| Sonics Breakdown: Notes From A Die-Hard Cavaliers Fan Authored by Keith Berzanske - February 11, 2005 - 5:01 pm
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The first thing you notice about the Sonics is that they play really well together and are totally focused on execution, especially at the offensive end. Great coaching job by Nate McMillan, who will garner strong consideration for Coach of the year (along with Mike Fratello, Paul Silas, Mike D'Antoni, and the always overlooked Rick Adelman). To have team morale high when the season started was a huge achievement. After all, the Sonics had not really seemingly made any significant additions, and had lost starter Brent Barry to the Spurs. In addition, Ray Allen was coming up on a contract year, and it was questionable whether he would make it through the entire campaign in a Sonics uniform. The team looked to be mired in mediocrity for years to come (no offense to Robert Swift).
So what's changed?
ABILITY TO PUT THE BALL IN THE HOLE
These are the effective field goal percentages for the Sonics:
Vitaly Potapenko 70.0% (only ten attempts, don't get excited) Danny Fortson 55.0% Rashard Lewis 53.7% Vladimir Radmanovic 53.0% Nick Collison 51.4% Jerome James 51.1% Reggie Evans 50.3% Ray Allen 50.4% Antonio Daniels 49.1% Luke Ridnour 45.5% Ronald Murray 43.2%
Effective field goal percentage gives us a more acurate percentage because it equated shooting 1/3 from 3 point range to shooting 1/2 from 2 point range, which effectively gives us the same number of point per possession (this would be a fun topic of discussion for the Sonics super stats guru Dean Oliver, but I digress).
This is phenomenal as a team. This means you are really moving the ball around and getting the best shot, and then converting. 3 guys averaging over 4 assists per game is also a good indicator that there are willing passers. This was obvious in the game last night. No one cared who scored - the ball just kept moving until someone had a good look. Allen carried the team until everyone else started to come around. But nothing was forced.
Basically there are 4 guys that can hit from anywhere on the court and at least 3 of them are always out there - Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Luke Ridnour. Since all are also fairly unselfish, and since Lewis also has also has post up skills, and since Allen is the best guy in the league at moving without the ball not named Richard Hamilton or Reggie Miller, and since Radmanovic is 6 foot 9, this poses many problems for the defense. Who can they key on?
As a bonus. the Sonics have 4 guys who have no interest in doing anything besides rebounding and setting screens - James, Collison, Forston, and Evans. This is beautiful. Throw in an improved Antonio Daniels (although I don't understand why teams don't make him go left), and some bench scoring in Flip Murray and Vitaly Potapenko - you're really on to something.
The team's biggest asset is Allen, who has to be one of the most underrated All-Stars in league history. It's no coincidence that Milwaukee's rise coincided with his improvement to All-Star status, and the Sonics' resurgence is a result of his leadership and demeanor. Ridour has been steadier than I expected, and while I thought the acquisition of Fortson would be valuable, no one could have foreseen how much his attitude affect the entire team's toughness. I imagine that guys like Collison and Swift benefit from seeing physical play from Fortson in practice.
So how far can the Sonics go?
Right now, the Sonics appear fated for the third seed. This means that likely opponents are either the Rockets, Grizzlies, Lakers, or Timberwolves. The Grizzlies or Lakers would pose few problems for the Sonics - they match up well. The Timberwolves would be a tough opponent, one because of the incomparable Kevin Garnett, and two because in order to get to the 6 seed, the T'Wolves will have to get hot, and thus will be playing well and have a lot of confidence. And this is still a squad that could have easily represented the West in the Finals last year. The Rockets would also be a tough matchup simply because of the superstar power of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. The Sonics don't have anyone to match up with Yao, and McGrady will likely neutralize Rashard Lewis.
That said, if the Sonics do get through the first round, which they very well could given that they have home court advantage, that would mean one of the most entertaining playoff series the NBA has seen in a long time - Seattle vs. Phoenix! And I'd have to say that this matchup is a tossup. Phoenix has some better horses, but Seattle is deeper and not as reliant on one player as the Suns are on Steve Nash.
Of course, I don't think anyone out West can take the Spurs this year, barring an injury to Tim Duncan. But considering where the franchise was just a year ago, and how it's been flirting with mediocrity the past few seasons, the fans have to be excited about the possibilities of a playoff run.
{This article was written by Keith Berzanske, the Cavaliers affiliate, who is still annoyed at the Sonics for buying low and selling high on Shawn Kemp, but nevertheless loves to see team basketball and good guard play. He can be reached at nothingbutnet44@hotmail.com and his pieces can be read at http://cavaliers.realgm.com
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