Friday, December 03, 2004
FRAZZLE DAZZLE
Welcome to Friday. Once again, those in Kitsap County with either a passing interest in hockey and/or nothing enticing planned for tonight are fully encouraged to see the 20-2 Puget Sound Tomahawks square off against the Kootenai Colts tonight at the Bremerton Ice Arena, located by the YMCA in East Bremerton. Faceoff is at 7:30.
I knew going in that this was going to be a pretty light news day. It was. The only game that I say anything about below involves the Manitoba Moose. That's how light it was.
Without further adieu...
MARINERS
You mean I don't get to read a rehash of the same rumors we've been hearing for the last three weeks and/or fuzzy math concerning how much money the Mariners have to spend on free agents? I don't even know what to do with myself today. Guess I'll go eat worms.
SEAHAWKS
Mike Holmgren broke camp in Cheney and said that the Seahawks' best players had to have good years for the team to do well. Why? Because of the lack of depth and experience if the best players don't hold up their end of the bargain. Clare Farnsworth does some statistical comparisons of the Seahawks between this year and last year. The only numbers that seem to be good are Shaun Alexander on the ground, the left side of the offensive line, and Ken Lucas' interceptions. Other than that, you've got the synergistic qualities of Matt Hasselbeck's poor showing with the receivers' dropped passes.
I can sum up the Times notebook article pretty quickly: Seattle's run defense isn't as good as it was in the beginning of the season, Julius Jones has some potential, Matt Hasselbeck has had his share of passes tipped this year, and Edgar Martinez will raise the 12th Man flag on Monday night. Farnsworth has a somewhat similar notebook article of his own.
SONICS
Other than a near-blasphemous comparison to the Mariners' 2001 start (the 2000 Mariners were light years better than last year's Sonics), Steve Kelley has a decent article on the NBA's Coach of the Month for November, Nate McMillan. Nate got to a turning point where he took charge, and this team is all the better for it. There is also some discussion about Nate trying to push the ball and the tempo with the team last year, but the turnovers caused him to eventually do what he didn't want to do and slow down the tempo, which I'm guessing ate at him. But oh, how things have changed.
Danny O'Neil also passes along the news of Nate's recognition. Coach McMillan isn't a total hardass, though. As a former player, he knows the toll that the practices take on the body, which factored into the curtailing of live drills in the last week-plus. Nate also is open to input, as referenced in the article where Luke Ridnour suggested a different play during a timeout in the fourth quarter against Utah. There's also an interesting note about an overtime loss to Indiana almost two years before the Jazz game where Gary Payton scored 40 and they still lost. Tony LaRussa (he'd seen the game that night) said it would be a crushing loss for one team. I don't think you need me to tell you which team had more trouble recovering.
Vitaly Potapenko will be working out today. Honestly, I'm kind of scared about the eventual returns of Vitaly and Ron Murray. I know I've said it here a couple of times, but I'm afraid it might have an effect similar to the one that then-holdout Joey Galloway had on the Jon Kitna-led Seahawk team that started out 7-2 that season. Galloway came back, and it seemed to upset the chemistry and it definitely upset the won-loss record. The best I can see is that Vitaly gives the Sonics six more fouls to use in the low post on whoever the opposing team's best frontcourt scorer is. Keep in mind that the Collison/James/Fortson/Evans quartet has been able to shut down Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Kevin Garnett (at Minnesota). If you add Potapenko and his six more fouls to the mix, I think that's the positive way to look at his return. The negative I guess would be if Jerome James completely sucks (I would suspect his minutes or Collison's would be the first to take a hit upon Vitaly's return). James has had some above-average moments this season, and he hasn't been too bad defensively. He can't shoot worth a damn, but he's been a lot better than last year.
As for where Ron Murray would fit into the offensive flow again...I have no idea. Is there room on the bench? I guess the only thing I can think of would be to throw him out there if one of the other shooters is having an off night or something, and the first name that comes to mind is Vlad. Of course, that would entail some sort of substitution with the frontcourt and stuff. I guess maybe he could fit into that three-guard attack with Luke Ridnour and Antonio Daniels when Ray Allen is taking a rest on the bench. You know in the final round of Wheel of Fortune, where Pat Sajak tells the contestant to talk it out when he/she is trying to solve the puzzle? That's kind of what I did here for how I thought Ron Murray would work back into the rotation.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Portland
Wednesday at San Antonio
Thursday at Dallas
HOCKEY
A couple of articles before the one game blurb...
