ducks
07-22-2007, 12:06 AM
ASK THE NBA EXPERT
By Sam Smith
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 9:50 p.m. CT July 14, 2007
The biggest story of the nascent 2007 free agent summer season was the Seattle SuperSonics’ response to the Emerald City:
I think Alex Rodriguez' wife was wearing it on the back of her shirt at a Yankees' game earlier this week.
If this is the Spurs’ way, as new general manager Sam Presti has been saying about his plans to change the SuperSonics, the only resemblance is to the 1996-97 season when David Robinson and Sean Elliott were hurt most of the season, the team won 20 games and lucked into Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft.
Whereupon the Spurs were able to begin a dynasty and lately begin exporting proselytizers to advocate the so called Spurs’ way.
Actually, Presti had been following it in lucking into Kevin Durant in the lottery when the SuperSonics of 2006-07 were merely a team with bad luck — and bad coaching as Bob Hill was the common denominator in both situations, being fired by the Spurs during the 1996-97 season — as Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis missed a combined 49 games with injury and center Robert Swift all season.
It wasn't a bad team; it was an unlucky and injured team.
Adding Durant to Allen and Lewis with a coach who would take advantage of their open court talents would have made them a 50-win team and division-title contender.
Presti has turned them back into a 20-25 win team by trading Allen to the Boston Celtics for the rights to Jeff Green and letting Lewis go in free agency to the Orlando Magic.
It's a franchise’s nuclear meltdown, which can only send one message to the people of Seattle: OK, you wouldn't build us an arena. Fine, we're blowing this thing up so when we move we're going to have a young attractive core of talent to sell to our new community.
And the SuperSonics may just have that kind of team in a few years.
I can't wait to see Durant. He may be the most intriguing player to watch next season, at least to see how well he can play right away.
And he'll be with a team that probably will have the best chance to get the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, because I don't see a roster worse than Seattle's.
They don't know what to do about point guard with Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson. Ridnour is an open court player with what seems like will be a half-court coach in P.J. Carlesimo. They have no real shooting guard, power forward Chris Wilcox is erratic at best and forward Nick Collison has been playing center. Perhaps Sacramento’s roster has less athleticism, but the Kings could win more games depending on what they do with Ron Artest.
This arrogant notion of being the Spurs without Robinson or Duncan is laughable. That's like saying you'll be the Bulls, just without Michael Jordan, or the Celtics without Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.
I love the Spurs and watch them whenever I can. Cleveland did get to the Finals trying to be like the Spurs, but was there ever a more boring team to watch? And that was with LeBron James. If they ever get back to the Finals, I'll be shocked. The Spurs are the sum of their talent, like all great teams, not the sum of their system.
Sure, Durant looks like he'll be terrific, but wait a few years.
In the long run, assuming they ditch the defensive, half court philosophy, it could pay off big time.
It's what I thought the New Jersey Nets would do: Trade Jason Kidd and Vince Carter and start rebuilding as a lame-duck franchise for their move to Brooklyn in a few years. Why show up just starting a rebuilding or with aging veterans going nowhere in the standings? You can see by Charlotte and New Orleans near the bottom in attendance, getting a franchise doesn't mean what it once did unless it's successful.
Soccer spills, shortstop sprawls, foiled fencers and more in this week's edition
The Sonics weren't a team that deserved the No. 2 pick in the draft. They lost nine of their last 10 and got lucky in the lottery. Back healthy, they figured to be a strong playoff contender again for 2007-08 with a chance to be an exciting team if they played fast with the addition of Durant, who wouldn't have the pressure with Allen and Lewis there.
It was amusing to hear the TV "experts" on draft night talk about Seattle being a winner when they basically just fell into Durant. The measure of the team is what they do with him, and to let Lewis go for nothing and Allen for a raw rookie shows, yes, Durant is the future, but it's a long way off.
Durant is the show now and to come and watch the Sonics suggests it's just for individual thrills. Lewis' departure with nothing back in return seems like it was just to save money and offer a stripped down product, which is the way the Clippers always made money.
You can make more by not trying to win.
And then with a couple of trips high up in the lottery, you can get lucky again and fall into another potentially great player.
So, no, don't count the Sonics out forever. Just for the next year or two as they begin packing and send the message to the Seattle market and the NBA that they are finished as serious competitors for this decade.
