Last Dance?

"Clearly at this time the Sonics and Storm have little hope of remaining in the Puget Sound region."

Clayton Bennett

Well, push has finally come to shove, as it were. With the state government's refusal to vote on funding the $500+ million arena project, Clay Bennett has indicated he has finally had enough of dealing with the local legislature, and all indications are pointing towards Oklahoma City. (You can read a much more in-depth view of the situation here and here).

So, what happens next? Couple of things; first, will the Sonics still play here next season? Bennett's purchase agreement included a clause allowing him to move the team elsewhere (read: Oklahoma) should the government fail to produce a new arena, and most speculation (prompted by Bennett's own comments) led everyone to believe that because the team missed the NBA's March 1 deadline to petition for relocation, the Sonics would, at the very least, play the 2007-08 season in Seattle.

However, the Daily Oklahoman's two stories about this situation believe otherwise. As reporter John Rohde put it, "Rather than endure lame-duck status next season in Seattle, Sonics ownership might seek an immediate resolution by buying out its existing lease."

Likewise, Barry Tramel writes, "[The failed deal] means the Sonics' Oklahoma City-based owners could, and almost surely will, campaign to leave Seattle immediately.

"No one is interested in a lame-duck season.

"Not the Sonic owners, not the NBA, not even the city of Seattle, which will posture otherwise to enhance its negotiating status."

Well, that kinda sucks, huh? Obviously, that is speculation on the part of the Oklahomans, but considering Bennett's fingertips are pretty close to the pulse of that paper, one must believe the writers have some insider information.

Naturally, the city of Seattle is less than enthusiastic about seeing the only major tenant at Key Arena split before the lease has run its' course, prompting City Finance Director Dwight Dively to comment that, "If they wanted to leave before [the end of the lease] we would demand substantial financial damages." Substantial meaning tens of millions of dollars.

The elephant in the room, in my opinion, is whether the Sonics were ever truly serious about this proposal. Especially when I read comments such as these:

"The Sonics just have not done that kind of full-court press," said Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, chairman of the House Finance Committee, who opposed the proposal. "I don't know that they're serious."

Hunter was referring to the efforts put forth by Paul Allen when Allen's Seahawks were asking for a new stadium a few years ago.

Honestly, I believe Clay Bennett would have liked to have had a team in Seattle. Financially speaking, the team is more valuable here than in OKC, and when you consider that Oklahoma's stadium isn't ready for prime-time, either, well, it makes you think that Bennett wasn't as conniving as Hunter would lead you to believe.

At this point, as Mike Seely points out at Seattle Weekly, about the only ray of hope is the possibility of a special session of the legislature, called by the governor, to specifically address the stadium issue.

Personally, I don't think it's very likely at all. Unlike the Mariners, the Sonics are not riding a crest of public sentiment. They're not the "Refuse to Lose" 1995 Dream Team, they're the "3-Headed Teenage Monster Center" 2006-07 Nightmare Team, staring the wrong way up at a 31-51 season.

Teams that rally from 15 games back in August behind dramatic 9th-inning home runs and freakish 6'10" starting pitchers get stadiums.

Teams that feature Mike Wilks and Johan Petro do not.

One More To Go

The Bataan Death March that is the Seattle Supersonics 2006-07 season is reaching its end, with only a home game against the Mavs remaining.

With the twin losses to Portland and LA over the weekend, the Supes are sitting pretty in the #5 spot. And yet, I'm having nightmares of this guy. Rick Sund wouldn't pick another inexperienced big man with the first pick, would he?

Would he?

Let's assume it plays out according to the script and the Sonics grab the #5 pick in the draft. Oden, Durant, Wright and Noah go 1-4 (I really think the Suns will go after Joakim). The Sonics could choose from:

Al Horford, Julian Wright, Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer, Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Mike Conley (please, please), Spencer Hawes, and all the other stiffs. Who should they pick? Let's start the ruminations. I'm for trading down and taking either Green or Brewer, then dealing Rashard in a sign-and-trade (possibly combining those two into one deal).

