I found this story from TNT's Eric Williams an interesting read.
Williams quotes PJ Carlesimo at length regarding the latitude he is providing Jeff Green and Kevin Durant on offense, not to mention the rest of the team. Carlesimo explains his free-handed reign by referencing the way in which Tony Parker was allowed to run the offense his rookie season in San Antonio in spite of the numerous mistakes he often made.
What made me curious was the complete lack of laissez faire attitude when it comes to one Mo Sene. Sene, now in his second season in Seattle, has failed to take off his warm-up jacket in 9 of the Sonics first 11 games.
Now, I'm not going to say that Sene is a brilliant young player who is being buried on the Sonics' bench. He is, however, 21 years old, 6'11", strong, and with long arms. If PJ is willing to abide the mistakes of Green and Durant, why not Sene?
Inasmuch as the Sonics are writing off this season for rebuilding, would it kill them to play last year's first-round pick, oh, I don't know, maybe once a week? How is benching him for the entirety of the season helping him develop? Is Sam Presti working on a trade proposal with another club desperate to pay someone $1 million a year to sit on the bench? Does Sene have work visa issues with the State of Washington which preclude him from working within the state lines? Because after 11 games this year, he has yet to play at KeyArena.
Hey, this season isn't about the playoffs, we understand. But considering that Sene has the possibility of being a decent back-up center in this league, if for defensive purposes only, why can't we give the kid a chance? Are you telling me that he can't fill an Olden Polynice-type role in the future?
It's all well and good to say you're giving players "their freedom," when the players in question are Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, but how about extending that freedom to some of the other guys on the roster?
Monday, November 19
Friday, November 16
Falling, Falling
If you’re looking for a silver lining in a Sonic season covered in mud, here it is.
Last night, my alma mater, the University of Oregon, the #2 ranked team in the nation, a team on the verge of combining a national championship game with a Heisman Trophy in a single, glorious season, lost all of it in the span of 10 seconds.
It’s one thing for Ohio State, USC, LSU, or any of the other perennial powerhouses to blow their shot at a national title. After all, those schools are borderline professional football teams, and their chance at a championship comes annually. Likewise, Heisman Trophies grow like weeds in an untended garden for those lucky universities.
For Oregon, these opportunities come once a century, and Dennis Dixon’s injured knee in the first quarter of a game the Ducks were dominating ended it all. We – as fans – fell from the heights of the Rose or Sugar Bowls to the depths of the Holiday Bowl in moments. It was a dizzying plunge.
So, here’s your silver lining, Sonic fans. As fans of a team with no shot at anything this year, we have nowhere to fall. With an ownership and a league hell-bent on taking our team and with a roster riddled with questions, rehabs, and inadequacies, we have nowhere to go but up.
Remember the pain in your stomach we all felt when the Sonics would annually lose in the first round, the tension you’d get as the Sonics fell behind 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, then the urge to vomit after they lost a series they should have won?
Well, that pain is gone now, and there’s no chance of it this year. As bad as rooting for a 1-8 team is, and it is bad, perhaps it’s not as painful as rooting for a team which disappoints you.
At least, that’s what I’m telling myself this morning.
Last night, my alma mater, the University of Oregon, the #2 ranked team in the nation, a team on the verge of combining a national championship game with a Heisman Trophy in a single, glorious season, lost all of it in the span of 10 seconds.
It’s one thing for Ohio State, USC, LSU, or any of the other perennial powerhouses to blow their shot at a national title. After all, those schools are borderline professional football teams, and their chance at a championship comes annually. Likewise, Heisman Trophies grow like weeds in an untended garden for those lucky universities.
For Oregon, these opportunities come once a century, and Dennis Dixon’s injured knee in the first quarter of a game the Ducks were dominating ended it all. We – as fans – fell from the heights of the Rose or Sugar Bowls to the depths of the Holiday Bowl in moments. It was a dizzying plunge.
So, here’s your silver lining, Sonic fans. As fans of a team with no shot at anything this year, we have nowhere to fall. With an ownership and a league hell-bent on taking our team and with a roster riddled with questions, rehabs, and inadequacies, we have nowhere to go but up.
Remember the pain in your stomach we all felt when the Sonics would annually lose in the first round, the tension you’d get as the Sonics fell behind 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, then the urge to vomit after they lost a series they should have won?
Well, that pain is gone now, and there’s no chance of it this year. As bad as rooting for a 1-8 team is, and it is bad, perhaps it’s not as painful as rooting for a team which disappoints you.
At least, that’s what I’m telling myself this morning.
Thursday, November 15
Ah, Bud
This has nothing to do with the Sonics or the NBA, but, well, it's our blog, so you'll just have to indulge me.
At the precise moment I looked at Sports Illustrated's home page with a massive photo of Barry Bonds and the associated story on his indictment, there was a story with this headline located immediately to the right of the photo:
"Selig: Baseball's revenue tops $6 billion mark"
Folks, if you can't see the arrow joining those two stories together, well, you're just not trying. Say what you want about Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa, but those three gentlemen have one hell of a lot more to do with the present fiscal health of major league baseball than Bud Selig, and everyone in baseball knows it.
Either baseball and the press were derelict in their duties and knew nothing about the steroid situation many years ago, or their hands are now covered with so much blood they're having trouble endorsing their (sizable) checks.
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