Seatle Supersonics

[Phlegm]

How good are these guys? Can they win it all? Currently they have the third best record in the league behind San Antonio and Phoenix. They just beat the Suns this past Friday.

They are 2-1 vs. Spurs, 1-1 vs. Suns, 3-0 vs. Kings, 2-0 vs. Heat, 1-0 vs. Mavericks, 2-0 vs. Memphis, 1-0 vs. Cleveland, 2-0 vs. Lakers, 0-1 vs. Washington, havent play against Houston or Detroit yet. That's 14-4 against the top teams in the league.

[Malluas]

don't play enough defense.... they will go far in the playoffs.. but won't get to the Finals... Spurs.. are by far better than any team in the league. Miami is second.

records in regular seasons mean nothing. IE Kings Mavs series (alternating years 3-1 in reg season .. Mavs, then kings, then mavs)... Spurs Kings records (21(Spurs)-19(Kings)) in last 40

during the 01 season (i believe) lakers were 0-2 against the Bulls, 1-3 against the Warriors, and 0-2 against a couple other bad teams... and they won the championship

Suns, Kings, Dallas, and Sonics don't play enough defense...

Suns can score which helps them out.. much more than any of the other teams..

Kings match up best with the spurs.. and theyhave lost 3 (granted 2 + starters missing the last 2 games) they match up in the sense.. both teams aren't very athletic.. and are good offensively.. and seem to keep all their games for the most part close. hence the 21-19 record in the last 40 games between the teams. And the kings have the better record of the last 5 years i believe, prob is bibby can't keep PGs in front of him, Webber isn't enough downlow.. but at least its something

dallas... can make noise like all the other years.. cause of offense... but their D is as bad as the kings.. and being out rebounded by the kings was sad. Dirk has to be on or they have no shot, dirk is their ONLY inside pressence.. sorta. Dampier could be but.. he gets used by Tim, Garnett and Webber.

Suns.. probably Suns and Spurs in the Conf Championship.... but again.. Kings could beat them in a 7 game series so can Dallas so can seattle. They are as bad defensively as the kings... mostly because of Nash and his defense is even worse this year than years before (granted he isn't there to play D), they just need Nash on or all the other players turn to crap (see 5 game losing streak)

Seattle... same prob as the other teams listed... no defense. They live and die more so than the kings and mavs do with outside shots. No low post whatsoever= loss in the playoffs, They remind me of the mavs of the last couple years.

[xaoshaen]

don't play enough defense.... they will go far in the playoffs.. but won't get to the Finals... Spurs.. are by far better than any team in the league. Miami is second.

You realize that the Sonics allow 0.2 points per game more than Miami, right? The problem of course, is that the Sonics play in the same conference as the Spurs, so they probably won't make the finals. One big advantage that Sonics have for the playoffs is that, unlike the Dallas teams of years past, they execute well in a half court offensive set as well as on the break.

Suns can score which helps them out.. much more than any of the other teams..

Actually, the Sonics have exactly the same scoring efficiency as the Suns do (115 points per 100 possessions). The Suns have a higher per game average than the Sonics do, but since they play a more uptempo game than the Sonics, they get (and surrender) more possessions, and thus more points per game.

Kings match up best with the spurs.. and theyhave lost 3 (granted 2 + starters missing the last 2 games) they match up in the sense.. both teams aren't very athletic.. and are good offensively.. and seem to keep all their games for the most part close. hence the 21-19 record in the last 40 games between the teams. And the kings have the better record of the last 5 years i believe, prob is bibby can't keep PGs in front of him, Webber isn't enough downlow.. but at least its something

The Spurs weren't particularly atheletic in years past, but with Parker, [barkely]GINOBILI![/barkely], Barry, and Udrih, this year's team can get out and run with anyone (witness the last Spurs/Suns game).

dallas... can make noise like all the other years.. cause of offense... but their D is as bad as the kings.. and being out rebounded by the kings was sad. Dirk has to be on or they have no shot, dirk is their ONLY inside pressence.. sorta. Dampier could be but.. he gets used by Tim, Garnett and Webber.

As a Spurs fan, I was so happy to see Dallas sign Dampier. I was terrified that someone in the Spurs front office would get suckered into making a play for him.

Seattle... same prob as the other teams listed... no defense. They live and die more so than the kings and mavs do with outside shots. No low post whatsoever= loss in the playoffs, They remind me of the mavs of the last couple years.

One big difference between the Sonics and the other teams that you mention is that while Seattle doesn't rely on the interior game to produce points (though they have players that can score in the paint, and their guards get excellent penetration which sets up their perimeter game) is that the Sonics can play physically, and rebound well, particularly on the offensive end. They're not a finesse team in the mold of Kings or Mavs of yore.

[Lyion]

San Antonio is head and shoulders above everyone.

My only concern with them is at times they don't play with heart. They get into cruise control.

The Heat game with them is a great example of this.

Seattle has the talent to disrupt the playoffs. I don't see them making it past San Antonio though.

[xaoshaen]

My only concern with them is at times they don't play with heart. They get into cruise control.

