Sonics-Magic

Top 5 Greatest Magic-Related Moments in Sonics History:

1. February 24, 2006: The Sonics stop at the wrong restaurant between Orlando and Miami, resulting in half the team getting sick, forcing Bob Hill to play with only 7 available guys. Ray Allen throws up on the bench, both from the food poisoning and from watching Mikki Moore get 27 minutes.

2. January 11, 2006: Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling throw down at the Key, followed by Keyon pursuing Allen into the hallway underneath the stands. Side note: Rashard Lewis drops 45 in 44 minutes in his greatest game nobody will ever remember.

3. March 21, 2004: Admit it, you have no idea why this game is on the list. My friends, when Vitaly Potapenko goes for 21 points, that merits inclusion on any list. Besides, any game featuring Ansu Sesay, Reggie Evans, Andrew Declerq, and Tyronn Lue has to be here.

4. January 5, 1996: This one is a little hazy, but I have a firm recollection of the events, if not the date. This much is sure: The Sonics were losing to the Magic in Orlando, back in the Brian Hill-Shaq-Penny days. With little or no time remaining in the game and the outcome no longer in doubt, Hill reinserts Shaq into the lineup for some statistical achievement. George Karl, sensing this and pissed off like only he could be, decides that he's going to put Frank Brickowski back in. 10 seconds later, Shaq heads to the bench as Brian Hill realizes his future as coach (i.e., Shaq's health) rests in the forearms of the Brick.

5. March 12, 1990: God, I miss the old NBA. Seattle scores 130 points and 7 Sonics score in double figures. Check out the point guards who played for the green and gold that night: Avery Johnson, Sedale Threatt, Nate McMillan, and Dana Barros. My friends, they call that depth. Bonus points for random Reggie Theus sighting.

Help!

Like most of you, I’ve been puzzled by the Sonics’ start to the season. The same team that nearly sweeps the Heat and Magic and destroys the Nets on the road loses to the Kings at home? How does a running team score 78 points? Whose hair is longest: Gelabale or Fortson?

Difficult questions, but let’s try to ascertain what’s going on in Sonic wins and losses. To wit:

1. Rashard Lewis is shooting 49% on 3’s in wins; 37% in losses
2. Johan Petro shoots 54% in wins, 35% in losses
3. Luke Ridnour hits 53% of 3’s in wins; 37% in losses
4. Chris Wilcox gets 9 FGA in wins; 7 in losses
5. Damien Wilkins averages a steal every 15 minutes in wins; every 30 in losses

There are more stats to look at, but I think it’s important to note that it’s unrealistic to expect Rashard Lewis and Luke Ridnour to hit 50% of their 3-point attempts this year. In fact, it’s flat-out impossible. Yet, unless they do, the Sonics struggle to score.

In looking at those stats, I’d recommend the following to shake this team out of its’ current 5-losses-in-7-games slump:

1. Give Watson more minutes. Earl is not as bad as he’s shown so far. For the same reason that Ray Allen is allowed to keep chucking when he’s hit 4 of 18, Earl needs to be allowed to keep playing. Now, that doesn’t mean Watson gets to take 3’s with 18 seconds on the shot clock, but if Hill can sit down with Watson and tell him that he’s going to be playing 20-25 minutes every night, regardless of the FG%, it will help the team.

2. Beat Wilcox over the head until he understands that this team needs him to take shots outside of fast breaks or put-back dunks. Force Ridnour to feed Weezy the ball down low at least once a quarter.

3. Allow Petro to keep screwing up. At this point, he’s our only legit big man. We have to pray that the good games eventually start to outnumber the bad.

4. Decrease Ray Allen’s minutes and allow Wilkins and/or Gelabale to play some more.

5. Finally, make up your mind with Danny Fortson. Explain to Danny that if he keeps his head about him, he’s going to get 10-15 minutes a night this year. The Sonics need a backup big man after Nick Collison’s graduation summa cum laude from the Benoit Benjamin School of Infuriating Big Men, and Fortson is helpful on the boards and scoring garbage points in the paint.

Easy, breezy. 5 Simple Steps to Make the Sonics Better. Tomorrow’s game against Orlando will be a real test for this team and the Bob Hill tenure as the coach. If the Sonics drop this one, and the bench fails to get the minutes they think they deserve, the sharks will smell the blood in the water.

Weather Frightful; Sonics Moreso

Frodo tries the matador defense on T-Park. Olé!

I know the beat writers have to look for interesting hooks, but the whole "Bench vs. Bob Hill" thing is a little bit overblown, at least from my perspective.

That said, this quote from Earl Watson post-game on why he was still running on the treadmill (courtesy of the great Percy Allen in the Times) is pretty good:

"Because I need to stay in shape and 15 to 20 minutes just isn't doing it for me."

Ah, sarcasm, the sign of either a very confident team, or a very cranky backup point guard.

I don't know where Hill is coming from re the bench, as it was the starters that killed the Sonics, not the bench. Considering the Spurs' bench outscored the Sonics' 29-25, I don't consider that to be the turning point. I do, however, consider that when two guys (Wilcox/Lewis) who average 33 points give you 15, that might be a factor. Or when your two point guards grab more defensive rebounds than your starting forwards, that might hurt a bit.

According to David Locke, last night was a "lesson" for the Sonics in "championship basketball." This is coming off Friday's "part of the evolution" of Seattle's defense. Just think, if the Sonics can manage to drop 6 in a row, they'll be smart enough to contend for the title!

Seriously, this team is the classic tweener: better than bottom feeder, not good enough for the playoffs. It's a sad recipe for disaster in this town, one that's been cooked for nearly a decade now, one that's been handed down from McMillan to Weiss to Hill. It contains equal parts poor defense, overreliance on outside shooting, and lack of inside presence.

I just hope Oklahoma City likes it.