Well, well, well. Isn't this a pleasant surprise. I must say, being a massive Radmanovic fan, I have to give my kudos to Rashard Lewis and also Desmond Mason. It was only a few months ago I engaged in a conversation with SonicsKevin, SonicJoe and others over whether it would be futile to project either to be the Sonics Batman: "The Man". At the time I couldn't see either Lewis or Mason filling that role, as I thought both would be headed for the role of Robin, the sidekick to some greater talent.

My initial gripe about Lewis was that people gauged his talent on where it might be one day, rather then where it currently was. For a very long time, I felt Ruben Patterson was better then Rashard Lewis and rightfully deserved to start. Mason, I was a little unsure of. He was just a rookie, and displayed enough talent to know he was solid. But I couldn't see him to ever be on the same level of, lets say Paul Pierce.

And boy, let me tell you, when we drafted Radmanovic, I thought the end of Lewis as the Sonics #1 kid was near. The younger Radmanovic appeared to be strong where Lewis was weak. Both could shoot the lights out, but Radmanovic appeared stronger, appeared to have a better handle, appeared to be a better passer, an aggressive finisher, and a better defender to boot. I spent about a week in Boston closely analyzing Radmanovic and knew this kid was going to be a star. It would only be a matter of time before he took over the title of Seattle's darling.

Don't get me wrong, I always knew Lewis was no slouch, and as a person I loved the kid, but to say Lewis was a max player, in the same category as Kobe Bryant, I was not sold. Watching Lewis the 3 years we had him in Seattle, I thought, every year we asked him to improve his ball handling, post game, and defense and every year we've seen really no bona fide improvement. His shooting would improve once he got his confidence, the rebounding was always there, and the finishing was adequate, but by no means stellar.

So he remained a spot up shooter, and without exaggerating, a good one. But the tried and true leadership qualities, it wasn't materializing fast enough. It's hard to be a leader when you can't create your own shot, and in game situations it sometimes dictates a leader do just that.

Everyone proclaimed Lewis to be the next great thing after he has this "break out season" last year, but when I looked at Lewis a little closer I noticed that Lewis hadn't really broken out at all.

Lewis's points per game from the 1999 season, to the 2000 season really hadn't changed and to be technical, slightly decreased. It wasn't leaping improvements by Lewis that raised his scoring average and fueled this "break out", in reality it was the generosity of his minutes. His extra minutes appeared to be a gift by Walker and company, being they couldn't offer him a big payday at the time. So he ending up taking the starting job from Ruben Patterson, not because he was clearly better, but it had a lot to do with contract politics. In short, the 2000 Lewis was supposedly so much improved over the 1999 Lewis, but the same Lewis in 1999 would have averaged just as much had he gotten the minutes. So where did he really improve?

I thought players like Tracy McGrady and Peja Stojakovic had true breakout seasons where their production on a per minute basis just jumps through the roof, even with addition minutes. In contrast, Lewis's "breakout" season, his production really wasn't increasing, merely staying the same, like an extension of the 1999 year, where Lewis was just "OK'.

Well, well, well. Isn't this a pleasant surprise. Lewis dropped 36 points and 19 rebounds on the Magic in a huge road win last night in Orlando.

Well, well, well. Mason played his 3rd consecutive solid game and was as poised as a veteran to lead the Sonics in double overtime against the 'refuse to die' Magic.

Well, well, well. Radmanovic didn't play in the second half, which prompts me to bring my "Put in Radmanovic Now" sign to New Jersey on Thursday. =)

Lewis, at 6'10", may never be the Batman in the sense of how we think of "batman" today (largely influenced by Michael Jordan). A person, who has to dominate the ball, and can take over a game without any help. But at 6'10", with a deadly jump shot you can absolutely not leave unguarded, and a player who is willing to post up, and drive to the hole, a player who is finishing, and can shoot FTs -- Lewis is entering the company of a very elite group of players. Bigger then guards and faster then forwards, his unique set of skills may carve out its own niche one day.

Now I still think Radmanovic is the next Peja Stojakovic, only more athletic. Once he gets the minutes, and the trust of his teammates, a breakout season is certain. No power forward really seems able to guard him as he has the first step of a guard and gets to the rim fairly easily initiating contact. He doesn't get the calls from the refs right now, but when he does, he'll be a handful. As for finishing, against Utah, Radmanovic just blew by Donyell Marshall and delivered a right-handed dunk in the face of the Mailman.

If Radmanovic were a trash talker he'd say, "Deliver THAT, From Yugoslavia, with love you flopping son of a ...."

Am I certain Radmanovic is going to be a gem? You bet your marbles. But for now, with the emergence of Lewis, I realize that coronation has been postponed.

But I'll tell you one thing, the frontcourt of Radmanovic and Lewis, as it applies to a zone, I think will be the sickest frontcourt the NBA has seen since Bird and McHale.

Back to the Far Corner Archive

All opinions expressed in this column are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of other columnists or staff of Sonicscentral.com