Who is that guy?

Who is that guy?

Perto Swift is a pretty good center, better than JJ ever was. He, Petro Swift, is a little inconsistent, from one night to the next you are note getting the same thing, you're getting more of the better things and fewer mistakes. Petro Swift is growing right before our very own eyes. Last night Petro Swift played 38 minutes (20+18) 12 points (8+4), 5 rebounds (2+3), 3 blocks (2+1), 4 turn overs (2+2), 9 fouls (3+6).

Sure I'm joking but let's just look at the low end that is Robert Swift (buy low), and not forget his improvement from one game to the next is very impressive. I think coach Hill is right, Robert Swift woke up one morning and the light went on. At this point he's still thinking about what he's doing, but you can see that he knows what he wants to do. He's getting there, in a hurry.

This is Robert Swift's line from last night, he gave 10 or 50 pounds up to Cato, he gave some quickness to Dwight Howard, but he used his reach to his advantage with both, and some better defensive footwork in the paint changed what was an automatic foul to stuffing the ball back down on Howard's head when he got to the baseline for a lay-up. Howard, no lay-up for you! Swift ran him under the glass a little, took a slight step back, planted his feet and reached over Howard to shut off the sky. No foul.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

Robert Swift's line last night.

Robert Swift, 18 minutes, 1-3 FG, 0-0 3pt, 2-4 FT, 3 rebounds, 0 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 2 TO, 6 fouls, points 4

Jerome James' career year last year (same as the prior 3)

16.6 minutes, 2.2-4.3 FG, 0.0-0.0 3pt, 0.6-0.8 FT, 3 rebounds, 0.2 ast, 0.3 stl, 1.4 blk, 1.1 TO, 3.5 fouls, 4.9 points.

One of these guys is 20 years old, the other is 30.

As I've said elsewhere, you could play Swift all of JJ minutes from last year and you wouldn't miss JJ one little bit.

Petro was dynamic at times last night, fluid, I could see him getting PT at the PF spot and Robert at the C. Remember the playoffs last year when Tim Duncan would pity-pat the ball high-over who ever we had in the paint, to Nazr Mohommad for easy points in the paint? I don't know if Perto Swift can stop that but they could emulate it.

Petro had another good game

20 min, 2-4 FG, 0-0 3pt, 4-5 FT, 0 stl, 2 blk, 2 TO, 3 PF, 2 Reb, 0 ast, 8 points

That's better than the JJ average or the line Swift had last night.

Here's the and-1

James will make 5 million dollars this year, Swift will make $1,764,480 this year, Petro will make $936,600 this year. Petro.

You couldn't Trade their contracts even if you swapped Isaiah Thomas for Rick Sund (i.e., lost your mind).

RealGM Trade checker #2813283

And the 20 year olds are improving each game.

 

--
supersonicsfan

Steve Kelley Could Have Warned Us...

instead of kissing Bob Weiss' ass, and waxing poetic about the bad old days.

Steve Kelley, from Sports: Tuesday, July 19, 2005 (archive story, login required)
A longtime NBA figure, Weiss knows how to rebound

...
"By choosing Weiss, the Sonics took the safe, less adventurous path. Losing McMillan, former associate head coach Dwane Casey and former assistant Dean Demopoulos cost the team years of experience and countless man-hours of preparation.
It remains to be seen whether Weiss and his staff can be as well prepared as their predecessors. Weiss, who is an amateur magician, will need all of his magical powers to keep the team in the thick of a Western Conference that will be even more competitive than last season.

The Sonics gave him this last chance because he has been an assistant here for 11 years, and they want to maintain continuity. And because the players, especially re-signed All-Star Ray Allen, championed his promotion."
...

