Ratings

Before the Finals started, almost everyone was in agreement that a Boston-LA series would be a ratings bonanza for the NBA.

After all, in addition to the nostalgia factor, you've LA involved, not to mention Boston, which is a heckuva better proposition than, oh, San Antonio and Cleveland, right?

So I was a little surprised to see the ratings for the series so far. Now, these are just for the first three games (game four ratings aren't available yet to non-insiders such as myself), but take a look:

Game 1: 8.7
Game 2: 8.5
Game 3: 9.2

Now, bear in mind that these are overnight ratings, which are almost always higher than the official ratings which will come out later.

The chart shows how the ratings have gone since David Stern took over the league in 1984. And, while this year's numbers are obviously higher than last year's (and when you add in game 4 and game 5, they'll higher still), it's not much of an improvement in the grand scheme of things.

In fact, if you were a pessimist, wouldn't you be disappointed with these ratings? Considering the hoopla surrounding the matchup, wouldn't you expect this year's series to do at least as well as the the 2004 Lakers-Pistons series? Well, thus far, the ratings are below that series, and I'd label that as disappointing. When you factor in that these are overnight ratings, I would say it's even more disappointing.

So, while the media continues to parrot David Stern's company line about improved ratings, it's a faulty argument. Yes, ratings are up over last year, but considering that last year's series was the lowest-rated in modern NBA history, wouldn't you expect that? For a league so full of bad news as the NBA, this is the best week of the entire year, the time when all of its sins are washed away by the goodwill generated by a Laker-Celtic final.

Next week, the Finals will be over, and Stern will be forced to endure an unending series of questions about the Sonics and Tim Donaghy. I hope an 8.5 rating is enough to comfort him.

Simple Math

Fun in seeing an old-school Shawn Kemp jersey courtside at hte Finals < Joy of seeing Ray Allen score the winning basket on a layup < Pleasure of watching the Celtics come back from 20 < Joy in seeing Kobe Bryant's face while sitting on the bench, knowing he's blown a shot at his first post-Shaq championship < Joy in knowing that David Stern won't get a Game 7 this season.

Love ya, Ray!

X-Man's Coming

What’s so wonderful about this Monday’s rally at the Federal Courthouse in Seattle, is the fact that two of my heroes – Gary Payton and Xavier McDaniel – will be taking time out of their lives to come and show their support for the cause. Heck, if you haven’t rooted for the team in 15 years, isn’t a chance to see the X-Man reason enough to take off work early on Monday?

Growing up rooting for the Sonics, four players in particular had more impact on my fandom than any others. In the early 1980s, it was Gus Williams, because he was the best player on the roster, because he tied his shoelaces in a funny manner that I liked to replicate, and because his nickname was “The Wizard.” In the 1990s, it was Nate McMillan and Gary Payton, for coolness (Nate) and ferociousness (GP).

But in between was the X-Man, Xavier McDaniel. His turnaround jumper on the baseline, his starring role in “Singles,” his all-star game appearance, and, most of all, that famous poster “The X-Man Cometh,” where he donned a trench coat and glared out of the glossy paper with the fury of a man who would not be denied.

That poster had a place of honor on my wall in my dorm at the University of Oregon. There were others alongside it (Chris Sabo, Eric Davis, and others; I was a Reds fan those days), but it was the X-Man who drew the most attention. The sea of Blazer fans that inhabited my dorm always saw fit to mess with the Sonics, especially Gary Payton, and, boy, there’s nothing a U of O student hated more in the 1990s than an OSU grad (Payton) playing for the Sonics, especially when that OSU grad was full of more smack than Eliot Spitzer’s girlfriends on payday.

But Xavier McDaniel? No, nobody criticized the X-Man, at least not to my face. Seattle has long been known as a latte town, the kind of place where outsiders come in and get away with whatever they want. As a kid at the Kingdome watching the Mariners, my family was the only one that stood up and booed the Mariners (and there was plenty to boo about, believe me), and that’s only because my parents were from the east coast, where children are taught to boo before they learn to write.

