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November 6, 2006

Sonics Season Preview: The Team Isn't Really Moving, Honest

So do we have to pretend that the Sonics aren't really moving to Oklahoma? Doesn't that just embarrass us all?

For a guy with such obvious and frequently communicated passions in re: professional sports, I find it mildly ironic that I never owned a season ticket to anything until I moved to C@L and got in with some buddies on Sonics' season tickets. They were looking for a fourth person, and I was looking for a steady evening activity (especially necessary to liven up the deep, dark winter) and a way to meet some new folks. Also, I was pretty shocked by how affordable Sonics tickets were -- not only would I get to be a season-ticket holder, but I would be able to do it on the cheap.

In retrospect, going in on the Sonics tickets was one of the best decisions I've made out here. Despite the team's, ahem, tendency to underacheive, heading to Key Arena became one of my favorite activities, and I've been looking forward to basketball season for the past few months now (or at least as soon as it started to get dark earlier in the day).

Of course, given my luck in re: supporting sports team, it should come as no shock that the team was sold to out-of-town owners last summer, who seem to have every intention of promptly moving the team to Oklahoma City.

I thought about doing an entire Sonics blog, kind of Season With Verona style about watching a team's final season and tracking the story on the move with the story on the floor. But then I realized I barely have time for one and a half blogs, much less two and a half. My compromise is that I'm going to at least devote a category to the Sonics on ThatKid. Seems fair.

What I'm thinking about the 2006-2007 C@L Supersonics:

So Are They Really Leaving?: we could all pretend that the owners are eager to keep the Sonics and the Storm in C@L (the Storm actually have fans...I know, I know, crazy, but you actually do have to mention them in this conversation), but when the owners' first act is to announce the deadline/ ultimatum for their decision to split town, well, you can't be too hopeful. Sure, they'll do the dance and pretend that they're listening to proposals from Bellevue, from the city, blah blah blah, but the owners have stated that it's their dream to bring pro basketball to Oklahoma City. So. I just can't imagine they're not leaving. (More about this in subsequent posts -- there's a lot here.)

See Ya, Skip and Elizabeth: in honor of what's likely the team's final season in C@L, we've upgraded our tickets. Sure, they'll cost a little more (but not much more), but we'll have better seats, and, well, we've been able to justify it as an accelerated investment in the team. Since the clock is ticking on the Sonics here in town, might as well enjoy them in semi-style. Still, this means we won't get to sit next to the lovely and charming Skip and Elizabeth; need to make sure I make the effort to say hello when I finally make it to a game.

Bob Hill Deserves Some Credit: so the Sonics weren't necessarily good last year, but you have to hand it to coach Bob Hill for doing the right thing for the team by playing the kids in the second half of the season. He took over midway through the season when it wasn't entirely clear that the team had no shot at the playoffs. In other circumstances, you can imagine a coach ignoring the future in favor of the here-and-now. Instead, Bob Hill played the kids (especially the kids in the middle, Petro and Swiftie) and lived with the implications. It was the right thing for the organization, and pretty classy from Hill. Just remember I said that when I'm talking about what an idiot he is in six weeks.

I Need Me Some Gear: save for some promotional items collected at various giveaway evenings at the Hardwood (some of which sadly didn't survive the Great Bedbug Purge Of October 2006), I have no Sonics gear. For such an enthusiastic proponent of officially licensed products and brightly colored sports gear, this is an absolute crime! Plus, the Sonics give me an outstanding excuse to wear bright yellow. I really need to get on this (also, it's what Squatch would want).

Rashard Lewis comma CONTRACT YEAR: Rashard Lewis is far and away the most frustrating player on the Sonics. When he's interested in "trying", he's borderline unguardable. He's 6'10", has moves in the post, can hit the three, and runs the floor well. With the right marketing and a charismatic turn in the playoffs, he'd be a endorsement-worthy superstar. The problem is, Rashard doesn't always show up for work. Sometimes he kind of loses interest in participating/ competing in the game. This means he "spots up" a lot on offense and stands around on defense. Not so impressive. However, he's in a contract year, which means there's a good chance he'll try at least 65 percent of the time. Fantasy owners be warned!

Ray Allen Is More Than Just Stats: speaking of trying hard, before I started watching the team every night, I had always though Ray Allen was one of these pure shooter guys who couldn't do much else: couldn't put it on the floor, couldn't pass, couldn't rebound. Not exactly. Ray Allen is far and away the best perimeter player on the Sonics (he's a much better passer than any of their point guards), and not a terrible rebounder either (when he wants to). He can even D up when the spirit moves him. The problem is, Ray doesn't want to do all that every night. I'll argue that it's actually a lot better for the Sonics when Ray's not shooting a ton and scoring a lot of points. That means he's just chucking jumpers and not actually making anything happen for the team. Also, chucking jumpers is way too easy for him. So despite the fact that his scoring average increased last year, the team won 35 games instead of 52. From the stands, it sure looked like the team won when Ray Allen played hard/ defense and they lost when he shot a lot of jumpers. Just a theory.

Luke, I Am Your Father: I mean, I have nothing against the guy, but Luke Ridnour is kind of a fraud. I have no idea how he got invited to the USA Basketabll camp. Ridnour plays no defense, and got none of the crunch-time minutes at point guard when the Sonics went 14-11 down the stretch last year. Also, he's kind of a wuss. The team is better with Earl Watson at the point; I'm shocked Ridnour got the extension.

Chris Wilcox: The Chris Wilcox trade looked outstandingly brilliant for the Sonics. I guess Wilcox wasn't terribly interested in trying hard for the Clippers? Something like that? He sure tried hard for the Sonics down the stretch, and is actually a pretty good fit for the team, in that he's an excellent finisher, doesn't want to be too far away from the basket, and doesn't need to touch the ball all the time. And, I think the Sonics actually signed him on the cheap (which is a phrase you definitely don't hear very often in re: young big men in the NBA, though maybe I'm damaged by the impact of recent Billy King contract giveaways).

How They'll Finish: I'm cautiously optimistic on the Sonics. The odds say they aren't a playoff team. The magazines have them just above the Blazers in the Western Conference. I actually think they could sneak into the playoffs. I mean, it'll take some breaks, and it's unclear how distracting the Oklahoma City thing will be, but the team has the talent to make the postseason. It just depends on (a) whether they play any defense (as opposed to zero defense), (b) Rashard Lewis playing like he wants his children to never work, and (c) Ray Allen showing up for work every night. And, really, it's mostly about Ray Allen.

So yeah, I'm psyched to follow the Sonics this season and to post about them semi-frequently. Should be a fun story.

Go Sonics.

Posted by thatkid at November 6, 2006 2:40 PM under Sonics

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Posted by: micah at November 9, 2006 1:18 PM

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