Details: When: Sunday, May 1st. Where: Arco Arena, Sacramento Time (Seattle): 7:30 P.M. TV: TNT, FSN Projected Starters: <font color="green">Seattle (2-1) </font> Luke Ridnour Ray Allen Rashard Lewis Reggie Evans Jerome James <font color="navy">Sacramento (1-2)</font> Mike Bibby Cuttino Mobley Peja Stojakovic Kenny Thomas Brad Miller Injury Troubles: <font color="green">Seattle</font> None. <font color="navy">Sacramento </font> None. Brief Notes: <ul> [*]The Sonics fell victim to the Kings at home in ARCO on Friday in a game where Mike Bibby finally stepped up for Sacramento. Bibby and the Kings were stroking from all over the court and draining their shots frequently while the Supes played with below average defense and let the game slip away. Defensive adjustments must be made by Coach Nate McMillan in this Game 4. [/list] <ul> [*]The officiating display in Game 3 was bordering on dreadful in my opinion and I expect the same in this game. As long as the Kings have the home court advantage and Rick Adelman is complaining, there will be an advantage toward the home team. Of course, this is only an opinion so don't get pissed at me. [/list] * Useful playoff stat of the day: Luke Ridnour is averaging 1.33 blocks per game. That is the second highest block per game total behind only Jerome James. Quotable: "I think Mike Bibby was very focused and determined tonight to push his team to a victory, moreso than our leaders were. I've been waiting for (Bibby) to show up. He came out tonight and announced his presence with authority." - Jerome James Random Family Guy Quote [watching Cricket on British TV] Peter: What the hell is he talking about? Englishman: Oh, it's Cricket. Marvelous game, really. You see, the bowler hurls the ball toward the batter who tries to play away a fine leg. He endeavors to score by dashing between the creases, provided the wicket keeper hasn't whipped his bails off, of course. Peter: Anybody get that? Cleveland: The only British idiom I know is that "***" means "cigarette." Peter: Well, someone tell this "cigarette" to shut up. All predictions, analysis and discussion relating directly to the game, both before, during and after, to be posted in this thread.
The biggest win of the season, by far. Coming off a poor performance in game three, and thoroughly outplayed all first half, and we come out after being down double digits at half time, and get up for the W in front of the ARCO home crowd. We should close this out at home now, they will be devastated, and Ray Allen is God. Give him the max!
I get to watch the tape now, didn't watch the game live. I had a feeling Sac just didn't have the kind of defenders to bother Ray. Looking at the box score I'm still worried about Rashard's shot, looks like he got to the line, though. And he looks happy in the post game locker room interview. Big Game James has another great game, I'm wondering if it's just the playoffs, the matchups or whatever but besides his 17pts, the 8 boards and 4 blocks really stand out. Being up 3-1 going home is always kind of funny, it's almost a must win game since you don't want to go back to Sac and possible be one road loss away from a game 7 with their experience. But enough negativity, great win for the Supes. As Pnwd3! mentioned, 34 for the 2nd half on the road is awesome.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Roland Hood:</div><div class="quote_post">I get to watch the tape now, didn't watch the game live.</div> I would just start the tape from halftime if I were you.
Absolutely awesome game. Rayt Allen with his best professional performance. They just couldnt handle him but realistically in the last quarter no1 short of Jesus Christ could stop him (and thats only because he can foul and the refs wouldnt call) cuz ray allen wasnt missing. Alot of props to Jerome James and also to Nick Collision (3 charges in the final quarter)...and whatever Rick "the whiner" Adelman says they were all good position by Nick. Lewis though...just isnt getting it done...ah well hopefully we can finish it in 5 and then Rashard just has to worry about Bruce Bowen
Im really curious to see how Jerome James does against another team.Is he strictly a King killer or is his transformation the real deal?Damn that Jerome James.
