Talk about it here. Antonio Daniels out again. Big game against division rival. One more win and we clinch. Had a better preview but the website decided to have a bunch of errors.
just use mine... sorry if it sounds too biased... <div align="center"> in the West, overtaking the Sonics as the Northwest Division champs. But it is not without the turns of these following events: - Seattle loses all of its remaining 7 games (including this one), <u>combined</u> with Denver winning all of its remaining 7 games OR winning all but one of its 7 games (the lone loss must not be from this game) (OR) - Seattle loses all but 1 of its 7 games, <u>combined</u> with Denver winning all of its 7 games. Winning this one will be a good start for them. <font size="5">purpleb0n9's <font color="RoyalBlue">Predict</font><font color="Gold">ion</font>:</font> Missing key players Rashard and Vlad, the Sonics will provide little resistance and struggle all night long. The Nuggets won't play their starters that many minutes, especially if the bench guys play well defensively in the second half, which is what coach Karl always wants to see. Earl will rebound from his nightmarish 4-of-30 shooting in the past three games to lead them in scoring once again. Final score: SEA 93 DEN 110.</div>
If we win 1 more game we clinch purple. But I dont think we got a shot in hell at winning this game...ive decided this after watching 1 quarter but it just looks sad.....please shard get better lol.
Denver will win by more than 17, it scares me to think how bad this loss is going to be. We just don't have the form or the cattle to compete with the Nuggets in Denver right now. We have just given up 41 in the opening stanza. No Fortson either gives us only eight healthy players, and that includes Mateen Cleaves.
It's already bad, I see a team that's given up. Starting in a zone is a bad idea - it already tells the team 'We can't matchup' The defense is non-existent, they're shooting 80% or so.
We lost..but overall they picked it up after the 1st quarter and really I think the refs were a MAJOR set back..I dont think we would have won had the officiating been even but it defiently didnt help. It was nice to see Flip starting to hit some shots (although he took a lot)...but then again who else was with Allen picking up 5 fouls. Still got alot of games left to get that division.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Coolguy777:</div><div class="quote_post">We lost..but overall they picked it up after the 1st quarter and really I think the refs were a MAJOR set back..I dont think we would have won had the officiating been even but it defiently didnt help. It was nice to see Flip starting to hit some shots (although he took a lot)...but then again who else was with Allen picking up 5 fouls. Still got alot of games left to get that division.</div> Exactly what I was going to post. I think they played hard to stay in the game after the 1st quarter, I was proud of the team for that. Flip pulled his head out of his ass and Ray started leading the team. Props to them. Totally agree about the refs, and I hardly ever complain about the officiating in the NBA, but Jack Meese and his lacky's made some BS calls, especially that push off offensive foul on Ray and subsequent T (which he deserved)
I'm very disappointed that Danny Fortson didn't play. Everyone is banged up right now and I don't think that a shoulder sprain should keep you from making the road trip. Even if he was ineffective in limited minutes I wouldn't have been upset. Just being out there says that he is willing to play hurt for the sake of the team. Instead he decided he would follow the trend of sitting out in preparation for the playoffs. We need available bodies right now. I don't understand why we are so bad defensively right now. It doesn't matter if we had a full deck or not, we will not win any games giving up 120+ points. If depth is a problem we should look to play more zone, but giving up as many points as we have in the past three games is inexcusable. I'm glad to see the competitive side of Flip again. I don't understand why he was giving such a lackluster effort in the past few games but the Flip that I've watched over the past two years is one to shoulder the offensive burden when necessary. Although he shot a bad percentage (which is something he is becoming synonomous w/), I'm glad that he was willing to be the aggressor offensively. Hopefully those shots will drop in the upcoming games. This is an absolutely horrible way to end a fantastic season. This losing streak is probably going to cost McMillian the Coach of the Year award. I think that his pessimistic attitude is really starting to rub off on his players. There is no way that the Sonics should be looking where the Nuggets are behind them. The Sonics need to win one game, bottom line. No one is going to give them a game. The active players on the roster need to put together a top notch effort defensively and take the game. It's time for Ray and Flip to lead by example and right this ship. Get that punk out of your hearts and let's go, fam.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Coolguy777:</div><div class="quote_post">If we win 1 more game we clinch purple.</div> I don't get it... how can you all clinch by winning one more game? After this game, we still have 6 games left each. Suppose (big suppose) you all go 1-5 the rest of the way and we Nuggets go 6-0, we'll finish at the same record 51-31. And since we won this game, we own the tiebreaker 2-1... so we'll get the 3rd seed. Right.. or am I missing sth? Btw, the Sonics were certainly short handed... no Fortson, he woulda affected our offensive pace with his rebounding. But what they did in the two middle quarters were admirable, in the end though I guess they were kinda de-spirited when a bunch of fouls went against them.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting purpleb0n9:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't get it... how can you all clinch by winning one more game? After this game, we still have 6 games left each. Suppose (big suppose) you all go 1-5 the rest of the way and we Nuggets go 6-0, we'll finish at the same record 51-31. And since we won this game, we own the tiebreaker 2-1... so we'll get the 3rd seed. Right.. or am I missing sth? </div> The teams have played four times. They're each 2 & 2 -- so no advantage to either team head-to-head. The Sonics do however have the tiebreaker advantage because they have a better record within the division.
oh shoot you're right... I actually checked the schedule a couple of times but I just couldn't spot the matchup on Nov. 9. That means you're right, one more win and you all clinch.
Any body else irked about George Karl mugging it up for the camera's in the middle of the game by holding up that baby?
[quote name='Iron Shiek'] I'm glad to see the competitive side of Flip again. I don't understand why he was giving such a lackluster effort in the past few games but the Flip that I've watched over the past two years is one to shoulder the offensive burden when necessary. Although he shot a bad percentage (which is something he is becoming synonomous w/), I'm glad that he was willing to be the aggressor offensively. Hopefully those shots will drop in the upcoming games. QUOTE] Unfortunately he can't seem to have it both ways. He is either aggressive offensively and defensively and get's lost in a one on one game, or his shot falls to pieces. When he started hitting shots the ball almost never left his hands on offense. One play in particular that had me screaming was when Nick set a great screen and rolled to the basket while Flip dribbled and put up a poor shot. When Nick rolled there was NO ONE, not a single white jersey, not a soul under the basket but him. He was as open as can be 5 feet from the hoop and the point guard is still dribbling trying to juke the double team. I was happy in the Laker game that Flip came out fiesty. His first 10 seconds on the floor he stole the ball and led a fast break (no score, but it was a little fire). Flip seems to be struggling with thriving on his own game, his own strengths, and fitting himself into what the team needs. Vlade took a few years to do that as well, with this year being the year he seemed to find it. Nick seems to have learned it by sitting on the sidelines all last year. Danny seemed to have it at the beginning of the year. Right now we need Flip to get it, too. We need that 1 win!!!
I was at this game, it was pathetic. Ray played well, he truly is a superstar. I cringed whenever flip got the ball, he truly wasn't very good. At one point Ray went and whispered something to him after failing to pass to the open man AGAIN and taking a bad shot AGAIN, and he gave him a dirty look. Nate pulled Flip from the game and scolded him right there on the bench. I was not surprised to see him play less minutes in Houston even though he was much more in control in that game. I hope we see more Houston and less Denver out of him from here on out. We need him to play team ball and we need him to play if we are going to make it out of the first round. Ridnour looked tired and unspectacular these last few games, especially in Denver. Nate should rest him before the playoffs. Cleaves can put up the numbers he has been producing.
