Although the Clippers aren't exactly a formidable opponent, the Sonics choked away the first game of the year. With the game firmly in control for most of the first 3 quarters, they simply fell apart in the 4th. The most glaring deficiencies were their inability to play defense - and their need to take terrible shots.
Ray Allen can still shoot and score, but still refuses to play defense. He, Radman and Rashard all took some terrible shots that they had no business taking. No team can win while shooting fall away threes while guarded - especially the Sonics.
A pleasant surprise is rookie 7 foot center Johan Petro - who can run the floor, play D and take the ball to the hole. He will make a lot of people forget about Jerome James very quickly - he's simply a better play and in much better shape (he's only 19!). I felt like Weiss should have kept him in the game.
Another pleasant surprise is Flip Murray, who along with his usual scoring has actually been playing defense and making some nice passes (although he did make a crucial turnover in the last three of minutes).
Tonight the Sonics proved that they are still a jump shooting team - and that they will live and die by the three pointer. Tonight they died.
It will be a long season unless they start playing some defense and taking better shots.
No comments:
Post a Comment