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18 Responses to “12/2/05 Box Score: Sonics 115 Cavaliers 108”

1. BryceS Says:
   December 2nd, 2005 at 11:55 pm

   Great shooting, Vlad solid, Flip really good tonight, out rebounded the Cavs, and keep the turns once again to a minimum.

   This is a really nice, quality win. When the Cavs run was made, right after the Fortson fiasco, I wasn’t sure how the Sonics would react. Last year I knew we would fight hard all the way and probably get a W. Tonight, I was pleasantly surprised to see last years squad out there. GREAT JOB SUPES!

2. scallihan Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 12:32 am

   I was at the game and Damien Wilkins had an excellent game as well. 3 for 3 on FGs, including a monster dunk that made you think he was Dominique. 2 for 2 from the line, 2 steals, a block, and only one turnover. He was a big factor in defensively slowing Lebron down in the second half.

3. Seanic Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 12:59 am

   I appreciated Scott responding to my post in another thread.

   This game was EXACTLY how they won last year. I know Fortson seemed out of control, but that’s the kind of intensity and physical play we used last season.

   Z was bound for another great game against us, but we wore him down with the physical play and he was saddled with fouls and frustration.

   LeBron got quite a few points early, but Weiss used Damien perfectly on James playing physical and making him work really hard for his points (Ray almost let Hughes beat us, but Ray responded points-wise to balance what Hughes was doing).

   Reggie was used perfectly tonight. Not too much, but enough.

   I said Flip had to do three things to play effectively for us: play defense (a bit, but he’s still Flip), limit TO’s–he did–and hit clutch free throws–he did that too. If Flip could have rotated a little quicker on Jones’ threes, he would have been perfect tonight.

   This was a nice win because it was a hard-fought, diligent effort on both ends of the floor. They didn’t stop the Cavs (what’d they score? 108?), but they played physical, made their fouls count, and cared.

   Vladi even got into the tough play with some hard fouls under the rim.

   Tonight was a good example of how Seattle has to play in order to be successful. Plus, it was fun basketball to watch.

   Flip and Damien making the extra pass to shooters–ah, that was nice!

   Great game Sonics.

4. Seanic Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 1:03 am

   One other thing I wanted to add from my comments about the last game. I though Vladi has to play 25+ minutes for the Sonics to be successful. For all he isn’t, he’s a pro basketball player that needs to be on the floor to have confidence and trust his teammates.

   Tonight, 26 minutes. He could fill about 4 minutes for Damien and that’d be about right.

   Game ball Weiss.

5. mkSONICS Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 1:04 am

   Two stats that pop out at me:

   Reggie Evans logging 15 minutes, with no FGAs, and 4 rebounds. Vintage Reggie.

   Us with the +8 rebound advantage at 38-30. They beat us out 21-56 last game.

6. Scott Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 2:57 am

   Thinking back to the game I’m still in shock that Nick got that moving screen called on him. Sure he laid the guy out but that’s what happens when you outweigh someone by 60 pounds and they run into you.

   THe announcers tonight were killin me. I was almost tempted to ask for Ehlo (gasp). How they could keep talking about how the Sonics weren’t physical with Potapenko and Radmanovic but somehow the Cavs were with Marshall and Z Cupcake. I don’t think in a two minute stretch I’ve ever seen a 7′2″ guy shoot a fadeaway over a guy he’s 6 inches taller than and on the other end try to take a charge instead of blocking the shot of a midget.

7. Brian Robinson Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 7:54 am

   I felt bad for Nick on that screen. It was an absolutely terrible call that almost cost us the game.

8. Tony Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 8:07 am

   Notice how Flip closed the game instead of Luke. I wonder if we’ll start seeing that more often. Last year AD was the closer. Luke did have a solid game though.

9. Seanic Says:
   December 3rd, 2005 at 9:26 am

   “I felt bad for Nick on that screen. It was an absolutely terrible call that almost cost us the game. ”

   Horrible call. Nearly as bad as that horrfic thing in Utah the other night where Cryant got that bail out call at the buzz in regulation.

   I’m glad Nick went down and talked with the ref too. It wouldn’t surprise me if the ref didn’t mumble to Nick, “I missed it.”

10. Seanic Says:
    December 3rd, 2005 at 9:27 am

    “Notice how Flip closed the game instead of Luke. I wonder if we’ll start seeing that more often. Last year AD was the closer. Luke did have a solid game though. ”

    No. Weiss won’t pull a guy if he’s playing well.

    And I really question that move because Flip hit his free throws last night, but he typically hasn’t. Luke’s a great free throw shooter and probably should have been in there for the free throws. I think Weiss dodged a bullet on that one.

11. psheehy Says:
    December 3rd, 2005 at 9:57 am

    Thoughts from the game…

    I got there late since I was at my son’s game in Ballard…I arrived in the arena to here the thunk of the basket mikes and the groaning/cheering whoa! of the crowd as LBJ threw down in first quarter monster dunk. While waiting in the concession line every cheer I heard was followed by the announcer saying ….points for Rashard Lewis!!! I peeked through the aisles as I walked toward my section to see a 24-20 Cavs lead. I thought…it looks like it could be a good game.

    The Sonics were sticking to their “containment” game plan. Lebron did not get to the hoop as much as he wanted. I was really impressed that they stuck to the game plan even after he swished a few sweet jumpers. I was concerned at the slow perimeter rotation of Flip on Damon Jones and Hughes in the first half and that hurt them later. I loved the 42% Cavs FG% at the half though. First time in a while they held a team to less than 50% in the first half.

    The offense looked great, though Ray seemed a half step slower getting to his spot and a half second slower on his release. Lew looked great every second that he was on the floor. Ray almost blew a few possessions by getting the ball too early in the clock and trying to iso, dude, that’s not your game, especially not against a defender like Hughes.

