Somebody Wake Kevin Martin Up

Who the hell does Martin think he is anyway? Nobody with a shot that ugly should score 31 in a high school game, let alone against an NCAA-caliber defense like the Sonics'.

Well, Martin killed Seattle last night, with an assist from Ray "Don't tell me to stop shooting" Allen. Hopefully, Allen will get out of this recent 3-point slump, and get back to being an all-star caliber shooting guard, 'cause he's killing the Sonics right now. Take a look at his 3-point shooting in the past 8 games: 2-8,2-9,4-11,4-9,1-6,2-8,1-8,1-6.

That's 27% folks, and that ain't going to cut it.

In other news, the official Earl Watson Sweepstakes has begun; I had mid-January in the pool, so I was off by a month and half. The Heat don't have much to offer anything to the Sonics that would match up well salary-wise, unless other teams get involved. Ideally, the Sonics need to get somebody big to either start or help the anemic bench, plus they need to add a backup to Allen, because Sugar Ray's minutes are out of control. At 40+ minutes a night, he can't keep it up for the whole year (and if you think he's always played this much, try this on for size: The last time Ray Allen averaged more than 40 minutes a game, Saddam Hussein was president of Iraq).

One night off, then the Spurs on Sunday. No rest for the weary.

Stuffing

There are few times I miss living in the States more than Thanksgiving. Canadian Thanksgiving is to American Thanksgiving as Canada is to America: A pale imitation. Nobody here seems to know why they have Thanksgiving, some people celebrate it on Sunday, some on Monday, and there's little if any tradition.

Plus, the only football on Thanksgiving in Canada is the CFL. The CFL's fun and all, but it ain't exactly the National Football League. So, while you're digging into your third helping of stuffing tomorrow and debating whether to fight Uncle Fester for the dark meat, send a sentimental thought north of the border to us poor, dislocated Americans who have to work.

With that in mind, here's a few random thoughts as we head for the holidays:

1. It'd be nice to see Seattle pull one out against the Clips tonight, but LA's undefeated home record has me thinking it's a little less than likely. Let's be thankful the Sonics have an extended home stand coming soon, with a delightful Hawks-Hornets-Warriors trio of games.

2. Surprisingly, Bob Hill did not emerge as one of the 5 coaches on the hot seat in an SI piece today. I'm not saying Hill should go by any means, but the Sonics' off-kilter start certainly has to have some wondering how long he'll last.

3. This is totally off-topic for a Sonics' board blog, but, hey, it's our site, right? I was listening to Dan Patrick on Tuesday, and he brought up the whole Michigan vs USC vs Notre Dame debate. Patrick's argument was that if SC knocks off ND and UCLA, they should be playing for the title, with the reasoning that SC's only loss would be against Oregon State, "and they're a bowl team."

Let me get this straight, Michigan's only loss came in a nail-biter on the road against the #1 team in the country, and somehow that's not as good as losing to a team that's going to play in the Las Vegas Bowl? In what universe does that make any sense?

Hey, I can understand if you're going to argue that two teams from the same conference shouldn't play for the title, and while I don't agree with that argument I can see the logic. But to say that SC's loss to Oregon State is superior to Michigan's loss to Ohio State is flat-out stupid.

Of course, as a Duck fan, I assume the BCS is stupid to begin with, so I guess that makes sense.

Thank God for the Nets

Can you imagine how bad it could have gotten in the next week if the Sonics hadn't pulled it out in the 4th quarter last night? The next three games are at the Clippers, then home against the Spurs and Kings. Add 3 losses to a loss last night, and you've got yourself a nice seven-game losing streak. Bob Hill's seat would have been so hot you could've boiled Michael Cage's hair gel on it.

Instead, all Sonicdom is rejoicing the Johan Petro sighting. Thought to be extinct, Petro re-emerged and scored 12 points against the Nets, or 6 more than Jason Kidd did.

Honestly, the Sonics and Petro are as likely to keep this up as a Steven Seagal Honourary Oscar, but that's just my opinion. What do you guys think&mdash are the Sonics in need of drastic changes, or should they stay the course and play the hand they've been dealt? What trades should Rick Sund be exploring? Let us know your thoughts.