Getting To Know Francisco Elson

1. Attended both Kilgore JC in Texas and the University of California-Berkeley. Other notable grads of Kilgore include Francisco Elson.

2. Parents are from Suriname, hometown is Rotterdam.

3. Fluent in Dutch, English, Spanish, German, South American Suriname. Is hoping to learn Carlesimo this off-season.

4. Played four years in Spain.

5. According to Wikipedia, he was the second-fastest player on the Spurs behind only Tony Parker. In a full-court race against Brent Barry, Elson reportedly reached the endline before Barry was able to get out of his crouch (this is an unconfirmed story which I only just made up).

6. Elson mixed it up with Kevin Garnett in the 2004 playoffs with some physical play, and at one point he termed Garnett “gay” for the shot to the groin Elson received from the Big Ticket. Elson later had to apologize to the gay and lesbian community for his comments on Garnett’s dirty play, which he later commented was “effeminate and soft, like a morning breeze on a dewy meadow.”

7. Did You Know? Elson is not the only player from the Netherlands in the NBA. Can you name the other?

Ouch

A few notes on the first Sonic game I've attended this year:

1. I was puzzled by Gary Washburn's comment that the Sonics "competed for 48 minutes" last night. Perhaps Mr. Washburn was watching highlights from the late 80s on his laptop, but the Sonics team on the court last night did not come close to matching the intensity of the Lakers. Even PJ Carlesimo said after the game that the Sonics' effort was lacking.

2. If the announced crowd was 17,092, then my announced bank account must be $1,430,840. I don't understand why the Sonics would fabricate attendance when they're trying to make it look like nobody in this town cares about the team, so the only reason can be that more than 6,000 people decided they'd rather throw their tickets in the garbage and watch the Academy Awards last night instead. Perhaps they had the right idea.

3. Mickael Gelabale looked great - easily the most energetic player wearing green and gold. He made plenty of mistakes, but his up and under move in the second quarter was sweet, as were his 21 points.

4. Francisco Elson is, surprisingly, a gunner.

5. Kobe Bryant got tossed in a game where his team was leading by 31. I don't know where his reservation was, but it must have been at a nice spot if they wouldn't hold it for him until 8:30.

6. When Earl Watson hit a three at the beginning of the third quarter, I got a bad feeling in my stomach, because I knew we were going to see at least three more attempts from that "sharpshooter" before the night was out. EW finished 5 of 17.

7. Eric Williams at the TNT is right - at least half the crowd was cheering for the Lakers. Man I hate Laker fans, especially Laker fans who were born in Washington. That's just lame, people.

Know Your Roster

David Brewster at crosscut.com has a great profile of the local players involved in the current Sonics v City saga. It's worth the read.