Pointing Fingers

Starting opponent point guards in Sonic wins:

Jason Williams, Miami
Tyronn Lue, Atlanta
Brevin Knight, Clippers
Mo Williams, Milwaukee
Marko Jaric, Minnesota

Starting opponent point guards in Sonic blowout losses:

Sam Cassell, Clippers
Allen Iverson, Denver
Jameer Nelson, Orlando
Raymond Felton, Charlotte
Tony Parker, San Antonio
Damon Stoudamire, Memphis
Jameer Nelson, Orlando
Kirk Hinrich, Chicago
Deron Williams, Utah
Chris Paul, New Orleans

Now, I could spend a couple of hours digging through statistics from each of those players, adding them all up, calculating their averages, their PERs, their assist to turnover ratios, and all the rest, but that would be insulting to our readers. Because it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it, what the difference is between the first group and the second group, for even a casual observer of the NBA.

Four of the five guys in group one are vagabond NBA point guards. With the exception of Mo Williams, that first group is free agent fodder, the kind of guys who always float around fantasy leagues, being picked up and dropped more often than a hitchhiker on I-5.

The second group, though, is a whole different breed of cat. Some do it with speed (Parker, Stoudamire, Paul, Iverson), and some do it with smarts (Hinrich, Williams, Cassell), but all of them (with the puzzling exception of Jameer Nelson) are top-echelon point guards.

Which all speaks to the following; when the case history of the 2007-08 SuperSonics is written, and an analysis of the team’s needs is ascertained, it won’t take a brain surgeon to figure out that a new point guard is desperately needed.

Graphically Speaking

For today's class, we're going to do a little comparison of Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony. To aid in the discussion, here are 4 graphs comparing the start of each player's career. The blue line is for Durant, the pink for Anthony.

1. Points

2. Minutes

3. Rebounds

4. Field Goal Attempts

So, what can we learn from these examples. Here are a few points I gleaned from looking at the data:

1. I had thought the Sonics were playing Durant too much and he was getting far too many shot attempts. In fact, numerous media members concurred, at least in regard to the shots, saying that it was causing a bit of a problem on the roster (the whole young fella getting too much too soon thing, you know). But when you compare KD to Melo, you can plainly see that Durant's numbers are almost interchangable with Anthony's.

2. On the negative side, while Anthony's point totals increased as the season progressed, Durant's have not. However, they are both small sample sizes, too small to draw significant conclusions.

And that's about it. Most importantly, I think it's clear that Durant has been Melo's equal thus far in his career, which bodes well for the future. Well, except for rebounding. And hair. Anthony's all over him in that.

Reignman in the Rafters?

Our pal Mike Seely over at the Seattle Weekly has brought up an excellent question: Should Shawn Kemp have his number retired?

For me, it's a no-brainer. Kemp and Gary Payton were the heart and soul of Seattle basketball during arguably the greatest era in Sonics history.

I'm as nostalgic about the '79 World Champs as anyone, but The Reignman and The Glove ruled this city for nearly a decade and if not for His Royal Airness, would have easily won a championship (and probably could have trounced the '78 and '79 Bullets as well).

I say, raise number 40 and 20 high in the rafters--but maybe after Clay and his gang leave town. Those creeps don't deserve an invite to the highlight reel party.