Locked on Sports

Sonics 101 Bulls 97 – FINAL SCORE
Good win for the Sups
This team desperately needed a win, but the Bulls have lost 8 in a row and really looked poor. I am not sure this convinced me the world will be greatly different.
They play the final portion without Ray Allen
Sonics did allow 57 points in the 2nd half after a brilliant defensive 1st half.
Ridnour was much better
Reggie, Danny and Vitaly don’t play
Petro and Swift play 39 of the center minutes


Sonics 93 Bulls 87 with 2:19 left in the 4th Quarter
Ray Allen will not return
Sonics are running everything through Lewis in the post

Sonics 88 Bulls 84 with 4:24 left in the 4th Quarter
Petro fouls out with 32 minutes and 9 rebounds.
Swift has 7 minutes 5 fouls
Bulls have scored on 10 of 14 possessions in the 4th Q


Sonics 82 Bulls 75 with 8:01 left in the 4th Q
The Bulls had the ball on two possessions with a chance to make it a one possession game and failed on both
Sonics put the Bulls in the penalty at the 9:14 mark
Ray Allen goes to the locker-room with an eye injury.
Flip enters for Allen
Sonics are playing tight. They have lacked confidence all season.


Sonics 79 Bulls 73 with 10.01 left in the 4th Quarter
Reggie Evans and Danny Fortson have not played
Swift struggling against Othella Harrington and picks up fouls 3,4,5
In the first two possessions the Sonics young centers commit three fouls which puts the Sonics in jeopardy of getting into the penalty early.


Sonics 77 Bulls 68 at the end of 3 quarters
The Sonics answer a 7-0 wun with an 8-0 run of their own.
The combo of Wilkins and Murray on the floor together doesn’t work.
Sonics allow 28 points in the 3rd Quarter.
Scott Skiles went with the end of his bench and may have left them in too long.


Sonics 68 Bulls 56 with 3:52 left in the 3rd Quarter
The Bulls are beginning to get dribble penetration
The Sonics ball movement is far superior tonight.
Petro is surviing and not getting into foul trouble.
Sonics lead 64-52 when Allen goes out.


Sonics 62 Bulls 48 with 7:47 in the 3rd Quarter
The Sonics are playing well.
Hill has talked about having his big men run the floor and he believes both Swift and Petro can out run other bigs. Petro just did and got a follow dunk.
The Sonics are really pushing the tempo.
Ridnour is creating more tonight then he has all season.


Sonics 51 Bulls 40 at the half
The Sonics have only allowed 40 points in the 1st half. They allowed 38 in the 1st Quarter the other night.
The Sonics floor spacing while running the floor is strong tonight. This may all be amazing for Rashard’s game. He is only 2 of 7 but this team is being built around his talents under Bob Hill
Sonics explode in the final few minutes of the half. They close on a 13-3 run.
They have a 20-5 advantage at the free throw line.
Very good first half.
They are pushing the ball up the floor and going to the rack.


Sonics 36 Bulls 35 with 2:%9 left in the 2nd Quarter
The Sonics are doing a great job sealing the paint.
The two 7 footers seems to be having an impact on the defensive end
The Sonics offense has lost its flow. While Flip was on the floor the Sups didn’t seem sure what they were trying to do.
Petro and Swift have played all the center minutes.


Sonics 31 Bulls 25 with 8:10 left in the 2nd Quarter
This is a good match-up for Petro and Swift with Chandler out and the only centers for Chicago Sweetney and Harrington
Swift has really been working hard and has changed his body fat in the last 3 months from 14% to 7%. His time with Dwiight Daub the Sonics strength and conditioning coach has been extensive.
Swift just missed a turnaround jumper in the post but it looked smooth.
The Sonics defensive close outs are much better


Sonics 24 Bulls 24 at the end of 1 Quarter
We have seen Rashard in the post more and we just say the lock and lob that Bob Hill talked to us about in the post-game interview last week.
Kirk Hinrick is lighting Seattle up
Robert Swift scored
The Sonics length in the paint with Swift and Petro has been successful in the 1st Quarter.
Hill is working Lewis. Remember Allen is out of the game with 2 fouls.