Lottery Update

Quite a few results from last night, and unfortunately, most of them did not go the Sonics' way. Here's what happened:

LOST:
Atlanta, Boston, Knicks, Minnesota, Charlotte, Sacto, Portland

WON:
Milwaukee

Um, yeah, that kind of hurts our chances, wouldn't you say? Anyway, were the season to end today, and the lottery was nonexistent, the standings would look thusly (losses in brackets)

Memphis (60)
Boston (56)
Milwaukee (52)
Atlanta (50)
Charlotte, Seattle, Portland (48)
New York, Minnesota, Sacto (47)

The Hawks will almost surely lose tonight at Cleveland, so you can go ahead put a 51 next to them. The Hornets will likely win against the Bucks, and then, of course, you've got the Battle for the Roses in Portland - Blazers/Sonics, tipping off at 7 tonight on FSN (or KGW if you swing that way).

I don't like to call any game "must lose," but if were to call a game "must lose" I would most assuredly call tonight's game a "must lose." The Blazers will be without Randolph, Aldridge, Roy, and Udoka. The Sonics are missing Allen, Ridnour, and Watson. That means the starting lineups will look like this:

Seattle:
Lewis, Wilkins, Wilcox, Collison, Wilks

Portland:
Webster, LaFrentz, Magloire, Jack, Jones

Call me crazy, but I'm giving the edge to Portland, The Sonics are starting 3 guys (Wilkins, Collison, Wilks) who are all really bench players. Tonight will tell if the Sonics can continue pummeling the Blazers as in the past two games, but I'm betting on the Rose City.

Oden Odyssey

Much like Homer's Odysseus, the Sonics have wandered for an eternity this year. Will it pay off? Will the Sonics, like Odysseus, be able to shoot their arrow through the target and win the biggest prize in team history?

Well, this weekend will go a long ways towards helping or hindering the Sonics' odds. Here are the key games on tap for the next three days.

Wizards at Atlanta (W)
Milwaukee (L) at Boston (W)
Knicks (L) at Nets
Spurs at Minny (L)
Charlotte (L) at Bulls
G St. at Sacto (L)
Portland (L) at Clips
Atlanta (L) at LeBron
Charlotte (L) at Milwaukee (W)
Seattle (L) at Portland (W)
Sacto (L) at Clips
Minny (L) at G St.
Knicks (L) at Toronto
Seattle (L) at Lakers

Here's how it would shake down if it goes according to plan:

Seattle: 0-2, 31-50
Portland: 1-1, 32-48
TWolves: 0-2, 32-48
Knicks: 0-2, 32-48
Sacto: 0-2, 32-48
Charlotte: 0-2, 32-49
Bucks: 1-1, 27-53
Atlanta: 1-1, 30-50

That's a crapload of teams sitting at either 30, 31, or 32 wins heading into the final three days of the season. As the past drafts have shown, there is a HUGE difference between being #4 and being #8.

What does it all mean? I think we may see a major illustration of tanking in the next six days. It also sets up some interesting matchups, like, for example, Milwaukee at Cleveland on the last day of the season. Let's say the Cavs are locked into their playoff slot and play their bench guys to make sure Z and LBJ are ready to go for the playoff push. Well, the Bucks sure as hell aren't running Junior Bridgeman and Sidney Moncrief out there these days, now are they? If I was a NBADL player, I might just hang around the lockerrooms before game time, because there's a pretty good chance yet another Buck pulls up lame before that contest.

Or how about Mavs-Sonics to close out the year? The Sonics have no reason whatsoever to play hard, and neither do the Mavs. Does it turn into a video game horror show, where both teams start chucking up 28-footers out of sheer boredom?

It's certainly not something Homer - or David Stern - would ever write about, but it's the reality of the lottery era. All I can say is, Go Blazers Go!

