Milwaukee Bucks @ Seattle Supersonics, 1/19

The Sonics have officially started going uphill again, putting up their largest leading win of the season, 99-72. They have won all three of their recent games, all at home, and have done it as a team. Again, the Sonics outrebounded their opponents, much thanks to Nick Collison (16 rebounds). I sense that the Sonics are turning around, and may well be on their way to rising through the standings... slowly, of course, but this is a start. Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson split time well, each doing well in their time, combining for 13 assists. Nick Collison, as I mentioned earlier, was killing on the boards, with 16 rebounds grabbed. This is very significant, as I mentioned in my last post, as to preventing opponents from getting second chances, and giving ourselves second chances by getting rebounds. This is good, and good to win at home. May the Sonics continue to win and defend the "HARDWOOD"!

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Seattle Sonics, 1/16

Well, the Sonics managed to hold on until the end this time, pulling out a 101-96 victory over Cleveland and LeBron James, who scored 30 and dished out 8 assists. Ray Allen had 22 points and 11 assists. Here are some key reasons for the Sonics' victory tonight, and these are matters that have been preventing them from winning this season:
- Rebounds: The Sonics OUT-REBOUNDED the Cavaliers tonight 46-39. Preventing second-chance points has been hard for the Sonics, who are usually outrebounded in their losses. But tonight, they crashed those boards, and they grabbed the ball. Most notable - Nick Collison: 12 rebounds (6 offensive rebounds, giving US second-chance points) and Chris Wilcox: 12 rebounds (9 defensive rebounds to prevent THEIR second-chance points).

- Free Throws (fouls) - Something that has often given other teams a chance are free throws (the Sonics lead the NBA in the foul differential between them and their opponents), and the fact that the Sonics lack getting to the line (22nd in the NBA in free throw attempts). Tonight, the Cavs only scored one more free throw than the Sonics. Not incredible, but the balance helped.

- Turnovers. This one just kills. One slip-up at a crucial moment, and we're in the gutters again. Square one, on the defensive, and hoping that they don't score and take a chunk off of our lead, or that they don't extend their own. The Sonics are 11th in the league in overall turnovers. But tonight, they only had 13 total turnovers. Compared to some games (losses, in particular) where they had 20 or 25 TO. It's quite simple: The less turnovers we have, the more opportunities to score that we have, and the less opportunities our opponents have to score on us.

Good job, SuperSonics. This is where we stand now: 2 games in a row won, 4 games more remaining on our 6-game homestand. Hopefully, we will at least take two of these next 4, but we have no easy competition ahead. The Milwaukee Bucks and Michael Redd. The Denver Nuggets and Allen Iverson, The Minnesota Timberwolves and Kevin Garnett, Los Angelas Clippers and Elton Brand. After that, it's back on the road to Dallas, to take on the red-hot Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki. Then, to Houston, where we challenge the Rockets, who have pulled themselves together quite well, and have been winning with the leadership of team captain Tracy McGrady. If the Sonics (big "if") can win a majority of these games, then they will gain respect in the league, and finally we will not be ignored for the team we truly are. An All-Star team. Luke Ridnour, Ray Allen, Nick Collison, Chris Wilcox, and (in our prayers to heal) Rashard Lewis.

Utah Jazz vs Seattle Sonics: Live at the Hardwood

Last night, at Key Arena, a miracle occured. The Sonics, down by 7 with two minutes remaining in regulation, pulled out a comeback fired by Ray Allen, who scored a career-high 54 points *(second-most in Sonics history), and shot 8-12 from the 3-point line, his best this season. Nick Collison had another career night, and he continues to grab rebounds, left and right, offensive and defensive, to prevent opponents from ripping the Sonics out of a game by second-chance points. Collison: my salutes to you.
Allen: keep shooting.
Earl Watson: keep playing as smart as you are now, because you are valuable when you play smart.
Luke Ridnour: do as much as you can when you play.
Chris Wilcox: keep grabbing rebounds, and take Nick as an example to model yourself after.
Mickael Gelabale: continue to try hard, and prove that your hustle deserves a spot on the starting roster.
Wilks, Farmer, everybody else: develop, and be ready to jump into games when needed.