    Damien was brilliant in his role again. His shot selection was spot on and his 4th quarter defense on LeBron was great. He held him in check as best he could and always steered him into the help defenders when he couldn’t contain him on his own.

    Flip needs to let the bigs to the help when there is a shooter on the floor. He left Damon Jones open the whole 4th quarter and he just hit open 3 after open 3. That is Jones’ main job out there, know your opponent Flip. Jones ticked me off with this STUPID little hand gesture as he ran back after each 3 ball. I wanted Flip to just slam one down over his head, but I am glad Flip didn’t get caught up in it and just played the game. His shot was on and he was making the right plays all night on offense.

    Danny was doing a great job getting under Z’s skin and Z was trying REAL hard to get under Danny’s, but it was not working and the refs started calling Z out. I wish he had stayed just a little cooler over that one play. He didn’t need the second T. What really made me mad is that it was James that was in Danny’s face and the refs called Danny’s second tech for the reaction to James but ignored James completely. Late in the game the AGAIN ignored a MUCH more animated James protesting a call. He was way out of line, much moreso than Danny was earlier and they didn’t call him for the foul. Call the game consistently or go back to the D-League refs.

    Halftime was this guy called Rubberboy. He climbed out of this little tiny plastic box at halfcourt and then contorted his body through a tennis racket and a toilet seat. He also did some rather strange and somewhat disturbing things to his body on the floor of the arena. I found it all a little sickening and somewhat uncomfortable. The crowd seemed to enjoy it though.

    The Sonics almost blew the game late in the third. They had a double digit lead and let the Cavs fast break them into a 2 point game off lazy transitition defense and poor perimeter rotation by Flip. Fortunately they stayed focused in the fourth and it was Cleveland who cracked.

    I loved the aggressive rebounding, we need to see more of that. This was the #1 rebounding team in the league and the Sonics outplayed them on the boards at both ends. That is the way they won games last year. That is what they need to do.

    Reggie Evans got ticked later in the game when Flip didn’t pass to him on the break as he got under the basket with Z chasing him. A foul got called on the ensuing play and Reggie was mouthing off at Flip. I yelled out to Reggie to cool off…he wasn’t getting the ball on the break with his lack of hops and a 7 footer on his heels. Seconds later Ray switched places with Reggie at the free throw line and pointed him to Weiss in the backcourt who must have given Reggie the same lecture. We didn’t see him again after he subbed out a couple of minutes later.

    It was a great game against a good team, and the atmosphere was the most charged in the key that it has been all year. Let’s hope they take the extra confidence and the commitment on the boards and “containment” into Sunday’s game against the very dangerous Pacers. I don’t know if we can get another monster game out of Lewis with Artest hounding him.

12. Legend Says:
    December 3rd, 2005 at 11:16 am

    That was a good game, Flip, Vlad, and Fortson really contributed tonight off the bench, if they continue to do this we should be all good for this season.

    I feel Flip got it easy tonight tho, he had Damon Jones playing defense on him..and Jones is horrible on defense so Flip did whatever he liked to him..Hopefully Flip can come out again and play as good as he did last night.

    Good game tho, we came back when the Cavs made a run, its always good to see that this team can bounce back like that.

    GO SONICS!

13. Adam Says:
    December 3rd, 2005 at 12:53 pm

    Weiss did a decent job out there last night, BUT why bench Collison for the rest of the game when he has 5 fouls. He has done that twice now, it’s like a basebal manager not bringing his closer in when it’s a tie game being played at home. There’s no possible way for him to get the save at that point, so use your best reliever.

    Just a total waste of a player last night. I think Weiss just forgets sometimes.

14. scallihan Says:
    December 3rd, 2005 at 2:43 pm

    “Thinking back to the game I’m still in shock that Nick got that moving screen called on him. Sure he laid the guy out but that’s what happens when you outweigh someone by 60 pounds and they run into you.”

    He wasn’t moving. It’s just whenever anything violent happens these days the assumption is that something heinous was done. Same thing happened with a pick Reggie set on Iverson a couple years ago — he left him rolling on the floor, looking like he needed an ambulance. Both were perfectly legal screens, penalized only because the result didn’t pass the “groan test,” I suppose.

    Maybe they should have a rule that the screener must warn the screenee
    before contact, like warning an opponent when their King has been place *en prise*. Then, as long as Nick or Reggie had yelled out “en garde!”, their picks would be legal (unless moving, which they weren’t).

15. Brian Robinson Says:
    December 4th, 2005 at 12:42 am

    Psheesy - If you’re in Ballard and don’t stop to see me I’ll get upset. Swing by my place sometime. Send me a mail if you want the info. brian@sonicscentral.com

16. Sparks Says:
    December 4th, 2005 at 11:44 am

    I agree with Seanic on…
    a. Dodging a bullet with Flip down the stretch. Especially those 3 straight possesions where he got blocked twice and a near TO.

    b. The toughness factor. Danny is the catalyst. Too bad he’s such a powder keg. The absolute only positive thing I will say about JJ was that he scared the sh*t out of the other team’s drivers. He and Fortson both got the most out of their fouls. Vitaly is very weak in that department.

17. psheehy Says:
    December 4th, 2005 at 2:34 pm

    I thought the Sonics played better defense on Friday than they actually did. The start of the 1st quarter and the end of the third were their worst efforts, but they still offered up 118 points per 100 possessions in this contest. They pulled off the victory because of their brilliant 127 points per 100 possession offense. Over the last ten games they are averaging 114.99 on offense and 113.16 on defense. They are only 6 and 4 in that stretch. They still need to do better.

18. Lyrics Says:
    September 15th, 2006 at 4:10 pm

    Lyrics

    I find this discussion quite interesting. But how’bout some lyrics?