If It's Monday, This Must Be New Jersey.
It's a point guard drama in the dailies today.
Percy writes how Bob Hill used the old Jedi mind trick on Luke Ridnour.
At tiny Blaine High School, Ridnour was a four-year letterman and was coached by his father, Rob. At Oregon, Ridnour was a standout recruit who started every game since his freshman year.
"I just felt that things had come easy to Luke and that he'd always been in a position to succeed," Hill said. "That's not a bad thing at all, but sometimes you don't develop certain instincts."
And from further down, an interesting comment:
"He's got a contract and all he has left to do now for the next three years or however many he has left on his deal is be relaxed and keep getting better and help us win as many games as we can because that's going to help him get his next contract," Hill said. "Once they get that [contract negotiations] over with, they don't have that in the back of their mind. Then all at once, they develop the right attitude.
"I don't think Luke ever had a bad attitude. I thought last year at times he had the wrong attitude. Now he has the right attitude."
It is interesting that both Luke and Nick Collison have played pretty well now that their respective contractual situations have been resolved and this approach has been pretty much the direct opposite of how the Sonics conducted their business in the Howard Schultz era.
Earl Watson addresses last week's confrontation.
Watson said he will not complain about his role, especially since the team has begun an upswing entering today's game with the New Jersey Nets.
"What I said (Friday) was the facts, I haven't dealt with the situation or talked (with Hill)," Watson said. "Right now you guys know everything that I know. Nothing is different. I have to get all of (the negatives) out of my system; obviously it's affecting the way I am playing. But I will overcome it mentally, but it will take time."
Though Percy says in his capsule preview "Earl Watson, who is disgruntled with his backup role, said he has not spoken with coach Bob Hill and his feelings have not changed." Stay tuned.
Frank Hughes chips in with a really nice article on Gordon Chiesa.
[Chiesa] was unemployed and out of basketball for the first time in 34 years, something that he said was difficult. But, he immediately landed a job as a radio talk-show host for a show called, “In the huddle with Gordie Chiesa.â€
“I had no experience,†Chiesa said. “I had been on many times in my career, just like we are talking right now, being interviewed. Except now I was the person doing the interviewing. It was fun. It was a good perspective. We went against Dan Patrick and Jim Rome, and we beat Dan Patrick and made inroads against Jim Rome."
David Locke blogs about the first back-to-back wins for the team.
The NY Times profiles the apathetic citizens of Seattle. Obviously the writer didn't do her homework on Chris Van Dyk, but what can you expect out of the Times. Sigh. At least Paul got a nod, so yay Paul!
Tune in at 4:30 tonight, let's get this win and head back to Seattle at .500 and with a 3-2 record on the road trip. GO SONICS!