Let us hope that the Sonics can overcome their next opponent, the Cleveland Caveliers, and make up some ground on our 6-game homestand. This, hopefully, was the beginning of success for this stand.

Nick Collison: Our future hope?

Collison has recorded two huge games lately, including his current career high in scoring and rebounding (29 points, 21 rebounds). He is actively getting in the paint and competing for rebounds and shots. He's playing more smart on defense, and by grabbing the defensive rebounds, he is preventing second chance points (especially in the paint) by opponents. Second-chance points have been the key in most of the Sonics losses, and the key to second-chance points are rebounds. So thankfully, we have Collison to start coming to the rescue. Can he become a real role-leading player on the team? We will find out soon. Because so far, he is the only one doing something about the Sonics' lack of rebounding. Here we go, as the Sonics play the Utah Jazz tonight, and that means one of the league's top five rebounders, Carlos Boozer. Can we prevent the second-chance points? Soon we will find out.

And the stone still rolls downhill...

Hope falling, players failing, the Sonics are simply being dominated in the paint by opponents. Lack of rebounds, lack of defense. Eddie Curry last night just scored 27 points on 9-9 shooting in the paint. No misses. He also went to the free throw line often (due to the lack of good defense) and made 9 of 12 from there. Sonics total rebounds: 43 (total includes team rebounds). Knicks total: 53. 10 rebounds makes a nice big difference in the game. Especially offensive rebounds, which lead to second chances, and points that shouldn't be scored. If the Sonics are going to get anywhere this year, and dig themselves out of this ditch, they're gonna need to get big, jump high, and bring that thing down! Otherwise, these losses are just gonna keep piling up.

Boston Celtics @ Seattle Sonics, 12/31

This was a nice way to end the year- with a win. The Sonics overcame the Celtics (without Paul Pierce, their leading scorer) by a score of 101-95. Chris Wilcox lead the Sonics in scoring, with 24 points, as well as 8 rebounds. Thankfully, Damien Wilkins stepped up yet again to fill another injured star's place (Rashard Lewis) by scoring 20 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, passing for 5 assists, blocking 2 shots, and picking one steal. Thank you Wilkins! Just as I had hoped, you stepped up in the place of one of our finest players. Luke Ridnour did a great job at point guard, passing 11 assists, scoring 17 points (7-7 from the free throw line), stole the ball 3 times, and even blocked a shot (Ridnour is only 6'-1", by the way). Ray Allen was struggling, unfortunately, with 15 points that came off only 7-20 shooting from the field, (1-5 from the 3-point line) and he turned the ball over five times. But he did grab 3 offensive rebounds, and 3 defensive rebounds, as well as stealing the ball twice. Also very mentionable was Earl Watson, who scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting, got two steals, and blocked a shot. Good job starters, and keep up the great bench effort!

Lost two in a row

I'm trying not to focus on these losses, because the obvious answer to the losses is: We need Rashard Lewis back. So hopefully, either Wilkins will catch on fire again, or Wilcox will become dominant yet again in the paint. The Sonics are currently 12-19, in last place of the Northwest Conference. The Sonics need a turnaround, and now.

NOK (New Orleans/Oklahoma City) Hornets @ Seattle Sonics, 12/26

The Sonics have regained their momentum, as they defended the "hardwood" and held off the Hornets, 102-94. Despite losing point guard Chris Paul in the first quarter, the Hornets kept tight with the Sonics, and the game was tied excitingly at the end of the third quarter, 72-72. But then the Sonics pulled ahead in the final minutes, and kept going until the end. The Sonics have now won two in a row, after losing 6 straight.

Luke Ridnour (the leading point guard for those who don't know) led the Sonics this time in scoring, with 27 points, and also had 9 assists. Luke has stepped up this year and raised his scoring average by over 4 points from last year. Chris Wilcox was a truly powerful presence in the paint, scoring 22 and grabbing 10 rebounds, his 5th double-double of the season. Ray Allen, as I mentioned before, had 21 points and 8 assists. He was a little off his rhythm with free-throws, though. He was 3-6, although previously his free throw percentage was an outstanding 91%.


