SONICS SONICS SONICS... woof woof woof
Mythic Hero
119-116. another barn-burner of a game, except this one was down to the last
4 seconds or so (and the 3-pt prayer).
amazing game.
Gatling played a helluva lot. endurance problems? maybe. but he played DAMN
DAMN DAMN good!!!! he was awesome!
Timmy was great EXCEPT going 8-17 (?) from the charity stripe (ouch!).
Mullin played..well..he didn't really. when he did shoot, he scored. but
he wasn't aggressive about his shooting. It looks like McKey took the
aggressiveness out of Mullin for hte series because it didn't look like
Mullin was looking for the shot. and he finally ended up sitting out the
last 4-5 minutes because of his back.
The real story? Benjamin and McKey had pretty good games, but it was
KEMP KEMP KEMP!! and he wasn't in foul trouble either. 4 fouls (i believe),
and the 4th was an intentional hard foul too.
and Kemp had two monster dunks. that made my game. the first was an
amazing leap with Gatlin or Lister right in his face. Kemp when head high
to the rim and it looked like he dunked it with his fore-arm.
After the game, Kemp pointed at the fallen Warrior (Gatlin or Lister) and
started pointing and pumping his arms like crazy.
The second dunk...Gatlin had a superb block (on McKey I think) and the block
went ot the other side of the basket. Kemp picks it up. Gatlin jumps in
his way and WHAM!! down the rim with Gatlin getting SPALDING written all
over his forehead (and with a personal foul on Kemp).
the cool part was after the dunk, Kemp was riled up and he looked at Gatling.
Gatling looked back.. and then he offered his hand to kemp, nodding like he
was saying "Man, yeah...ok..you really got me on that..good play."
that was really cool.
so I am really riled up.. Sonics won the season series over Utah 3 out of 4
games, and two of them were in Utah..but Utah is hyped this year...
Sonics over Clips? well...sure, but Sohics for some reason seem to run into
trouble at times.
One thing I do have to say is Sonics, with their excellent out-rebounding,
worry me because they only edge the Warriors. They gotta really take
advantage of their rebounds. And their play someitmes is lacking a lot.
They really really got to elevate their game more if they are gonna make it
to finals..to tell you the truth, now that I look at them, i do think if
they stay hyped, they can make it past Utah or Clips (TNT commentator said
today when this point was brought up with Geoge Karl, George had a look on
his face like the cat swallowed the canary :)
but to make it past portland (or phoenix)..well, let's hope they get it a
bit more together in the next series.
(a sign at the Sonics game read "We Want Chicago!" :)
but if anything, the game was fantastic. This has got to be my favorite
play-off series of all time. Even though the series was 3-1, the last two
games (that I got to see..yay!) were just amazing..
Hats off to GS Warriors too for providing an electric series with Seattle
GO SONICS!
and now to get to work on my paper due tomorrow.. damn NBA playoffs have to
be at the end of the year when all the workm bunches up.
The Crossjammer
Mythic> 119-116. another barn-burner of a game, except this one was down to the last
Mythic> 4 seconds or so (and the 3-pt prayer).
It was a pretty close, if poorly played game. Had me biting my nails.
Mythic> The real story? Benjamin and McKey had pretty good games, but it was
Mythic> KEMP KEMP KEMP!! and he wasn't in foul trouble either. 4 fouls (i believe),
Mythic> and the 4th was an intentional hard foul too.
No way is the story only Kemp for the Sonics. What about Eddie Johnson lighting
up the Warriors? Also, Gary Payton played a pretty good game, although I
wish he would shoot from the outside more. But his driving on Marciulonis
came at a pivotal point in the game.
This leads to my ultimate point about the series. The Warrriors flat out
had too many defensive liabilities to overcome. Marciulonis is an awful
one-on-one defender. You can only hide Mullin so long. Gatling is a great
shot blocker, but doesn't play great position D. Elie is a little suspect
as well. Lister, Hill, and Alexander were missing in action. The Warriors
can turn it up in spurts but when they really need to shut down a team,
they can't do it. The Sonics have so many scorers someone's bound to get
hot and more than likely one frontliner and one backcourt guy will be in a
groove at the same time. At that point, you really need to be able to have
good *one-on-one* post defense and be able to cover the outside shooters.