Can you believe that the NHL owners and players hadn't sat down at the bargaining table for nearly three months? Talks will resume next week. Am I expecting any good to come out of this? No. Not unless the players used the phrase "salary cap" on something that looks a lot like the salary cap, but isn't. If they somehow slipped that by the owners, it'd be hilarious. Still, a short season is still a season, if it can happen. Of course, whoever won the Stanley Cup would be unfairly marked for having won a short season (like the post-lockout San Antonio Spurs), but oh well. I need my NHL.
Also, John Buccigross' good friend Shjon Podein is showing interest in purchasing the Nikko Ice Bucks. The Ice Bucks are a Japanese hockey team. I should note that before I read this, I had no idea that Japan had ice hockey, teams playing ice hockey, or leagues playing ice hockey. I know they've got rinks, because I've seen the figure skating. I know who Yuka Sato is. But I couldn't name a Japanese hockey player.
Derek Couture of the Thunderbirds gets asked a few questions by the P-I.
Manitoba beat Cincinnati, 4-1. I actually got a chance to listen to some of the Moose radio broadcast, or at least long enough to hear an ad for Rod Stewart's upcoming concert at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. The Moose used two goals 80 seconds apart in the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead an bury the Mighty Ducks, with Lee Goren collecting a hat trick along the way. Jason King got the first goal after driving to the net and pouncing on a rebound off a Josh Green shot. Goren would score the next three goals. He scored eighty seconds after the King goal, and saved his next two for the third period. Goren's second goal came midway through the third period on a power play, and the final goal came on the empty net. Manitoba outshot Cincinnati 25-20, and Alex Auld stopped 19 shots. Manitoba now sits atop the AHL Western Conference's North Division with a 14-6-0-2 record, one point better than the Edmonton Road Runners.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Everett at Portland, Kootenay at Seattle, Kamloops at Vancouver, Kootenai at Puget Sound
Saturday: Vancouver at Kelowna, Kootenay at Portland, Swift Current at Everett, Binghamton at Manitoba, Kootenai at Puget Sound
Sunday: Swift Current at Seattle, Binghamton at Manitoba
---
Enjoy your weekend, everybody. Rest up. Big game Monday. Jeremy and I are hoping for a Monday Night Football intro where Darrell Jackson drops Eva Longoria, and you can hope along with us. There's room on the hopemobile.
I knew going in that this was going to be a pretty light news day. It was. The only game that I say anything about below involves the Manitoba Moose. That's how light it was.
Without further adieu...
MARINERS
You mean I don't get to read a rehash of the same rumors we've been hearing for the last three weeks and/or fuzzy math concerning how much money the Mariners have to spend on free agents? I don't even know what to do with myself today. Guess I'll go eat worms.
SEAHAWKS
Mike Holmgren broke camp in Cheney and said that the Seahawks' best players had to have good years for the team to do well. Why? Because of the lack of depth and experience if the best players don't hold up their end of the bargain. Clare Farnsworth does some statistical comparisons of the Seahawks between this year and last year. The only numbers that seem to be good are Shaun Alexander on the ground, the left side of the offensive line, and Ken Lucas' interceptions. Other than that, you've got the synergistic qualities of Matt Hasselbeck's poor showing with the receivers' dropped passes.
I can sum up the Times notebook article pretty quickly: Seattle's run defense isn't as good as it was in the beginning of the season, Julius Jones has some potential, Matt Hasselbeck has had his share of passes tipped this year, and Edgar Martinez will raise the 12th Man flag on Monday night. Farnsworth has a somewhat similar notebook article of his own.
SONICS
Other than a near-blasphemous comparison to the Mariners' 2001 start (the 2000 Mariners were light years better than last year's Sonics), Steve Kelley has a decent article on the NBA's Coach of the Month for November, Nate McMillan. Nate got to a turning point where he took charge, and this team is all the better for it. There is also some discussion about Nate trying to push the ball and the tempo with the team last year, but the turnovers caused him to eventually do what he didn't want to do and slow down the tempo, which I'm guessing ate at him. But oh, how things have changed.
Danny O'Neil also passes along the news of Nate's recognition. Coach McMillan isn't a total hardass, though. As a former player, he knows the toll that the practices take on the body, which factored into the curtailing of live drills in the last week-plus. Nate also is open to input, as referenced in the article where Luke Ridnour suggested a different play during a timeout in the fourth quarter against Utah. There's also an interesting note about an overtime loss to Indiana almost two years before the Jazz game where Gary Payton scored 40 and they still lost. Tony LaRussa (he'd seen the game that night) said it would be a crushing loss for one team. I don't think you need me to tell you which team had more trouble recovering.
