Its a few days in the past, but time to talk about Nick Collison.
It was just about 1 year ago today that Nick brought a bunch of SonicsCentral members pizza during our Furtado Center lunch. to highlight the story Nick was working out hard on on an 84 degree day and when everybody got introduced and asked him what he was doing there he said "What else would I be doing?" 20 minutes later when pizza arrived he was too much the gentleman to let Rick Sunds assistant Janna carry them up the stairs. Cool guy that Nick...Now he's been added to the Team USA practice squad.
My understanding is that Collison has worked hard on his cardio this summer. I can go either way on his decision to go this direction. On one hand let me tell you that when you watch Nick up close going at other big men in the post he needs more bulk and strenght. He just does not physically have the mass that most big men have to clear space in the post. I would love to see him hit the weights hard and gain that size.
On the other hand he is probably never going to bulk up enough to make a significant difference. Nick is what 25 years old? Sometimes you have to realize what your strength is and run with it. Nicks advantage over is his opponents is quickness and his crafty moves. Increasing his speed and endurance should increase that advantage.
What does it say about Nick that he is nationally recognized as good enough to qualify for this Team USA honor? I think we may underrate him here in this region but he clearly has fans amongst people who know basketball. Whenever people within the organization talk about Nick they refer to how coveted he is leaguewide. The guy has real trade value.
So the question of the day is "What do you think of Nick Collison?" What should his role be, does he deserve to start over Chris Wilcox? Has he hit his ceiling? You tell me.