These two wins in a row can be somewhat credited to the return of Ray Allen, coming at no better a time than when Rashard Lewis- the Sonics second-leading scorer to Allen (and first while Allen was hurt)- injured his hand tendons badly enough to keep him out two months. Allen scored 21 points, on 7-15 shooting from the field, and had 9 assists. In their previous win, Allen scored 28. Two other large factors lately have been Chris Wilcox and Luke Ridnour. Luke has been shooting the ball a lot more this year (and more accurately), and is having success on the drive. When Luke drives, he either makes a nice layup high off the backboard, or he finds somebody to give it to for an easy shot. Wilcox is one guy that opponents absolutely cannot afford to allow the ball to get to. When Chris gets the ball within five feet of the basket, he is gonna score, and if you want to stop him, you're going to have to foul him. Which is another mistake too, because Wilcox (a power forward by the way) shoots almost 70% from the free throw line.

On my basketball team, we were playing against a team with a very tall, strong player who would get fouled often. Guess what? He made every single free throw that game except one. That's the only shot he needed to practice. We lost by three. Those free throws made a huge difference. Free throws a large part of the NBA too, especially with big forwards that get fouled often, but miss their free throws. Chris doesn't miss too many, and he gets fouled a lot. It's a good combination.

The Sonics look forward to facing the Denver Nuggets (still without Carmelo Anthony due to his 15-game suspension from fighting in the Knicks-Nuggets brawl) and Allen Iverson, newly acquired from Philadelphia by Denver. Iverson has a double-double in both of his games with the Nuggets, and hopefully the Sonics can stop him from getting a third. But the Sonics will have to do it without Ray Allen, who will be absent due to the birth of his son. Congratulations Ray, and good luck Sonics!

Toronto Raptors @ Seattle Sonics, 12/23

Well, this is a nice turnaround. After a 6-game losing streak, the Sonics pull out a win against the Raptors, 110-97. Ray Allen's back, Rashard is out. Ray came out of his injury with guns blazing, and he was pretty accurate this time, 28 points, 5-6 from the 3-point line (something he hasn't done in a long time). With the Sonics winning 84-81 at the end of the 3rd quarter, the Sonics knew they would have to pull ahead... and fast, before their bad luck streak of one-shot games could continue. So they outscored Toronto 26-16 in the 4th quarter to close out the game. Good job by the Sonics to close out this game.

Here's what I'm proud of: Ray Allen came out in his debut at home, and he kept in the Sonics game of passing the ball for the shot. When Ray took the shot, he made it most of the time, taking only 15 shots for his 28 points (5-6 FT as well). The proof of this is that the Sonics had 6 players in double digits. Also, the Sonics outrebounded their opponent for the first time in many games, grabbing 45 boards. 5 players had at least 5 rebounds. As a team, the Sonics shot 51 percent from the field. Keep up the good work, Sonics! I hope they play this way more often now!

Dallas Mavericks @ Seattle Sonics, 12/20

This is just getting uglier by the day. After losing 5 in a row on their road trip, the Sonics return home to face the Mavericks, and lose 103-95, after blowing a 56-45 halftime lead. Actually, to be honest, the Sonics didn't do so bad... considering Rashard Lewis, the leading scorer of the Sonics (minus Ray Allen), injured his hand in the first two minutes of the game, and had to sit out the game. Chris Wilcox had 18 points and 9 rebounds, including 4 offensive rebounds. Watson had 18 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds, plus 4 steals. But nobody else on the Sonics had even 5 rebounds, thus continuing the streak of games where the opponent outrebounds the Sonics by a large amount (in this case, Sonics 28, Mavericks 39).
Luke Ridnour had 21 points, 2-3 3-point shooting, and 9 assists. He also fouled out. Damien Wilkins had 11 points and 5 fouls.
Mickael Gelabale had 10 points and 1 foul in 41 minutes on 5-9 shooting. That's his longest game he's had all season, unfortunately thanks to Rashard Lewis' absence.
Ray Allen also didn't play, meaning our two high scorers were out, not just one. And to think that the Sonics were 1 game behind .500, not too long ago. They're now 10-17.

