This ran on Buzzer Beater yesterday but I forgot to put it up here.

Sonics 95, Clippers 88

Wednesday night at Key Arena saw a visit from the Los Angeles Clippers, minus their regular stars Elton Brand (torn achilles — ouch!), Shaun Livingston (worst knee injury the doctor had ever seen — double ouch!), Sam Cassell (sore calf; though if anyone is crafty enough to play on one leg, it’s him), and Chris Kaman’s stringy blond locks (will magically reappear when he surprises everyone (except readers of this blog) by storming out of the tunnel to a Kid Rock song and demanding a steel cage match with Reggie Evans in Wrestlemania XXIV.

I’m comin’ for you, Reggie!

The Sonics, on the other hand, were missing NBA-starter-caliber talent at a number of positions. They were also missing Luke Ridnour, Delonte West, and Robert Swift.

It was a game of bloopers, with enough errant passes landing in the stands that the Sonics might want to consider installing some hockey-style plexiglass. (Damien Wilkins won the tale of the tape with a wild fling from the free throw line that landed in the third row.) But at least it was a win. A few notes:

-Jeff Green had the most encouraging play of the game: After receiving the ball on the left block, he dribbled once, leading with his left shoulder, was cut off, spun back to his right shoulder and swished a left-handed jump hook. This is a move Chris Wilcox has yet to make in his six years in the league, and is particularly impressive given how one-handed Green looked coming in. But as one of the team’s color commentators noted in a broadcast the other day, Green has been tirelessly working on his game, getting to the gym early and staying late to run through drills with assistant coaches. His teammates, a good number of whose games are severely limited by their inability to finish with their off hand, should take notice.

-Kevin Durant bounced back from Sunday’s stinker against the Warriors to have a nice game, particularly at the defensive end, where he continues to block shots and deflect passes with his cartoonish arms.

-Nick Collison returned from his broken nose with a vengeance, making Sonics fans and fantasy owners very happy with 18 points and 17 rebounds in just 36 minutes.

-Delonte West’s plantar fasciitis meant that Mikaele Gelabale got some minutes at the point. Unfortunately, he was unable to knock down any jumpers (or the left handed tomahawk he tried on Chris Kaman), but he showed less of a tendency to overdribble than West or Earl Watson, though some of the problem does appear to lie with the Sonics’ offense. Facing Brevin Knight and Dan Dickau, his point guard defense wasn’t really tested. The experiment likely won’t last long, as Ridnour’s due back shortly.

-Finally, Washington State native and Gonzaga alum Dan Dickau got almost 20 minutes of playing time, a testament to the depletion of the Clippers’ roster. With his moppy hair and short arms, Dickau looks so out of place on an NBA court, like someone pulled Marky Mark out of a Rock n’ Jock All-Star Game and beamed him over to the Key in 2007.

If I had the Funky Bunch here we’d be runnin’ this motherfucker!

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Supersonics, Roundball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.