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Daily Roundup Mar 31 06

Did you know that Chuck Norris’ cowboy boots are made from real cowboys?

Or that Boeing sells magical winglets? Can I get them in Nuclear Honey Teriyaki flavor?

What's that? Oh right, you come here for Sonics news! Let's indulge ...

Tonight's game features a matchup with the reviled LA Lakers. at this time Rashard Lewis' return is questionable, but that could change at some point today.

The last time the teams played, on March 12 in a nationally televised game in Los Angeles, the Sonics defeated the Lakers, 120-113, holding Kobe Bryant, the league’s leading scorer, to 22 points, 13 below his average, on 8-for-29 shooting.

After the game, Ray Allen rightfully took a great deal of credit for hounding Bryant, funneling him to helpful teammates and at least partially creating the type of outing in which Bryant detractors delight, particularly since he was so visibly frustrated the entire game.

If the ever-present antagonism between Bryant and Allen weren’t enough, the March 12 game is certain to stoke the competitive fires for Bryant, who said the next day – he walked out of the locker room without speaking to reporters the afternoon of the game – that he simply missed shots.

Uh-huh. Suuure. You know what I find funny about Kobe? Think about how hard someone has to work to be that unlikeable. For the most part sports fans are naive chumps. We are into forgiveness and second chances for even the most digusting examples of human Port-O-Sans. I think of all the chances Kobe has had to rehabilitate his public image, and it's just not happening. He just comes off like a guy who thinks the world owes him fame. He is likely the most pompous ass in the NBA since Rick Barry and if you weren't there to "appreciate" the Rickster believe me, that's saying something. Too bad, because he's a truly incredible player to watch.

Count Dunkula needs to improve his defense, says Percy Allen.

"By admission, Wilcox is an average defensive player and, in the past four games, opponents have exposed the deficiency to the detriment of the Sonics (29-42), who are 2-2 over that span.

"I'm not going to say that I'm not a good defensive player, but that's something I've got to work on," he said after Thursday's practice. "I'm working on it, coach [Bob Hill] is working on it with me and hopefully everything will work out for me.

"It's not that I'm not a defensive player, it's just that on the West Coast, you've got good big men and they know how to score. You can go at them just like they go at you, but you've got to know that most of the big men in the West are All-Stars, so you've got to bring it every night."

And just think how much better defensively our whole team would look if we had a guy on the floor who intuitively understood help defense and how to rotate.

But back to tonight's game. Gary Washburn contributes a glowing write-up of Kobe. No just kidding, he rips him a couple of times.

I gotta go, enjoy the game!