<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Sonics took a rough hit over the weekend when point guard Luke Ridnour returned to Seattle for evaluation after just three summer league games because of a strained hip flexor. In the Sonics' game Saturday, Ridnour felt a stretch in his hip and left the game after playing 22 minutes. He had eight points and four assists. Yesterday, the second-year guard played only 10 first-half minutes and did not return to the game after the halftime buzzer. It is the second consecutive year in which Ridnour suffered an injury. Last year, he severely pulled an abdominal muscle in a pre-draft workout and underwent surgery. "I just pulled it pretty bad," Ridnour said of the most recent injury. "It doesn't have anything to do with what I did before, but it's a pretty bad pull, so I've got to get it taken care of." In addition to the physical pain, Ridnour may also have to deal with the frustration that goes with another summer lost to an injury. "It sucks," the 23-year-old former Blaine High School standout said. "You look forward all summer for the summer league, and then you can't play. That's disappointing, but I have to get ready for the season."</div> <font size="1">Full Story courtesy of Matthew Gaschk and the Seattle PI.</font> Poor guy, I thought he was just out of touch, but it turns out he's carrying another pre-season injury. That's a real blow after his training program all summer and Brent's departure giving him a chance to stake a claim for the starting role on opening night. I wonder if they'll draft in Flip and ask him to play the point specifically? Either that or they'll move Dave Young into the starting five and start Wilkins at the point, or just start Cleaves. Maybe start all three, although I'd like to see Josh Powell given a run, I really like him.
Tough luck for Luke. I was hoping he would break out in the summer league and carry it over to a successful 2nd season. This does, like you said SS, open the door for guards on the bench who are looking to make the roster. I personally want to see what Dave Young can do with increased minutes.
Singleton seemed to get the majority of minutes against Charlotte when Luke went down, I wonder if that's an indication of things to come. Seems like Dave is in the doghouse.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Supersonic:</div><div class="quote_post">Singleton seemed to get the majority of minutes against Charlotte when Luke went down, I wonder if that's an indication of things to come. Seems like Dave is in the doghouse.</div> That's really surprising, seeing how Young has connections with Nate...you'd think Nate would put in a good word and get Dave some more minutes. Another thing I noticed is that Jeff Trepagnier is getting no PT...is he hurt or does Weiss not like him?
Nate McMillian hasn't been to any of the summer league games yet. Bob Weiss is not a big fan of Dave for some reason, and there isn't anyone at the Revue that will make him play Dave right now. I don't know how someone is supposed to produce only playing 28 minutes in three games. Maybe Luke going down will give Dave an opportunity but it looks like Damien Wilkins is playing his way into a roster spot. Luke had four fouls in 10 minutes to and didn't seem to be playing well before he got injured either. I think that Flip needs an opportunity to play the point.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">Nate McMillian hasn't been to any of the summer league games yet. Bob Weiss is not a big fan of Dave for some reason, and there isn't anyone at the Revue that will make him play Dave right now. I don't know how someone is supposed to produce only playing 28 minutes in three games. Maybe Luke going down will give Dave an opportunity but it looks like Damien Wilkins is playing his way into a roster spot. Luke had four fouls in 10 minutes to and didn't seem to be playing well before he got injured either. I think that Flip needs an opportunity to play the point.</div> He first did the injury in the second game, and aggravated it further. That said, four fouls in 10 minutes is not encouraging, the injury couldn't have been that bad or he wouldn't have been out there. With Dave being our second round pick, that should ensure he gets an invitation to training camp proper. It seems guys like Wilkins, Singleton, Cleaves, Smith etc are playing for their spots at training camp, where it will be a dog fight under the eyes of the entire coaching staff.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">tom (LA): lets mix it up with a sonics question... barry is gone. that leaves ray allen, ridnour, daniels, and flip murray.. who stays and who goes? can luke and flip turn it up a notch this year? David Aldridge: Daniels will be gone, I think. They think Ridnour's ready to play bigger minutes next season, with Flip as the third guard. </div> Courtesy of ESPN chat.
I shudder to think how we'll go without Barry AND Daniels next season, if there's any truth to that. Arguably our two leaders on and off the court, and AD's play was sensational in Barry's absence, even without much success. I love Flip, but we'd be losing a lot if AD goes, especially in terms of missing out on Fisher.
Call me the pessimist of the group but I can't picture Ridnour ever becoming successful in the NBA. He's a defensive liability and doesn't really bring anything particularly good on the other end to make up for it. (And shoot, he's even a local boy.. his high school is something like 20 minutes from where I live) I also doubt Flip will ever be groomed into a pass-first point guard.. So Daniels is important for us next season imo Thing is that Daniels is grossly underpaid, and he probably wont get traded unless it involves a package of some sort.. Here's holding out for a big trade
Ridnour may have been a liability on defense, but he was about ten times better than anybody would have thought. There were times he could take the ball from the guy he was guarding at will and he always gave maximum effort, pressing up to his man. The only reason he wasn't effective was because of his strength, which he has improved this season. On the other end of the court, I would bet a large amount of money that if Ridnour was on a team where his teammates actually moved and cut without the ball, he would have about doubled his assist numbers. He was a great shooter in college, which didn't seem to translate into the NBA, except he didn't take a lot of jumpshots during games. He needs to improve his shooting, but there are plenty of players in the NBA who can't shoot consistently without getting warmed up. Since Luke started in college, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case with him. Even if it is, it's something he can improve. That said, we need Daniels.
I don't think that Antonio Daniels will be going anywhere. Unless we package him with another player he will remain in Seattle for the entire season. That being said, Antonio Daniels is not the solution to our point guard problems. He is, however, a good back up lead guard. I seriously hope that we do not keep Mateen Cleaves as point guard insurance. He is not an NBA player and I think that his "cheerleading" would do more to divide the Sonics than it would to bring them together. He is what I'd like to call a NBA brown noser. Before everyone dismisses the notion of starting Flip at the point, look across the league at the All-Star point guards. All of them (with the exception of Jason Kidd and Steve Nash) are very aggressive offensively. I don't think that anyone in this forum thinks that Flip Murray can't get other people involved, but if you play someone at the shooting guard position you normally expect them to look for their shot. Flip started at the point three times last season and got double digits assists in two of those games (@ Denver (W) @ Dallas (L)). He at least deserves the opportunity to show what he can do.
Flip seems very turnover prone as a point guard (well, turnover prone in general, though that will probably improve). Given that the Sonics are a team that runs a lot and relies very heavily on ball movement to be successful, you'd want someone with a strong A:T ratio (like Daniels..) running the show..
