Daily Roundup 2.8.07
Posted on Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 10:04 am by Xteve
Sheer comedy of the variety only a New York idiot can provide.
Let’s trash Nate Robinson for 500 words, but geez, maybe Seattle will trade us Rashard Lewis for him!
So hey, congratulations on the first road win in 77 days. That’s some sweet relief I thought only Head On could provide.
Gary, I saw you on the FSN recap last night.
Scary to look at the stats for this game. I wouldn’t say the team played any better or worse than they have been, thankfully sometimes other teams can miss 4 offensive rebounds in a row too. As GW pointed out I really liked using the Nick/Brown combo to close last night. The effort was there. Wilcox with a subpar effort on the boards, even for him.
“Sometimes it’s destiny and the ball bounces your way,” said Watson, who scored eight fourth-quarter points. “We could have easily given up, but we made some plays and played hard. When Tinsley shot that ball, I said to myself, ‘This streak had to end.’ If the ball goes in, I am kicking it as far I can kick it, going high into the rafters.”
John Amaechi huh … that was a bit of a shocker, much more so than Ron Artest getting a visit from animal control for underfeeding his dog. The mohawk’s a good look for Ron, though. Maybe he can do the dog up the same way like Mr. T’s dog in that old animated cartoon show he did.
Props to Andre Brown for playing some tough minutes last night down the stretch. He’s got big balls and she’s got big balls, but you’ve got the biggest balls of them all. Maybe we should fly your folks in from Chicago and just get ‘em to tour around the country with you all the time 
Was it Hill or Watson who suggested Luke start? Does anyone really care at this point since there’s a very good chance neither Hill nor Earl will be here next year? Sorry, won’t buy into the controversy. This is minutiae.
Watch out for those bellboys in the locker room. You never know when suddenly a white gloved bellboy holding a high C clanger in one hand and a reclaimed Salvation Army high G in the other might approach you as you stand half-naked in front of your locker and says to you and your teammates “Musical telegram from John Amaechi!”
February 8th, 2007 at 10:47 am
The Amaechi story is hilarious. Only because from his book he says he was continiously going to clubs and bars teh whole time he was in the league and no one ever publically called him out on it.
I don’t think many players who had him as teammates are that shocked.
Big game for Andre last night. Didn’t expect that after what had gone on the previous couple games.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Wow that NY article is classic…
- If I have to read ONE more article about the great work ethics of Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury I’m going to throw up. We get it these guys are total gym rats that spend all of their time playing hoops and have never been out of shape or considered a malcontent. If we could just get every NBA player to be like them…
- Wow the Knicks are making a playoff push…at 22-28…it sure must be nice to play in the Eastern Conference. Its really a shame that Nate Robinson is going to singlehandedly bring down the team with such immense talent. Just like he was the only one that had anything to do with the fight against Denver
- The quote in the article about the trade was actually:
“With the Feb. 22 trade deadline drawing near and the Knicks looking as if they could use one more asset to contend in the wide-open East, would Thomas consider sending Robinson home to Seattle in a package for, say, forward Rashard Lewis?”
So…its not that MAYBE the Sonics would trade Rashard Lewis for him it was MAYBE Thomas would “consider” moving Nate for Lewis…guess we’ve seriously overestimated the talent of Rashard Lewis if Thomas would only think about moving Nate for Rashard…
- How bad does your team have to be when you are counting on your 5′8″ guard to: “…and his leaping ability should get him rebounds to spark fast breaks”…we all know Nate can leap but surely any rebounds he get are gravy compared to the 7′ players in the NBA, right?
- In all seriousness…I never really liked Nate and out of all the “famous” guys who came through the UW program the last few years he was the one who I thought got the most overrated. However, this article is just simply horrible…each time I read this it makes me think “I WANT TO BE A SPORTS WRITER”…cause it must be the easiest job in the world.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:59 am
I thought the story in the Tribune about who suggested that Luke start is interesting. But it’s not worth getting into too deeply. Who knows how the reporter changed it to sound a little more controversial than it really was. Safe to say that however the conversation went between Hill and Watson, the end result was that it was agreed to try something different to see if could make a difference.
February 8th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Agreed, DK.
And at the end of the day, Luke played 19 minutes and Earl played 28 minutes. So it really doesn’t matter who’s starting at this point, as always, what matters is who is finishing and who is playing the most minutes.
February 8th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Oddly, the fact that John Ameachi is a homosexual didn’t surprise me. That may be the case ’cause I unwittingly stereotype British people as being relatively flamboyant, however. Although I’m not a bigoted homophobe, I nevertheless have a tendency to overly generalize homosexuals. As it is, though, the only thing that I’m discriminatorily intolerant toward is religion and spirituality — which, in essence, is due to the fact that I’m a hardline atheist who incessently bashes any sort of theological faith — I, nonetheless, am attempting to fix that loathsome flaw about myself. Yet, all things considered, everyone is biased toward his or her own beliefs; it’s just a part of human nature.
