Loss, Break, Change

Unable to convince Jerry Sloan prior to the game of the wisdom of resting his five starters, the Sonics wound up falling to the Jazz last night at the Key, before an announced crowd of about 10,000.

The loss, as you are well aware, leads us into the all-star break, and gives the Sonics a chance to pause alongside the calamity that is the 2007-08 season and take a breath. Percy Allen, at the Times, gives insight into the changes that may be headed our way:

Coach P.J. Carlesimo intends to use the second half of the season to evaluate players such as C Robert Swift, C Johan Petro, G Luke Ridnour, swingman Delonte West and Gelebale at the expense of others, including starters.

So there you go. If you have Earl Watson on your fantasy league, perhaps this might be a good time to sell high. If you're utilizing Kurt Thomas to boost your rebound totals, well, maybe you ought to think about doing the same.

The obvious conclusion to be drawn from the expected changes are this: If the Sonics are one of the worst teams in basketball when they give their best players the most minutes, to what unforeseen levels will they sink when they start playing the guys who aren't as good? Do we need to get James Cameron involved in documenting the second half of the season?

Mystery Team

C: Shaquille O’Neal
PF: Eddy Curry
SF: Luol Deng
SG: LeBron James
PG: Tony Parker
Bench: Brent Barry, Sasha Pavlovic, Anderson Varejao, Stephon Marbury, Ty Thomas, Brad Miller, Beno Udrih

Quite a list, huh? I’ll give you one minute to come up with the association between that mad-cap group of semi-stars and superstars.

Give up? If you’re a Sonic fan, it’s a cinch. It’s the list of opposing players who sat in street clothes (or waved to teammates from suites) in contests with Seattle in the past two weeks.

At this point, I could trot out the whole “See, the Sonics suck, despite their recent spate of wins” article, but, honestly, who am I arguing with, other than 7-year-olds who think Kevin Durant is the NBA MVP? We all know the Sonics are awful, and even four wins in five games isn’t going to change that.

Still, it’s shocking when you add up all the recent missing persons into one unit. Are the Sonics the Typhoid Mary of the NBA now? Perhaps not, but if I’m Jerry Sloan, I’m keeping a close eye on Deron Williams for the next few days.

Gelabale Returning

According to Jayda Evans at the Times, Mickael Gelabale is due to return to the NBA after finishing up with a game for Idaho tonight. Evans writes in her piece that Carlesimo is intent on getting Gelabale into the rotation for the second half of the season.