GRIZZ 94 SONICS 69 FINAL
A bad night
The offense never got flowing Turnovers are a large part of it. The lack of a 3rd scorer is putting undo pressure on the Sonics big two and they are going to wear down.
Radmanovic, Collison and Ridnour all had shots that they have to make and if those shots fall the entire complexion of the game changes
Defensively the first half was great. Gasol got going when he crushed Petro to open the second half. Most of the breakdowns were in direct relation to the offense falling apart.
Grizz 78 Sonics 55 with 8:11 left in the 4th quarter
This has gotten ugly.
The Sonics are losing the match-up at small forward to Shane Battier. That shouldn’t happen.
Memphis has gotten Seattle spread out defensively and now are getting room to make one on one moves. That is making Gasol really dangerous and is a bad sign when Miller comes in.
I am glad Damien Wilkins has new confidence with his new contract, however he needs to play within himself. Right now he is playing out of his game.
Luke is not playing well.
Sonics are still shooting just 33%.
Grizz 60 Sonics 49 with 3:01 left in the 3rd Quarter.
The Sonics are losing the match-up at small forward to Shane Battier. That shouldn’t happen.
Memphis has gotten Seattle spread out defensively and now are getting room to make one on one moves. That is making Gasol really dangerous and is a bad sign when Miller comes in.
I am glad Damien Wilkins has new confidence with his new contract, however he needs to play within himself. Right now he is playing out of his game.
Luke is not playing well.
Sonics are still shooting just 33%.
Grizz 50 Sonics 42 with 8:30 left in the 3rd Quarter
For the first time Petro looks like he is 19 years old and from France, having never played against an NBA player before. Gasol has totally embarrassed him in the opening moments if the 2nd half.
The concern right now is the Sonics are playing good defense, but they are not a defensive team, which means they will break down at some point for a span of 5 to 7 minutes/. If the offense doesn’t pickup they will be out of the game by the time that span is over. I believe that span is inevitable.
Grizz 37 Sonics 35 with 2:51 left in the 2nd Q
Value the beeping ball
The defense has been really really good
Gasol didn’t get his first field goal until 4:39 in the second quarter.
Sonics 29 Grizz 29 with 8:!2 left in the 2nd Quarter
The fact that the Sonics can be as poor as they were in the 1st quarter and then be in the tied within two possession is amazing. It is either a sign of a good team or a façade and the Sonics are about to pay the price.
Collison and Fortson in together to start the second quarter.
Radman hit a three and rebounded well while he was in.
Grizz 24 Sonics 20 at the end of 1 quarter
7 turnovers and 37% shooting in the first quarter,
The Sonics look poor offensively and good defensively.
That is exactly what everyone said would happen when Weiss became the head coach.
The Sonics spent an amazing amount of the pre-season on defense. The belief was this team can score in their sleep. So far the work has created a much better defensive team.
Grizz 17 Sonics 15 with 2:49 left in the 1st Quarter.
Luke has missed two open three’s from the corner. That is the shot that AD knocked down all year last year. Luke has to make that shot.
Some of you might re-call that I bet AD would only play 60 games this year. Word out of Washington is that he will miss their next game. 21 to go.
Turnovers continue at too high a rate. They have 6 already. For the season they are at 22% of their possessions. Tonight they are at 33%.
Vlady has had two really good days of practice but has butchered his first two possessions.
If Mike Miller is going to guard Rashard Lewis the Soncis have to kill that match-up. Lewis walked the first time the Sonics went to it
Sonics 11 Grizzlies 8 with 5:40 left in the 1st Quarter
Petro gets three fouls in 2 minutes. He may not be ready yet.
Sonics had a very lazy defensive possession early in the game where neither Luke or Ray went hard to the ball.
Vitaly maybe lacking the length you want out of a center, but he is in the right place all the time. He cut off two moves to the basket and has body Gasol out of his regular spot on the block
STORYLINES
1) Stars -- Allen v. Gasol
2) Search for the 3rd scorer
3) Can Vlady get going on the road?
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7 comments:
There has been a lot of talk about player pairs lately. Ridnour and Allen played 2029 together last year and were on average +1 per game on the court together. http://www.82games.com/0405SEAP.HTMIs this really the future backcourt? They will try everything before they touch this, but it nothing else works maybe they will have to look at this.
2029 minutes, that is.
1. When is Luke going to grow a pair and take it inside? I get so sick and tired of him driving, circling out, and kicking. Take some punishment and go to the line!
2. I agree with muting Ehlo. It seems like he's worse than last year. He must've called Lorenzen Wright Lorenzo about 3-4 times!
3. Still waiting on Vlade to put it together. Hopefully that comes soon.
4. I'd like to see Mateen get more PT as he is drive friendly. That'll open it up more outside, and hopefully free up Ray and Rashard.
The team needs to clear salary cap space for next season -- as this season is likely to yield a 30 win ballclub -- with the below trade proposals being a way to do it:
Danny Fortson -- along with the draft rights of Peter Fehse, Paccelis Morlende, and Mickaël Gelabale -- to the Indiana Pacers for Scot Pollard;
Vitaly Potapenko and Mikki Moore to the Toronto Raptors for Aaron Williams and Pape Sow.
Overreacting, although....
They looked like a bad basketball team.
In all reality, Sund needs to rid of Danny Fortson, Vitaly Potapenko, and Mikki Moore as soon as possible, since each of their contracts runs through the 2006-2007 season. For what it's worth, I've already proposed trading Fortson ($6,415,584) -- along with the draft rights of Peter Fehse, the draft rights of Paccelis Morlende, and the draft rights of Mickaël Gelabale -- to the Indiana Pacers for Scot Pollard ($6,274,937) & trading Potapenko ($3,000,000) and Moore ($1,???,???) to the Toronto Raptors for Aaron Williams ($3,375,000) and Pape Sow ($641,748); both Pollard and Williams have expiring contracts.
Anyway, many Supersonic fans have overrated both Rashard Lewis and Luke Ridnour; likewise, numerous fans don't seem to pick up on their defensive ineptitude, along with both of their issues on offense (Lewis: ball-handeling/dribbling and distributing; Ridnour: shooting and driving.) -- which is noticeable to any intelligent observer. At this point in time, however, I'm not sure if it possible to upgrade at either position.
The main idea I have regarding Lewis ($8,571,429), though, concerns using him as the central piece -- with Fortson and Robert Swift ($1,764,480, were they to still be on the team, as the kicker -- in acquiring Paul Pierce ($13,843,157) from the Boston Celtics.
Yet, since the abovementioned move is highly unlikely to occur, another possiblity would be to trade Lewis and Fortson -- along with the draft rights of Peter Fehse, the draft rights of Paccelis Morlende, and the draft rights of Mickaël Gelabale -- to the Dallas Mavericks for Keith Van Horn ($15,694,250) and Josh Howard ($873,880); Van Horn would become the team's third scorer in lieu of Radmanovic, while Josh Howard would give the Supersonics a true stud at the small forward position.
In the end, ultimately, most of what I've just written are ideas—so don't take it too seriously.
Good Times,
AK1984
P.S.: I realize that more than one of the above trade proposals includes Danny Fortson; thus, the two proposed deals involving Fortson with Lewis as the centerpiece of the deal would negate any attempt to acquire Pollard's expiring contract.
When Payton arrived, everyone was on his case for having an ugly jump shot. It took him two years to develop. Luke's been here a year and left school early. I don't see Luke developing into a Nash, Bibby, etc...but maybe. He needs to quit thinking and start playing. When you're open...SHOOT!!! Right now he can't guard anyone and run the offense.
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