Trades Redux

It’s early, but I thought it would be interesting to see how the 3 trades the Sonics pulled off recently have played out. I know we’re all thrilled with the way Watson and Wilcox have done in green and gold, but how are Flip, Vladi, and Reggie Evans (oh, yeah, the Potato, too) doing in new jerseys?

FLIP MURRAY
Ah, the Flipster. Young Ronald has started 8 of 10 games in Cleveland thus far, averaging 13 points, 2 boards, and 3 assists. However, his increased production is only from increased minutes, as his FG% is the same as in Seattle, and his 3-pt mark has gone from bad (22%) to worse (12%!). Also worth noting: Cleveland is 4-6 since acquiring Murray; they were 32-22 before he showed up.

REGGIE EVANS
Mr. Glass has gone at the boards with alacrity since arriving in Denver, putting up nearly 9 boards a game in only 22 minutes, a remarkable number. It’s clear what he’s up to, though, when you see his 37% FG mark and 43% FT mark: Evans is going Rodman – grabbing boards at the expense of the rest of his game. His 20-rebound game against Toronto notwithstanding, Evans’ negative +/- rating in a Nugget uniform belies his contribution to Denver. The Nuggets are 6-3 since he showed up, though, so he’s obviously not an obstacle to their success.

VLADIMIR RADMANOVIC
Here’s where it gets interesting. Vlade has clearly enjoyed his visit to LA. 49% from 3-point range (!), 7 boards a game, nearly 13 points a night, and, most important to Vlade, 33 minutes a game are all positives. So long as he keeps draining from outside, it’s all good for Radman. But with 89% of his shots coming from jumpers, is this likely to continue? After all, he’s only hit 40% or better from long-distance once in his career, so it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be able to hit 50% for the rest of the year – or the playoffs. His arrival in LA coincided with a 4-game Clip losing streak, but LA has rebounded to post a 6-6 mark with Vlade in tow. The surface analysis says that Vlade’s a great fit for LA, as his outside game complements Elton Brand’s inside prowess. All that said, I think the Clips are plenty glad to have him around. (Although, can I ask a question here? Why is Mike Dunleavy starting something called Quintin Ross at small forward, when he’s got Corey Maggette and Radmanovic sitting on the bench? Okay, the Clips have gone on a 3-game win streak since he did it, but it’s still weird.)

VITALY POTAPENKO
You can look at two ways. 1) The Potato has played 5 minutes for Sac-to since they acquired him from the Sonics. 2) The Kings 7-2 since the Potato showed up. You say tomato, I say Potapenko.

I’ll look at the Sonics’ side of this equation later on.

Danny Fortson: Cyborg Smasher!

Click image to view at full size.

The seemingly illogical ejections. The bonecrushing elbows. The months of chillin' in street clothes at the end of the bench. Finally, the truth behind these and other mysteries can be told in this feature exclusive to Supersonicsoul.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the grand tradition of such timeless classics as "Shaq Fu," Dennis Rodman's "Double Team" and "Michael Jordan's Chaos in the Windy City," we proudly present:

DANNY FORTSON: CYBORG SMASHER.

[At least the cover of it, anyway.]

Wilcox Rocks

Supersonics.com has a little propaganda article about our new favorite Sonic, Chris "Rocks Your Box" Wilcox:

What makes Wilcox arguably the Sonics best finisher since Shawn Kemp was patrolling the paint is not merely the frequency of his slams, but also their ferocity. Wilcox is able to dunk through traffic as well as anyone in the league because he attacks the basket so relentlessly.

"That's my aggressive side," Wilcox said. "I just want to go out there and take everything to the basket strong. Some of the dunks I do miss are because I'm going too hard to the basket. Me, I just want to finish everything; that's the best way to finish is to go hard."

Maybe someone should pass that quote along to The Rash. Or staple it to his forehead.

Everything Must Go!

From the "How to Know When Your Team Is Getting Ready to Can Your Pig-tailed Behind" Department.

Nice to know you, Danny.

Guess who's won TWO IN A ROW?!