By Sam Smith
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 9:50 p.m. CT July 14, 2007
The biggest story of the nascent 2007 free agent summer season was the Seattle SuperSonics’ response to the Emerald City:
I think Alex Rodriguez' wife was wearing it on the back of her shirt at a Yankees' game earlier this week.
If this is the Spurs’ way, as new general manager Sam Presti has been saying about his plans to change the SuperSonics, the only resemblance is to the 1996-97 season when David Robinson and Sean Elliott were hurt most of the season, the team won 20 games and lucked into Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft.
Whereupon the Spurs were able to begin a dynasty and lately begin exporting proselytizers to advocate the so called Spurs’ way.
Actually, Presti had been following it in lucking into Kevin Durant in the lottery when the SuperSonics of 2006-07 were merely a team with bad luck — and bad coaching as Bob Hill was the common denominator in both situations, being fired by the Spurs during the 1996-97 season — as Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis missed a combined 49 games with injury and center Robert Swift all season.
It wasn't a bad team; it was an unlucky and injured team.
Adding Durant to Allen and Lewis with a coach who would take advantage of their open court talents would have made them a 50-win team and division-title contender.
Presti has turned them back into a 20-25 win team by trading Allen to the Boston Celtics for the rights to Jeff Green and letting Lewis go in free agency to the Orlando Magic.
It's a franchise’s nuclear meltdown, which can only send one message to the people of Seattle: OK, you wouldn't build us an arena. Fine, we're blowing this thing up so when we move we're going to have a young attractive core of talent to sell to our new community.
And the SuperSonics may just have that kind of team in a few years.
I can't wait to see Durant. He may be the most intriguing player to watch next season, at least to see how well he can play right away.
And he'll be with a team that probably will have the best chance to get the No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, because I don't see a roster worse than Seattle's.
They don't know what to do about point guard with Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson. Ridnour is an open court player with what seems like will be a half-court coach in P.J. Carlesimo. They have no real shooting guard, power forward Chris Wilcox is erratic at best and forward Nick Collison has been playing center. Perhaps Sacramento’s roster has less athleticism, but the Kings could win more games depending on what they do with Ron Artest.
This arrogant notion of being the Spurs without Robinson or Duncan is laughable. That's like saying you'll be the Bulls, just without Michael Jordan, or the Celtics without Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.
I love the Spurs and watch them whenever I can. Cleveland did get to the Finals trying to be like the Spurs, but was there ever a more boring team to watch? And that was with LeBron James. If they ever get back to the Finals, I'll be shocked. The Spurs are the sum of their talent, like all great teams, not the sum of their system.
Sure, Durant looks like he'll be terrific, but wait a few years.
In the long run, assuming they ditch the defensive, half court philosophy, it could pay off big time.
It's what I thought the New Jersey Nets would do: Trade Jason Kidd and Vince Carter and start rebuilding as a lame-duck franchise for their move to Brooklyn in a few years. Why show up just starting a rebuilding or with aging veterans going nowhere in the standings? You can see by Charlotte and New Orleans near the bottom in attendance, getting a franchise doesn't mean what it once did unless it's successful.
Soccer spills, shortstop sprawls, foiled fencers and more in this week's edition
The Sonics weren't a team that deserved the No. 2 pick in the draft. They lost nine of their last 10 and got lucky in the lottery. Back healthy, they figured to be a strong playoff contender again for 2007-08 with a chance to be an exciting team if they played fast with the addition of Durant, who wouldn't have the pressure with Allen and Lewis there.
It was amusing to hear the TV "experts" on draft night talk about Seattle being a winner when they basically just fell into Durant. The measure of the team is what they do with him, and to let Lewis go for nothing and Allen for a raw rookie shows, yes, Durant is the future, but it's a long way off.
Durant is the show now and to come and watch the Sonics suggests it's just for individual thrills. Lewis' departure with nothing back in return seems like it was just to save money and offer a stripped down product, which is the way the Clippers always made money.
You can make more by not trying to win.
And then with a couple of trips high up in the lottery, you can get lucky again and fall into another potentially great player.
So, no, don't count the Sonics out forever. Just for the next year or two as they begin packing and send the message to the Seattle market and the NBA that they are finished as serious competitors for this decade.