The X-Man was different, though, he was a hard-ass in a town of huggers. A man in a city of mice. I ask you: Was it any wonder that the most famous memory of McDaniel in Seattle isn’t a winning jump shot, but of him choking the life out of the Lakers’ Wes Matthews?

Suffice it so say that the day I saw that photo of X in the Seattle Times I ran to my mom’s desk, grabbed the scissors, cut out the picture, and used up half a roll of scotch tape to put it on my pee-chee. It was a small tribute to my favorite player, but for a 14-year-old, it was as big a tribute as I could manage.

So, to see that McDaniel will be traveling all the way from his South Carolina home to Seattle just to make an appearance at the rally on Monday, well, it just validates everything I believed about him two decades ago. Tough then, and still tough today.

You can have your Steve Largents, your Edgar Martinezes, and your Jack Sikmas – I’ll take the X-Man, thank you, and won’t look back.

Interesting Move

As reported by the AP on ESPN, the Sonics have announced the relocation of their D-League franchise from Idaho to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Picking for the Future

With the Finals upon us, and the NBA Draft weeks away, I thought it would be interesting to combine those two activities into one piece of information. Listed below are the players with noticeable playing time during the playoffs for both teams, followed by where they were selected in the draft.

BOSTON
Garnett, 5
R. Allen, 5
PIERCE, 10
RONDO, 21
Perkins, 27
Posey, 18
Brown, 29
POWE, 49
Cassell, 24
DAVIS, 35
House, 37
T. ALLEN, 25

LAKERS
BRYANT, 13
Gasol, 3
Odom, 4
FISHER, 24
Radmanovic, 12
VUJACIC, 27
WALTON, 32
FARMAR, 26
TURIAF, 37

That’s a total of 21 players, and only four of them were picked in the top ten of the draft. Also of note, six of the Lakers’ 10 players are home-grown, while only five of the Celtics’ 12 players came via a Boston draft (and, it should be noted, Andrew Bynum is nowhere on that list; the 10th overall selection was picked by LA in 2005).

What does all of that matter, though? Well, one point in particular may be derived: The majority of a team’s roster comes by way of either the bottom of the first or the second rounds. True, you’re not going anywhere without a superstar, but a superstar alone does not a champion make. Give some bonus points to Mitch Kupchak for finding people like Vujacic and Walton long after other teams bypassed them.

With the Sonics holding four second-round picks this season, in addition to dual first-rounders, it is crucial for the future of this franchise that Sam Presti find at least one player who can contribute to the team’s on-court success, other than what he finds with the #4 overall selection. It’s unfortunate that the Sonics need so much help at so many positions at this time, but that is the messy bed in which Presti is awakening. Personally, I can’t fathom why the Sonics would want someone like Roy Hibbert with the second of their two first-rounders, and the idea that Jeff Green’s talents would improve by having his old friend around is laughable.

At that point in the draft, you come up with one of two players: the Wayne Simiens of the world and the Luke Waltons. For Presti’s sake, for Seattle let’s hope he finds more like the latter (Courtney Lee, please!) than the former.

Well Done (Well, Sort Of)

Too often in the broadcast media, an important story is shoved below the radar, especially when that story is embarassing to the league or the network.

These days, it is difficult to separate those two entities. ESPN and ABC have paid a boatload of money for the rights to broadcast the NBA, and if the NBA should begin to show signs of deterioration, well, that would be bad for business at Disney. So, when Tim Donaghy's attorney dumped a great, big pile of steaming testimony upon the media's lap on Wednesday, I was skeptical that it would get much attention from the broadcast that night.

Which is especially frustrating, considering that Jeff Van Gundy was front and center in involvement in one of Donaghy's alleged conspiracies (I'm not denigrating here, just trying to be fair).

The way I look at it, commentators should act as our friends, as if we were sitting next to them in our living room. And, last night, if you were sitting next to Jeff Van Gundy, wouldn't the first words out of your mouth be, "Hey, what do you think about what Donaghy said today?" I know the NBA Finals are important, but, come on, how could you not ask that question?

