TNT said that Sacremento's loss tonight to Utah locks the seeding for the west with the Kings being the 6th seed and facing the Sonics in the first round. This may be a stroke of luck for the Sonics...since they have matched up well against the Kings this year. I SERIOUSLY doubt that Stojakovic is out past Friday though. I am ready for a game 1 on Saturday in Key arena against the Kings! It sure was nice to see another Banner go up in the key last Friday night.
Well we were 3-1 but you can probably throw that out the window since the trade makes Sac a different team. I have to see who's playing for Sac especially Brad Miller, and I hear Bobby Jackson's making noise about making an appearance. Regardless, they have a bunch of guys with experience who can get warm and I don't think it'll be an easy series by any means. Fortson will be key inside I think, and I have a feeling Flip will play a role somewhere in this series.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Roland Hood:</div><div class="quote_post">Well we were 3-1 but you can probably throw that out the window since the trade makes Sac a different team. I have to see who's playing for Sac especially Brad Miller, and I hear Bobby Jackson's making noise about making an appearance. Regardless, they have a bunch of guys with experience who can get warm and I don't think it'll be an easy series by any means. Fortson will be key inside I think, and I have a feeling Flip will play a role somewhere in this series.</div> I don't think a 7 game series against any team in the west right now is "easy." The Grizzlies were the only team still showing weakness, and they took San Antonio out tonight locking Phoenix in for the best record in the league. The only thing I know for sure is that it WON'T be a 4 game sweep of the Sonics by their 1st round opponent.
What's the home-away format nowadays? Didn't they switch to something funky like 3-3-1? I always thought it put the team with home court at a disadvantage since it's very hard to beat a team 3 times in a row, even at home. So the road team goes home down 2-1 and can close it out at home. But I haven't paid much attention to how it actually plays out, haven't had to worry about it for a few years
Sacramento's probably the only team I'd pick the Sonics to beat at this point. But I hate saying that kind of stuff, so I won't.
Dang....I really wanted to play Houston, I wanted to be able to see Tmac and Yao in person. Well anyway, I'm not really worried about this series at all. Sacramento is the posterchild for "not getting it done". We can beat them even without Vlad. Yeah, I said it. I'm too lazy to post too much analysis right now.
Seattle probably wanted to play the Kings and the Kings probably wanted to play Seattle. Both teams got what they wanted and it should make for an entertaining series. There is no team in this field that I would think would be a gimme for the Sonics except the Grizzlies. I'm not going to make any predictions right now but I will say that this series will not lack for scoring. The playoffs are for nip and tuck players and the punk will come out of the hearts of the players that don't have any. Only Sweet Lew, Jerome, and Vlad return from the last Sonic team that reached the playoffs in 2002. All three played well in that series and hopefully that will continue this postseason. I'm not sure if there is any one player on our roster that we can honestly say that we are all confident will bring it consistently for as long as we're in the playoffs. Nate can't worry about egos at this point. He needs to put the players on the floor that will contribute, even if that means sitting someone down who is used to getting minutes, or taking the ball out of someone's hands who is used to having it. You want your extension Nate? There isn't a better time to earn it.
Couldn't have asked for a better scenario - I think Denver and Houston are two teams that everybody would be happy to avoid, and while the Kings are more experienced playoff-wise, I think we match up against them the best out of the three teams would could have gotten. Would have LOVED Memphis, though.
IMO we dodged a bullet here. Houston would've been a very tough team to face in the playoffs given JVG's gaudy coaching record. I'm skeptical about it all of course, Seattle teams do have a tendency to disappoint Here's to hoping we don't see any collapses by either team..
I read some quotes in the Tacoma Tribune from Danny Fortson that I found to be a good sign for the playoffs. He said the trade to Seattle was like being given a 'pot of gold' by Dallas who thought they were punishing him and sending him to a 'wasteland.' When asked about the HUGE applause he got from the home crowd on Friday, he said he was surprised anyone liked him after what had been written about him. He hopes that the cheering was because the crowd sees he tries hard and really cares about his teamates. Said this was the best season of his professional career. Sounds like his brain is back in the game and back with the team, and his recent play showed flashes of early season Danny. This is just one more CRITICAL piece the Sonics need to be in place in the playoffs. 1) Rashard Healthy 2) Ray playing with fire 3) Luke ready to run and keep up with Bibby 4) Danny ready to muscle his way around down low 5) JJ playing the team's game and not getting payback against the team who dropped him 6) Vlade AND his shot return A gimpy Stojakovic and no Miller or Jackson would be nice, too!
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I have no respect for the Kings.</div>Haha.See,this baffles me.Why? I dont get it.Probably the easiest matchup Seattle could have gotten in the first round considering Sac's health.BUT,I also think Seattle is the best possible matchup out of the top seeds.We'll see what happens.
Just informing you guys. Bobby Jackson is back. Peja Stojakovic will play Saturday night. Brad Miller is expected to play SOME minuets in Game 3. Should be a good series. Good luck.
Bobby Jackson looked great in his first game back - he scares me in an Earl Boykins kind of way. The Kings still have 3 guys who've been in the All-Star game - albeit not at full strength for this series except for Bibby who is known for his clutch play in the postseason - and a cadre of very good complimentary guys like Big Nasty, Cuttino, Kenny Thomas and Songaila. My wild card for the Kings is Mo Evans. Wild card for the Supes is Vlade Should be a good series indeed.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Pwn3d!:</div><div class="quote_post">Miller missing for the first two games? Who will be Reggie's whiny little bitch in the meantime?</div> Miller makes some of the worst faces in the league when he feels he's been violated, right up there with Wally World.
Despite an historical lack of faith in the Supes the ESPN team unanimously picks the Sonics to win the series. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2005...s?series=sacsea
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Pwn3d!:</div><div class="quote_post">Miller missing for the first two games? Who will be Reggie's whiny little bitch in the meantime?</div> Cuttino Mobley can just be the whiny bitch in general. The amount of time's he sooks to the ref's is unreal. News has it that Rick Adelman is not confident on Peja playing game 1.