Valley of the Suns

Managed to catch the 2nd half of the game last night on tv, as the three people in Vancouver not watching the Canucks were able to catch the Suns-Sonics game on Sportsnet (thank you, Steve Nash!)

For those who weren't able to watch the game, the PI's Gary Washburn sums it perfectly:

"The result was more a reflection of the Sonics' lack of depth than Phoenix's
dominance."

Amen, Gary, amen. At one point, the Sonics cut the score to 67-65 if memory serves, but the Suns just slowly edged away after that. A couple reasons why it happened:

-Nick Collison was a total non-factor. Whatever juice he drank in the first two months of the season has disappeared, and nowhere was it more patently evident than last night. As Eddie Johnson (!) pointed out on the Suns' telecast, and be patient, this is a long metaphor, "You know how when you go to a restaurant and have a great meal, then you go back to that restaurant ten more times and that meal never tastes as good? That's how Collison's playing tonight. He keeps thinking he's going to have that same meal that he did a couple of months ago, but it just ain't happening."

-Randy Livingston is a long ways away from being ready to play PG for the Sonics. It's just not fair to expect a guy to come and run the offense when he doesn't even know the plays. Livingston got called for a 5-second violation on an inbounds play; I think the ref had to pull the rule book out of his pocket so he'd use the right hand gesture. When was the last time you saw that happen in the NBA?

-Andre Brown left Shawn Marion open for 3's on two consecutive possesions while he (Brown) got tangled up in the paint.

-I know Rashard scored a bunch of points, but both he and Wilcox didn't look good to me, at least from what I saw in the second half. Wilcox seemed intent on dunking on every play, and I can't begin to count how many times he lost the ball in traffic. Lewis was jacking it up on every touch, and on at least two occasions he held the ball for at least 7-8 seconds waiting for something to happen offensively.

On the positive front, Mike Wilks really looked good, especially on one possession in the second half when he took the ball to the hole a la Steve Nash. The young man is definitely capable of being a backup 2 in this league.

Even more positive, the Sonics edged closer to the 5th spot in the draft. Vive le lotterie!

Outcasts

I got a cold slap in the face this morning upon opening the Vancouver Sun. As most of you are unlikely aware, the Canucks kick off their run for the Stanley Cup tonight in Vancouver with a game against the Dallas Stars.

To commemorate the occasion, the Sun blasted out a special section, chock-full of full page color photos, graphics, and all sorts of other things that give copy editors wet dreams.

I didn't read the section (I've lived in Vancouver for 10 years, and I still don't give a damn about hockey), but it made me nostalgic for the days when the Sonics were honored with sections like that.

You remember them: a graph detailing points per game, free throw percentages, turnovers there; a chart showing the matchups at the various positions here; a list of past playoff performances over in that corner. All in glorious, splendiforous color, to be pored over with eager anticipation by teenagers and middle-agers alike, the entire city giddy with the possibility of victories in spring.

Instead, rather than full color celebrations of glory, we have black and white agate of failure. This, sadly, is the Sonics circa 2007.

There's a line in James Joyce's A Painful Case, one of the dozen or so short stories included in Dubliners. The story is about James Duffy, a woeful man who tries to glide through life without any interest in anyone, to prevent himself from feeling the nick of sadness. When Duffy finally musters the courage to fall - somewhat - in love with a woman, it ends terribly. Joyce's description of Duffy is apt for a certain green and gold basketball team:

"He gnawed the rectitude of his life; he felt that he had been outcast from life's feast...He knew that the prostrate creatures down by the wall were watching him and wished him gone. No one wanted him; he was outcast from life's feast."

That's us, folks. The 2006-07 season has been an abject failure, and the Sonics are now outcast from the marvelous playoff buffet. While other teams have their entire rosters down to the last man on the bench examined and re-examined by a host of experts, no one will examine the Sonics' roster, because to do so would be a waste of ink.

So long, special section, we miss you so.

