Daily Roundup 2.5.07
Posted on Monday, February 5th, 2007 at 10:06 am by Xteve
Sorry dudes, Super Bowl hangover, a pile of work in my face so i’ll make this quick:
Bennett to address Legislature
Hornets back to NO, I think Frank’s assessment of the thought processes behind this situation is correct.
Rashard back later this week? I don’t see any reason to rush him back before the All-Star break frankly.
GW says Rashard may play Saturday vs. the Kings.
“Indeed the Sonics may be a factor in the Western Conference next season with a healthy Swift and Allen and Lewis playing in All-Star form, but there remains more than two months left in this season and the team doesn’t want to look too far forward.”
That’s a pretty rosy assessment to say the least. While I do think that Robert would have helped the team this season, his injury is only one reason why the team fell flat on its face this season. Considering the lack of consistent play behind Ray & Rashard and the lack of veterans to act as steadying influences I think it’s putting an awful lot of pressure on Robert to be THE solution all by himself … this roster has problems that just one guy isn’t going to fix all by himself. If the removal of just one player causes the whole rotation to collapse like a house of cards (pretty much like it did when Nick missed all of 2004) then bigger fixes probably needed.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Frank’s blog references a rather interesting collumn in the Chicago Tribune (registration required) by Sam Smith. In it he talks about the Coach Hill’s future. The Sonic’s ownership and Hornet’s owner George Shin. Plus the rumored trade involving Ray Allen and Ben Gordon.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-070204smith,1,7426406.column?coll=chi-sportscolumnistfront-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
Quite a soap opera.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Sam Smith has to write something, even if it isn’t true.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Thanks for pointing that out guys. For those that don’t know Sam Smith is the Peter Vecsey of Chicago. Everything in his columns you have to take with a grain of salt. Honestly I don’t think he’s ever had a big scoop or prediction come true.
February 5th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
But he wrote The Jordan Rules….Sam Smith is god!
February 5th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
A new bill to fund the arena will be introduced in the next day or two.
Bennett will release full details of arena proposal at his presentation next week.
http://tinyurl.com/2d6z9w
February 5th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
It is ridiculous to think that the Swift, Allen, and Lewis combination will make the Sonics a factor next season. Being a great center takes work ethic, and really the only person who’s shown that recently is Nick Collison. There’s definitely no guarantee that Swift will start or be a major factor just because he’s bulked up a little bit. He needs to arrive with a lot of heart when he returns to the team if he wants to separate himself from Petro and Sene.
Why do these rumors about trades and everything else always arise on blog sites first? As out there as the rumor is, it seems that our managers really care about keeping guys with character on this team. The only kind of a person that they would be tempted by is a guy like Ben Gordon.
February 5th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Here’s a nice conspiracy theory. Franchise swapping between Shinn and Bennett, and then a sale to Steven Ballmer, who has to count for something because his name has been in rumors before.
February 5th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
I agree that using Robert Swift as an excuse for the terrible season is grasping at straws.
I see now that the Sonics/Bulls rumors have been put to rest another one has raised it’s head, with the latest from the Chicago tribune being Ray Allen to the Knicks, with Jamaal Crawford and Channing Frye coming Seattle’s direction.
February 5th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I expect we’ll continue to see wild Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis trade rumors started in other cities newspapers/blogs right up untill either Sund comes out and says Ray and Rashard aren’t going to be traded or the deadline passes.
The NY Knicks rumor is horrible…..Crawford and Frye??? No way I’d even consider that deal and outside of Curry and Lee there isn’t much on that NY roster that I’d want.
February 5th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
…and nothing on their roster that I’d consider trading Ray Allen for…….
But that’s just me….
February 5th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Sam Smith may not have much of a reputation, however I think he may very well be spot on, on his analysis of the whole New Orleans, NBA view of a franchise there long term, etc, etc….
February 5th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I don’t place any value on a Sam Smith rumor, but I did fell his rip on Bob Hill hit pretty close to home.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
feel
February 5th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
“It is ridiculous to think that the Swift, Allen, and Lewis combination will make the Sonics a factor next season. Being a great center takes work ethic, and really the only person who’s shown that recently is Nick Collison. There’s definitely no guarantee that Swift will start or be a major factor just because he’s bulked up a little bit. He needs to arrive with a lot of heart when he returns to the team if he wants to separate himself from Petro and Sene.”