Sonics 10 Bulls 10 with 7:30 left in the 1st Quarter
The first play of the game was what Bob Hill dreamed of. Lewis in the post. He gets doubled and kicks it out to the top to Vlady who hits a three.
The defense does not look noticeably different
Chicago is not a good offensive team and that is obvious.
Ray Allen checks out with 2 fouls with the Sonics trailing 10-8. This has been the Sonics biggest problem this year. Playing without Allen. They have averaged being outscored 1 point every two minutes.


Storylines
1) Bob Hill's debut
2) Vlady as a starter
3) The team back in Luke's hand
4) Petro and Swift

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."

The word out of Chicago is that Bob Hill is thinking about starting the following starting line-up.

PG: Luke Ridnour
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Rashard Lewis
PF: Vladimir Radmanovic
C: Johan Petro

In addition, Robert Swift will be active and will play as well.

THE FIRING
I have three different thoughts on the firings.

This is a sad day because Bob Weiss is a very good man. More importantly, he is a good basketball coach and he is a great basketball mind. Had the players been able to motivate themselves the way professionals should be able to this could have been a really wonderful relationship. Weiss believes in a positive climate and those are the types of climates that last and foster success.

Secondly, something had to be done. I have been saying for weeks that this team is on the edge of a colossal fall. Their defense is so putrid that it was going to catch up with them. It was also clear that the inability to play defense was not changing. The last 10 games were worse then the previous 20. The Sonics were on the verge of a huge fall and management may have just caught it quick enough.

I hope Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are looking in the mirror today and feeling very guilty. They asked for this man and then they died on a vine for him. The players are the ones that should feel this in their heart. They asked for Weiss they knew what they were getting and they didn’t respond. That is the real issue here, is these players didn’t respond to an environment they requested.

WILL IT CHANGE EVERYTHING

This move may help, but it is a masking agent on a team with issues. Whoever the coach is they don’t have anyone on the perimeter that can defend the ball and there are no shot blockers inside to prevent the constant quest to go the rack.

In addition, the chemistry that was so fantastic last year is broken in this locker-room. Some of the guys got money and some didn’t and it has split the locker-room and the camaraderie is gone.

It is on the players much more than any coaches

Bob Hill wrote a book on how to coach basketball.
Here is are a few of the comments from the opening pages.
“A coach must be able to respond to his player’s question about strategy for success. A team’s core leaders must support their coach’s philosophy for the coach and the team to be successful.”
"Basketball was invented to be played at a quick pace."
"Anything done at a quick pace is subject to error and anything subject to error is unpredictable. A coach’s job is to eliminate unpredictability without interfering with the player’s innate ability to play."

I just spoke with a long time NBA assistant coach.

Here is what he said about Bob Hill. Overall he was very positive. He called him very detailed oriented. A more intense man then Bob Weiss. Historically, defensively his teams don't switch. It is more of a guard your man or their will be repricussions approach. On offense he runs a more screen and move style game then just the drive and kick game the Sonics have been playing. In addition, you can anticipate a huge dose of Rashard Lewis in the post.

I will have more as the day goes on.

Sorry I have been a little slow in getting this up. I have been following this story all morning and am still tracking it right now. Here is a quick breakdown.

FIRING OF WEISS
It is clear the Sonics front office felt the lack of effort and lack of defense was not going to change. Word is that training camp didn’t have the structure and demands that the Sonics had hoped and the concern started before the season even started.

Against Memphis Howard Schultz watched the game from behind the Sonics bench because he wanted to see what was taking place and how the team was being lead.
Obviously, he didn’t like what he discovered.

The Sonics players asked for Weiss and didn’t perform. It in a lot of ways this falls square on the shoulders of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis.

HIRING OF HILL

Bob Hill was hired until the end of the season and was not given a multi-year deal.

The word around the league is that Bob Hill is an extremely confident almost cocky man. He has been called a taskmaster. The Sonics hope that some of his confidence will rub off on the team. According to people in the league, both his stay in Indiana and his time in San Antonio ended in personality conflicts.

At Indiana his teams were up-tempo good offensive teams and below average defensive teams. They rarely forced turnovers, but improved every year in FG% defense. Offensively, they were great shooting teams that were ok rebounding and a little loose wit the ball.

