Hill meets with Clay; says he deserves more. I'm with Pete on this one.
bootless \BOOT-lis\, adjective:
Unavailing; useless; without advantage or benefit.
I like the win, and given the April schedule it's still possible for the Sonics to finish high, but what I don't like about this is the sense of false hope it might give upper management about keeping the group together. I remember this same criticism directed at Ichiro over the last few years, (in his case somewhat unfairly) but I think it has relevance towards this group of Sonics. Once the pressure of competing for a playoff spot is all but off they go on a tear, which tells me that the mental makeup and culture of this team is not what it should be. That falls on the GM, the coach and the team captains. It would be a shame if all three of those parties didn't shoulder some portion of the blame.
“With the number of injuries we have had, the bench simply wasn’t equipped to facilitate the (success),†Hill said. “You have to think on a championship level to understand what I am saying.
“This team has a good core. I don’t expect people to understand that because of the season we had. But it is like I didn’t expect people to understand losing (Swift) because everyone just looks at his numbers. But his numbers were a part of Johan’s numbers and that would have gotten better. There are other things that this roster needs to keep moving forward, but the core is good. I think the future is bright with this group.â€
It's not that Hill doesn't have some valid points -- he does. But the entire culture of this team needs to be changed. They've been stuck in the same direction for so long it is time to make a clean break with the legacies of former ownership and management. Is that fair? Probably not, but that's life in the NBA. Sorry, Bob. It's Chinatown.