Tuesday, December 27, 2005
SAMEY
When I last did a full post about this Sonic team, they had just come off a home loss to the Hornets. At the time, their third straight loss had dropped them to a record of 5-8. They obviously hadn't mustered up the defense they had last season, letting the opposition get above the century mark in points night in and night out.
Here are the scores the Sonics have posted since...
Nov
30: W 104-94 vs. CHA
Dec
2: W 115-108 vs. CLE
4: W 107-102 vs. IND
6: L 104-101 vs. NY
9: W 106-90 at UTA
10: L 123-104 vs. SAC
13: L 110-107 (OT) vs. GS
15: L 104-98 vs. HOU
16: W 111-99 at POR
19: W 111-101 vs. WSH
20: L 111-83 at PHX
23: L 101-98 vs. DAL
26: W 118-111 vs. BOS
Oddly, the Sonics actually have a winning record since I last did a post about them. They are 7-6 since that loss to the Hornets. The next game was a home win over the Bobcats, and it started a stretch of four wins in five games for the Sonics, with the other wins coming against Cleveland, Indiana, and at Utah.
The Sonics followed that nice four of five stretch with a three-game skid. Then two wins. Then two losses before the home win against the Celtics last night.
[Edit ~6:48p -- serious flaw corrected in the following paragraph...I had said that the Sonic defense had allowed 100 or less in 10 of 13 games, which is horribly incorrect. Also clarified consistency was needed on defense.]
As for allowing 100 points or more, the Sonics did that in 10 of the last 13 games. Yup, the defense is still crap. Using defensive efficiency numbers, David Locke would tell you that the Sonics' defense is historically bad. Of course, the flipside of this is that if the Sonics somehow got just a tiny bit more consistent on defense, they could be a mucho better team since they have so much offensive potential. Ray Allen's had some terrible shooting nights in this 13-game span -- 8-for-22 from the field against Cleveland, 10-for-26 against Indiana, 9-for-28 against the Knicks, 6-for-22 at Utah, 10-for-27 against Houston, 8-for-21 against Dallas, and 3-for-13 against Boston last night. One would have to believe that the team should warm up a bit if Allen starts stroking it a little better.
Another problem for the team? Something beyond the fact that Antonio Daniels is gone? Well, Luke Ridnour has gotten more minutes, and has gotten more horrible. His assist-to-turnover ratio hasn't been too horrible. Obviously, with the increase in minutes and more prominent role this season, they obviously expected Luke to contribute more on the offensive end, to drill that 18-footer if it's open, drive for that runner every once in a while, etc. The problem is that he's sitting here 26 games into the season (almost one-third of the way through) and Ridnour is shooting 36%. Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Over the 13-game stretch, Ridnour has posted shooting nights of 5-for-15 against Charlotte, 3-for-10 against Sacramento, 2-for-11 against Golden State, 2-for-12 at Phoenix, and 3-for-9 at Phoenix. Ridnour did complain to coach Bob Weiss that he was having some nausea in the game last night, so we'll give him a bit of a break there. Did anyone see the shot that Luke took in the closing seconds of the Dallas game? Mind-boggling.
The backup point guard is last year's odd point guard out Ron Murray, who went off and scored 29 last night, but can turn over the ball at times, is a one-on-one player who can sort of stagnate the rest of the offense, and, much like Ridnour, can't defend. Murray also isn't the good free-throw shooter that Daniels was. Regarding the offense stagnating with Murray having the ball, I think I heard an explanation on KJR -- basically, if Murray's in, he might hold the ball, dribble, try to make moves, etc., but if Ray or Rashard get the ball, they know they might not see it again, and they might try to force their own shot or something.
But just as Murray goes off and scores 29, he dislocates a couple of fingers. The team sort of has a point guard conundrum.
I haven't even gotten to Vladimir Radmanovic yet. He's inconsistent along with his minutes. To put it bluntly, I don't think Weiss knows what to do with him.
You know what the sick thing is, though? If they win the next two games, they could be tied for the Northwest Division lead. They're currently a game behind Denver, who would have the eighth playoff spot. Yes, the division is crap this year. At this point, the division winner could be the weakest three-seed in quite a while, though this wouldn't be the first time a division winner has had a crap record in the six-division NBA format.
Anyway, anything is possible for the Sonics, it's just pretty freakin' cloudy right now. My only regret is that since I'm not following them in quite a day-to-day fashion last year, if they sneak into the playoffs and somehow get to the second round, it won't be quite as rewarding for me.