Sonics to Sign Livingston for Stretch Run

According to Frank Hughes and Gary Washburn, the Sonics will likely sign Randy Livingston to back up Mike Wilks for the rest of the season. In his 10-year career, Livingston's played for 9 teams, including the Sonics.

More importantly, last night the Hornets shocked the Heat and catapulted the Sonics into the 5th-worst record in the league. With a loss to the Suns tonight (keep your fingers crossed!), the Sonics could be firmly entrenched in the #5 hole, with a decent shot at catching the Hawks for #4.

The Sonics close the year at Phoenix (loss), at Portland (even), at the Lakers (loss), and home against the Mavs (win). The Hawks are home against the Wizards (win), at Cleveland (loss), at Milwaukee (even), home against the Pacers (even). The Sonics will likely go 1-3 and the Hawks will likely go 2-2, putting Seattle with one more win than the ATL. It'll all boil down to the Blazer-Sonic game and the Pacer-Hawk game, at least from my vantage-point.

Can the Sonics manage to let Brandon Roy go for 30? Can Mike Wilks puncture his thumb opening up a Super Sip? Can the Hawks enable Jermaine O'Neal to post a quadruple double? Will Josh Smith curse out the entire city of Atlanta and invoke the name of General Sherman in the process?

Ah, the NBA at lottery-time, 's wonderful.

Seattle Sonics: Team of Mystery

70 plus games should tell you everything you need to know about a team, but after another lose one, win one, lose one weekend, we are left with more questions than answers about our beloved SuperSonics.

For starters . . .

After securing a site in Renton, are the Sonics serious about staying in the Northwest?

With Earl Watson probably out for the rest of the season, will Luke Ridnour Mike Wilks step up and show Sonics management that this is his team?

How the hell did Rashard pass Shawn Kemp on the all-time Sonics scoring list?

Sonics, I feel like I don't even know you any more.

Da Fort

You’ve no doubt heard how Danny Fortson got out of traveling with the team to San Antonio and Oklahoma because of a dangerous tooth abcess, which his dentist allegedly said could “explode” on an airplane (let’s pray that the Taliban doesn’t read the Seattle Times).

All of which begs the question: What will Danny use as an excuse for the remaining seven games? At supersonicsoul.com, we’re all about finding the silver lining in the dark cloud that is this season. Here’s one man’s guess at possible excuses conjured up by the Round Mound of Puget Sound.


April 6th vs Lakers – Got stuck at King’s Table Buffet on Thursday/Friday. They closed at 11, but I hadn’t had all I could eat at that point; spent the night curled up under the omelet station and finished up the next day. When it says "All You Can Eat for $11.99," doesn't that mean I get all I can eat? Am I being too philosophical?

April 7th at Utah – Airport security forced me to remove my Mormon temple garments. I got into a theological debate with the security guard and they detained me, and I missed the flight.

April 9th vs Houston – Was at the salon having my pigtails cleaned when some dude called me Pippi Longstocking. Da Fort don’t stand for that mess. A King County sheriff threw me in the back of his car until we got it all straightened out.

April 11th at Phoenix – You know I don’t fool with those Colangelos no more.

April 14th at Portland – “Hey, Bob, I’m here at the Key. Where is everybody?”

April 15th at Lakers – After I missed the Portland game, I thought I’d catch an early flight to LA and catch up with you guys there. My cab driver took me Inglewood, then we found out the Lakers don’t play there no more (you gotta understand, when you only play once every six weeks, it’s easy to forget these kinda things). Right now I’m stuck on the 405 and I don’t think I’ll make it in time. Catch you back in Seattle, dudes.

April 18th vs Dallas – Sorry, King’s Table called about my outstanding bill. They said they’re gonna garnish my wages since I’ve been running up a tab there since that playoff run two years ago and haven’t paid it. Gotta go straighten it out. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be ready to go for summer training drills. You know Da Fort’s gonna catch on with somebody next year.

Blackburn Uber Alles

Apparently, Bob Blackburn has a computer, and he's not afraid to use it.

