Siete

Well, no matter what the Sonics did last season, you had to know the experts wouldn't be fond of them this year. And, guess what, SI's picked them to finish 7th, and 2nd in the Northwest behind mighty Denver. I guess since the Nuggets played well in the 2nd half and the Sonics played well in the first, that means Denver is better, right? I missed the memo where it was revealed that Julius Hodge can shoot with either hand from 35 feet out. Whatever.

As a side note, you've got to love SI's "Telling Number" about the Sonics. Apparently, Seattle ranked last in the league in assists last year, a telling indication the Sonics are not for real. After all, the league champ in assists was Sacramento, and we all know the Kings are much better than the Sonics, right?

Roster

Much talk in the papers (and from our more astute readers) about how Rick Brunson could be paid $1 million to hang out with Ibo Kutluay this year. Alex Scales (Go Ducks Go! #12 in the BCS, baby!) has emerged on the scene as an alternative to Brunson, and Mateen Cleaves’ deal with Satan has apparently at least one more year to go, meaning his inexplicable continuing run in the league will continue for 82 more games.

Whither Brunson, then? Here is the roster, as of today:

ALLEN
Brunson
Cleaves
COLLISON
EVANS
Felix
FORT
LEWIS
MOORE
FLIP
PETRO
POTATO
Powell
RADMAN
RIDNOUR
Scales
SWIFT
WILKINS

Those in capitals are on the roster, no matter what, and it adds up to 13 guys, the minimum roster number. However, the team is required to average 14 guys on the roster for the season, so that’s the key number to look at. (All teams are allowed to have as many as 15 on the roster at a given time). With that the case, it makes sense Seattle will keep 2 of these 3 guys: Brunson, Cleaves, Scales. I don’t think Cleaves is as much of a lock as it would appear on the surface, so it is conceivable the Sonics will keep Scales and Brunson, but Cleaves is nice insurance at the point should the Flip Murray Experiment fail miserably. To me, the best move is to say goodbye to Mateen and keep Scales and Brunson.

Game Night

Hey, the Sonics are back at the Coliseum, and while it's preseason, it's still somewhat interesting to see two of the better teams in the West go at it.

Of course, the big story is no Amare. How many wins will the Suns get this year without the big fella? Bob Weiss says there's no way they win 60 without him, and, of course, I agree. You can talk about the Canadian all you want, but Amare is and was the man for Phoenix, and with him in street clothes this team is in big trouble.

But enough about Phoenix, here's a couple of points about our guys:

1. Radman is expected to play.
2. The Potato is out again, and may miss the entire pre-season. I don't know what he did to piss the Basketball Gods off, but it must have been something big.
3. Swifty and Frenchy will get a good run again, as Mikki Moore will probably sit. Let's hope they can show some improvement over game one.

No tv, naturally, but the game is on KJR at 7:30.