Archive for the 'Seattle Supersonics' Category

Holmgren says MattHass and Shaun A. are game-time decisions Sunday. That’s the word from Mike Sando on the T-N-T blog. “Both players practiced extensively today,” he writes, but he’s not allowed to say who took the most reps with the starters.

Baseball’s GM meetings are over, and the Mariners are still talking to what seems like almost everyone out there. Bavasi tells Larry LaRue in the T-N-T today that there’s plenty of interest in Beltre and Sexson, but “nothing remotely close” has been offered.

Go figure out Sonics’ coach Bob Hill for me, would ya? Frank Hughes writes in the T-N-T that Hill sat down to chat with frustrated PG Earl Watson and reassured Watson about his role on the team. Then, when asked about Watson’s public complaints last week, Hill’s head spins around 360 degrees, fire and smoke come out of his nostrils, and he bit–slaps Watson like this:

“This is all a waste of time. He knew he was going to be a backup when he came here. We talked about it when he first got here. It is a waste of time to talk about not liking his role.”

Yikes. Careful, Bob. Try the decaf…. Anyway, Gary Washburn writes in the P-I about the same situation, with comments from Hill predicting a good game from Watson tonight. Well, 6 points and 6 assists in 18 minutes is not too bad off the bench. But the Sonics lost another at home, 118-109 to Utah.

Oh, yeah, what’s this about an “Apple Cup”? My 8-year-old is excited. He’s a Husky fan, “because dogs are cooler than cats.” Me? Couldn’t care less at this point, but I do root for both teams when they’re playing well, reaching bowl games, etc. We’ll watch the game, but I’ll be much more interested in Ohio St.-Michigan.

Kenji Johjima took 4th in the AL Rookie voting. Justin Verlander of Detroit took top honors, and it’s hard to argue with the three guys who finished ahead of Johjima.

Meanwhile, if you’re ready to really look ahead to the Mariners’ future, a site called TopProspectAlert.com has its list of the 2007 Top 10 Mariners Prospects.

Staying with the M’s for a moment, Dave at USS Mariner details why he thinks Richie Sexson should be traded. It’s a convincing argument, but when he says

He turns 32 next month, so he’s likely at the end of his prime and entering the decline phase of his career.

… well, that’s what USS Mariner (and most everyone else) said about the Raul Ibanez contract, too.

A very different Dave, this one at Blazers Edge, is keeping a chart to track Brandon Roy and other NBA Rookie of the Year candidates.

And finally, there’s a new Seattle sports blog waiting to be read: Buzzer Beater, by Mike Seely of the Seattle Weekly. The tagline says it all: “Seattle Sports (but mostly just basketball).”

The Sonics have won two in a row now, at Charlotte and at Atlanta (tonight) where they stopped the Hawks’ 4-game winning streak. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Not quite. During last night’s win in Charlotte, backup PG Earl Watson was benched in the 2nd half, then after the game complained about his playing time and suggested he should be traded. Jeez.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Watson said. “I am not the type of guy where I feel threatened. I know the business. I am not that type of guy. I am the type of guy, whatever happens happens. I am going to make the most of my opportunity wherever that is, whether it is here or somewhere else. I just got to do what I got to do.”

Great. Not even two weeks into the season and the boat is rocking.

Watson, for what it’s worth, played 19 minutes in tonight’s win at Atlanta.

It’s weird…. I’m living in Tri-Cities, but working 2-3 days every week over in Seattle now. Just started a new job a month ago. So I had no clue about this Initiative 91 thing that city of Seattle residents voted on Tuesday. But as I was driving home yesterday from Seattle, Groz and Gas talked about it a lot on KJR — very interesting observations they had about what was wrong with the measure, and why no one tried to stop it, etc.

Ultimately, their point was that the passage of I-91 all but rules out Seattle as a home for the Sonics next season. And an article in today’s T-N-T says the same thing. But, if you’re willing to believe new owner Clay Bennett, there may be a chance the team just relocates to one of the suburbs.

Bennett has already toured potential sites and met with civic leaders on the east side of the Seattle metropolitan area. Bellevue is particularly appealing to Bennett and his seven Sonics co-investors, who officially became owners Oct. 31. Team studies show Bellevue and its surroundings are home to the majority of the Sonics’ ticket holders.

(snip)

“The team fully intends to honor its lease at KeyArena until 2010 and then hopes to relocate to a new facility outside of Seattle but in King County,” he said.

Of all the stuff going on, the most important is this: Alexander, Hasselbeck still out for Seattle. In fact, Holmgren hopes both of them, and Bobby Engram, too, will be ready by the 19th (against SF).