Yeah I’ve said this before as well. We have no idea what Swift brings to the table this year. Dude is hurt. For all we know he comes in and plays exactly the same as he did last year or regresses. Obviously we like to think he would be better……but we don’t know. His work ethic means nothing if you don’t produce on the court. Key word….on the court. Putting anything on Swift for this season is a cop out and an weak excuse.
“…and nothing on their roster that I’d consider trading Ray Allen for…….”
I’d trade Marbury, Crawford, or Francis for him. I’d also include Nate Robinson and Jerome James if I could. Does that sound like something us Sonics fans would want? NO? Kinda like when people package the players we don’t want for another teams best/good player, ie Gasol, trade proposals isn’t it?
February 5th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
““…and nothing on their roster that I’d consider trading Ray Allen for…….”
I’d trade Marbury, Crawford, or Francis for him. I’d also include Nate Robinson and Jerome James if I could. Does that sound like something us Sonics fans would want? NO? Kinda like when people package the players we don’t want for another teams best/good player, ie Gasol, trade proposals isn’t it?”
Not sure what was intended by quoting me there, as the gist of your last paragraph is essentailly what I said…..there is nobody on the Knick roster that I’d trade Ray Allen for (from a Sonics fans perspective).
Of course if you are I. Thomas, you are trying to trade any of their players mentioned for Ray Allen, but in the real world Sund isn’t stupid enough to do that.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Didn’t Hill recently say that he didn’t think Swift would even be ready to suit up until about mid next season?
February 5th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
We obviously agree frozen.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
I guess I agree with the idea that Robert Swift probably would not have made that much of a difference this year. However, it seems that in this quote:
“Being a great center takes work ethic, and really the only person who’s shown that recently is Nick Collison. There’s definitely no guarantee that Swift will start or be a major factor just because he’s bulked up a little bit. He needs to arrive with a lot of heart when he returns to the team if he wants to separate himself from Petro and Sene”
There is an implication that Swift doesn’t have a very good work ethic and that will hold him back. Based on everything that came out before his injury and since his injury it appears this kid has a tremendous work ethic. So, I’m not sure what the goal of the statement is.
In fact, I think the whole idea of the statement is backwards. Being a great center takes talent and no matter how much work ethic a guy has he can’t overcome lack of talent. Nick may have all the “work ethic” in the world (again…has he proven demonstrateably more work ethic than Swift…and even Petro and Sene??) but he will never be a “great” center. Swfit on the other hand just might…
February 5th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
“If the removal of just one player causes the whole rotation to collapse like a house of cards (pretty much like it did when Nick missed all of 2004) then bigger fixes probably needed.”
Your kidding right?
February 5th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Swift is st8 out of high school Mcdonald’s All American. Barely played his first year. Played a little his second year. Hurt his entire third year. I’m as optimistic as the next guy that he’ll be a serviceable center. But I don’t think he is an impact player that changes the dynamics of our team. I don’t think Petro or Sene are either.
Is it me or are people overly impressed with the centers that we have, only because their age and the fact that the Sonics have only had one decent center in their entire history?
We basically used our last three first round draft picks on projects. I think this set back our franchise for at least the next 3-4 years.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
“We obviously agree frozen. ”
I was figuring that we did, but that first sentence threw me off when you were including “I’d” and “If I could” as if you were supporting trading Ray Allen for those players….but in looking back, maybe you were speaking in the third person like you were I. Thomas or a Knick fan or something…….
February 5th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I think the article is overlooking the situation a bit by saying that Swift is the majority of our “games missed”. Yes, he is a very large part of that equation, but to discount the impact of Ray Allen’s missed games and even more so, Rashard Lewis’ missed games is a huge oversite.
Now do I think it was such a good idea for the Sonics to go into the season counting on Swift and Petro to play the majority of the minutes at Center……obviously not. As has been mentioned before, what the Swift injury really did was expose the poor roster contstruction on this team. In addition, Hill believing Sene could have a meaningful impact this season just goes to support the claim of how large and ego he might just have. That claim can also be supported by his previous sparing in the media with his players earlier on this season.
Plain and simple the roster the way it is currently constructed is built to develop our young talent, it was not constructed with the intention of contending for an NBA title this season.
Furthermore, what the Swift injury did was really show us that Petro’s future is at PF in this league, IMO. He’s still extremely young, but from what I’ve seen, his game translates much better at the PF position than it does at Center. Which leads me to another point, if this team wants to keep its core together and make a run at the playoffs next season, it needs to sign/trade for a veteran Center. Especially, if Swift’s return date is going to be mid-season next year.
