Welcome Chris Wilcox!
Elton Brand accuses the newest Sonic of having uh, shall we say motivational issues. I've seen motivational issues before and there's absolutely no way the guy can be worse than Jerome James. I guess we'll find out if a change of scenery is beneficial.
For the record I thought he had a decent first game. He definitely seems to fit with an uptempo team and runs the floor particularly well. I kept thinking that between him and Robert if the Sonics can get thier big guys to run the floor on the fast break like that their transition game is going to be pretty damn devastating if/when they get it together -- book it.
I don't have time to run the stats now, but I'd be extremely interested in the Sonics' record in games officiated by Violet Palmer. I'm not blaming the loss on the referees but there were more than a few questionable calls last night in my opinion, and apparently in Bob Hill's as well.
More strange stats are revealed in the P-Is writeup of last night's action.
Ray Allen has been on the court for 66 minutes, 9 seconds in the past two games and has not attempted a free throw. Sonics coach Bob Hill was willing to call the first free-throw-free game a coincidence or attribute it to lack of aggression.
On Wednesday, however, he had no explanation. The Sonics lost again, 102-92 to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center and Hill grinded his teeth when he picked up the score sheet and saw that Mark Madsen attempted more free throws than Allen.
Fortune favors the aggressor but that's still just weird to me. 66 minutes without a free throw and I've seen Ray get completely hammered multiple times. What's up Stern?
Frank Hughes writes about the same topic -- frustration's clearly setting in as guys wait to be traded.
I think things will settle down after the deadline.The team will clearly be in rebuild mode and hopefully will be getting some better play at backup point, I hope. I don't know what Flip's +/- was last night, but the guy is simply atrocious and every time he steps on the floor I fully expect the Sonics to give up an enormous run. On the bright side the continuing development of Robert Swift has really been something to see. He had a really nice game last night and played solid post and man defense throughout the game.