Hmmm, Not really brow beating Wally Walker over hiring Bob Weiss there, is he.
Nope, not like here:
Steve Kelley, from Sports: Wednesday, January 4, 2006
The Sonics' real problem is Wally Walker

...
"All of the questions today should be about Wally Walker.
Why did Walker hire Weiss in the first place? What did he expect?
Did Walker, knowing Weiss' coaching history, really believe Weiss could maintain the surprising momentum established last season by then-coach Nate McMillan?
Did Walker think that Weiss, who never, ever raised his voice in practice in his 11 years as a Sonics assistant, had the clout to make Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis play the kind of grinding defense McMillan pushed them to play last season?
Did Walker think Weiss could motivate phlegmatic forward Vlade Radmanovic?
Was Walker the only man on the planet who truly thought the Sonics could win with Weiss as their coach?
And why wasn't Walker available to answer some of these questions on Tuesday?"

. . .

Hey Steve, now you are sporting some tough questions that maybe you could have asked last July. What the heck, you can still be a buddy to Bob, and still go off about Wally Walker. All good, for Steve.

I'm not going to say if I agree with you now or back then, that's not the point I'm making, it's about you Steve. Did the questions just come to mind this past week, or did you have them back in July. Did you not see this coming in July, or are you being a jerk?
Well, "No one should be surprised that he failed." you said last Wednesday in the same wally bashing story.
So, I guess you are just taking some shots at Wally. Maybe Wally should take some shots, but you didn't have much to say about Bob, or Wally, back in July.

Ron Artest a Sonic?

I suppose that I didn't really thing about it in this way but, if I saw the Sonics as a possible 3rd team to get the parts to the Pacers that they wanted (without giving up Ray or Rashard) so that they could send Artest to a third team then why not just take Artest back? Why would the Sonics need something else from another team, really, Early Watson or Ron Artest? Hmmm, I'll go with Artest. Maybe George Karl found that Watson was useful while he was showcasing him to other teams? Whatever the case, I'm not terribly surprised that the Sonics have been directly linked to the Pacers and Ron Artest, see the Tacoma News Tribune story today),
"Pacers executives Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird have been narrowing their potential trade partners to a handful of teams in the Western Conference – including, apparently, the Seattle SuperSonics. "

What would the Pacers want from the Sonics that the Sonics would be willing to give? It would have to be enough salary in order to get within 75% of the 6.5 million coming back from the Pacer. Danny Fortson straight up would work salary wise, but not in the real world.
Vitali Potapenko has requested a trade and he makes 3 million this year.
Pacers, or another team could use either Damien Wilkins (unlikely, he has a trade restriction since the Sonics match the Twolves offer last summer), Reggie Evans. As it is now, the Pacers are over the luxury tax line at 79 million, so sending out more money than they take in would give them double the return in dollars.

The Sonics and Pacers could get creative an move a lot of salary off the Pacers books, more Artest, get a pick, and get a player or two that can actually help them right now. Sending Reggie Evans, a #1, and filler might sound like a raw deal, but remember, it isn't a Sonics player that publicly demanded to be traded and can't go back to his team. Right now the Pacers have nothing but an unresolved issue and are paying 6 million dollars for that treasure.

Rick Sund can say that he wants to sit on this team and give Bob Hill a chance to figure out his rotations, but the fact is that Bob has already figured out that Reggie isn't his starter, and Vitali isn't likely to play again.

Sonics Win, Petro and Swift Play.

A couple of things of note: I was hoping that Swift and Petro would play a total of about 40 minutes, that they would play until they had 5 fouls each, and that this would be the norm. I wasn't hoping that Bob Weiss would get canned, but, if that's what it took to get the centers on the team to play at the center spots in actual NBA games, then so be it. This isn't about Bob, Bob, or even the rest of the players on the team, it's about playing shot blockers, it was about the gaurds directing players to those shot blockers, it was about other players rotating over to shut off the paint and cover the man the help defender was leaving to block shots.
Petro and Swift played 39 minutes, 5 fouls each, 8 points, 9 rebounds, just one block.
Here's the Popcornmachine game flow from last night. I don't see how that is any worse than playing Potapenko, or any other player at center other than Swift and Petro. What was important was that the two twenty year-young kids played. Potapenko isn't going to be better in 29 more games, Petro and Swifty might.
Check the ESPN shot chart, click on the 1st quarter, see one (1) shot made in the paint, really, check any quarter. Maybe they didn't have but 1 block between them, but they kept players out of the paint.
Now look at the ESPN shot chart from Monday's games against Indy (no JO in that game, mind you). Notice anything?