There's pretty much always 2 people on the floor for the Warriors who can't
cut it.
Only the Sonics *pathetic* shot selection, spacing, and motion kept the
Warriors in the series. How many times did we see the Sonics get a 7 to 11
point lead and promptly come down, stand around (usually McKey holding the
ball for 19 or so seconds), and throw up a brick.
Despite my picking on Sarunas, he actually did play a good game. Hardaway
had an average Hardaway game, and *bricked* crucial shots near the end of
the game. Mullin was nonexistent. Owens didn't stand out at all but I
assume he had a quiet double figure game. Elie played his heart out and
Gatling was the only one playing any real interior defense.
So much for that Nellie Miracle BS. But I guarantee you, Adelman, Sloan,
Brown, and Fitzsimmons are sleeping much easier.
They can't come on and play me in prime time,
Cause I know the time, cause I'm gettin' mine.
I get on the mix late in the night... -Public Enemy
Fiiiive Thousand Boomin Watts...... -The JBeez
Miguel . Figueroa
I just finished seing some highlights of yesterday's game and I still
think Shawn Kemp is the best dunker in basketball. He had not one but
TWO spectacular dunks in last night's game and in both ocasions he had a
Warrior in his face. Here's where the real slam dunk championship should
be considered, playing in a game and dunking it over everybody.
NOW THAT'S A REAL CHALLENGE!
Chuck Bowden
>
>So much for that Nellie Miracle BS. But I guarantee you, Adelman, Sloan,
>Brown, and Fitzsimmons are sleeping much easier.
>
>--
> xj...@cork.Berkeley.EDU
>
The Sonics just beat an excellent Golden State team 3-1. Despite your
guarantees, I don't believe any of those coaches are sleeping any easier.
--
Chuck Bowden / WB7R / chu...@tc.fluke.com / (206) 356-6228
Stimpson J. Cat
>mfig...@lonestar.utsa.edu (Miguel . Figueroa) writes:
>>
>> Here's where the real slam dunk championship should
>> be considered, playing in a game and dunking it over everybody.
>> NOW THAT'S A REAL CHALLENGE!
>
>to dunk, and the "gladiators" try to stop him. We can use Alton Lister,
>Bill Laimbeer, Charles Oakley, Karl Malone et. al. as the gladiators.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>Their gladiator names will be, in order: Whammo, Goon, Oak and Truck.
>
>The number of stitches applied to the dunker's face can be added to his
>score.
>
>
>--Gidi
Actually, Shawn Kemp has dunked over three of the four above (don't
know if he ever did against Oakley. You know about Lister, the ones over Malone
were nothing really special (gets the ball under the hoop, jams it on Malone
but nothing one big man couldn't do to any other), but the one on Laimbeer
was even better than the one on Lister. It was in Seattle in Kemp's rookie
season, Kemp approached from the same angle as he did against Lister, but
this was a two-on-one fast break, and Laimbeer was farther away from the hoop
than Lister was. Kemp goes up, jam.... right over Laimbeer, with Laimbeer
holding both arms straight up. Alas, it was all for nothing, because Laimbeer
drew the charge, but that tells you how far away from the hoop Laimbeer was
(they usually will not call a charge if the defender is under the hoop.)
You can see this dunk at the beginning of all the Sonic broadcasts......
(Interestingly, Derrick McKey did the same kind of dunk on Laimbeer,
only heading straight down the key on the fast break instead of at a angle.
McKey used to be a pretty fine dunker- he used to get all the alley-oop
plays before Kemp showed up. Don't know why he has stopped flying.... I don't
think he has leg or knee problems....)
David L. Yee
email to:dav...@sumax.seattleu.edu