Training Camp Underway

The Supes started training camp today. David Locke has a blog going on over on the official site.

http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/locked_oct06.html

Some quotes just to state the obvious:

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Mickael Gelabale?s speed is remarkable. He just explodes on the break. </div>

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Bob Hill is not kidding around with conditioning. The team just went through 4 man and 5 man weaves where the players went up and down the floor six times each. He is driving the big men to run for the dunk. </div>

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Luke Ridnour is playing his butt off defensively. The battle for starting point is obvious in the effort level of Watson and Ridnour.</div>

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Fortson has practiced the entire practice to this point. He is big and his ability to move guys in the post is still obvious. Sene was guarding Fortson on a play and Fortson bodied him out of position, but Sene is so long that despite Fortson moving Sene out of position Sene was able to still block the shot.</div>

Hoho.

 

I have a feeling Fortson is gonna end up body slamming Sene to the ground in the next couple of weeks.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting monty001:</div><div class="quote_post">I have a feeling Fortson is gonna end up body slamming Sene to the ground in the next couple of weeks.</div>

I hope he does, if only for the fact Sene seems the sort of kid who'll just get straight back up.

 

Not when Danny hits him with the Legdrop of Doom.

 

Mo Sene has been fighting lions all his life, but yes...Danny Fortson has his deadly takedowns.

 

At the end of the day there aren't too many people that are going to stand up to Fortson. Mo Sene might get back up, but I guarantee that he will find his ass back on the ground if he is trying to play muscle ball w/ Altoona's finest.

Fortson has a lot to prove this year and he isn't one to go through the motions when he is trying to make a statement.

I would love to be able to watch camp. This is probably the most competitive camp in the league and is eerily similar to the position battles that we had in 2004-2005 when only Ray and Sweet Lew were slated as starters. Personally I hope that we start Luke, Ray, Sweet Lew, Weezy, and Bobby but at the end of the day I think that Bob Hill is going to give the nod to Petro to duplicate the lineup that brought us our incredible 14-11 finish last year. Bob needs to get off of that shit b/c nothing that the team did to finish the year counts once the ball is thrown up on opening day.

I really hope that we can find 30 minutes for Nick Collison b/c he is to valuable to sit behind the likes of Johan Petro. I hope there is a place for Fortson as well.

 

I have a feeling Collison is going to end up being traded or let go after the season so Petro can move to power forward.

 

If that happens than that would be a huge black eye for this management group. If I would have to rank our team from most impactful to least impactful (in terms of helping us win games) I would rank them as followed:

1.) Ray Allen
2.) Rashard Lewis
3.) Earl Watson
4.) Nick Collison
5.) Chris Wilcox
6.) Luke Ridnour
7.) Robert Swift
8.) Damien Wilkins
9.) Johan Petro
10.) Mohaummed Sene
11.) Milt Palacio
12.) Mickael Gelebale
13.) Danny Fortson
14.) Denham Brown (?)
15.) Noel Felix (?)

That isn't a who is the most talented list. That is from a nuts and bolts perspective whose impact is going to enable us to be the most effective team.

 

I might agree if Collison had reached his potential, but he hasn't. He's still inconsistent and passive on offense, and he can't guard athletic forwards in the post. The good thing is that he never relied on athleticism to be effective, so he can keep improving until he's 30 or even older.

 

I agree, Collison is by far the most fundamentally sound big man we have. I think last year he was bothered by the plantar fasciitis. This year he should have no excuse. I think he'll have a solid year, and we need him as long as long as two of the three 7 footers become more consistent.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">We just saw Sene in a capsule. On a well spaced floor, Nick got the ball going to the rim and out of no where Sene blocked the shot. On the other end, Sene got it in the post and shot the worst turnaround jumper airball out of the post.</div>

 

Got some pictures...

Petro's new hair

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/ziddy83/swifty.jpg">


Here
http://www.sportspagemagazine.com/images/N...arelei_000.html

 

Robert Swift is funny on so many levels I can't even laugh. It's too much.

 

Seriously, his tattoos lmao. Looks like someone doodled on him, what a cool guy. This may be the most non-basketball entertaining group we've ever had. You can't go wrong with this many cultures colliding and 3 young 7 footers stumbling around.

 

A frightening sight for any mother.

 

Hahaha he's morphed into Chris Andersen.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Sir Desmond Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Hahaha he's morphed into Chris Andersen.</div>



He looks ridiculous.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a hilarious person to begin with, turn himself into someone twice as funny at this magnitude.

 

Bob Hill and Ray Allen on Swift's hair:

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"I can't really tell them how to wear their hair," Hill said recently. "I don't pay them. If the owner doesn't like it, then we can sit down and talk about it. He told me he was going to get his hair cut before training camp. I'm really more concerned about how he's playing than how he wears his hear, but I really wish he'd put it in a ponytail or something to get it out of his eyes."

"I like it," added Allen. "I think when I see him in film from last season, he looks like a young kid - even though he still looks young."
</div>

http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/notebook061008.html