Iverson a Nugget

The Nuggets have acquired Allen Iverson for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and 2 No. 1 Picks.

To counter the Nuggets' acquiring Iverson, the Sonics are looking at picking up Penny Hardaway, as Mitch Richmond and Clyde Drexler refused to return their calls.

Anyhoo, Denver's lineup (and, remember, they're the second best team in the NW Division) now looks something like this:

C - Camby
PF - Nene
SF - Melo
SG - JR Smith
PG - Iverson

With Boykins, Najera, et al coming off the bench. Hey, Rashard Lewis, care to re-evaluate your thoughts today?

"Now we're in a position where we can catch up with [the Nuggets] easily," Lewis said of the Sonics (10-16). "You don't wish for things like [the brawl and suspensions] to happen, but now that it has, you think about how that can affect things in the division."

I know, that's a cheap shot at Rashard, as he didn't know Iverson would be on the next thing smokin' for the Mile High, but c'mon, did anyone seriously think the Sonics had any chance at passing the Nuggets this year?

Folks, the Sonics are in last place in the NW Division. The coach they let go - Nate McMillan - is currently leading the "rebuilding" Blazers to 4th place. The Timberwolves, whose roster was seemingly cobbled together by pulling names out of a hat, are 2 games up on Seattle. The Jazz and Nuggets are so far ahead of the Sonics in the standings, Bob Hill would need Dick Cheney to find him a defense contractor to build a $750 million telescope to see them.

This road trip has fried my last sense of loyalty to the Sonics organization. Trade Ray Allen, trade Rashard, make Fortson the new Wheedle - I really don't care. Good luck, Oklahoma City, I hope you enjoy this team more than we have.

Grin and Bear It

As the Sonics continue to stumble through a difficult road trip, I'm reminded of David Halberstam's book "Summer of '49," which detailed the incredible 1949 season from the perspective of the Yankees and Red Sox.

One story in particular stayed with me. The Yankees' pitching staff had a term for when a starting pitcher was forced to stay in the game in order to preserve the overall health of the staff, even though said pitcher was getting hammered and losing badly. They called it "your turn in the barrel," in that it was going to kill your ERA and you had no chance of winning, but you did it regardless.

From my perspective, the last four games have been the Sonics' "turn in the barrel." Even in a best-case scenario - a healthy Ray Allen, Robert Swift, and Earl Watson - the Sonics would have struggled on this trip. But with all 3 of those folks MIA for some or all of the trip, the Sonics really didn't have much of a chance. It kills us as fans, but it happens in the NBA. There are trips that you just have no chance in and you just have to muddle through.

That turn in the barrel ends tonight, though, when the Sonics travel to Memphis. The Grizzlies are just that - they've lost 6 straight and are a 2-point win over the Celtics from a 10-game losing skid. Memphis is a terrible rebounding team, and Pau Gasol's return from injury has yet to pay dividends.

If ever there was a team ripe for a home loss, it's the Memphis Grizzlies. The Sonics MUST take care of business tonight, regardless of it being the 2nd of a back-to-back on the troad. A loss tonight would put this club in full-fledged desparation mode, and Chris Wilcox has to be able to take advantage of the weaker Grizzlies for a bona-fide 20-10 night. Luke Ridnour has to punish Mighty Mouse and look more like the guy who went for 26 and 9 assists against the Warriors than the imposter who went for 2 and 1 against the Cavs a couple of nights ago.

Otherwise, with the Mavericks coming to the Key on Wednesday, Christmas could start to get ugly for Bob Hill.

Wha' Happened?

The whole Christopher Guest mockumentary deal is getting tired, admittedly, but Fred Willard's role in A Mighty Wind still makes me laugh. I don't know what it is about the guy, I just think he's a genius.

Anyway, I think it's fair to say that more than a few people who follow the Sonics are asking, "What Happened?" right about now.

“I just think our team is at a point right now, we’ve had so many injuries and our schedule has been so tough, they just don’t believe they can win,” Sonics coach Bob Hill said, courtesy of Frank Hughes at the TNT.

Ouch. Anytime you've got a coach saying his players don't believe they can win, you know things are in somewhat dire straits. As Gary Washburn points out in the PI, the Sonics have fallen behind by double-digits in their past three games - all losses. This was the same formula they perfected earlier in the season, and it's one we'd hoped had been lost on the last long road trip, when the Sonics seemed to be emerging from their early-season funk.

Fortunately, Ray Allen is on the mend. Not so fortunately, Pau Gasol is as well, which means the Sonics might not have the same pot of gold sitting at the end of the rainbow they were expecting when the road trip finishes in Memphis. With the next game in Detroit, the final one in Memphis, and the start of a homestand against Dallas, a 6-game losing streak suddenly doesn't look so unlikely.

Worse, if the Sonics do lose all 3 of those games, they'll be standing at 10-17 on the season. Which means that in order to win 42 games - the absolute minimum I'd guess for a playoff bid - they'd have to go 32-23 for the remainder of the season, or basically win 60% of their schedule, something they've managed to pull off once(!) in the past nine seasons.