In San Antonio, Hill had two great years before being let go in his third year. Again his teams were up-tempo, but this time with the presence of David Robinson was an outstanding defensive team. Again, his teams didn’t force turnovers and didn’t offensive rebound.

From his past experiences you should anticipate a high tempo effective offense that gets back defensively without much offensive board work and then doesn’t gamble or attempt to force turnovers.

Pacers 115 Sonics 96 – FINAL SCORE
The Pacers were without O’neal, Tinsley and Artest and they drop 115.
This was the best chance to win on the road
The Pacers had lost 4 in a row
The Sonics were so dreadful defensively I am not able to describe it.
No one player to single out, not one concept to single out. Just a question of effort and
Pride.


Pacers 89 Sonics 71 at the end of 3 Quarters
I really have no idea how the coaches and players watch the film. It has to be just mortifying. There was a rebound a moment ago and two Sonics players just never moved, never jumped and never made an effort. What do they think when sit in the room with their teammates and watch film.
Now on the next play someone just left their best three point shooter wide open. Again how do you explain yourself.
Then on the final play of the quarter no one stopped the ball and the Pacers got another three. Do you care? How do you let this happen. I am mystified.


Pacers 78 Sonics 60 with 4:20 in the 3rd Quarter
Petro commits 4 fouls in 6 minutes of action. He is not ready to play. Knock that option off the list.
It is really hard to come from behind when you can’t defend anyone.
Statistically the defense is getting worse rather then getting better.


Pacers 70 Sonics 47 with 10:00 to play 3rd Quarter
The Sonics start Ridnour, Allen, Lewis, Evans and Petro
What is next?
Earlier tonight Weiss said he is not comfortable with the youngsters yet. I guess a 63 point half can make you comfortable.
7-0 run by the Pacers to open the half


Pacers 63 Sonics 47 at the half
Line of the night from KC – “the Sonics have really picked up their defense in the Quarter as the Pacers are shooting 60%.” The scary thing is that is true.
In the first quarter the Sonics defensive efficiency was 183. Think about that it means the Pacers were averaging 1.83 points every possession. Think about it. That is unreal.


Pacers 49 Sonics 38 with 6.33 left in the 2nd Quarter
Damien Wilkins has come off the bench to defend Stephen Jackson and is slowing him down and Wilkins is making the hustle plays. This is why Wilkins is better off the bench with the ability to defend any position or play any position on offense.
Ridnour should start with Wilkins coming off the bench. Wilkins versatility may mean that he closes games at the point, but he losses that energy when he starts.
Flip is having a good offensive game.


Pacers 44 Sonics 31 8:38 left in the 2nd Q
Here is why Seattle still has a shot in this game. Indiana is not as good defensively as they once were. Without Artest they don’t have that personality. In other words, with this size lead they will relax and the Sonics could get hot.
The Sonics defense has picked up – this means the Pacers have only scored on 3 of the last 6 possessions rather then 16 of 22 in the 1st Quarter. We are dealing with different standards.


Pacers 38 Sonics 23 at the end of 1 Quarter
Watch the Sonics defensively and they don’t have a single player how raises their hands above their waste on defense.
Not a lot to say. The Pacers without O’Neal, Artest and Tinsley scored 38 points in the 1st Q. That is terrible. Absurdly terrible.
It is a real mystery. Do the players not have any pride, do they not have the talent, are the coaching schemes bad? I don’t know the answer I know this. The coaching staff emphasized defense all camp. They have pounded and pounded every practice and it is not clicking at all.


Pacers 11 Sonics 2 with 8:16 left in the ast Quarter
Disastrous start to the game.
The Pacers have scored on 5 straight possessions and all of them have been laty-ups.
Rick Carlise has gone big and is playing Stephen Jackson at the 2 forcing Allen to guard him.



News items and Storylines
Jermaine O'Neal is not going to play for the Pacers tonight
Jamal Tinsley is also out.
Wilkins will start at point for the Sonics. Weiss has said he will only play two point guards.
Danny Fortson is active and available.
Radmanovic is mired in a miserable slump. Will he be in the rotation?