Locked On Sports: Sonics in strong position to remain solid at the core: "Nate McMillan, Jerome James, Antonio Daniels and now possibly Damien Wilkins. The Sonics exodus continues, and with each departure, the panic meter has crept up.
Now take a step back and relax."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Seed Newsvine
11 comments:
What the Sonics lost wasn't too hurtful to the team. Only A.D. might have been risky because we lose depth on the bench, but he is 30 and had a bum ankle. Jerome brought nothing most of the time and how many times do we play against a dominant 7 footer every season? (Shaq and Duncan are the only legit centers out there). Damien showed us some in the playoffs but he has to prove it for a whole season. We need to add another banger/scorer down low. Nick showed some of that but he needs to show some range for opponents to respect him outside. I know that this is a reach, but can the Sonics even consider bringing a Shawn Kemp for a look/see for the minimum? We overpaid Jerome the last few years why can't we sign Shawn for even a year? A physically fit Shawn plays with more hunger than Jerome ever could. Maybe he wants to prove something not only to others but to himself as well. He doesn't hold any grudges against the current management and I think he has learned from his mistakes. He even left Portland because he felt that he wasn't performing to what he was making. I for one hope that they give him a look during training camp and see what he has left. The worst that could happen is that we cut him. Look at our alternatives: Petro? Swift? I have to close my eyes if they come in to play this season. Nick should be at center, Shard and Kemp at forwards, Ray and Luke at guards. They need to resign Reggie and Potapenko.
If Rid was a FA, he'd be the most sought after PG in FA, and not because he's white, but because he's coachable, fundamentally sound, and a hard worker. BTW, I guarantee that some guy calling himself "black" is a white 13 year-old whose listened to too many 50 cent albums. Keep hope alive!
after ray and rashard i think the sonic "core" is relatively weak compared to other western teams getting stronger and i wouldnt relax if i was in mgt or was bobby weiss.
a few young cores compared
(doesnt include everyone)
teams under 26 26-29
dallas daniels nowitski
howard terry
houston ming taylor
mcgrady
spurs parker ginobli
duncan
lakers bryant george
odom
mihm
cook
bynum
suns stoudemire marion
maybe hunter
maybe joe johnson
nuggets anthony martin
nene miller
sonics ridnour lewis
collison
radmanovic
maybe wilkins
maybe evans
swift
petro
as far as young cores go i'd say at least 3 and maybe 5 of other these other teams have better ones
i didnt look at the other 8 teams
"In another Thread there is a comment that there is actually bad blood from the Sonic Management side towards Kemp which I just think is horrible.."
Sonics management has every right to have bad blood against Kemp. He's the one who knew the team could do nothing with his contract. Instead of admitting it and waiting till the three year window was up and he could renegotiate again he complained that they gave 'his money' to McIlvaine and demanded a trade out. Doing so because whatever team he went to would be able to redo his contract at that point.
If you'd go back and read some of the newspaper reports from the time Kemp fired his agent once he got out of Seattle because the agent NEVER explained to him the contract stipulations.
I don't think they'll bring Kemp back as there's really no spot for a 325 pound donut who can't jump anymore. No matter what the Times or Percy Allen tell you.
I believe that your article holds many truths. I believe with those 5 players you can put quality players around them an make them playoff quality team every year as long as they stay healthy. I believe Vlad is on the vergeenvisioned when they drafted him over players like Zach Randolph and Richard Jefferson. I just think that Mcmillan's style held his potential back. Now with a new coaching style maybe he will jump to that next level.
Sorry to all the Reggie Evans's fans but, Mr. Locke is correct. He is definitely replaceable. We've been able to find these undrafted free agents that turn out pretty well, ala evans, fraham, wilkens, etc. so big props to the scouts.Evans was one of those players and we'll find another one that will cost less and most likely have a better offensive pressence.
Yes defense wins championships, but defense can be taught, look at wilkens look at ridnour aparently jay bilas said they couldn't gaurd the chair he was sitting on but that fool was wrong.
we need to resign vlad. pronto. we can give up on a potential potent piece of the team. he's such a rare commodity at his height and his abilities. I just don;t want to lose out on this talent.
anonymous's list of teams under 26 core...
the 3 are dallas, phoenix and the spurs right? yeah those are the only teams with better records than we did. the only team that posses the biggest obstacle is the spurs. Dallas is most likely going to lose one of their leaders in Finley and the Suns aren't going to be the same team after losing Q and about to lose johnson.
IF those 2 19 year old 7 footers develop into what the front office believe they can materialize into, then our team definitely have a real chance in winning a championship in 2-3 years, but we'll still be able to make the playoffs in between now and then.
Locke,
Ban black or blackpower the ignorant blogger!!!!!!
reply- i was going to just show guys up to 26 but at the last minute stretched it to 29 because a lot of these guys will probably play 6 more years at a pretty high level and seemed to deserve to be included. over 30 was the point i stopped calling young and the risk of them starting to fade out in a few years is more likely. and i didnt want to list full current cores cause everybody knows that.
you're basic right duncan is 29 and ginobli turns 28 today. those 2 guys will be the leaders of that team for the next 6 years.
dallas, phoenix and the spurs are the strongest sure. houston has the stars but needs more young pieces around them. the lakers should come back much stronger and could go a long way pretty quickly and for a long time with their changes. even among the 8 teams i didnt mention in detail, i think you'd have to say portland, golden state and the clippers have pretty strong young cores.
my main point was just that the sonics fairly nice young core should be compared to the rest of the west not just admired on its own.
Solid at the core is one thing, but chamionship core is something completely different. What am missing here? Are the Sonics trying to win a championship?
Whatever combination of players you take from the Sonics you can't call them a chamionship core contender. Allen, Lewis, Collison, Ridnour, and Radmanovic are nice players. I think the player with the most upside here is Collison. In addition, I think next year we will be able to get a good feel in what to expect on a consistent basis from Ridnour and Collison. Otherwise, we know what to expect from the other three. The Sonics need one more impact player with Lewis and Allen to call it a championship contender. Who? I don't know. But waiting for Swift or Petro is not the answer.
Two realistic examples of teams making the next step would be Detroit(R.Wallace) and Phoenix(K.Thomas).
Black and everyone else-
Look, it's a privilege to have this blog available. Please, don't blow it! You'll turn this into an ESPN message board with the endless banter of off topic issues. This is one place we can escape from all the issues that we all face in various degrees. Like myself, I'm sure most of you like having the opportunity to share your ideas with others.
Black-
Obviously, you have valid issues
that should be discussed. IMHO, this isn't the place. While it's not my place to decide if your issues belong here, I hope you'll consider that many of us aren't here to discuss those complaints. Please stay within the Sonics, basketball, or at least the sports forum.
For the rest, we've had many focused discussions. That's why I keep coming back. I like various viewpoints. I enjoy the challenge of your questions and comments.
Thanks Mr.Locke and the other blogger's for your participation. It's a nice distraction from all the seriousness in my own life.
Post a Comment