Peter Fehse fits the European big man stereotype almost to a tee, having a center’s height coupled with a small forward’s capabilities. One who would rather play the high post for hook shots and drift out to hit the mid-range jumper instead of working in the low post as the banger most Sonics fans hoped for on draft night.
Can Fehse join the ranks of Sonics’ second round picks becoming solid NBA contributors as diamonds? Or is he just more cubic zirconium? That question is still up in the air but the early signs are good ones. Almost every report that can be scrounged up on this young German question mark agrees that he has the height, frame, speed, and agility that it takes to play in spades, as well as solid rebounding and shot-blocking abilities, but desperately needs to add more weight and strength to play at an NBA level.
The biggest factor on Fehse’s side though is that the Sonics do not need him to become that diamond right away. The Sonics were very smart in their realization that no one they grabbed with the 49th pick in the draft could unseat any of the talented role players Seattle’s youth movement has gathered for next season, causing the franchise to think long term potential. Fehse is barely 19 years old and will greatly benefit from the chance to stay in Europe for a couple more seasons while working on adding to his mere 205lb. build and learning to operate in the low post more effectively, giving him a much better chance to become in a couple of years the answer to the prayers of Seattle faithful.
----------------------------------
It is entirely possible that the New York Knicks GM Scott Layden is not as poor a general manager as he has led on in the past. After all, Layden has certainly pulled the wool over the eyes of Sonics’ fans, using the old bait and switch to get up our hopes of finally parting ways with Vin Baker (and for an actual good player nonetheless) to only tear the rug out from underneath our feet and instead try to steal away Jerome James.
The Baker/New York saga is several years old, reaching back to the negotiations that brought Patrick Ewing to Seattle for a season. Originally, New York was looking to bring in Vin and trying to find other trading partners to make the deal work financially. What ended up happening was Seattle shipping out almost everyone else on the roster except for Vin (Horace Grant, Greg Foster, Chuck Person, Emanual Davis, Vernon Maxwell, Lazaro Borrell and Vladimir Stepania, along with a first-round protected draft pick and two second-round picks), to gain a broken-down old Ewing for a single season.
This summer at first appeared to be a case of history repeating itself; rumours began to surface about Vin to New York, and Sonics fans everywhere began to collectively hold their breath waiting for the good news. Thus far all it has gotten us is a bunch of bluish purple faces, and likely all it will get us is just that unless Layden’s plans to bring in a top-tier point guard fall apart and he decides he can afford the Vin Baker backup plan. Sund and Walker are going to love explaining next season why their Plan A fell through because they were relying on another team’s plan B. Ladies and gentlemen please get your pitchforks and torches ready.
Speaking of Plan B’s, Seattle needs to get one in case of the departure of Jerome James. Seattle is already weak on its frontline and losing a player like James who was able to step up and give some spectacular minutes off the bench, and even as a starter at times, will definitely hurt the club.
Regardless of what happens with the Knicks, James has been getting attention from several other teams around the league and Seattle wants no part of a bidding war for the reserve center. As long as even one team out there is willing to slightly overpay James, it could mean his exodus from the Emerald City.
Unfortunately, finding a replacement for James could end up costing just as much as fighting for him in this year’s shallow free agent pool. Guys like Micheal Olowakandi, Raef Lafrentz, Keon Clark and Rasho Nesterovic are all almost certain to get paid more money than they are probably worth as it is generally agreed on that these are the best centers available. Which begs the question, besides these guys who is the best deal to be found in the bargain bin? How about Denver’s unrestricted big man Scott Williams?
Williams is the type of player that leaves his heart out on the floor every night, and can help lead by example to lift a team as soon as he steps on the court as shown by the crucial role he played in the Bucks’ playoff run of 2001, during which he was the heart of the team. Williams’s hustle and basketball smarts help compensate his less than stellar athletic ability. He is exactly what the Sonics need as someone who can fight and bang under the glass and bring some toughness to a very talented, but sometimes soft team.
----------------------------------
The off-season is when championships are truly won and loss. During the regular season players are swamped with hectic schedules that do not readily allow them to take the time to work on aspects of their game that need improvement. However, in the off-season players get a chance to hit the gyms and practice the little things that they need to work on to just generally improve their abilities. Often it is the case that the amount of work you put in during the summer will pay off come the winter and players can show drastic improvements from year to year.
This is part of the reason it is unfortunate that the Sonics have not organized a summer league team this year to help their younger players improve themselves. The summer league is a place for players who normally just see five minutes a night to get out and test their abilities in real game situations, allowing them to gain valuable experience and training. This is why I was very pleasantly surprised to see that despite the Sonics' non-participation this year, Earl Watson has joined a team for the California Summer Pro League along with fellow UCLA alumni Baron Davis. Watson’s participation shows a solid work ethic that the Sonics would do well to retain for next season, and there is no one better in the league for him to be working out and practicing with than Baron Davis.
Watson and Davis actually have surprisingly close rookie season numbers. Last year Watson ranked fourth in the league in theft to turnover ratio with 1.18, and second in steals per 48 minutes with 2.99. As the Sonics’ most dependable and best reserve point guard, Watson makes a strong case for the team to want to resign him this summer, which will probably be the case, particularly if he can take a lesson or two from his friend Baron Davis.
Jay Leaver has served as a columnist for SonicsCentral.com since January 2002. The Clutch Corner is updated on Fridays. Jay can be reached at ontario@sonicscentral.com. All opinions expressed in this column are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other columnists or the SonicsCentral.com staff.
Got an opinion on this column? Discuss it in the SonicsCentral message boards.