I know Petro and Swift will be overmatched on many nights, but it is unlikely that the team will be giving up as many points in the piant.

Let's see what happens in Detroit on Friday.

Who is Bob Hill (other than the new Sonics coach)?

Bob Hill
Overall: 257 - 212
Playoffs: 17 - 20


Year Team Season Playoffs
1986 NYK 20 - 46 0 - 0
1990 IND 32 - 25 2 - 3
1991 IND 40 - 42 0 - 3
1992 IND 41 - 41 1 - 3
1994 SAS 62 - 20 9 - 6
1995 SAS 59 - 23 5 - 5
1996 SAS 3 - 15 0 - 0

(© 2002-2005 databaseSports.com)

Sonics Fired Bob Weiss Today, made Hill head coach, Frank Hughes breaks this story.
“Bob Weiss has been a solid part of the Sonics coaching staff for many years,” said Sund in a team press release. “He and I agreed that a change needed to be made to serve as a catalyst for elevating the performance of our team, and the timing is right for us today. He is a good man with an outstanding basketball mind and we look forward to his continued association with the organization.”

“I’m pleased with this opportunity to help this team,” said Hill in the release. “This Sonics squad has the talent and Coach Weiss had them setting their goals high. It’s my responsibility now to help them reach those goals.”

The team is holding practice at 11 a.m. Pacific time today at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

Good Luck Bob, and Bob!

Into the Abyss

If Van Gundy, or Silas could block shots I would be first in line for them.
If Earl Watson could block shots, I would be first in line for him.
If Damien Wilkins was 7 feet tall I would be first in line for him.

Talk in the paper today about maybe sending Swift to the NDBL is about 2 months late for this season, and what is illin' the Sonics.
Point is, if you can't contain the wing players drive into the paint then you have to plan to block, disrupt that eventuality. I was hopeful that over the summer the sunny stories of Swift working out with Jack Sikma would produce a player that could play the 15 minutes, 6 fouls, 5 points, 4 rebounds that was the now suspended New York Knick Jerome James.
Petro should start every game and get 5 fouls before he's pulled. Swift should join him in February for 5 more fouls. They both should be putting people on their butts.The Pacer game was horrible, Flip was bad, but not having a center to be the last line of defense to block shots is up to the coach.

--
supersonicsfan

Artest Unknown

As teams position themselves to be the team to get Ron Artest in trade other players are in holding patterns, waiting to land. According to Steve "bskball" kyler at Hoopsworld
"There are three teams in the running for Ron Artest – The Timberwolves..., The Nuggets still have a hat in this dance, but need Atlanta or Seattle to step in and help trigger a deal..., The Warriors remain in the hunt..."

Read Steve's piece for the dirty details (the constant page updates, and fingering of my computer, at hoopsworld are a drag, and why I don't go there very often). The secondary players rumored to be of interest to other teams include Earl Watson, and the team calling, the Sonics. This rumor is according to Frank "the tank" Hughes.

Here are a few of the possibilities:

A) Denver is hoping to get players the Pacers want from the Sonics roster (or a pick and players they don't want).

B) The Timberwolves trade with the Pacers, Denver doesn't get a deal done with the Pacers and makes a minor deal with the Sonics for Murray and a big body.

C) The Warriors lose their minds and take Austin "Cromag" Croshere in a deal that lands them Artest. Denver doesn't get a deal done with the Pacers and makes a minor deal with the Sonics for Murray and a big body.

D) A or B, are waiting for Reggie Evans to have 90 days pass since he signed his contract with the Sonics to involve him in a deal.