Okay, I stepped down from my soapbox.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Well the NBA Insider has said it so it must be true…:
Dave (Winston-Salem, NC): The Sonics have the fourth worst record in the NBA and two huge trade chips in Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. Are they really not going to cash in on their value while they can simply because they’re pretending to try to get a stadium built before bolting for Oklahoma City?
Chad Ford: To me the Sonics are the sleeper team. They’re going nowhere. Lewis can opt out of his deal this summer and the Sonics could lose him for nothing. Ray Allen is in the same situation as Paul Pierce, great player on a bad team. And the Sonics aren’t quite bad enough to earn one of the top 2 picks. The whole situation reeks of fire sale … but it has been eerily quiet. If I was a GM looking to get a star injection at the trade deadline, I’d be calling Rick Sund.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
And if I was Rick Sund I would extract a pound of flesh for that star injection. Allen should not come cheap - but I suspect they won’t trade Lewis or Allen unless it is a steal.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Personally I like the quote in the question as well:
Are they really not going to cash in on their value while they can simply because they’re pretending to try to get a stadium built before bolting for Oklahoma City?
What do you think the chances are that Dave in Winstom-Salem, NC has any sort of knowledge of the arena situation in Seattle? 1%…maybe 5%?
February 8th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
This isn’t just another one of “Frank’s stories”, as Washburn first wrote about it in his blog yesterday.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Who saw the “Luke starting’ thing happening when Lewis came back, I mean, besides me.
Lewis will take shot attempts from Watson, Lewis needs somebody willing to pass the ball to him, I’m just glad they didn’t have an ugly scene over watson’s role… oooops, they have already done that and both the coach and player were chastised for it.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Never would have thought a tough dude like Amechi was homosexual.
But then again I remember they always have feature articles on him as a lay-back, poetry reading English dude who likes his “tea-time”.
What a gentleman…
yup… never thought..
oh yeah Andre Brown saved the day. I only got to watch the last one and a half quarter.
Earl Watson should not be traded. The dude is firey. I can see if there’s anyone who can’t lossing, Watson will be on top of hte list
February 8th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
GP are you wit’me? Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
“Never would have thought a tough dude like Amechi was homosexual”
Later on today while Frank Hughes is covering the game I think I might go to his blog and freely speculate what current players might also be, not that there is anything wrong with it (Seinfeld ref for you Steve), just to see how long it takes for Fank to become uneasy about the talk.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Not to sound homophobic since I have friends and family members who are gay but I wonder if the Seattle City Government would have treated the Sonics better had Amechi been on the team? That’s the kind of diversity the PC types in this city appreciate.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
“Not to sound homophobic since I have friends and family members who are gay but I wonder if the Seattle City Government would have treated the Sonics better had Amechi been on the team? That’s the kind of diversity the PC types in this city appreciate.”
Uh?
February 8th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Amechi’s sexuality has nothing to do with basketball ability. Nothing. I don’t care about Ray Allen’s sex life, or Ridnour’s, or Swift’s, or Lenny Wilkens, or any of yours. Grow up.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I do however care very much that Nate Robinison is a horrible NBA basketball player who can’t shoot a jumper, can’t play D, and won’t pass.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
On a similar note, the only professional athlete who’s an admitted atheist — at least that I’m aware of, mind y’all — is former Minnesota Vikings player and Ohio State alumnus Robert Smith. Although the professional and societal ramifications of being an irreligious individual are far less than that of someone who’s a homosexual person, it’s still a cultural stigmata in the minds of inerudite ignoramuses. Of course, that’s one of the numerous problems that occur in a Judeo-Christian nation such as the United States of America.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
“is former Minnesota Vikings player and Ohio State alumnus Robert Smith.”
He’s great. I heard an interview with him by Jim Rome where Rome was basically calling him an idiot for retiring when he did.
Smith’s response was ‘I made enough money to support my family for the rest of my life, now I get up when I want, do what I want and get to take my kids to school everymorning. Would you give that up to get pounded on for 5 more years and possibly not be able to walk when you’re done’.
Rome shut up instantly. Gotta love guys that can make that happen.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
“Amechi’s sexuality has nothing to do with basketball ability. Nothing. I don’t care about Ray Allen’s sex life, or Ridnour’s, or Swift’s, or Lenny Wilkens, or any of yours. Grow up.”
chill brother..
There’s a scroll button on the far right side of the page. If you don’t care about something, you shall consider using that button.
February 8th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
You got it all wrong…didn’t you read the article Nate Robinson has a nice three point shot, has the ability to play great defense and should be getting rebounds to lead the break…
Anyone noticing what a nice season Eddy Curry is having? Might make that trade with Chicago a little more acceptable…
February 8th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Amaechi is gay. Big deal. The worst part to me is that he is using the fact that he was a gay NBA player to sell his book.
