Where is his playing time going to come from? Ridnour/Brunson/Flip Allen/Wilkins/Flip You would think he could do better.
Do you think it would be like... Luke/Rick Ray/Flip Rashard/Wilkins.... although ray and rashard wont be sitting too much...
I think the ideal rotation would be reducing Ray's minutes to about 30-35 a game and playing Flip every time Ray's not on the court and a little when he is. Brunson should only back up Luke specifically and I doubt Damien will get a lot of playing time unless he completely outperforms Flip in training camp.
Coolguy, Odde24, Semmi, and Cas wishes weren't granted this offseason. The Sonics forum will remain my sounding board for the NBA's biggest conspiracy theory--at least for another year. I was surprised that the market was so limited for our free agents. If someone would have told me that only one free agent would sign an offer sheet this offseason, the last free agent I would believe it would be was Damien Wilkins. What is interesting about this upcoming season is that we will have Vlad, Reggie, Ron, Clinton, and Rick Brunson all eligible for free agency but unlike this offseason none of them will have to worry about the Sonics retaining their rights. Sund is the best basketball mind in the business, but he may have burned his bridges with some instrumental parts of this franchise.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting monty001:</div><div class="quote_post">Do you think it would be like... Luke/Rick Ray/Flip Rashard/Wilkins.... although ray and rashard wont be sitting too much...</div> You still have to find your minutes for Vlad too - I expect he'll see a lot of time with Lew on the floor at the same time, which makes me wonder where Damien is going to find his minutes from, given Vlad would also theoretically be Rashard's replacement at the three when he sits. We all love Damien and are annoyed at the Serb, but the latter is still a more dangerous weapon off the pine.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">Coolguy, Odde24, Semmi, and Cas wishes weren't granted this offseason. The Sonics forum will remain my sounding board for the NBA's biggest conspiracy theory--at least for another year. </div> So it is a good thing for this board, because your posts are always intriguing to read. I think Murray will be a valuable asset when Ray gets injured but If Ray stays healthy (I hop so) then I don't see much playing time for Murray. I'm also very surprised that Murrau didn't receive any offers from other teams. Also I'm concerned that Vlade and Murray are facing another contract year but this time Vlade is angry that he didn't receive the contract he wanted and Murray won't be happy either......so I hope they won't play only for their individual stats.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Semmi:</div><div class="quote_post">So it is a good thing for this board, because your posts are always intriguing to read. </div>
Murray and Vlade look like they want to be the AD and JJ of last year. Those two stepped up their game, AD during the season and then again in the playoffs, and JJ for most of the playoffs. (I'll give him some credit in the Spurs series, did anyone really expect him to put up big numbers with Duncan in the post?) If they want the big contracts, though, they will have to come to play all season long. Neither one of them is 7' tall, so playing hot in 3 games just won't cut it. That could be good for the Sonics if the unity remains (might be harder this year, no one was cranky about their contracts last year other than Ray) and these guys step up their level of play. We know that they can both score. If Vlade rebounds and plays some defense with Flip taking care of the ball and playing aggressive defense...it would be great for the team. I remember the great defense Flip played on Iverson in that one game in Philadelphia two years ago. He asked for the assignment in the fourth quarter after Iverson had been lighting them up all game, and he did a fantastic job keeping the ball out of his hands, forcing him to take bad jumpers. Of course, Iverson being Iverson he still hit a few, but he didn't rack up a 20 pt fourth quarter driving uncontested to the hoop for layups and free throws, and the Sonics won the game. Flip can play D. It would be nice to see that commitment in every game. He does that this year and he will get playing time and nice contract offers next season. Vlade will get offers next year anyway...he is 6'11" and can shoot from anywhere on the court. It is just the size of the contract he needs to impact with his play.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A week after he spurned a six-year, $42 million offer from the Sonics and signed a one-year tender worth $3.2 million, Ronald "Flip" Murray declined a long-term contract from the team and signed a one-year, $875,000 deal yesterday. Murray, a fourth-year guard who arrived in Seattle on Feb. 20, 2003 in a trade with Milwaukee involving Gary Payton and Ray Allen, initially sought a six-year deal starting at $5 million and totaling more than $30 million. The Sonics' best offer, according to sources, was similar to the five-year, $14.5 million deal the team gave reserve forward Damien Wilkins.</div> Seattle Times. Risky move - turning down 10-15 million as an undersized two guard who won't get a whole lot of minutes to become unrestricted. I admire the kid because he obviously wants to go somewhere he can play sooner rather than later, but that's a lot of money to knock back.
Turning down 15 million when AD and Earl Watson are getting 30 million doesn't seem all that risky. Especially considering the type of money guys like Dwayne Wade and Ben Gordon will be getting in two years, I like the move on his part. Why take a deal that will lock you into being Ray Allen backup your entire career? You got to be confident in your abilities and stand on your own two feet in order to get what you deserve in this league.
let the Flip Murray arguments begin once more! With him returning it makes for an interesting training camp. I expect Weiss to give him the opportunity to compete with Brunson and Wilkins for minutes, but I only expect 2 of them to get minutes atleast to start the season and I expect Flip to be the odd man out. Unfortunate for him because hes a solid player im I just dont think he fits well with this team. But this is a new year so things can change. Shiek I was thinking the same thing about the fact we may have burned bridges with Flip, Vlade, and Evans (if he signs a qualifying offer as well). But they gotta play hard for this season for us atleast.
I think Brunson will get his minutes whatever happens in the training camp. He is excactly the type of player we need on the court when our bench players are in the game. I hope Weiss won't consider Murray for PG position because I would like to see our PG position to be played by a true pass-first PG all 48 minutes. Ridnour can do the job well and I think Brunson can play his 15-20 minutes very good basketball. Also I think it would be good to reduce the playing time of Allen and Lewis to 30-35 minutes in a game because I think Wilkins will be terrific bench guy this year and Murray will have good games if he sees that he can get an oportunity to play regular minutes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Semmi:</div><div class="quote_post">I think Brunson will get his minutes whatever happens in the training camp. He is excactly the type of player we need on the court when our bench players are in the game. I hope Weiss won't consider Murray for PG position because I would like to see our PG position to be played by a true pass-first PG all 48 minutes. Ridnour can do the job well and I think Brunson can play his 15-20 minutes very good basketball. Also I think it would be good to reduce the playing time of Allen and Lewis to 30-35 minutes in a game because I think Wilkins will be terrific bench guy this year and Murray will have good games if he sees that he can get an oportunity to play regular minutes.</div> I think its a bad idea to just give minutes to Brunson. Why doesnt Flip deserve the opportunity to compete as a backup pg? Clearly we are losing that explosive guard off the bench when we lost Daniels and Flip is the only one that has a shot at bringing that back some. The idea of suggesting Lewis and Allen down to 30 minutes is NOT even going to be a consideration so even mentioning it is a waste of time...35 minutes...maybe but even that is a push.
I'm glad he's back. I hope Weiss has a role for him and he blossoms into a solid 12 and 3 guy. If he does that he'll get his AD money.
No player who cannot think for others while on the court can't play PG. Murray can't sometimes think for himself.....he is explosive and he can score but hi is not a PG. That is my opinion I'm not considering it to be the truth.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Semmi:</div><div class="quote_post">No player who cannot think for others while on the court can't play PG.</div> I have no idea what you just said....
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Sir Desmond:</div><div class="quote_post">I think he meant to say can, not can't. He has a point, too, even with the wacky english </div> Ok, I'll buy that and drop the sarcasm now that I notice he is an international fan and shall go and hide my face in shame and save my snide remarks for people like myself who just can't spell in any language.