You know, that's the whole reason I like to follow these teams on a day-to-day basis is for the one time, just that one time that they take the whole thing.
Well, more than likely another Sonic post in a month unless something incredible happens.
Here are the scores the Sonics have posted since...
Nov
30: W 104-94 vs. CHA
Dec
2: W 115-108 vs. CLE
4: W 107-102 vs. IND
6: L 104-101 vs. NY
9: W 106-90 at UTA
10: L 123-104 vs. SAC
13: L 110-107 (OT) vs. GS
15: L 104-98 vs. HOU
16: W 111-99 at POR
19: W 111-101 vs. WSH
20: L 111-83 at PHX
23: L 101-98 vs. DAL
26: W 118-111 vs. BOS
Oddly, the Sonics actually have a winning record since I last did a post about them. They are 7-6 since that loss to the Hornets. The next game was a home win over the Bobcats, and it started a stretch of four wins in five games for the Sonics, with the other wins coming against Cleveland, Indiana, and at Utah.
The Sonics followed that nice four of five stretch with a three-game skid. Then two wins. Then two losses before the home win against the Celtics last night.
[Edit ~6:48p -- serious flaw corrected in the following paragraph...I had said that the Sonic defense had allowed 100 or less in 10 of 13 games, which is horribly incorrect. Also clarified consistency was needed on defense.]
As for allowing 100 points or more, the Sonics did that in 10 of the last 13 games. Yup, the defense is still crap. Using defensive efficiency numbers, David Locke would tell you that the Sonics' defense is historically bad. Of course, the flipside of this is that if the Sonics somehow got just a tiny bit more consistent on defense, they could be a mucho better team since they have so much offensive potential. Ray Allen's had some terrible shooting nights in this 13-game span -- 8-for-22 from the field against Cleveland, 10-for-26 against Indiana, 9-for-28 against the Knicks, 6-for-22 at Utah, 10-for-27 against Houston, 8-for-21 against Dallas, and 3-for-13 against Boston last night. One would have to believe that the team should warm up a bit if Allen starts stroking it a little better.
Another problem for the team? Something beyond the fact that Antonio Daniels is gone? Well, Luke Ridnour has gotten more minutes, and has gotten more horrible. His assist-to-turnover ratio hasn't been too horrible. Obviously, with the increase in minutes and more prominent role this season, they obviously expected Luke to contribute more on the offensive end, to drill that 18-footer if it's open, drive for that runner every once in a while, etc. The problem is that he's sitting here 26 games into the season (almost one-third of the way through) and Ridnour is shooting 36%. Ouch. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Over the 13-game stretch, Ridnour has posted shooting nights of 5-for-15 against Charlotte, 3-for-10 against Sacramento, 2-for-11 against Golden State, 2-for-12 at Phoenix, and 3-for-9 at Phoenix. Ridnour did complain to coach Bob Weiss that he was having some nausea in the game last night, so we'll give him a bit of a break there. Did anyone see the shot that Luke took in the closing seconds of the Dallas game? Mind-boggling.
The backup point guard is last year's odd point guard out Ron Murray, who went off and scored 29 last night, but can turn over the ball at times, is a one-on-one player who can sort of stagnate the rest of the offense, and, much like Ridnour, can't defend. Murray also isn't the good free-throw shooter that Daniels was. Regarding the offense stagnating with Murray having the ball, I think I heard an explanation on KJR -- basically, if Murray's in, he might hold the ball, dribble, try to make moves, etc., but if Ray or Rashard get the ball, they know they might not see it again, and they might try to force their own shot or something.
But just as Murray goes off and scores 29, he dislocates a couple of fingers. The team sort of has a point guard conundrum.
I haven't even gotten to Vladimir Radmanovic yet. He's inconsistent along with his minutes. To put it bluntly, I don't think Weiss knows what to do with him.
You know what the sick thing is, though? If they win the next two games, they could be tied for the Northwest Division lead. They're currently a game behind Denver, who would have the eighth playoff spot. Yes, the division is crap this year. At this point, the division winner could be the weakest three-seed in quite a while, though this wouldn't be the first time a division winner has had a crap record in the six-division NBA format.
Anyway, anything is possible for the Sonics, it's just pretty freakin' cloudy right now. My only regret is that since I'm not following them in quite a day-to-day fashion last year, if they sneak into the playoffs and somehow get to the second round, it won't be quite as rewarding for me.
You know, that's the whole reason I like to follow these teams on a day-to-day basis is for the one time, just that one time that they take the whole thing.
Well, more than likely another Sonic post in a month unless something incredible happens.
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