Was reading an article talking about Flip having a shot at taking ADs role from last year. No surprise here but here was an interesting quote I thought.... "I don't see why not," said All-Star guard Ray Allen. "I think he has every ability to be able to create, get to the basket and score. He's better than AD in my opinion." Can you say BURN? lol Heres a couple other interesting lines... "I love to get out there and play with Ray," said Murray. "I've always liked playing with Flip, because Flip is a great one-on-one player and he can get to the hole," said Allen. "And he's still learning the game, so I think he has the aptitude to create more assists, I think even more than AD did. It's just a matter of him getting in there and playing." Just media words or the real thing? Very interesting to find out I think.
Deng hes goin at AD hard..But hes probably only saying this stuff to give Flip some confidence in his game...
I remember when Allen encouraged Seattle to try and steal Murray from Milwaukee in the deal for Payton. I guess we're the ones laughing now.
There's no doubt flip can do all that stuff...he was basically putting up the same numbers Allen was when ray was down...so i dont see why flip cant become the guy AD was....or better.
The main problem I had with Murray last year was the fact that, amidst coming back from an injury, he seemed to hold on to the ball in situations where it would have been benificial to pass. We'll see, though, as a healthy Flip equals a good Flip.
I honestly don't doubt his skills as a player and his ability to run the floor when asked, but yes, him and Potapenko got on my nerves with their ball-handling tendencies. Hope for the best...
Ray is a veteran in the media - whether that's a good or bad thing remains to be seen - but he's just using the media to try and give Flip a bit of confidence and portray himself as having confidence in his current teammates this season. Nothing really in it, I'm sure Ray and AD are fine off the court and will continue to be.
Glad to see Ray making an effort to have this relationship work. He didn't even have to make a comment, let alone tell the media he felt Ron was better than AD. I'll believe that this relationship has turned the corner when I see it, but these are encouraging signs. I guess now that Ray has signed his contract he no longer feels threatened by Ron. Interesting also how Ray has had a comment about any relevant issue in Sonics camp. Whether its Weiss vs. McMillan, Collison's role, Vlad/Reggie contract situation, Alex Scales performance, etc. Ray is quick to give his viewpoint to the media. Glad to see his has been tight lipped with his stepfather situation though. I hope that that situation resolves itself sooner than later. Nothing can be gained by that type of distraction.
Ray's hidden agenda is not that hidden. I believe that the team has become somewhat of a game to him, and he is playing it to see how much of an effect he has on it. By this time next year, all press conferences will consist of Bob sitting on Ray's lap. Allen will have his right arm up Bob's ass, and every time the coach speaks you will see the corner of rays lips moving.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">Glad to see his has been tight lipped with his stepfather situation though. I hope that that situation resolves itself sooner than later. Nothing can be gained by that type of distraction.</div> http://x.go.com/cgi/x.pl?goto=http://sport...-100815&srvc=sz
The only reason that Flip didn't get the minutes that he deserved was because of his defense. Nate was too strict in that regard. We're all aware that Nate was never even wanted to start Luke, but was forced by management. I think that as the year goes on we will all see better production from certain players (Fortson, Flip, Luke). Not only because they have experience on a winning team now, but also because Nate is gone.
Wow, am I the only one left that thought Nate was a good coach? Maybe the players didn't like him much, but it wasn't his job to be liked. It was his job to win games, and I think he was just fine at that. He has been taking a huge beating lately from many sources, maybe people are just hurt that he would leave after such a successful season, or maybe Mr. Sonic in Portland burns to much to accept.
hey bravest Allen encourages us to still Flip from Milwaukee? Ummm are you sure? that doenst seem to make sense to me And Jurasic im not sure that Nate didnt want to start Ridnour last year. Infact I think he did want to start him.
Saw the article about Ray and his mother (and stepdad) in the PI, Times, and Tribune this morning. I guess there isn't any info that Ray holds sacred. As for Nate, he definitely wasn't a bad coach, but he hasn't done enough as a coach to say that his style of coaching can go w/o criticism. For the record he didn't want to draft Ridnour, but Ridnour went into camp as the favorite to win the starting role--at Nate's request. Nate made many good adjustments as a coach last season and to be perfectly honest I think that the team benefitted from keeping Flip on the bench last season. Not because he has a reputation (fueled mostly by Nate and Ray) for taking bad shots, turning the ball over, and playing bad defense but because of team full of free agents wouldn't look to kindly on a minimum salary player from Division II taking away opportunities from them (ie. Ray, Sweet Lew, and AD). It's easier to sit a guy with a humble past that you know won't complain about minutes then it will be dealing with the fall out of unhappy veteran free agents. Bob hasn't impressed me with his early quotes this season. I think he feels indebted to the players and is trying to adjust his style to fit their needs. We do have a hard working, veteran team but I don't think that passive aggressiveness is the way that we are going to maximize our potential. Ray already seems like he has too much cloudt in the decision making process b/c Bob is holding him to a standard that I don't believe even star players should receive. Weiss is a smart man who understands the game of basketball but I think that he is more worried about putting together a team that is visually appealing to watch then challenging his players to do whatever it takes to win. You don't win in this league playing contain defense (not putting pressure on the guards to force their opponents into low percentage shots)nor do you win in this league without a good half court offense. I love watching teams get out on the break but unlike Phoenix and Denver we are not going to get easy transition points with Pot, Fortson, Collison, Evans, Swift and Petro filling the lanes. Outside of Clinton we really don't have an explosively athletic post player. I don't want our offense to rely on transition lay ups and jump shots. In nip and tuck games we have to establish a post threat, get looks from penetration, and get to the line. We were able to get most of this stuff last year from extensive amounts of pick and rolls. We don't have Big Game James setting picks anymore (or getting post looks) and we don't have AD throwing his body around trying to get to the line. But we do have Flip, one of the few players in this league that can get to the basket consistently w/o needing a screen. We have to take advantage of strengths and I hope that Bob is the guy who will bring it out of us. I haven't seen too many veteran coaches who are cowards by nature. I'm optimistic that Bob won't fit that trait.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Coolguy777:</div><div class="quote_post">hey bravest Allen encourages us to still Flip from Milwaukee? Ummm are you sure? that doenst seem to make sense to me</div> In the middle of negotiations for the trade that brought Allen to Seattle, he took Rick Sund to the side and told him to try and pry Flip from the Bucks. He was a scrub backup at the time, so it was done...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bravest:</div><div class="quote_post">In the middle of negotiations for the trade that brought Allen to Seattle, he took Rick Sund to the side and told him to try and pry Flip from the Bucks. He was a scrub backup at the time, so it was done...</div> I dont think ive ever heard that...maybe though.