The Sonics had an abnormally high number of fouls that game, 30 total, Luke fouled out, Petro (normal for him) and Wilkins each had 5, Glyniadakis had 4 in 4 minutes, and Wilcox had 3. 3 Sonics had 2 fouls, and Gelabale had 1 in 40 minutes (good for him). On a higher note, however, the Sonics only had 15 turnovers, much better than in previous games. If the Sonics are going to get back on track, they need a win NOW, and need to start playing harder. Also, Rashard and Allen have to stay healthy. Allen's absence was temporarily a good thing, but now the lack of a driving wiz like him is starting to kick in.

Power Outage in Seattle

I'm sorry, but as most of the U.S. knows, Western Washington was struck hard by a huge windstorm that knocked out the power of more than a million houses. Being in Seattle, of course, I was one of them, and even when I got my power back this Monday, I still didn't have Internet until today, Wednesday. I won't have game reports for the games during the blackout, but from now on I will. Sorry for the delay (blame Mother Nature) and pray for those here who still don't have power and have been cold and without power for a week now, and those who have died from using generators and receiving carbon monoxide poisoning.
Thanks,

Mitchell

Seattle Sonics @ Chicago Bulls, 12/13

I can't say that this game went too well for the Sonics, who lost 99-84. But give a lot of credit to the Bulls, in main respect to Ben Wallace (15 points, 8 offensive rebounds [20 total], 5 blocked shots) and Ben Gordon (27 points, 4-8 3-pointers, 6 assists, 3 steals, 7-8 FT). Again, a problem with the Sonics was TURNOVERS. The Sonics lost this part of the game to the Bull by a score of 18 Sonics TO to 10 Bulls TO. The Bulls were playing truely unselfish basketball, passing that ball until they had the best shot they could find, and not rushing anything. The Bulls had a combined 30 assists that game, to the Sonics' 21. And when they missed that shot, there was Wallace, working his hide off getting those 8 offensive rebounds. Chris Wilcox, our usual presence in the paint, was being shut down by Ben Wallace last night. Guess who stepped up?

Johan Petro; 16 points, 8-12 FG, 10 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot, in his bench performance. However, he had 3 fouls in 30 minutes, and he needs to get used to guarding the driving wings, who would easily draw a foul from him on their way to the basket.

Rashard Lewis, fighting almost without the team (again), scored 18, grabbing 13 rebounds, getting 1 pick, and blocking 2 shots. This guy deserves more than he gets, in my opinion.

Yet again, there wasn't much coming from Ridnour, with a meager 11 points on 4-14 shooting. That's hardly any good. Normally he would make up for this with his leadership in passing, but he had only 2 assists in his 30 minutes of play. Who stepped up this time?

Mike Wilks, who had 6 assists in his 24 minutes, drove the ball to the hoop, and tried to get a rally going (which the Sonics did, at one point, to go on an 11-2 run in the 3rd quarter). Also, Desmon Farmer had 4 assists in 11 minutes.

Damien Wilkins has really been stepping up in Ray Allen's empty spot this whole time. He scored 16 points last night, grabbed 8 rebounds, and passed for 7 assists.

Nick Collison, trying his best again, but falling on his face a few times, scored 5 points, and blocked a shot, although he too, like Wilcox, was shut down by Wallace on the post. Despite this, the Sonics outscored the Bulls 42-36 in the paint, though mainly due to the ballhandling and driving of the guards and Rashard Lewis and Damien Wilkins. The Sonics were truely beaten last night. The Bulls shut down their front line, and the second line wasn't quite enough. But I must give a lot of credit to Petro, who played strong that game when Wilcox and Collison couldn't break through. Look for Petro playing more, but not a ton more, because of all the fouls he commits that aren't necessary.

