except that he makes an extra $1.5 mil a year. I don’t expect the Sonics to pursue him, since the majority of his points come from the outside, and the Sonics already have enough soft big men who can’t score down low.

2. VLADIMIR RADMANOVIC:

“General Manager John Nash said in a perfect world the Blazers would be able to trade one of their small forwards for a power forward who can shoot, a player similar to Seattle's Vladimir Radmanovic.”

When you hear John Nash talk about trading a small forward, that’s code for Ruben Patterson. Obviously, the Sonics aren’t going after Ruben anytime soon, so that would mean the Blazers would be giving up someone along the lines of
Viktor Khryapa. I don’t like that move because, well, his name’s too hard to spell.

Stuffed Again

Ouch.

The season of unending pain continued last night, as the Rockets took advantage of Seattle's weak defense to shoot 56% from the field on their way to a 104-98 win. Pine-Sol Evans almost went for a double-double, but he was the lone bright spot as Ray Allen continues to miss shots at an alarming rate, Lewis scored less than 20 for the third consecutive game, and Seattle demonstrated a complete inability to defend the interior.

Want proof? Here's the combined FG mark for Juwann Howard, Stro Swift, Dikembe Mutombo, and Yao Ming: 20 for 29, or 69%. Folks, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that teams that allow opponents' big men to shoot 69% do not win very many games.

Tonight, the Sonics take on Nate and the Blazers in the Rose City. Luckily, the Blazers make the Sonics look like the Spurs, having won 2 of 10, and those two were against New Orleans (in OT) and the Hawks.

Looking for a crazy stat? The Blazers haven't scored 100 points in a game this season. Sonic opponents typically score 100 by the end of the third quarter. Something has to give!

Sexy Bob Weiss Photo of the Week

Can you handle this much sexiness? No you can't!

Artest a Sonic?

Hah, made you look.

There is considerable speculation throughout the NBA regarding the future home of Ron Artest, much of it focusing upon New York. Of course, Sonic fans can't be blamed for wondering if the defensively-minded small forward wouldn't just be a tonic for all that ails us.

Obviously, the Sonics would have to part with a marquee player to get someone of Artest's caliber, and the only guy on the roster that fits is Rashard Lewis (Sugar Ray, of course, is beyond marquee and his salary is out of the Pacers' orbit). A straight Lewis for Artest deal doesn't work due to their disparate salaries, but a Artest-Anthony Johnson for Lewis-draft pick deal could work, or a 3-team deal (more likely, inasmuch as the Pacers would need to get a backup PG to replace Johnson). One other possiblity would be Artest and Austin Croshere for Lewis and Radmanovic, but that deal would have to wait until after the holidays when Radman's available to be traded.

Sadly, there's little possibilty of it happening. Artest apparently wants to return home to New York, and I can't imagine Howard Schultz pulling the trigger on a guy that makes Gary Payton look like Mateen Cleaves. Count me down as one vote in favor, though. As much as Artest's mental stability can affect his team, he's young, on the cheap (relatively speaking), can play defense and score. There's nobody on the Sonics that can reply yes to all of those categories, and he would instantly make the Sonics a better defensive team. Add in a shot-blocking center and the Sonics actually could be tough in the playoffs.

That's Clean, Baby

The Quote of the Year Contest has heated up, with the latest entry from Reggie Evans.

After Tuesday night's Lunancy in the Lavatory, Evans came, well, clean regarding how he felt he did on the drug test.

"I've been clean since I've been in the league, I've been clean since I've been in college, I've been clean since I've been in high school, middle school, elementary school," Evans said. "I'm just cleaner than clean. I'm cleaner than Pine-Sol."

Forget Mr. Glass, The Collector, and all those other nicknames. Henceforth, I will only refer to Reggie Evans as "Pine-Sol."