The rumor mill is churning, but UW coach Ty Willingham isn’t getting on. He does a pretty good job refuting the idea that he’ll coach Michigan State (his alma mater) next year:

“I’ve already done it,” Willingham said. “(I’ve coached) at Michigan State. I wasn’t a head coach, but I’ve already been back to my alma mater. … The only job that I am focused on is the one I have.”

Over at USS Mariner, Derek isn’t too thrilled about the idea of signing Jason Schmidt to a free agent deal this winter.

In the T-N-T, Frank Hughes write about Rick Sund’s newfound freedom now that Wally Walker is out of the picture. That sounds good, but given new owner Clay Bennett’s preoccupation with arena-related issues, it almost sounds like the Sonics are a ship without a captain.

Here’s what’s going on this fine Friday morning:

IN the T-N-T, Larry LaRue gives an overview of the Mariners’ off-seasoon wish list, with a couple interesting names in there, like Nomar Garciaparra (as a candidate to DH) and Greg Maddux. I’d be happy with the former, but not with the latter.

Since the Seahawks can’t find a running game the traditional way — i.e., with actual running backs — Clare Farnsworth reports that Seneca Wallace has more freedom to run this week against the Raiders.

“There have been times,” coach Mike Holmgren said, “where I’d say, ‘Hey, (count) 1, 2, then take off. Go ahead and take off. Put the pressure on the defense that way.’”

Danny Fortson, Sonics’ savior? That’s what Percy Allen says in the Times. Good article, and he’s right about how badly the team needs Fortson to step up and contribute.

Pac-10 media think it’ll be UW coming in at #3 in men’s hoops this year. They like Oregon at No. 4, OSU at No. 8, and the Cougars to finish dead last. UCLA, as expected, is picked to win the conference. Don Ruiz also points out a couple interesting rule changes coming this year:

The most notable new rule prohibits players from calling timeout while in the air or before they have complete control of the ball. Another change will encourage referees to call fouls on all players diving onto other players in a loose-ball scramble.

Romar thinks the rule that could have the most impact demands that players set screens while “in a natural stance.” The rule prohibits players from spreading their legs to trip defenders or from cocking their forearms to hit them.

No, not a prediction for the game tonight — a season prediction.

Sonics: The Sonics like to brag about the great depth and versatility they have. Ridnour and Watson can both play PG. Collison and Wilcox and both play the 4 or 5 spot. Lewis can step into the 4 spot if needed. Great depth and versatility, though, can be a coverup for an overall lack of talent. And that’s the problem here: not enough weapons in the arsenal.

I don’t think the Sonics are as bad as Sports Illustrated thinks, but they’re not good enough to reach the playoffs. They need a steadier point guard and a center that can give them anything on the offensive end. The Sonics should win about 36 games, and probably finish 10th in the conference.

Blazers: Zach Randolph has all the talent in the world, and has been such a good citizen so far this year that he’s been named co-captain (along with C Joel Przybilla). If he plays up to the expected level and stays out of trouble, that should make everything easier for the young guys like Brandon Roy, Martell Webster, and Jarrett Jack to grow into NBA players. But if Randolph implodes … watch out. The Blazers are so young and have so many questions, it’s hard to give them much of a chance to accomplish anything. They will surpass last season’s 21 wins, but the playoffs are a pipe dream at this point.. I’ll put the Blazers down for 29 wins, which, all things considered, will be a very respectable improvement.

Oh, and I do think Brandon Roy wins Rookie of the Year. Adam Morrison will get all the publicity and a lot of points, but Roy will ultimately be viewed as having the better overall year.

If a Sonics center goes down for the season, but they were expected to suck anyway, does it really matter?

Young Robert Swift, who just this week was named the starting C, is out for the year with a torn ACL suffered during Wednesday’s preseason game. Ouch.

But would it make much of a difference if he was healthy?

Apparently not. In the Sports Illustrated NBA Preview issue, the Sonics are ranked 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference. Double-ouch.

Who’s #15, you ask? Why, the Portland Trail Blazers, of course.

Sonics News: Walker on way out

Oh, man. My memories of Wally Walker will always be tied to 1997-98, the period when I was hosting a sports radio call-in show here in Tri-Cities. That was right in the midst of the Jim McIlvaine debacle and the firing/release of George Karl. And I’m not kidding, it was impossible to have a phone call about the Sonics that did not include the caller saying something bad about Wally Walker. It got to the point where I started feeling bad for the guy.

But not now. This is a pretty obvious move, as Walker himself says in the article. New ownership is coming in, and they’ll want to put their own people in place to run the show.

Since I linked to Henry Abbott’s Blazers season preview a couple posts ago, duty and obligation demand that I link to the Sonics season preview that’s now available on the same site.