Friday, March 31

Hall Call

Artis Gilmore won't be heading to the hall anytime soon, and that's a damn crime!
Once again, the Hall has no love for A-Train.

On Monday, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame will announce the latest inductees into its hallowed halls. Here's the shortlist of people from which the Hall will be choosing:

Players: Charles Barkley, Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars, John Isaacs, Ralph Sampson, Chet Walker, Dominique Wilkins.

Coaches: Geno Auriemma, Van Chancellor, Pedro Ferrandiz, Sandro Gamba, Dave Gavitt, Gene Keady, Don Nelson.

Others: Ben Kerner, Dick Vitale.

First off, as I've written before, Artis Gilmore has gotten the shaft, but that's for another day. The pressing question is: Who would you pick?

Put me down for Barkley, AD, and Dominique. I honestly don't know enough about Big-10 basketball to determine if Keady is worthy, although a college coach who never won a national title seems to be an odd consideration. Heck, Frank Furtado was a trainer for 5,000 years, does that mean he gets a nomination as well?

I could be convinced about Dumars as well. A great player, a great GM, put it together and he's a worthy candidate. Plus, he's like a rich man's Nate McMillan, so he's got that going for him. Likewise, Walker was a consistently very good player, making a half-dozen all-star teams. Still, his numbers are on the fringe, and I doubt he gets in unless the voters are just tired of writing 'no' next to his name.

Thursday, March 30

Sonics Get Rocked

Man, if we ever wanted to know what would happen if Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis were out for an extended period, we sure as hell found out last night. The Rockets tuned Seattle 115-87 in a game that wasn't even that close as Allen had arguably his worst game ever as a Sonic (1-for-10!) and Lewis sat out with a bum ankle.

Strange State # 1: Rick Brunson outscored Luke Ridnour.

Strange Stat # 2: Richie Frahm outscored Ray Allen. Of course, Mike Wilks outscored Ray as well, so I think you can feel what was happening in Houston last night.

That said, the Sonics have got to start stepping up their front-court defense. In the past four games, they've allowed Carmelo Anthony (31 points), Tim Duncan (28), Pau Gasol (44), and Yao Ming (29) to go off. Paging Nick Collison ... Nick Collison to the front court, please.

Wednesday, March 29

Oh no you didn't!

Seattle SuperSonics' Ray Allen, left middle, throws up the game-winning shot over Memphis Grizzlies' Eddie Jones, right middle, during fourth-quarter action of a NBA basketball game on Tuesday, March 28, 2006, in Memphis, Tenn. Allen's shot with .3 seconds on the clock gave Seattle a 98-97 victory.<br />(AP Photo/ Mark Weber)For the second game in a row, Ray Allen won a game with a buzzer-beater, proving once again that anyone who thinks the Sonics would trade Ray-Ray for Ben Gordon is a retard. (Yes, Sam Smith, we're looking at you!)