Just thought this milestone deserved a thread in it's honour. It's been an up and down season. There's been the good, which has been well documented, the bad, such as various injuries and Ray's constant media whoring, and the ugly, such as Danny's antics from time to time. But, for all that has happened, and the patchy form we've shown lately, 50 wins is still a fantastic achievement. Winning 50+ games in a season is winning around two of every three games played, and when you think of it like that it's an indication of just how consistant this team has been. We just finds ways to win. Apart from a narrow Washington loss and a Spurs blowout, we've still won something like eight of the past 10, and we haven't played consistently well through that stretch. Well done to Rashard, for taking his game to the next level. Well done to Ray - for all his mouthing off, he's still delivered a helluva lot. Well done to Reggie - just for doing his job night in and night out. Well done to Danny and Nick - Danny was superb for the first 30 games, Nick is quietly putting together a very solid rookie campaign. Well done to Jerome - he has been so patchy, but his best has been surprisingly good. Well done to guys like Damien, Flip and Pot, who have been buried away, but have still stepped up when called upon. Well done to Luke - his season has been up and down, but he is establishing himself as a very promising player, and an NBA level starting point guard. Well done to Mateen and Casanova - both have been tremendous on the sidelines. Well done to Nate, Dwane and the management - everyone has played their part. Just wanted a proper recognition of just how good this season has been, even if it has been a bumpy ride. 50 games is not to be sniffed at, fam.
This has got to be the best year of basketball I've experienced in awhile. It has been a pleasure to watch the 04-05 Sonics regardless of how well they do in the playoffs and whatnot. Watching this talented group of men lace up their sneakers and go out and play winning basketball 50 times this season has been great. I've been a fan of Rashard Lewis since he came into the league and this was the culmination of talent, potential, and coaching that I've been waiting for. Shard has stepped up and in my eyes become the true leader of this team. He creates a mismatch for anybody guarding him. He has the size to manhandle smaller forwards and the outside game to tame bigger forwards. His game is becoming more and more well-rounded and his All-Star selection was a thing of beauty. Well-rounded is a good word to use to describe the Sonics as a whole as well. I was so tired of people labeling Seattle as a team that only wins because they hit alot of threes and shoot well. Maybe it was the Danny Fortson addition, or the expiring contracts, but our bigs have played exceptionally well and everyone has seemed to add new dimensions to their game. The big thing about the Sonics this year though, is definitely the bench play. AD, Vlade, Fortson, Collison, Wilkins, Flip, Pot... top to bottom are contributors. If we get deep in the playoffs, I think that our bench will be a definite advantage for the Supes. Congrats on 50 wins, Supes.
Agreed. It's been a pleasure following the Sonics this season. All the guys seem like 'good guys' too, which makes it a helluva lot easier to root for them to do well. Even Ray Allen seems like a decent sort, just a bit selfish and disingenuous for my liking. I was in Portland during the Whittset years (before moving back to my hometown of Seattle recently) and they won 50+ games with playoff appearances every year. But with 'Sheed, Bonzi, Ruben, post-Rainman Kemp, Woods, McInnis and a bunch of other bad actors I can't remember, watching and following the team (the only game in town, BTW, so they're constantly the subject of newspaper and radio discussion) made me cringe. Especially when the local radio jocks would disparage their big brothers up North when times were a bit tough for us. The only thing to temper this season's success is the big unknowns for next year; I still have no idea what Howie, Wally and Ricky have in mind in as far as our 'long-term plan'. Maybe in this day and age it's not realistic to have one, and you just play for the moment without losing your shirt.
This Sonics team may end up being my favorite team of all time. I've followed them so hard this season it feels like I'm a part of the organization. There are so many personalities on this team and it's evident that they really do like each other. I thought going into this season that we were as talented as the better teams in this league but we would underachieve b/c of our pending free agents. As much as I question the decision making of Nate, 50 wins is 50 wins. No one would have expected that after our quiet offseason. I think that the Sonics organization does things the right way. You earn what you get. No big money is being thrown around to people who haven't paid their dues. Nate deserves an extension b/c he proven himself to be an effective leader the entire year. Our free agents deserve whatever contract they get on the open market b/c they all (outside of Ray) sacrificed their numbers for the sake of the team. I'm going to be very disappointed when this roster breaks up next year. I've really grown w/ this team the past two years and I think that this group would be absolutely dynamite if the core would stay together another two years. I think Bobby Swift has a very bright future in this league, Collison will play in this league for 12-14 years, Luke will steadily improve, and you know what Sweet Lew will give you. I think that the other players on this roster, w/ the exception of Flip, best days will have been with the Sonics--regardless if they come back next year or not. If Flip doesn't come back (and I wouldn't know why he would if Nate is still in dodge) he will make this organization regret letting him go for a very long time. Overall I'm very happy w/ the consistency and the effort of this team and I'm really looking forward to seeing how we do in the playoffs. In the preseason Nate proclaimed this year as "The Last Ride." Well if that is the case, I definitely enjoyed the trip.
