May 09, 2005
Soups in trouble in game #1
Losing the game was one thing, but losing in the fashion they lost is another. Even when Radmo and Allen went down, they were down by 15 and beginning to spiral in the wrong direction. San Antanio runs a pretty good offense and I don't think Seattle was prepared for the quickness of Parker. He is lightening, bottom line, and tough to guard.
The one thing that bothers me more than anything in the NBA is the amount of acting and joke calls the home team gets. The NBA should really stand for "Nothing But Acting." Ginobli especially, count how many times that dude flops to the floor. He's a whiney European who probably got too many red cards in soccer, so switched to hoops.
Bottom line, Seattle will need to come out w/ more intensity and throw San Antonio around a bit in game 2. Enter, Fortson and James. Both players will have to step up their physical play to combat San Antonio's play. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, again, Ridnour and Lewis must step up and play well for this team to advance.
Seattle Sports Blog Guy
Posted by james at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)
May 06, 2005
What's up w/ the Mariners?
Yeah, yeah, Beltre's off to a tough start, but there's something else going on here. Boone, Reed, and Sexson are all hitting below .250, which isn't bad, but there just doesn't seem to be much in regards to run production. Is it Ichiro? Should he be moved to clean-up? What do you think pitchers fear most? Belte w/ one on (most likely Ichiro) who's hitting .223, or Ichiro w/ the bases loaded and no outs? What about having Reed lead off, followed by Winn, and Beltre w/ Ichiro batting fourth? Given this teams horrible start, it might not be a bad idea.
Pitching seems to be so-so as well. Franklin has proven he is NOT starting material. Guardardo has done a "steady-Eddy" job in the bullpen, so I don't think it's an Ayala situation. It will be interesting to see how Madtrich does coming back hopefully full steam. Sele also seems to be struggling, however, if you remember, he had a 4.51 ERA when he won 17 games w/ the M's a few years back. He's an ok pitcher when he gets run support, bottom line.
I expect this team to turn things around, but it will be difficult to do w/ their upcomming schedule w/ Boston and NY on the road (especially given NY's desperate need for W's). This team needs to stay positive and weather this storm.
Seattle Sports Blog Guy
Posted by james at 06:32 AM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2005
Game, set, and match
Once again, Ray Allen leads the charge as the Sonics prevail. The game was a little closer than expected, but a W's a W. R.Lewis and especially N.Collison played extremely well. Collison can be a double-double kind of guy for the Sonics in the future.
A look ahead.....most likely will be San Antonio. Great outside shooting w/ Gionobli, Barry, and others. Parker is an incredibly quick point guard as well. Last but not least, Duncan will be a load for James to handle. Not being too much of a pesimist, but I don't see Seattle getting past this team. Besides, the NBA seems to love this team, which means that San Antonio will be getting most of the calls. San Antonio 4-2.
Posted by james at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)