Seattle Sonics @ Milwaukee Bucks, 12/12

Well... I guess all I can say is that I wish we had Ray Allen to take those buzzer-beaters. The Bucks (Allen's former team, but Allen didn't play, to their disappointment) beat out the Sonics 94-93. The Sonics had the ball with 2 seconds left, but with Rashard Lewis wide open, the inbound pass went to Luke Ridnour (i guess Bob Hill wanted to surprise them, since Rashard is our usual shooter). Luke couldn't get a shot off (kudos to the Bucks, because that's what we specialize in), and so the Bucks took the victory. It was a close race the whole game, and it came down to the end. As I said earlier, Ray Allen did not play. The Sonics are now 10-12, after this loss broke their string of 3 wins in a row. But this is their 8th game decided by one shot (3 points or less), and they are now 3-5 in those games. We started with the same lineup again, Ridnour, Lewis, Wilkins, Wilcox, and Collison, as we did in our streak. Here's how they did (and some other mentionable performances)

Luke Ridnour: 12 points, 8 assists, 6 TO (turnover points have been a problem for the Sonics lately)

Rashard Lewis: 26 points, 11-20 FG, 3-3 FT, 4 assists, 5 rebounds. (that's good shooting for Lewis, who takes lots of jumpshots and fade-aways)

Damien Wilkins: 15 points, 2 steals, 5-9 FG, 5-5 FT, 5 TO (again with the turnovers)

Chris Wilcox: 16 points, 2-3 FT, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 blocked shot. Wilcox is quick and can grab a steal and score on the fastbreak. He's a wonderful asset to the team

Nick Collison: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 turnovers (Nick is improving every week, but he still has a lot to learn about playing center)

And now the extremely mentionable bench players:

Johan Petro: 12 points, 9 rebounds (4 offensive rebounds), 6-6 FG, 1 steal. That's an incredible performance for a bench player. However, he had 4 fouls in the 12 minutes he played. He needs to work on his defense, because that's the only thing holding this guy back from playing.

Mickael Gelabale: 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks. Gelabale has been getting plenty of time lately (22 minutes last night), and has shown lots of hustle, going after that ball out of bounds, fighting for the rebound, and being agressive on defense, going for the block and the steal. That's what a bench player should do, play as hard as he can. I hope he gets more time like this in the future.

Earl Watson: Earl played a true point guard tonight. 0 points, 5 assists, 2 turnovers in the 9 minutes he played. And incredible performance on the passing game, but again, turnover points are simply killing the Sonics.

Mike Wilks: 0 points, 0-1 FG, 0-2 FT, 1 steal. I suppose if you wanted to blame one person in particular, you could blame Wilks for missing both his free throws. He's a point guard, and should practice that 15-foot free throw just a little more.

And then there's Glyniadakis, who did nothing in 2 minutes except commit a foul. He's our reserve for now, and he just needs some more experience on the court before he'll get better. Expect him to play when the Sonics are plowing down a cruddy team.

I suppose that my theory about Ray Allen moving is probably not likely. I'm not going to kill the theory just as fast as I made it, however. The Sonics can play. They're gaining respect, and more people are realizing that this team will either beat you, or come as close as they can. 10-12 record. 5 losses because of 1 point. You have to respect that, because the Sonics will start rolling, because their chemistry is improving with every game. Shots are going up, rebounds are getting grabbed, but the turnover issue exists because they still need to work together more. As I'll explain:

Before Ray Allen hurt his ankle, Ray would be taking 20-30 shots per game. With those shots gone now, the team is passing more, the forwards are becoming more involved, and our point guards are stepping up their driving, while Rashard is becoming an All-Star shooter, with the skills of posting up, shooting 15 footers, free throws, 3-pointers, and driving by defenders. He's a stem cell in the Sonics' offense. Expect great things from this team. They will succeed, and if you compare the first half of last season to the first half of this season, the Sonics are having a miracle season. Last year they switched gears, and they'll continue that turnaround this year.

Golden State Warriors @ Seattle Sonics, 12/10

What else can I say: WOW. The Sonics, yet again without Ray Allen, beat Golden State in an incredible 107-105 victory. After trailing 56-72 at halftime (16 points behind), the Sonics came out with guns blazing, and managed to pull within 1 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Shortly after in the 4th quarter, they took the lead, and kept it. The Sonics scored first, then the Warriors took the lead later in the 1st, and the lead did not change until the Sonics pulled ahead in the 4th. They kept that lead until the end. Key points (no pun intended):

Luke Ridnour: 26 points, 9 assists, 3-5 from 3-point range (including a 30-footer), 5-7 FT

Rashard Lewis: 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals

Damien Wilkins: 22 points, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), 6-7 FT

Earl Watson: 20 points, 6-7 FT, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover in 33 minutes. Earl has been getting a lot of playing time lately, and he has been using it well. Our lineup just seems to be ON FIRE without Ray Allen in the mix. Like last game, I will return to that subject again.