Seriously, guess. OK, it was the Sonics, who beat the Lakers 120-113 on Sunday. The biggest surprise, of course, was that Ray Allen played defense (!), holding Kobe to 22 points (1-13 from 3-point range. Ouch!). Check out the gruesome boxscore here if you dare!

Also, tune in later today for an exciting new comic from Chunkstyle!

Weekend Anchor

Much like when the weekend news telecast is staffed by the JV news-reader squad (KING 5: BAILEY Sports!), good ol' chunk is here to tide you over 'til Pete and Paul return from their weekly two-day break from high-speed internet connections.

I was there last night! It was a schizophrenic game, with a strange rhythm to it. The Supes would fall behind by 9 or so, giving the ball away, forcing shots in half court, letting the T-wolves shoot open jumpers. Then they'd pull even on good d, rebounding, and running the ball. Repeat. They seemed to flip some kind of switch in the 4th though. Watson's aggressiveness seemed to infect the whole team--even Lewis and Swift got aggressive.

I was really surprised that, given the dearth of street parking last night and the draw of a genuine superstar in Kevin Garnett, that the arena was so empty. Lots of red seatbacks were visible. Where were all the people who took my free parking? Was there a Yanni concert at Memorial Stadium I wasn't aware of?

It seemed to verify the fact that Seattle fans will always back a winner, and ignore mediocrity. Plus, you can't discount the fact that the games from here on out are meaningless. There were times last night, however, that the crowd's noise level would fool you into thinking it was a full house cheering for a playoff contender. Sigh... If only that were true...

Still, I think this team is loads more entertaining to watch now than it was, say, 2 weeks ago. For example, my unofficial statistics show that, since the trades for Watson and Wilcox, the rate of alley-oops has gone up a staggering 3000%. Bet you didn't know that. Seriously though, when Flip Murray would miss as many dunks in a game as Wilcox, Petro, and Swift are making, it makes for a more satisfying brand of b-ball.

after the buzzer thoughts:

• The past two games I've attended (G-State, Minny) have not featured half-time "entertainment" per se, but rather more basketball of a less polished variety, to which I say bravo. At G-State a biddy b-ball team from Redmond scrimmaged. Last night, the Sonics youth wheelchair team had an intra-squad exhibition. This kind of halftime show is exponentially more entertaining than some lame magic act or the "#2 ranked doubles trampoline team in the nation" (they really had that one time. ugh.)
  
• Sonics Boom Squad? Good. Sonics Dance Team wearing yellow rain slickers while dancing to "It's Raining Men"? Not good. Sonics Dance Team peeling slickers off at the chorus? They were wearing clothes underneath, but still: Good...
  
• I've mentioned this before, but the more I watch him, the more it bugs me. Rashard Lewis has forgotten how to dunk. Even as recently as last season, when he boomed that baseline slam against the Mavs in Dallas, 'shard used to take it strong. No more. Even with a full head of steam and a defender pinned under the basket, he still jumps and floats, waiting for contact, and then flips up a weak-ass layup. After such a play last night, I thought, "Shawn Marion would have dunked that. Ricky Davis would have dunked that. Flip Murray would have... tried to dunk that." Point is, how is it that dudes smaller than Rashard are unafraid to take it strong, yet this 6-10 kid with hops is going for dipsy-do scoop shots?
• If Supersonicsoul ever hit it big, there's no way our luxury box would ever, ever be empty, no matter how many games out of first the Supes are. There were two at the southeast(?) end of the arena that were totally dark and deserted. Probably belonged to some dot-coms that went nipples up in '01. What a fuggin' waste...
  

Sonics vs. Tee-Wolves

The Sonics are playing the T-wolves right now. Of course, it's hard to tell since the ding-dang game ain't on TV (stupid Pac-10 tournament . . . ).

In happier news, this Monday Chunkstyle will be bringing you the first installment of a brand new comic, "Danny Fortson: Cyborg Hunter". It was written by a very talented and sexy man, so I promise you it won't completely suck.

Sadly, the same can't be said for tonight's game (sigh).

