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.