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.