Remember: It's always 5 o'clock somewhere.
It's deserted down here this morning. Looks as if most people decided to stay home after last night's storm, in which the Seattle metro area wasn't the only thing that got blown away.
Check out Locke's deep thoughts.
I find it remarkable the more I read about the NBA how the same stories are popping up all around the league. The Clippers, the Nets and others are all having “turmoil†issues with regards to players understanding their roles. The natural instinct is to believe that the team chemistry and harmony from one year will automatically reappear the next year. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The off-season does amazing things to players' mind-sets and self-opinion of how they fit into the team.
Good stuff to be heard in the locker room show as well.
So it's Bron Bron in Cleveland tonight. Dan Labbe blogs things from the Cavs perspective.
There are certain NBA team names I like. The Knickerbockers, the Jazz (mostly because Utah is, of course, known for its Jazz...), the Magic (named, I'm sure, for their ability to make star players disappear). But I've never understood the name Supersonics. I always just chalked it up as a Seattle thing, way too cool for me to understand. I mean, I like Pearl Jam and coffee, but I just don't think I'd ever fit in in Seattle, even though I rank it as one of my most desired cities in which to live.
Nyuk nyuk nyuk ...
Here's another very good story on LeBron's statistical changes this season from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Frank Hughes has an interesting take on this -- that LeBron might be fatigued after playing on Team USA. I've often thought that playing an entire NBA season AND Team USA is a lot to ask of a player in one year...I can think of many cases where players had subpar seasons following a Team USA appearance. It's just a lot of wear and tear on the body.
After a whirlwind second season in which he became the face of the NBA, James was on the U.S. team that competed in the world championships in Japan. Those around the team suspect that James is finally feeling some fatigue from a burdensome and demanding schedule, pointing to his drop in scoring (from 31.4 points a game) and a slight decrease in rebounding (from 7.0 to 6.8).
More than quantifiable numbers, though, it seems James sometimes shrinks at crucial moments, such as in a loss to New Orleans on Monday night, when he took only two fourth-quarter shots.
James, predictably, says he is not tired and nothing has changed for him other than the fact he is trying to get teammates more involved.
Lots of great stuff in Frank's blog about Earl's hard knock life, Mike Fratello and Jerry West getting into it, and more.
And I won't even get to make fun of Flip Murray tonight either ... By the way Earl is expected to play tonight, which should be a good thing...the Sonics need the depth desperately.
George Shinn says all the right things ... I dunno, they say patriotism and religion are the last refuges of scoundrels and everything this guy does smacks of that.
Percy expects Petro to play more tonight against the supersized Cavs frontcourt. I must say Johan has been one of the bright spots of the season. Considering he has lost his starting job from last year I think he's really made the most of his role and most importantly has been one of the most active Sonics on the court all year. Where a lot of Sonics stand and watch, don't move off the ball or cut to the basket, Johan's been doing a very good job of just being a big guy, being active, going for loose balls, getting in the passing lanes and blocking shots.
Tonight we could see the All-NBA Awesome Hair matchup between Gelabale and Anderson Varejao.
The Cavaliers celebrated Varejao's crazy, highlighted hairdo by handing out free wigs to their fans, many of whom wore their bushy giveaways during the game to honor Cleveland's "Wild Thing."
"It's kind of scary, 18,000 Andys," James said. "I don't think I could come to the arena if we had wig night all the time."
I just want to say that if the Sonics marketing department ever decides to do Gelabale Wig Night, I am SO there.
Looks like Gary Washburn is getting into the blog act nowadays! They seem to be using his driver's license picture though. G-Dub, you gotta change your picture man. It looks eerily like Peter Pettigrew from the third Harry Potter flick.
Can I also say that I am not a fan of the yellow road unis? They're seriously dumb looking. Come on. The classic dark green is the shiznit. No more Banana Rama Sonics please!!