<font size="6"><font color="DarkGreen">Sonics</font> <font color="DarkGreen">vs. Spurs:</font> <font color="DarkGreen">Part Trois</font></font><u><font size="6"> </font></u> Details: When: Monday, January 31st Where: KeyArena, Seattle Time (Seattle): 7:00 TV: Fox Sports, League Pass Projected Starters: <font color="green">Seattle (30-12)</font> Luke Ridnour Flip Murray Rashard Lewis Reggie Evans Jerome James <font color="Black">San Antonio (36-10)</font> Tony Parker Emanuel Ginobili Bruce Bowen Robert Horry Tim Duncan Injury Troubles: <font color="green">Seattle</font> Mateen Cleaves: Strained shoulder, ruled out. Casanova Swift: Strained hip, ruled out. Damien Wilkins: Knee tendinitis, ruled out. Ray Allen: Flu, ruled out. <font color="Blue"> </font> <font color="Black">San Antonio</font> Beno Udrih: Strained shoulder, Questionable. Romain Sato: Knee tendinitis, ruled out. Linton Johnson: Fractured ankle, ruled out. Rasho Nesterovic: Sprained ankle, ruled out. Brief Notes: <ul> [*]The Sonics must win without Ray Allen and coach Nate McMillan in the third installment of the Sonics/Spurs this season. Allen is out with a bad viral infection while head coach Nate McMillan will miss the next two games as he is in his native North Carolina after his mother passed away yesterday. Thoughts and prayers are with the McMillan family of course. With two Seattle icons absent for today's game, the Sonics will need big games from their temporary replacements. It is unclear whether Ronald "Flip" Murray or Antonio Daniels will start versus San Antonio but this seems like an opportune time to get the surprising young star of just a year ago some playing time (Flip). Dwayne Casey will be at the helm on the sidelines where he is 1-1 on the season. [/list] <ul> [*]In the last game the Sonics played, they ousted the Warriors in a low -scoring game that was alarmingly close after the Sonics started the game on a 16-0 run. Our resident studs Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis lead the charge, amounting 50 points between them. Reggie Evans was a beast on the boards snatching 17 over Warriors big men Troy Murphy and Adonal Foyle. The Spurs are fresh off a 10 point win over the hapless New Orleans Hornets. Tony Parker lead a balanced effort in which each of the Spurs starters were in double digits scoring. [/list] <ul> [*]Can We Win Without Ray?: The Sonics average 15.3 more points when Ray Allen is on the floor as opposed to when he is on the bench. The closest player to that average on the Supes is Vladimir Radmanovic with 8.6. In fact, Ray Allen ranks 4th in the league in that category. Only Dirk Nowitski, Andrei Kirilenko, and Stephon Marbury are more vital to their team's scoring. [/list] <ul> [*]Word of the day: Inconceivable; adj. impossible to comprehend. [/list]<div align="center">"Some people believe that the Sonics beating the Spurs three times in one season is inconceivable."</div> <div align="center">Random Family Guy Quote </div> Security Guard: Alright son, we're gonna need those two hams back. Chris: Huh? I don't have any hams. Guard: Lift up your shirt, son. Chris: I need an adult! I need an adult! Guard: You're not a shoplifter, you're just a fat kid. Sorry about that fatty fat fatty. Hey Tom he's just a fat kid! Aren't you, fatty? You're just a big ol' fat kid. Here's some chocolate fatso. Chris: Thanks. All predictions, analysis and discussion relating directly to the game, both before, during and after, to be posted in this thread.
I'll be the first to admit that Flip played terrible. Too many turnovers, too many bad decisions, too many miss shots that he normally makes. He got the minutes and he didn't take advantage of them. I give Duane Casey credit for giving him a chance and I'm not one to make excuses for anyone. If you want your minutes increased you have to really make the coaching staff look bad for not playing you. I was excited that he got a chance to play against the best team in the league so that he could really show off. He didn't do it and they got beat handily. I was pleading for the minutes. If he doesn't produce when he gets the minutes then he needs to sit.
Where was our other All-Star last night? With Ray Allen out we needed a big game from Rashard and basically got nothing. These type of 'step-up' games (or lack thereof) really hurt his All-Star team chances.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Roland Hood:</div><div class="quote_post">Where was our other All-Star last night? With Ray Allen out we needed a big game from Rashard and basically got nothing. These type of 'step-up' games (or lack thereof) really hurt his All-Star team chances.</div> Lewis has shown over the past weeks he doesnt deserve an allstar bid. Hes good but he doesnt deserve it over alot of the other forwards in the west.
