They are still young, folks, they are still young. After a 2-game winning streak against two of the weaker foes in the Eastern Conference, Miami and Atlanta, the Sonics came back to Earth against the Bobcats in a 100-84 loss in Charlotte. This wasn't really that surprising, especially considering the shocking double-OT victory over the Hawks just the night before, which ended with Kevin Durant hitting his first game-winning shot, a 3-pointer as time expired.
Unfortuneatly for the Sonics, there wasn't much carryover, as Durant again struggled from the field, shooting just 3-12 from the field. But he showed some real grit, and went to work, going to the stripe 10 times and hitting all of his free throws to finish with 16 points. Durant has a lot of trouble shooting the rock this year, but this is the 2nd time he's had a rough shooting night, but still made a positive impact by getting to the line 10 times. For the season, Durant is shooting 86% from the line, in stark contrast to his 38% shooting from the field. If he's going to have such a rough time shooting the ball, he's going to need to have more games like this so that he doesn't become a liability. Not that there's any force on Earth that should keep the Sonics from playing him 30 minutes a night.
Damien Wilkins followed up his 41 point outburst with 19 points on 5-16 shooting with 7 rebounds. Clearly, Damien was still feeling it, as he uncorked those 16 shots on an off shooting night, but its nice to see another scoring option step up. One problem with the Wilkins/Durant combo at the small forward/shooting guard positions. Their opponents on the Bobcats, Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson combined to go for 50 points on 50% shooting including 5-10 from 3. We know Durant is a liability on defense, but Wilkins is going to have to step it up to help out his young counterpart.
Chris Wilcox put together another really strong game, especially in the first half when he scored 19 of his 24 points. Wilcox also added 9 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 assists for a nice looking box score. He continued to get it done in limited minutes, playing only 28 in the game. Wilcox has been the Sonics best player this year with a PER of 18.14 through the first 10 games, narrowly edging out Damien Wilkins (PER: 18.13), but continues to play only 31 minutes a game. Wilcox's per 40 minute averages suggest he would be a 20/10 player if he got minutes a player of his caliber deserves. Does he tire easily (he's currently at a career high in minutes per game)? Is Coach Carlesimo under a management-edict to play Wilcox only 30 minutes to suppress his numbers and make it easier to resign him? Is Coach Carlesimo just enamored with the heretofore untapped potential in Johan Petro and M. Sene? Whatever the reason, if the Sonics want to win, Wilcox needs more minutes. Averaging 35 a game for the rest of the season would be a great start.
Luke Ridnour got another DNP as Earl Watson and Delonte Watson combined for 48 minutes of ineffectiveness. I don't think Ridnour is the answer either, but I'm tired of looking at the question. The point guard position must be addressed before the start of next season.
The Sonics now get Sunday off, before finishing their road trip with a game in Memphis. The Supersonics will get the chance to avenge a 105-98 loss to the Grizzlies which also included Durant's 3-17 game (though he did go 10-10 from the line as mentioned earlier).
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