Locked on Sports: Shoddy defense drove Weiss off the cliff

Locked on Sports: Shoddy defense drove Weiss off the cliff: "The Roadrunner cartoon had a recurring scene in which his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote, would sprint full speed over the edge of a cliff. For a brief moment, the Coyote would stay suspended in air, looking around until, all of sudden, he would look down and go screaming toward earth.

At 13-17 the Sonics were in a similar position. The fall was coming -- and it was going to be colossal.

Losing streaks were coming. Substantial losing streaks were coming, 15 of 20, 25 of 30 or worse. That is why the ax fell Tuesday.

The mystery of the Sonics' first 30 games is not how a 52-win team went to below .500, but how a team playing the worst defense in the history of the NBA had actually won 13 games."