Chris Wilcox: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2-2 FT, 2 assists. Chris also had a mentionable, furious slam-dunk putback on offense. He's had one in the last two games now.

Nick Collison: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot. Nick has improved much, and he is continuing to develop. Without Swift and Petro playing as often as they did last year, Nick has had plenty of experience on the court this year.

I hate to say it, Ray, but my theory is slowing starting to turn its wheels, and this next game will prove whether or not the wheels will pick up speed. The Sonics are now 10-11, have won 3 games in a row, and are distributing points well, this game having 4 players with at least 20 points. That is no easy feat. That requires passing, rebounding, unselfish playing, patience, and requires players to follow through when their teammates give them the ball for an open shot. Ray is an incredible player, but it seems as though he is becoming less and less a part of the Sonics' chemistry. Can the Sonics play without Ray Allen? Yes, they can. I believe that. For Ray to believe it, and the management, the Sonics are going to have to beat a good team without him. The Warriors are a good team, but not good enough for other teams to think Ray Allen is a hot item.

NOK Hornets @ Seattle Sonics, 12/8

The Sonics beat the Hornets 94-74. This was the SECOND consecutive win for the Sonics without Ray Allen, who is out with a bad ankle. The rest of the Sonics are doing a tremendous job of stepping up and using the shots that they get when Ray isn't there. I'll get back to that subject later.

Damien Wilkins has been starting for Ray, and had 14 points, 4 steals, and 4 assists, plus only 1 turnover yesterday. What I'm proud of is how the forwards are really stepping up, something they haven't done in a long time.

Wilcox led the team with 19 points (7-10 from the free throw line) and 8 rebounds, but unforunately this performance was clouded by his 6 turnovers.

Collison, who has been playing at his peak this year, scored 8 points and grabbed 7 defensive rebounds (and one offensive board).

Rashard had 15 points, shooting 2-6 from the 3-point range, and grabbed five rebounds. Unfortunately, he too had turnover problems, with 5.

Although Luke Ridnour started, he wasn't the fifth main contributer. It was Earl Watson who was the big story of the night. Earl had 17 points, 7 assists, 5 steals, and only 2 turnovers in the 25 minutes he played (his longest start in a long time).

The Sonics shot 45.5% on their field goals as a team, and an impressive 77.8% from the free throw line (the Hornets only shot only 38.9% FG and 57.7% FT). Play of the game: Chris Wilcox gets the ball low, puts up a hook that bounces nice and easy straight off the rim, for Mickael Gelabale to slam it down, firing up the crowd and giving the Sonics even more momentum.Now back to Ray Allen.

The Sonics are proving that they can win without him. They played the Atlanta Hawks (8-10) and beat them, then the Hornets (9-9) and beat them. Now what they have to do is beat a team that has a winning record. Neither of their next two opponents have that. My point: if the Sonics can prove that they can win against good teams without Ray Allen, and that Ray Allen's absence helps the Sonics more evenly distribute shots, then he might be a marketing option. That sounds absurd, I can tell, but if the Sonics can beat a few good teams without him, then we might be looking at one crazy year as far as team changes.

There is nothing yet, but just a possibility in the future. Truth is, the Sonics have had more players with double-digits in the games without Ray then the games with him. Thus, the "Sonics" are winning, not "Rashard and Ray" are winning. Just simple speculation, and early speculation, so don't worry... yet. There are probably several people out there thinking the same thing.