Vitaly Potapenko will be working out today. Honestly, I'm kind of scared about the eventual returns of Vitaly and Ron Murray. I know I've said it here a couple of times, but I'm afraid it might have an effect similar to the one that then-holdout Joey Galloway had on the Jon Kitna-led Seahawk team that started out 7-2 that season. Galloway came back, and it seemed to upset the chemistry and it definitely upset the won-loss record. The best I can see is that Vitaly gives the Sonics six more fouls to use in the low post on whoever the opposing team's best frontcourt scorer is. Keep in mind that the Collison/James/Fortson/Evans quartet has been able to shut down Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, and Kevin Garnett (at Minnesota). If you add Potapenko and his six more fouls to the mix, I think that's the positive way to look at his return. The negative I guess would be if Jerome James completely sucks (I would suspect his minutes or Collison's would be the first to take a hit upon Vitaly's return). James has had some above-average moments this season, and he hasn't been too bad defensively. He can't shoot worth a damn, but he's been a lot better than last year.
As for where Ron Murray would fit into the offensive flow again...I have no idea. Is there room on the bench? I guess the only thing I can think of would be to throw him out there if one of the other shooters is having an off night or something, and the first name that comes to mind is Vlad. Of course, that would entail some sort of substitution with the frontcourt and stuff. I guess maybe he could fit into that three-guard attack with Luke Ridnour and Antonio Daniels when Ray Allen is taking a rest on the bench. You know in the final round of Wheel of Fortune, where Pat Sajak tells the contestant to talk it out when he/she is trying to solve the puzzle? That's kind of what I did here for how I thought Ron Murray would work back into the rotation.
Upcoming...
Saturday vs. Portland
Wednesday at San Antonio
Thursday at Dallas
HOCKEY
A couple of articles before the one game blurb...
Can you believe that the NHL owners and players hadn't sat down at the bargaining table for nearly three months? Talks will resume next week. Am I expecting any good to come out of this? No. Not unless the players used the phrase "salary cap" on something that looks a lot like the salary cap, but isn't. If they somehow slipped that by the owners, it'd be hilarious. Still, a short season is still a season, if it can happen. Of course, whoever won the Stanley Cup would be unfairly marked for having won a short season (like the post-lockout San Antonio Spurs), but oh well. I need my NHL.
Also, John Buccigross' good friend Shjon Podein is showing interest in purchasing the Nikko Ice Bucks. The Ice Bucks are a Japanese hockey team. I should note that before I read this, I had no idea that Japan had ice hockey, teams playing ice hockey, or leagues playing ice hockey. I know they've got rinks, because I've seen the figure skating. I know who Yuka Sato is. But I couldn't name a Japanese hockey player.
Derek Couture of the Thunderbirds gets asked a few questions by the P-I.
Manitoba beat Cincinnati, 4-1. I actually got a chance to listen to some of the Moose radio broadcast, or at least long enough to hear an ad for Rod Stewart's upcoming concert at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. The Moose used two goals 80 seconds apart in the first period to jump out to a 2-0 lead an bury the Mighty Ducks, with Lee Goren collecting a hat trick along the way. Jason King got the first goal after driving to the net and pouncing on a rebound off a Josh Green shot. Goren would score the next three goals. He scored eighty seconds after the King goal, and saved his next two for the third period. Goren's second goal came midway through the third period on a power play, and the final goal came on the empty net. Manitoba outshot Cincinnati 25-20, and Alex Auld stopped 19 shots. Manitoba now sits atop the AHL Western Conference's North Division with a 14-6-0-2 record, one point better than the Edmonton Road Runners.
Upcoming...
Tonight: Everett at Portland, Kootenay at Seattle, Kamloops at Vancouver, Kootenai at Puget Sound
Saturday: Vancouver at Kelowna, Kootenay at Portland, Swift Current at Everett, Binghamton at Manitoba, Kootenai at Puget Sound
Sunday: Swift Current at Seattle, Binghamton at Manitoba
---
Enjoy your weekend, everybody. Rest up. Big game Monday. Jeremy and I are hoping for a Monday Night Football intro where Darrell Jackson drops Eva Longoria, and you can hope along with us. There's room on the hopemobile.
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