Luke's Cool Hand Hurting Sonics

The big story with the Sonics right now – other than their ability to take suckiness to new and previously unseen levels – is Earl Watson usurping the starting PG role from Luke Ridnour.

Now, hey, I like a good usurping as much as the next guy, and Lord knows I’ve rattled on and on for more than anyone about how Earl is more deserving than Luke to hold the reins of this team, but with the Sonics playing the Suns tonight, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look at how Ridnour compares to Steve Nash, the White Man’s Favorite Basketball Player.

Per 40 minutes, First 3 Years

Assists (year 1, 2 and 3)
Ridnour (5.9, 7.5, 8.4)
Nash (8.1, 6.3, 6.9)
Mystery (9.4, 7.9, 6.3)

Points
Ridnour (13.7, 12.8, 13.8)
Nash (12.5, 16.6, 9.9)
Mystery (10.5, 12, 17)

TOs
Ridnour (2.9, 2.3, 2.5)
Nash (3.7, 2.4, 2.6)
Mystery (3.2, 2.7, 2.3)

Steals
Ridnour (1.9, 1.5, 1.9)
Nash (1.2, 1.5, 1.2)
Mystery (2.9, 2.3, 2.8)

FG%
Ridnour (41, 41, 42)
Nash (42, 46, 36)
Mystery (45, 45, 49)

3FG%
Ridnour (34, 38, 29)
Nash (42, 42, 37)
Mystery (8, 13, 21)

TS%
Ridnour (50, 50, 51)
Nash (54, 56, 47)
Mystery (48, 48, 53)

Assist Rate
Ridnour (26, 33, 34)
Nash (35, 27, 34)
Mystery (40, 34, 25)

PER
Ridnour (13, 15, 16)
Nash (11, 16, 11)
Mystery (13, 13, 17)

Looking at the numbers, you can see Ridnour is in Nash’s ballpark for alot of the stats – with the notable exception of 3-point shooting, ironically the same demon which has propelled him to the bench this season.

Bob Hill’s thinking is obvious: Luke Ridnour must start knocking down jump shots for him to be a starter in this league. Hill’s reasoning for benching Luke is, to me, a good one: Part of a being a good shooter is confidence, and until Ridnour figures out that he must take open shots he won’t be a starter. It’s important to know that Luke’s not being benched for missing shots, he’s being benched for not taking them. If Ridnour was shooting terribly (which he has been recently) and that caused the benching then I would disagree with Hill, inasmuch as that might destroy his confidence.

But Luke’s a grown man now, and he’s being paid a grown man’s (actually, about 358 grown men’s) salary. He needs to start acting like it.

Wild Weekend

Holy crap, what a weekend. The Seahawks utilize Tony Romo's inept ball-handling skillls for a playoff win (and Martin Grammatica's poor blocking abilities - re-watch the play folks, and you'll see Martin give the ole to Jordan Babineaux), the Oregon Ducks knock off #1 UCLA at Mac Court (and, yes, I know they lost to SC on Thursday, but still), Bob Hill benches 3/5 of his starting lineup, Ray Allen drains 7 of 11 3's ...

And the Sonics keep losing.

It's at 11 straight now on the road, and here's Seattle's next slate of road games:

Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Washington, Indiana and Sacramento. Not until they play the Hornets on Feb. 23 will the Sonics have a reasonable shot at winning a road game, which means the road skid could approach 18 games.

Hill’s desperate move of benching Ridnour, Wilkins, and Fortson/Petro helped a bit in the loss to the Warriors, but I still get the feeling Hill’s time in Seattle is growing short. Honestly, I can’t see the Sonics winning any games – road or home – until they play the Bucks 11 days from now.

The Scoop on Andre Brown

I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one who knew little or nothing about Andre Brown before the Sonics signed him yesterday. Here’s a brief bio on the newest member of the roster, the man who will turn the Sonics into a playoff contender. (Seriously, Andre, no pressure).

Spent the past couple of months with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBDL. Currently leading the league in points and second in rebounds. Fantastic field goal percentage of 66; not so fantastic FT percentage of 55.

Brown was selected as the 2nd pick in the NBDL draft in November 2006, ahead of Denham Brown, Troy Bell, Darius Washington, and a whole bunch of people even NBA geeks wouldn’t know. Still, he could’ve been picked behind those people, so he’s got that going for him.

Brown also played in Italy and the Adriatic League (where he managed to hit 7 of 23 free throws!), always having good rebounding numbers and decent scoring totals. You may not remember this, but Brown was in the Sonics’ training camp in the summer of 2005, before heading off for South Korea and the Philippines (for the Barangay Ginebra Kings!). Naturally, Brown dominated in the Philippines, inasmuch as he would have been the only person taller than 5’3” in the entire country.

Brown’s most well known experience was for DePaul, averaging close to a double-double during for his four years in school. As could be expected, he shot poorly from the line and great from the field, culminating in a 57% FG/48% FT mark his senior year. He also averaged a couple of turnovers per game, which is another knock on his game (worth noting he’s averaged 3.1 TOs per game at Sioux Falls). He also set a Conference USA record with 27 rebounds in a single game back in the day.

At 6’9” and 245 pounds, Brown isn’t going to destroy anyone inside, but he is a presence. I also doubt that he’s going to block any shots at the NBA level, since he never did in college. According to various internet sources, Brown is very fast for a big man, and has been likened to Kenyon Martin in his ability to run the break and play down low. Ironically, Brown was the second-best player at a pre-draft camp in Norfolk, VA. The best player? Desmond Farmer, the guy the Sonics just released to get Brown.

Basically, I can see Brown playing a few minutes off the bench when the Sonics need a warm body – worthwhile for the team in that it will enable the Sonics to send Sene to the NBDL where he can get some minutes. Does this mean, though, that more moves are to come, like, perhaps, a Fortson trade?

I don’t know. Unless the Sonics can get a big man in return, it doesn’t really make sense to trade Fortson, unless Bob Hill plans on starting Petro and giving up on the season (which, considering who’s available in the draft this year, may not be such a bad idea).

It’s sad, though, that what could turn out to be one of the Sonics’ final seasons in Seattle will be such a lousy year. Sad, but not entirely surprising.