And, thankfully, ABC/ESPN did just that, isolating JVG with lead man Mike Breen during a halftime segment. Sadly, Van Gundy tried to distance himself from Donaghy's allegations (dragging in that old, tired line about Donaghy "denigrating the league," as if the league was some religious entity), and he also tried to backpedal a bit from his comments during the Houston/S.A. series [edit: should have read Houston/Dallas] involving the league's apparent attempt to target Yao Ming.

Still, give credit to the broadcast team for not ignoring the situation. Should Mike Breen have asked more pointed questions? Of course, but that sort of interrogation will never happen between two partners in a broadcast, it's just not realistic to expect that of Breen, or any other commentator involved in such a situation. I'm just happy they didn't ignore what could be - combined with the ongoing Battle in Seattle - one of the most important stories of David Stern's tenure.

Sometimes, I Told You So Isn't Enough

With Time Magazine reporting that the Chinese government is backpedaling on promises it made to the various and sundry media entitities gathering at its shores in light of the negative reaction the torch relay received on its round-the-world voyage (and prompting some to wonder, what, if any, coverage we will be getting from behind the Red Curtain), it leads me to one, simple conclusion:

Ira Newble must be nodding his head somewhere right about now.

Rally Flyer

The crusading Brian Robinson of Save Our Sonics and SonicsCentral.com asked me if I could do a quick flyer for the rally next Monday. Of course I said yes. GARY FREAKIN' PAYTON AND THE FREAKIN' X-MAN are going to be there, for Pete's* sake!

Get the .pdf flyer here. I could be persuaded to make a color version if people asked real nice. Or if I get bored.

UPDATE: People asked real nice, so click here for the color version.
UPDATE: It was brought to my attention that it may be helpful to label which bald black dude is which since a) not everyone knows what GP and X-man look like, or b) they do know what they look like, but may not consider my caricature skills quite Puyallup Fair-quality. So there are now arrows indicating which guy I was intending to draw.

Behind the Scenes Bonus Footage: I came thisclose to making X-man say "Steve, do come now." My buddy talked sense into me though.

*And Paul's, for that matter.

Alexie in, Levy left out in Seattle Sonics trial

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled today that award-winning novelist and Supersonic fanatic Sherman Alexie will be allowed to testify on behalf of Sonics fans at the upcoming Seattle vs. Sonics trial.

Read the rest of what the Judge had to say in today's Seattle Times.

No News Until Monday

The Associated Press is reporting that Judge Pechman has held off on ruling on evidence and witnesses, and that her decision will not be handed down until Monday.

Decision Day

Eric Williams has the anticipatory look at what Judge Marsha Pechman will and will not allow in the upcoming Sonics vs Seattle trial, set to begin June 16 in this fair city.

That debate about whether Sherman Alexie and Mitch Levy will be allowed to testify? Decided today.

The argument of whether the city was in bed with Steve Ballmer and orchestrated the entire situation to force Bennett to sell? Decided today.

Should the survey which showed Seattle cares little about the NBA be included? Decided today.

Are Nick Licata's comments about the lack of cultural value of the Sonics important? Decided today.

And so on. As you can see, it's an important day for the future of the franchise in this city, especially in one regard: How the judge rules will be the first solid indication of how she feels about the case. If later today it is revealed that Levy and Alexie will be forbidden to testify, it will be an indication she may be leaning towards the Sonics' side of things, and, contrarily, if a whack of the Sonics' evidence is denied entry, then it could be supposed the judge is leaning towards Seattle's side of things.

Should make for an interesting day.

Video Protest

Seattle Weekly has a great piece up right now, put together by Jason Reid and Damon Agnos, showing Reid's visit to the NBA offices in New York. Well done all around, with just the right mixture of indignation, sentimentality, and Freddie Mercury. Any Sonic fan should absolutely check it out.