If you haven't voted already, hop over to supersonics.com to vote for either the 1978-79 NBA Champions or Bob Blackburn (!) as the greatest icon in Seattle Supersonics' history.

It got me to thinking: Where does Blackburn rank in Seattle sports broadcasting history? Blackburn obviously had a head start on everyone, with the Sonics debuting 40 years ago, and he remains the only broadcaster to call a professional sports championship in Seattle history (not including the Seattle Metropolitans, winners of the Stanley Cup in 1917; their broadcasts were done using signal flares, and, hence, do not count).

Every city has its favorites, and Seattle's been blessed with some great announcers. Neihaus, Pete Gross, Blackburn, Calabro, Raible, ... how do you rank the greats?

Well, here's one attempt:

1. Dave Neihaus ("Looooooow and outside")
2. Pete Gross ("Touchdown Seahawks!")
3. Bob Blackburn ("And Williams throws the ball into the air!")
4. Kevin Calabro ("Oh, Shawn, nobody do the voodoo like you do!")
5. Bob Rondeau ("Touchdown Washington!")

Your results may vary.

One Shining Moment

I don’t know about the rest of you, but while I watch the NCAA championship every year, it’s usually with a sour taste in my mouth, because none of the teams in my bracket advanced that far, or if they did, I’m still out of it and have no shot at winning the pool.

Last night, though, was different, for a couple of reasons.

First, it was the first time my 3-year-old daughter actually sat still for an extended period of time and watched a sporting event. Mind you, I’m not complaining about her general state of hyperactivity – the one thing kids need less of in this part of the world is sitting still and watching tv – but it was enjoyable to see her attention span extend beyond 35 seconds.

For some reason, she took a shine to Ohio State (or as she calls them, “the red guys”). Maybe it was Greg Oden, maybe it was Ron Smith, or maybe it was the fact her dad was shouting PG obscenities whenever Florida scored. Regardless, for pretty much the entire second half she sat next to me on the couch and rooted for OSU.

From yelling at Joakim Noah (“I don’t like that ponytailed guy”) to inventing cheers (“Go red guys, go!” “Hey white guys, let the red guys win!”), she had a blast. She even explained to her grandfather that Noah isn’t a nice guy (“He’s always yelling, bapa. Yelling’s not nice, right? That’s why we don’t like that ponytailed guy.”)

That was part of it, for sure. Add in the fact I got to watch basketball for a solid 2 hours without her asking me to put on Dora was the cherry on top (sadly, though, she seemed to be riveted by those annoying car insurance ads featuring some cartooned woman trying to dunk over some sort of alien-type creature).

The other part was the talent on the court. I think that 15 years from now, we’ll all look back on this championship game as something special. While Oden was obviously the best player on the court, this wasn’t a case of a giant amongst midgets. Oden’s teammates (Conley, Smith, et al) are also talented, and it’s possible he won’t be the only guy on his team to play in the NBA. And, of course, it seems as though every guy Billy Donovan trotted out onto the court for Florida was NBA-ready.

It all means that 5, 6, 10 years from now, we could be watching an NBA all-star game featuring Oden, Noah, and Horford, and we’ll all look back at last night and remember they were all on the same court together, the way I remember seeing UNLV play at the Kingdome against Seton Hall.

For one night at least, I forgot all about the Sonics’ troubles, and remembered why I watch basketball in the first place: It’s a game that everyone can enjoy, regardless of whether they know nothing about it, or far, far too much.

Oden Watch

When you're watching tonight's NCAA Championship game between Ohio State and Florida, try not to think about how awesome it would be to have Greg Oden on the Seattle Supersonics next year.

Seriously, try not to.

You can't, can you? After another confounding late season win-streak knocked them out of the Oden sweepstakes, Sonics fans are left to painfully ponder "What if?", and pray to Sund that they don't draft someone from Norway.

By the way, if you missed John Moe and I discussing the dreaded "Lose to Win" philosophy on "Weekend America", you can listen to it online here.