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.