Great, great game. Our defensive effort in the second half was unbelievable. After giving up damn near 70 points in the first half every Sonic that played buckled down and guarded in the second half. Ray was unbelievable tonight. He not only did it with his scoring but he has some great assists to James and played inspired defensive ball. He seem to make all the right decisions on the court at both ends, getting countless steals and quarterbacking our offense. If he plays like that we are virtually unbeatable. That was as cohesive we've looked all season. We made an emphasis to get Sweet Lew going and he responded with a good effort. Glad to see him take it to the basket and get to the line. Big Game James had his best game of the series simply b/c he gave a maximum effort on both ends. He set great screens to free Allen and he made smart decisions in the post. Only Vlad and Reggie looked out of sync tonight. I'm glad to see Nate give Antonio the minutes down the stretch of this game b/c I'm convinced that his experience is needed more than Luke's energy. Luke will have his opportunity down the road, but in nip and tuck action I'd prefer AD running the show over Luke. We seem to get a boost from Danny even though the refs took him out of the game as well. I'm glad to see him keep his composure and continue to be physical. We seem to rally around that. Three games to get one. We need to close this game out on Tuesday b/c our guys still have nagging injuries that they need to rest. It is very hard to close out a team and we are going to need a similar defensive effort in order to it. I'm very proud of the effort tonight and I'm especially happy that Nate actually made the adjustments necessary to win this game (showing harder and switching pick and rolls and incorporating Lewis in screening the ball on Allen--along with playing Nick over Vlad late in the game). We aren't ready to go home anytime soon, fam.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GiantMidget:</div><div class="quote_post">Im really curious to see how Jerome James does against another team.Is he strictly a King killer or is his transformation the real deal?Damn that Jerome James.</div> That is the 48 million dollar question I will say that it has to be satisfying for him considering some of the remarks the Kings have made about him Miller: 'If he averages that we'll lose the series' Mobley: 'He plays like that again, so be it. I seriously doubt it.' Both after game 2. Adelman: 'Go find another line of work' after he cut him To be completely honest, I, like Miller and Mobley, had no idea JJ could bring this kind of effort and consistency to the court.
Ray had 45? Oh wow. Jerome had another game? (...) game1: 17 pts (7-20 FG) 15 rebs 5 blocks game2: 19 pts (9-11 FG) 9 rebs 1 block game3: 22 pts (9-14 FG) 9 rebs 1 block game4: 17 pts (7-11 FG) 8 rebs 4 blocks who is this guy and what did he do to jerome? t.t
I wouldn't say it was a great game, but it was a good win. I never like depending on one player to come away with the victory.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't say it was a great game, but it was a good win. I never like depending on one player to come away with the victory.</div> Well, as much as you'd like everyone on the roster to contribute on every night, everynow and then you've got to divert to your superstar. Ray has a reputation as an superstar for a reason, and there probably isn't another player in the league who can hit the shots he hits consistently when he's hot. Rashard didn't shoot well, but he still got to the line. AD hit a huge banked trey, and a steadying jumper when the Kings pulled back to within five, Nick took three charges in the final period, Jerome did his thang and everyone's defense was first class in the second half. There's no shame in diverting to a player like Ray Allen when he's in that sort of a mood.
OK I just finished the game. Besides Ray Allen obviously on offense - my favorite was that pullup drifting to his left with Corliss on him that barely rippled the twine - Sonics played lock down defense in the 2nd half, reminded me of the team defense they were playing back in Nov-Dec. Lots of funneling to the help, lots of rotation, lots of communicating. Kings didn't help with some reallly horrible shot selection, Bibby flung up a 3 with 20 seconds on the shot clock (maybe he got confused), Peja had some bad attempts and overall just look they got really frustrated and impatient with our defense. I think that's what people say when they call the King's soft, once you push em around and take away their stuff they just started flinging up 25 footers - quickest way to lead to finger pointing too, I might add.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't say it was a great game, but it was a good win. I never like depending on one player to come away with the victory.</div> I didn't see it as a one player game. JJ played solid defense and got 17 points by going 7 for 11. It took him 20 shots to get 17 in game 1. It took every player on the court in the second half to hold the Kings to 34 points. I know they made some bad plays, but that was a result of being demoralized by an unstoppable player and Nick Collison forcing the refs to call charges by getting position and taking the hit. Reggie does flop, he is a drama "king", and I love him for it, Danny does too at times, but Nick really took hits last night and forced the calls. As for Ray's offensive dominance, I'm sorry, but when someone starts shooting and driving and scoring like that, you just set him up and let him go. Feed the hot hand, man. The important thing was that everyone did just that. They set screens, they looked for him, and they stayed in their offense. On the other end they scrapped on defense to make his performance mean something at the end. The key, however, is not to DEPEND on that kind of game from anyone. Run your offense, take what they give you, work the matchups and play defense like they were taking opponent points out of your paycheck. When a matchup is working, or someone gets hot, use it. If that doesn't happen, then just keep working. Teams that fail are the ones that stand around and wait for the star to do something, like last year's Sonics, or GP's last half of a year. This Sonics team has not done that all year long, and it shows in their record.
Couple other thoughts on the game. Vlade looks like he has his stroke already, and he was moving pretty well on defense. But he made some boneheaded plays like that inbounds to no one at the end of the 1st quarter and that bounce pass to BGJ that went off his shin. I would love to close out on Tuesday and get some rest for some of our guys, especially Rashard. Plus I don't need the drama of a game 6 in Sac, no thanks.
