Seattle scouting report

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

The papers report that Seattle (2-4) basically was running on empty in the 
4Q last night against the Nets, getting outscored by 12 points for the 
final losing margin. Baker had 22 and 12, while Rashard Lewis went 17 and 
10 boards.  Rookie Vladimir Radmanovic got a start, but shot 1-7 from the 
field.

Seattle's grueling schedule looks even tougher than Boston's was last week. 
Tonight's game at the Fleet is the fourth in five nights on the road for 
the Sonics, and they've now dropped the last two after stunning Orlando in 
OT on Monday.

The Sonics spent 34 million this summer to sign center Calvin "Toll" Booth, 
but he's been injured and off to a slow start. NJ's Todd MacCulloch had a 
career game with 29 points against the Sonics. Seattle also turns to 6-9 
Art Long in the pivot, but they do have a legit 7-1 guy in Florida A&M's 
Jerome James, who gets around 13 minutes per night.

According to TSN,  the Sonics this year will run an offensive scheme called 
a two-guard front. Instead of the conventional setup with the point guard 
running the offense from the perimeter, two guards are up top on both 
sides. This creates more options and ball movement. Brent Barry and Gary 
Payton are be the primary playmakers. But Nate McMillan will occasionally 
call upon Booth (he's unlikely to play tonight) and Baker for those duties 
because of their passing skills and court sense.  TSN says that the new 
offense has gotten Barry more involved (14 ppg so far), and he is playing 
with the aggression the coaches have always desired.

Gary Payton worked out with weights for the first time this summer. So far 
he's averaging a double-double with 22 ppg and 10.4 assists. His backcourt 
mate Brent Barry is one of the game's great matadors on defense, but he's 
trying to prove critics wrong. No doubt the offense is going to flow into 
Pierce tonight in order to test Barry, unless Payton switches assignments 
or Desmond Mason is healthy. Not only is Shammond Williams out, but Mason 
has a mild hamstring problem.

As noted, this Seattle team has already beaten Orlando and San Antonio. 
Gary Payton is always a threat to be the best player on both ends of the 
court. And they've got a pair of 6-10 forwards who can both drop 20 and 10 
on you. They probably expect to beat us tonight to even up their road trip, 
so we need to show them they've got another thing coming.

Below is the CNNSI report on the Sonics:

-So this is what you do to make your team better: go out and get Calvin 
(Toll) Booth ? There's no way this team isn't going down.

-The only truly positive thing for them is that with the new rules Shammond 
Williams becomes more effective. He's a great shooter to have on that weak 
side, with Gary Payton over on the strong side to draw and kick to him. I 
see those two in the lineup a lot together.

-The word from Payton is that he's going to show it with his actions and 
not his words. That's the great thing about the off-season -- you can just 
announce you're a different person, and nobody can say you're wrong. By 
midseason he'll be the same old Payton, not practicing, screaming at 
everyone else. That said, he still has all the skills, and with his 
nemesis, Jason Kidd, gone to the East, he's the elite point guard in the 
West.

-Vin Baker will be better at a trimmed-down weight, but he's still more of 
an Eastern Conference player with that pound-it style. Payton can run the 
pick-and-roll, but Baker has never been the right guy on the other end of 
it. The only thing that will keep this team from sinking is if Baker has a 
bust-out season, and I don't see it happening.

-Brent Barry will make some standstill shots and create a little, but he 
won't defend a lick. He's not a hard worker, and he could get pushed out by 
Desmond Mason, who's probably their best overall athlete.

-They have a real good player in Rashard Lewis , and I like Vladimir 
Radmanovic a lot. He's like most of those European guys, who need to bulk 
up, but he can defend a little."