According to Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman ("From Clay's lips to our paper!"), Kevin Durant will represent the Sonics at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20.
Clay Bennett was unavailable for comment.
Monday, May 5
Former Sonics in the Playoffs
A quick rundown of how former Sonics are doing in the playoffs this season
Wally Szczerbiak: 10.8 ppg, 10/29 on 3’s, 25.5 mpg
Delonte West: 10.2 ppg, 9/18 on 3’s, 5 apg, 30.2 mpg
Rashard Lewis: 18.8 ppg, 8.2 rbg, 4 apg, 41.5 mpg
Ray Allen: 16.1 ppg, 18/45 3’s, 3.1 apg, 3.4 rbg
Reggie Evans: 6.8 ppg, 7.8 rbg
Antonio Daniels: 7.3 ppg, 3.0 apg, 25.7 mpg
Vladimir Radmanovic: 8.6 ppg, 35% FG, 4.2 rpg
Kurt Thomas: 6 rpg, 22.3 mpg
Brent Barry: 12.7 mpg, 4/8 3’s
As you can see, four ex-Sonics are averaging better than 10 points a game, including two (West and Szczerbiak) who were traded for a great big pile of nothing. That West/Wally for Marshall/Griffin/Newble deal is going to go down as one of the biggest shams in team history, mark my words. Not that West or Wally will ever amount to much in this league, but the sheer audacity of giving up players who are starting for a playoff team for just absolutely nothing is disgraceful.
Also of note, of those listed, only Daniels and Evans are home watching the games on television now. The remainder are all still alive, and unless San Antonio, LA, Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando are all elimated, you will be watching ex-Sonic(s) either start or play key roles off the bench in the NBA Finals this season.
More Numbers
As mentioned earlier, this past season the Sonics took the fewest number of 3-pointers of any team in the entire league. Naturally, this means the Sonics also ranked at the bottom in points scored from 3-point attempts, checking in at 11.5 points per game (actually, they just edged out Philly, but it was a close race).
However, as the father of the nerdy 27-year-old virgin says to him at his 28th birthday party, “You’ve got to score sometime, right?”
In the Sonics’ case, they scored on 2-point jump shots. Call it the Alex English Approach.
Long ago, 3-pointers were not commonplace. Even after the league added the line 20-some years ago, it just didn’t happen. Just as an illustration, Kobe Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer this season, attempted 415 3’s this year. In 1983-84, that would have led the league.
And, by league, I mean league. San Antonio led the league with 308 attempts as a team. Kobe Bryant is a gunner, to be sure, but, still, he attempted 100 more 3’s than any team did in '83'-84.
Anyhow, how does that relate to the Sonics? Well, Seattle led the league in points scored off 2-point jump shots, and, in this year of melancholy, I suppose that’s a bright spot (these numbers all swiped from 82games.com). After all, they could have ranked last in 3-point attempts and 2-point attempts, right?
Interestingly, the 2-point leaders were not all cellar dwellers. Among the top ten were Dallas, Detroit, New Orleans, Toronto, and Utah. Of course, the top ten also included the Clippers, Bulls, and T-Wolves, so it’s not exactly a who’s who of great NBA teams.
But here’s the rub: the playoff teams, unlike the losers, were good at taking 2-point shots, which is why they took so many of them. Here’s an illustration:
Granted, the difference between the worst and the best is not huge, but is it really a coincidence that the four worst teams out of the top ten all failed to qualify for the playoffs?
It speaks volumes to the inefficiencies of an organization that 1) produces a team which is unsuccessful at something and 2) continues to do it frequently. It’s fine that the Sonics are not good 2-point jump shooters, but why continue to do it? The Golden State Warriors hit 36% of their 2-point jump shots, a woeful figure to be sure, but that accounted for only 33% of their total attempts on the season, the second-lowest in the league.
That’s what smart organizations do: spot inadequacies and make moves to minimize the impact those inadequacies would have.
In a way, though, the decisions facing the Sonics’ coaching staff this season paralleled the decisions facing the creators of the Bush Presidency DVD. It’s all fine and dandy to tell them what NOT to focus on, but what should they include?
Because, after all, what the hell do you emphasize when the entire thing is a miasma of crapitude?
However, as the father of the nerdy 27-year-old virgin says to him at his 28th birthday party, “You’ve got to score sometime, right?”
In the Sonics’ case, they scored on 2-point jump shots. Call it the Alex English Approach.
Long ago, 3-pointers were not commonplace. Even after the league added the line 20-some years ago, it just didn’t happen. Just as an illustration, Kobe Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer this season, attempted 415 3’s this year. In 1983-84, that would have led the league.
And, by league, I mean league. San Antonio led the league with 308 attempts as a team. Kobe Bryant is a gunner, to be sure, but, still, he attempted 100 more 3’s than any team did in '83'-84.
Anyhow, how does that relate to the Sonics? Well, Seattle led the league in points scored off 2-point jump shots, and, in this year of melancholy, I suppose that’s a bright spot (these numbers all swiped from 82games.com). After all, they could have ranked last in 3-point attempts and 2-point attempts, right?
Interestingly, the 2-point leaders were not all cellar dwellers. Among the top ten were Dallas, Detroit, New Orleans, Toronto, and Utah. Of course, the top ten also included the Clippers, Bulls, and T-Wolves, so it’s not exactly a who’s who of great NBA teams.
But here’s the rub: the playoff teams, unlike the losers, were good at taking 2-point shots, which is why they took so many of them. Here’s an illustration:
Granted, the difference between the worst and the best is not huge, but is it really a coincidence that the four worst teams out of the top ten all failed to qualify for the playoffs?It speaks volumes to the inefficiencies of an organization that 1) produces a team which is unsuccessful at something and 2) continues to do it frequently. It’s fine that the Sonics are not good 2-point jump shooters, but why continue to do it? The Golden State Warriors hit 36% of their 2-point jump shots, a woeful figure to be sure, but that accounted for only 33% of their total attempts on the season, the second-lowest in the league.
That’s what smart organizations do: spot inadequacies and make moves to minimize the impact those inadequacies would have.
In a way, though, the decisions facing the Sonics’ coaching staff this season paralleled the decisions facing the creators of the Bush Presidency DVD. It’s all fine and dandy to tell them what NOT to focus on, but what should they include?
Because, after all, what the hell do you emphasize when the entire thing is a miasma of crapitude?
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