I found this kind of funny, since they have one of the higher margins of victory in recent history, but you're right, they don't always perform as well as they could. I don't think it's so much a matter of heart as of strategy though. Popovich has been adamant about resting his starters as much as possible, with Duncan logging career lows in minutes per game. I don't really think it's an issue with desire: did you see Pop call a timeout after they gave up a bucket... to cut the lead to 16... in the first quarter? Duncan and Ginobili in particular are such fierce competitors, that I don't see it as being a major issue, particularly come playoff time.

Honestly, I don't really see any single team getting past the Spurs, barring injury (I was just about physically ill when Duncan collapsed, holding his knee). The beauty of the playoffs is that anything can happen, but if anyone wants to knock out the full-strength Spurs, they'll need all the breaks to go their way. Now, if they could just tame the dual-headed bugaboo of free throws and turnovers. It always strikes me as odd that a team which stresses the fundamentals on both defense and offense should have those two categories as their weak points. Ultimately though, SanAn just has too many ways to beat you: they play stifling defense, can put up 100 points a night and make it look easy, have one of the best coaches in the game, and of course, they have Duncan. If Popovich cared about regular season records, there's a real chance this team could go for 72+ wins. It is in no way a knock on the Sonics (I still have very fond memories of McMillan in his playing days, and hope he works out as a long term coach there), but no, I don't really see them beating the Spurs in a seven game series.

[vonkaar]

yeah Malluas... sorry to keep disagreeing with you but...

Seattle really *is* a good defensive team... especially for a West-Coast team. In MY OPINION, Seattle and Dallas are the two deepest teams in the West. Even above San Antonio. San Antonio simply has the nasty combination of chemistry, talent and great coaching... nobody can compare atm.

Seattle's biggest problem is their experience... coaching, chemistry and talent... all 3 are raw.

For the most part... I'll leave the rest of your comments alone Malluas... you are constantly ignoring the league outside of Sac... Dampier is a fucking Monster in 2005... Dirk is now considered by MANY the SECOND most unstoppable force in the league... only behind Shaq, AND he's completely picked it up on Defense. Watch ANY Dallas game if you need... Dallas' defensive woes have almost completely evaporated when compared to last year... Dampier's presence, getting a few point-guards that could guard an 95 year old WW2-vet (Nash couldn't) and Dirk's improvements have totally spelled the difference. That, and... Josh Howard will make the All-NBA defensive team this year... he's that good. A younger Ron Artest - with a brain.

Seattle is 11.5 games over MN for home-court positioning for the playoffs... yeah, all-star break isn't here yet... but that's pretty huge... 11.5... holy shit... we'll call it 'over' for now. Dallas / Sac seems pretty obvious for round 1, and we WELCOME that =p. Bring it on, bitches.

[Malluas]

you seem to ignore anything outside of dallas vonk.. did you watch webber own Dampier? or duncan or KG (eventho no chance they are making the playoffs this year)

Seattle can't stop the kings or dallas that much. As it was shown in the last 2 games the Sonics played against the kings. 1 with 3 kings starters missing they still were scoring at will.. next time they were missing 2 and were scoring at will.

I am not scared of any team except the Spurs ... Suns maybe if they are shooting hot headin into the playoffs

btw vonk.. remember the last few years deepest teams really havn't won Dallas Sac both loss last year.. so did the Timberwolves.

[vonkaar]

You seem to call 'owned' by the same token that Shaq does in regards to Dampier... if 'owned' is 16/8/3/1/2/1... in 28 minutes... I'll let Webber own Dampier any day of the week =p ^_^.

What game were you watching again?

Dallas was a joke by the time the playoffs came around Malluas... everyone knew it. We were deep as HELL in December, but then everyone figured us out... and Nellie tried a few comedy moves "remember Small Ball©?" to eek out a few more wins... but we were hardly playoff ready. This is totally different.

We are 2-0 on Sac... 2-0 on Miami... 4th in the West atm...

none of this matters anyway... until people figure out wtf to do with San Antonio...

and... this is regular season... again, none of it matters.

[xaoshaen]

Dallas Sac both loss last year.. so did the Timberwolves.

None of those teams were all that deep last year though. If BJax hadn't gotten hurt, things could have been very different for Sacramento. The Wolves were hamstrung when Cassell went down, and Dallas ran out of offensive options in a hurry after their Big Three. I actually think Dallas is much deeper, with the development of their young players, this year.

This year, San Antonio is deep in the back court, but thin up front. If Duncan or Nesterovich go down, they'll be hard-pressed to get replace them for extended minutes. Yeah, I know Rasho hasn't been the second coming of David Robinson, and tends to disappear through his own passivity on the offensive end, but he's been an absolute force as a team defender. He works hard defensively, is rarely out of position, and is almost perfect on his defensive rotation. Despite his offensive shortcomings, he's fourth on the team in +/-.

[vonkaar]

Yeah... Rasho really doesn't get enough credit outside Texas newspapers... we happen to think he's amazing... for the minutes... sort of like Bradley is for 10 mpg... only better =p.

Seriously though... think about what Dallas was trying to do when we went in the playoffs... Walker was our CENTER. Hi, Shaq was still in the West. That wasn't going to work...

[Rotj]

What about SEAN MARKS??!?!

[Malluas]

LOL

btw where is Cherroke Parks.. he was tbe best tattoo NBA player ever.. he beat rodman