Shavlik Randolph’s response:
“As long as you don’t bring your gayness on me I’m fine,” Randolph said. “As far as business-wise, I’m sure I could play with him. But I think it would create a little awkwardness in the locker room.”
I thought Duke players were smart.
Has Jerry Rice come out of the closet yet?
February 8th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Nate Robinson is a novelty. Francis/Marbury/Crawford are all the same in my eyes. Me me me me me.
February 8th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Menace…didn’t you read the article Marbury is apparently a hard working veteran that Nate should be emulating…if he doesn’t do it soon he is going to singlehandedly destroy the Knicks playoff chances.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Myk, dude your killing me!
February 8th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Wow, Ray isn’t even in the 3 point Contest. What has this league come to?
February 8th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I’m sorry I am just truly amazed that a newspaper article is actually in print that states that Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbbury are hard workers and should be role models.
I guess the other way to look at it is…just how LAZY must Nate Robinson be to actually look bad compared to those guys??? That is like off the lazy scales…
February 8th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I thought I had heard that Ray said that if he wasn’t in the All-Star game, he’d skip the 3-point shootout and just chill with his family that weekend…so maybe he was invited but declined?
February 8th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Maybe the Knicks can hire Benoit Benjammin to be Nate’s personal assistant in charge of work ethic…
February 8th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Maybe the Knicks can hire Billy Owens to show him how to convert potential and playing ok for a couple years into a career of being traded because he has a long term deal that fits well into trades.
Not to knock the Answer, but… he’s an all star, but… he’s been in the Western Conference for a a few games and he’s on the Western Conference Allstar team? He hasn’t done jack in the Western Conference, no disrespect, but the Allstars are supposed to be guys performing well in that Conference. I know that’s not the point, selling commercials is, and THAT is the real answer.
If he pulls out because he has a bad wheel then I hope they look Ray’s way, he’s doing everything but the dishes.
Also, the Sonics haven’t ever won less than 30 games in a season, or finished last in the Western Conference. I don’t think it will happen this year either, I think they play well enough with Rashard back to avoid a complete face-plant.
The stink of last place doesn’t wash off, don’t ever tank with aging players, don’t rebuild without a vet that can show kids how to win a game, don’t be some place in between.
Go Sonics! All the way to Renton!
February 8th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
my dream, dream, dream: Ridnour, Lewis, and Fortson for Gasol and a throwaway player…
We win the #2 pick in the lottery and get Durant…
And next year our starting lineup is Allen, Watson, Jelly Belly, Gasol, Durant…
And, oh, yeah, Angelina Jolie leaves Brad Pitt for me and I find the cure for cancer…
February 8th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Boy that is quite a dream Lester.
However we’ve already got a plethora of big guys. We’re not so deep at the guard position. You’d need a different combination for that trade.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
“As long as you don’t bring your gayness on me I’m fine,” Randolph said. “As far as business-wise, I’m sure I could play with him. But I think it would create a little awkwardness in the locker room.”
I thought Duke players were smart.”
He is, just not punk PC
February 9th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
“Hard worker” Jared Reiner gets a 10 day with the Bucks.
February 10th, 2007 at 9:13 am
A few brief comments:
First, the articles about the 1987 team and Spencer Haywood on the official website are great. Read them if you haven’t already. Wow–2500 points as a rookie for Haywood. Only he and Wilt achieved that. And the story about the 1987 teams’ response to Red Aurbach is also amazing. Nate McMillans’ transformation from a booed player who Aurbach said was not NBA talent to Mr. Sonic is pretty inspiring to me.
The financing plan sounds pretty good to me. I don’t have a problem with extending the taxes of the current stadiums to finance a new one. The take home pay of the residents of Seattle will remain the same. I also like the tax that addresses the arts in the city. Seattle residents have the good life; experience rent or mortgage payments in parts of California (where I’m at currently) and you’ll never complain about these taxes again. We need sports in our community. The Ray of Light foundation, the NBA contribution to the SMART program, and other organizations show that we have a few model citizens on this team. I’d hate to lose that.
Regarding Amaechi… I’m glad he came out. Charles Barkleys’ comments were just as good and mature as anyones… All of these NBA players have had gay teammates who have game. Hopefully, a few more players will come out, and eventually we’ll hear from an All Star. To me it’s like when Magic said that he was HIV+; if you think that Magic is the only HIV+ player to ever have played int he league you’re crazy. If you think that Amaechi is the only gay player to play in the NBA; you’re crazy. And if you have a problem with his lifestyle; you’re ignorant. Let’s hear from more people now that he’s paved the way for 2007 and beyond.