Atlanta Hawks @ Seattle Sonics, 12/5

The Sonics beat the Hawks today, 102-87. Oh, and one more little detail. Ray Allen didn't play. Allen says the reason he didn't play was his "ankle", but after his comments yesterday on how the rest of the team needs to contribute to offense- because he said they could- I don't think that's likely (he was walking around just fine, too). But don't get me wrong, it was a good idea. The Sonics all proved that they could play. Here's the box score of scoring for the Sonics:
Rashard Lewis [SF]: 29 points, 10-16 FG, 3-6 3-pointers, 6-6 FT, 8 Rebounds, 4 blocks, two steals, and only ONE turnover in 41 minutes.

Chris Wilcox [PF]: 18 points, 7-16 FG, 4-6 FT, 9 rebounds (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers in 40 minutes.Luke Ridnour [PG]: 14 points, 7-14 FG, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers in 29 minutes.

Nick Collison [PF]: 11 points, 5-11 FG, 1-3 FT, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), 3 turnovers in 35 minutes.

Earl Watson [PG]: 10 points, 5-8 FG, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers in 26 minutes.

Damian Wilkins [SG/SF]: 10 points, 3-5 FG, 4-4 FT, 8 rebounds (4 offensive), 4 assists, 3 steals, ZERO turnovers in 22 minutes (Wilkins started too, a rare occurence, but he showed that he earned it).

Johan Petro [C]: 8 points, 4-5 FG, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover in 12 minutes (he left the game after getting an elbow to the face from an Atlanta Hawks player, and he got called for a foul. the officials obviously got the call wrong, the replay was obvious, it took place right at the top of the key. the league will review it, and point it out to the referees from that game. it didn't turn out to make a huge difference, so I'm not extremely annoyed by it)

Desmon Farmer [G]: 2 points, 1-1 FG, in 2 minutes (the last two minutes, it was his first basket of the season)

Mickael Gelabale [SF]: 0 points, 4 rebounds, 2 turnovers in 20 minutes (but he had an important hustle play where he caught a ball going out of bounds, looked back, THEN passed it, made the pass to Petro, who kicked it out to Lewis, who drained a three-pointer)

Mouhamed Sene [C]: 0 points, 1 rebound, 3 turnovers in 7 minutes.

Mike Wilks [PG]: 0 points, 1 assist (to Desmon Farmer, who made his first shot this season)Andreas Glyniadakis [C]: 0 everything, played for only seconds.

Obviously, the one thing the Sonics need to improve on is handling the ball and not turning it over so often (23 total team turnovers). But otherwise, the Sonics proved that they could play without Ray Allen, and I am sure Ray is happy and was smiling the whole time. Of course, this is the Atlanta Hawks (now 7-9), but they weren't giving up. At least, Joe Johson wasn't. Johnson scored 34 points, including 3 3-pointers, and seemed to always start a rally whenever the Sonics were finally starting to pull away. But the lack of support from his teammates finally sunk in, and the Sonics closed out the game just fine.

The Sonics are now 8-11, 7 games behind Utah (15-4) in the Northwest Conference. But 8-11 is an improving record from last year. I just hope they keep up the momentum that they've just started. We know that the Sonics can win without Ray Allen now. Now we get to sit and watch as they win with him. I'm personally happy with how the Sonics are doing. Any comments on the team, feel free. Basic recap: Ray Allen doesn't play, 6 players on the Sonics get double-digits, Petro gets 8, and Collison and Wilcox really stick their necks out to dominate the paint. Less shots for Allen, more shots for the rest of the team.

Don't get me wrong, Allen is amazing on the drive, but his 3-point shooting this year is, frankly, terrible (averages 7.7 attempts this year, only 2.4 makes). Those long-shots that he drained time after time last year just aren't falling this year. And I'd rather see him pass it or drive to the hoop instead of shoot the three. He just doesn't have it right now, so he should just take 4 or 5 a game, but focus on driving, and creating a play in the paint with Collison, Wilcox, Petro, and Sene. They've all proven they can score, they've done what Ray asked, now Ray just has to do his part by getting them the ball, or putting up a layup or short shot that they can rebound if he misses.*for those new to basketball stats: FG= field goals (all shots except free throws)FT= free throwsTO= turnover(s) [i didn't use TO this time, but i may in the future]and positions:G= Guard (varies between SG and PG)PG= Point Guard
SG= Shooting Guard
PF= Power Forward
SF= Small Forward
C= Center