The Game that was and Week that will be.

Flip Murray and Vitali Potapnko were activated before the last game against Boston. Neither players played but both could have helped. The Sonics went the last 3 minutes of that game without scoring. The Sonics went with a small line up and it didn't work. It played into what little roster strength the Celtics have. Had the scoring been on for the Sonics they might have overpowered the Celtics but the scoring had been lacking for the entire game. I'm not sure why anybody would have expected it to show up with 3 minutes to go in the contest. Next time the scoring is cold I wonder if Coach McMillan will try something else. Maybe go big? Potapenko was activated. Could the Celtics have matched up against a big front court? We'll never know, but placing more cold shooters on the floor at the end of the game didn't produce the desired results.
Games coming up in the next week.
Lakers on 12/14/04
Suns on 12/17/04
Nuggets on 12/22/04
Of those three, the Suns game will be the biggest test. The Lakers and Nuggets will be tough but neither of those teams are posting the best record in the NBA right now. Luckily, all three are home games for the Sonics and should provide the team a chance to prepare more, travel less and none of these are back to back games.
They could win all three. I'll guess that they beat LA, lose to the Suns and the Nuggets game is a toss up right now.
As for the game tonight...
Jerry Buss said in one of the LA papers that he would like to go through one more run before he sells the Lakers. Mr. Buss plays poker and I'll expect that he will only fold only so many hands before he pushes himself away from the table. The window for Kobe in LA is shorter than Kobe's career. I give that about 3 years before the return on his investment diminishes and selling becomes the better business move.
Kobe comes to town tonight. The Lakers will be there too. You pretty much have to be a Sonics, Lakers or Court TV fan to have an interest in the game. The chirping of Kobe about Ray Allen's comments of six weeks ago is hardly worth the static on the page. Kobe's child-like stupidity is nothing new. He reacts to things like he's in junior high school.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/203651_sonx14.html

In the court of public opinion, the one involving money, the line for the game is Sonics by 6. When was the last time the Lakers were dogs to the Sonics?
The total points for the game, under/over is reported at 200 points. That is 103 to 97 in favor of the Sonics. I don't condone wagering but I think it is a good barometer. The points makers want a 50/50 split on wagering, it isn't the actual predictor of the outcome of the game. There are likely people out there that still think the Sonics will fall, there are people out there with Kobe shirts throwing money around with blind trust and still the 50/50 mark for wagering is Sonics by 6.

For you trade watchers out there keep in mind that this week players that were traded for last summer can be included in trades in the aggregate (what), and rookies and other free agents can be traded if they signed 3 months ago. The Supersonics Ibo Kutluay signed late in the Summer and can't be included in any deals until next week, 12/23/04.
Also, as always, the Sonics don't leak rumors so you will likely hear reports from other teams and the one side of a conversation that they might have had and nothing more. Once the Sonics start commenting on one rumor they have to comment on all of them or else reporters will read something into silence once it has been broken.
Also remember that the Sonics coaches and GM are in contract years as well as 8 of the players.
Ray Allen Seattle Unrestricted Free Agent
Mateen Cleaves Seattle Unrestricted Free Agent
Reggie Evans Seattle Restricted Free Agent
Jerome James Seattle Unrestricted Free Agent
Ronald Murray Seattle Restricted Free Agent
Vitaly Potapenko Seattle Unrestricted Free Agent
Vladimir Radmanovic Seattle Restricted Free Agent
Damien Wilkins Seattle Restricted Free Agent

http://www2.realgm.com/src_freeagents.php
The GM and coaches are not going to sacrifice this year, a contract year, in order to marginally improve the team for next year when they might not be here.
Go Sonics!
http://www.nba.com/sonics/