I think that at this point there is a 63% chance Earl Watson gets to Seattle before the Sonics return from the current 9 day, 5 game road trip. The rising stock of Damien Wilkins at the point guard spot may temper the Sonics burning
desire for Watson, not enough to stop a deal, but maybe enough to keep from over paying for him. I think a deal still happens.

Ridnour, Allen, Watson, a solid back court, and Wilkins backs up 3 spots.

--
supersonicsfan

NBA All Access, with Frank Hughes. (Damien Wilkins, Explained)

Yesterday, at about 3:45pm, while driving to the store to get a loaf of bread, I turned on KJR-am radio here in Seattle to hear Frank Hughes hosting his infrequent (not even on the schedule), NBA All Access show. For somebody like me that has a Basketball Jones the show was interesting, and entertaining. Good show Frank, It took me an hour to get a loaf of bread.

Frank is pretty easy going on the radio, has his own opinions, and doesn't sound like he's struggling to fill airtime. His reporting skills allow him to present a topic with all of the meaningful components required to not just impart information, but to actually tell a story. He's not a radio guy, and doesn't have the newscaster broadcast voice. He asks his engineer if he's getting close to commercial break when there is a natural break in what he's saying. But you know what, that doesn't matter, he knows what he's saying, it works. I likely wouldn't be giving Frank the props if I thought more highly of his journalism, though I enjoy his reporting quite a bit (journalism and reporting are two different things, and I meant exactly as it reads).

One story Frank told was about Gerald Wilkins thanking Ray Allen a couple months ago for taking Damien under his wing to show him the NBA ropes, and Allen thanking Gerald for raising a son that is a good person, and that is willing to listen to advice.
Frank characterized Damien as Ray's disciple. This is all good to hear when considering that the Sonics matched a 5 year offer tendered by the Timberwolves last summer.
Damien told to Frank after the Nuggets game that he was so intent on passing the ball to Ray Allen, and Rashard Lewis, that he didn't even see the defenders when throwing his first few passes and ended up passing the ball right to the other team. he settled down after that and just ran the plays.
Frank noted that Bob weiss likes length and defense, and that Damien may see more time in the point guard spot.
Good story Frank, good information, you had to be there to have that kind of thing to bring to the radio.

I'll speculate here, without much effort: I'll guess that the start three games ago by Ronald Murray was less productive than anybody had hoped for. I'll guess that Wilkins finishing that game did lead into his starting against Denver. I'll also guess that Ray Allen had something to do wth that as well.
Much like last year when Rashard was hurt, this year when Luke was hurt the Sonics found that Wilkins could step in and play and be productive. Damien's dribbling could be better, and he would likely need help getting out of back court against better point guards, but the rest of the things he was able to do made the team better. But, let's be real, his turn overs are greater than his assists. He will be able to fill the backup role to Luke Ridnour. Luke is 6th in the league in assist to turnover ratio (hey, where's Antoio Daniels on that list, had he qualified he would be 15th).

Let's recap, Flip Murray went from backup to Luke Ridnour, to backup to the backup behind Brunson, to backup to the backup's backup behind Wilkins three days ago. Flip isn't going to "get it" and suddenly become the player the team needs for THAT role. Flip is a fine player, he's just not a good fit for this team.

By the way, Flip isn't the only one playing for his next contract, with the score of last nights game 66 to 68 Reggie Evans decided that was the time for him to drive to the rim, too bad it resulted in a turnover. He's turning into Ruben Patterson (that's not a goood thing). There are much better offensive players on the team, and on the floor at that time with him, and he chose to force a ham handed drive into three defenders. Dear Bob Weiss, make it stop. It's fine to give him a few post-ups 5 feet from the hoop, but he shouldn't be even looking at the hoop when he's beyond the freethrow line (where he struggles in an empty gym).
See the game flow here Reggie was a -5 on the day. His +/- is -2.9.

Reggie can be traded after January 4th, I would be ok with that. I think that the closer we get to the end of this contract we will see Reggie working harder and harder for Reggie.