Friday, July 29, 2005

REACTION TO THE COMMENT ZONE

Thanks to all of you that have been so active on this blog. We have shattered any expectation that I had coming in to the project. One of my hopes was to create a Locked on Sports community outside of the show. That is exactly what has taken place in the comment zone. The comments have been amazingly astute, knowledgeable and on point. I strongly suggest even those that are not making comments to check out the discussion. Great work everyone. I have gone through the comment zones and here are some of my thoughts after reading all of them.

• Two players I would be intrigued with Sonics trying to acquire. Atlanta’s Al Harrington. He is a very good complimentary player and would rebound after an awful year. In Indiana Austin Croshere has been buried. However, I like him and while he earns too much money their might be some way to make it work. He is Vlady but a better rebounder and not as good a shooter.
• Will Conroy is a nice college player and I believe he has enough intagiables that he could make the league. However, he is just another nice college point guard. The idea that he is on par at this moment with guys in the NBA is flat out laughable
• If the Sonics go with a traditional point guard and use Flip as a back-up two guard then Brevin Knight might be ok. Knight is a solid no mistake player. Though he can’t shoot a lick.
• Maurice Evans is going to be available. The Kings don’t plan to re-sign him. However, he may get a fairly decent deal.
• On the mock drafts the Spurs did draft some French power forward. It was not Petro it was the guy they drafted.
• Gadruzic just signed a big deal with Milwaukee. I would love him on the Sonics he is a tall version of Reggie Evans. Equally dysfunctional on the offensive side, but a great rebounder. He is better because of his length.
• At the current time the Sonics don’t have the low level exception to use because they used it last year on Ibo. However, with the new collective bargaining agreement there is a chance that everyone will get to hit the re-set button and the Sonics will get it back. Yes, that hurts.
• I am not sure what the Sonics think of Francisco Elson but that is the player, not Nene, you would get in a sign and trade.
• The Sonics make a lot of decisions based on their computer program that evaluates players. And emphasizes different things for different types of players. Brevin Knight seems like the type of player the Sonics would have valued higher then most via their programs. The concern is Knight’s numbers are skewed from playing in Bernie Bickerstaff’s system which promotes no turnovers and easy point guard assists. Notice both Brevin Knight and Jason Hart had better numbers then they usually do in that system.
• I side with the majority of you on Flip Murray as the replacement to Antonio Daniels. However, AD didn’t move my meter when he arrived.
• Antonie Walker is not a player that usually fits any of my qualifications of what a good player in the NBA stands for. However, I am intrigued that it might work here in Seattle.
• I don’t think Rashard’s upcoming numbers are having much impact on the Valdy negotiations. The Sonics are stricter then most teams at keeping things in line with money to performance and that is why the Sonics are holding ground on Vlady.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great stuff, Locke. I've been an avid listener and reader and I just appreciate the buzz around the Sonics. That wasn't the case in recent years. Has there been any updates on when the new CBA will be finalized and who are candidates to fill out the Sonics' coaching staff? Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

Hey Locke,

What's the deal with Luke's and Nick's extensions to their rookie deal? I know that it probably will be a slam dunk that the Sonics pick them up but with the announcement of other teams picking up the options to players drafted in 2003, what's the hold up with Luke's and Nick's?

Anonymous said...

Locke,
What is the current evaluation of Kevin Ollie's game? Could he fit in as AD's replacement? I understand that he hasn't provided value in line with his current contract but what's the chance of him getting back to the 02-03 level he showed here. I think the contract he signed in 2003 is a five year deal for $15.8 million with a team option for 2006-2007 season. So should the Sonics trade for him, he could be a nice short term fix for two seasons before the team option in his contract kicks in. What do you think?

Anonymous said...

Hey philthy,
I like the thought of bringing Richie back. I think he's a less athletic Damien Wilkens with a much better stroke from three. I wonder if he would complement's Flip's game at the point with providing a perimeter outlet to kick to when he drives into the lane? Richie also seems to have a great team first attitude and do whatever it takes to win.

Anonymous said...

and cheap

Anonymous said...

you mentioned the french guy you heard the spurs were going to take but still didnt use his name. i was going to let it go, but since you brought it up, this shows that after inadvertently naming petro the first french power forward prospect, i eventually guessed and gave you ian Mahinmi name before he was picked

Anonymous said...
i assume the french power forward in question is petro

12:03 PM


Anonymous said...
no, wait. i guess the french power forward cant be petro if he was on locke's list separately and the guy is supposed to be a surprise. i'll try to figure it out.

12:07 PM


Anonymous said...
alain koffi?

http://draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=300#

12:15 PM


Anonymous said...
or Ian Mahinmi

12:18 PM


Anonymous said...
mahinmi is 3 years younger, bigger, more highly rated. it is probably him.

http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/ianmahinmi.asp

12:20 PM


Anonymous said...
http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/ianmahinmi.asp

12:24 PM


Anonymous said...
cutting off

nbadraft.net/profiles/ianmahinmi

12:25 PM


Anonymous said...
mahinmi sounds pretty interesting. maybe the sonics should steal him from the spurs depending on who else is on the board.

wonder if he wants to come over right away or wait. could work either way. sonics might prefer to wait but with the 14 man rosters and ndbl option they could do a little of that and maybe use him later in the season if he looks good.

12:33 PM


it is old news but that is what happened not that anybody but you and me should care, or maybe it is just me. but only a little cause i got it right.

Anonymous said...

walker is a good passer but he still only pulls a pretty modest passing rating at 82 games (though i wont try to figure out all the detail about that).

and i checked when he left boston, team assists went up. and when he went to dallas, team assists were up but are almostly totally explained by nash's own improvement of 1.5 assists per game. and the year he spent in atlanta assists were down slightly compared to the year before him.

he isnt the only factor that changed in those places of course but my point is that he seems to make a share of the assists, larger than normal for a forward, but he doesnt seem to really increase total team assists.

but i appreciate his ability to pass and it would be a reason to consider him, especially if they dont have a stong second point guard. maybe he could help run the second unit from the post some.

and it is true lewis and radmanovic really arent that much help at getting assists though they seem adequate for whipping the ball around the horn.