Game Night: Grizzly

A few pieces before looking at tonight’s matchup with Memphis…

According to espn.com, Bob Hill is the 6th-least hated coach in the NBA, ranking ahead of former Sonic assistants Terry Stotts and Dwayne Casey, as well as Larry Brown (natch). It should be noted that his approval rating has dropped since December. Why? … This just in! Reggie Evans felt underappreciated in Seattle! Yeah, Reggie, we all know you’re hard working and all, but, seriously, when the entire NBA decided you’re not worth a long-term deal this past summer, don’t ya think that maybe it’s not just Seattle doing the underappreciating? … And, last but not least, the Sonics have officially inked one Marcus Fizer (congrats to sonicscentral for breaking this way ahead of the big boys). You want to hear a bizarre list? If Fizer makes it to 500 games played, he will join these guys as former Iowa State grads to have played that many games: Zaid Abdul-Zaid, Kelvin Cato, Fred Hoiberg, and Jeff Hornacek. Somehow I’m guessing that’s not a foursome you’ll be seeing at a golf course near you.

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On to tonight’s affair. The Sonics are only favored by a point, which to me is a steal. Just like the beginning of last season, the oddsmakers are going to be skeptical of the Sonics for awhile, but, to me, this team is easily capable of dusting the Grizzlies tonight. If you look at the two previous games, the current Sonics bear no resemblance to the team(s) that lost in those two outings. I’m not even worried about Collison’s injury affecting the outcome.

It will be interesting to see the Sonics match up with Memphis’ slow-down tactic (which, as this piece shows, even some Griz fans are getting sick of). Here’s some numbers for you: The Sonics take 42% of their shots in the first 10 seconds of the 24-second clock. Memphis takes 32% in that time frame. Memphis takes 20% of their shots in the final four seconds; the Sonics 11%. It’s two completely different styles: Fratello’s Slothball Crapola vs Hill’s Runners. As if the Grizzlies’ style of play wasn’t bad enough, they’re paying this guy about $6mil a year until 2010. I like to call it the Bill Curley Rule: NBA teams will always go out on a limb for a 6’9” white guy. It’s as if they think that if they keep drafting them, sooner or later they’ll find another Larry Bird. Good luck with that.

As you can tell, I’m picking the Sonics, 103-89.

My Olympic Team

(click for full size)

This has been talked about all over the internet recently, and it's a good discussion point (especially when your favorite team stands 7 1/2 games out of the last playoff spot with 23 games to play). That is, which 12 guys deserve to be on the Olympic team in 2008?

Well, here's my list:

C: Shaq
C: Ben Wallace
C: Chris Bosh
PF: Shawn Marion
PF: Elton Brand
SF: LeBron James
SF: T-Mac
SG: Kobe Bryant
SG: Joe Johnson
PG: Chris Paul
PG: Dwayne Wade
One empty spot for someone like Dwight Howard or someone else who emerges (Adam Morrison, high schoolers, etc.)

That gives us 12 guys who I'll take over any other 12 (assuming that Duncan and the rest of the non-volunteers don't want to play, either).

Collison Out 1 Month

If you haven't already added Chris Wilcox to your fantasy league team, I suggest you head on over to your home page and do so RIGHT NOW. Why? Because Nick Collison is out for 4 weeks, that's why.

March 6 Cartoon: "He Who Asks Last"

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One last arena post... from me anyway. I'll leave any further political commentary to my SSS colleagues, Saints Peter and Paul.

And you thought Kenny G killed Jazz

In honor of the Oscars, it was "Brokeback Mountain Night" at the key last night.

The Sonics murdered the Utah Jazz 113-81 last night. The new guys stole the show with Earl "Wattstax" Watson lobbing a couple of Payton-like ally-oops to "Wilco" Wilcox, and a nice behind the back dish to "The Rash". Lost in the razzle dazzle last night was a solid performance from "The Omen", who snagged a career high seven (!) steals.

So, was this just a case of the Sonics beating on a crappy team, or are the Supes back in action? Or a little bit of both? Maybe we'll find out Wednesday night against the Grizz.