Sene should never have been looked at as anything more than a project draft pick, and he should have been playing all season in the D-League and never counted on to do anything at the NBA level this season. Having watched Sene early in the season and having watched his play just recently I think he’s made huge strides…..that said, he’s still got a very long way to go before he’s a starting center in this league……but I’m willing to wait for him to develop, but we shouldn’t let that stop us from constructing a dependable roster at the NBA level either.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Sam Smith isn’t to be taken seriously. Afterall, his latest conspiracy about that the league holding a spot open for the Sonics to relocate to Oklahoma, then forcing George Shinn to sell the Hornets to someone to move to Seattle has no basis to it. He will print whatever he thinks sounds intriguing, regardless if the facts stand in the way or not.
Since most people know the Sonics and Bulls aren’t making any trade it stands to reason that now he dismisses it like he’s made some revelation and adds the Sonics/Knicks rumor in to spice his column up.
If this is the criteria for becoming a sports reporter then we are all overqualified.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
“Didn’t Hill recently say that he didn’t think Swift would even be ready to suit up until about mid next season?”
No, he said he thought it would be till mid-season before he was 100% back. IE completely trusts his knee in every situation.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Thanks Scott, that sounds right.
I guess that still gives Hill a built-in excuse if he’s retained next season and the Supes continue to struggle.
Re: Franchise swap rumor:
Why would the NBA make a franchise relocate to Seattle unless there was already a new building in place? That speculation makes no sense at all.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I agree that Sam Smith takes the story quite a ways beyond reality with all the intrigue, conspiracy theories, however I don’t tihnk anyone who’s not from New Orleans actually believes the NBA really wants to move that franchise back to New Orleans. And the only reason they are doing it is for publicity, ie, they don’t want to look like the big mean rich billionairs who are turning their back on the disaster riddled city.
It is a well known fact that New Orleans wasn’t suporting tha franchise from an attendance standpoint before the Katrina disaster and there is little chance they will be able to adequately support it afterwards. Everyone knows it, however nobody wants to be the one to say it publically until its been proven by attendance records again. So everyone has to play out this big song and dance next season by moving the franchise back there and playing out a season with meager crowds, at which point Shinn will apply to move the franchise somewhere…….Be it Oklahoma City or somewhere else, the Hornets will be on the move again after next season, IMO.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
“Furthermore, what the Swift injury did was really show us that Petro’s future is at PF in this league, IMO. He’s still extremely young, but from what I’ve seen, his game translates much better at the PF position than it does at Center.”
I’ve seen other post this theory too. What makes him more of a PF than a C in your opinion?
My feeling is that he has a better chance at competing as a Center because the competition/talent level at the center position isn’t as good. I think there is a higher level of talented PFs vs Cs overall in the NBA.
February 5th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
“Re: Franchise swap rumor:
Why would the NBA make a franchise relocate to Seattle unless there was already a new building in place? That speculation makes no sense at all. ”
Very true……if the Sonics leave there is no way the NBA sticks another franchise here until a new arena is built.
Which makes that March 6th or so date that someone mentioned that is the deadline for a franchise to apply for relocation a very important and interesting upcoming date. If the Sonics and whatever City they chose to work with everything they need to get to the Legislature in time this session, however do get good feedback and some progress is made, does Bennett stick it out for another season in Seattle while trying to finalize the deal or does he make a quick break for Oklahoma? All will be told by that Franchise relocation deadline.
February 5th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
““If the removal of just one player causes the whole rotation to collapse like a house of cards (pretty much like it did when Nick missed all of 2004) then bigger fixes probably needed.”
Your kidding right?
Sorry, you have to give more to go on than that.
February 5th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
“I’ve seen other post this theory too. What makes him more of a PF than a C in your opinion?
My feeling is that he has a better chance at competing as a Center because the competition/talent level at the center position isn’t as good. I think there is a higher level of talented PFs vs Cs overall in the NBA. ”
To oversimplify, Petro is more of a faceup player than a back to the basket guy. True centers tend to be the latter.
There’s always been more talented PFs than Cs in the league.
February 5th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
In 2004 the rotation collapsed like a house of cards because we missed Nick Collison? Thats ridiculous. You might want to write IMO after statements like that. Especially after basically saying it isn’t fair to say Swift changes things this year (I agree). But it totally wasn’t the case with Collison in 04 (I completely disagree)? What side of the fence are you on?
Correct me if I’m wrong…..but Nick Collison has only been good recently. His impact in 04 was minimal. He finally has played good since 10-11 games ago in 06/07.
February 5th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
You can’t be on both sides can you?