Friday Links, Thoughts, and Picks

A new feature which I'm copying from Aaron Gleeman is going to start today: Friday Links, Thoughts, and Picks. I'm going to post some relavant Sonics articles, from National and Seattle media, as well as some general thoughts, and picks for the Sonics upcoming game (as well as other NBA games of note).

Links:

Jack McCallum wrote an interesting piece yesterday detailing his meeting with Clay Bennett. McCallum is one of the more 'inside' writers in the business and he gives a semi-positive report on his face-to-face with Bennet, as well as the the rest of key figures in the franchise.

Percy Allen has a nice story from last Sunday's Seattle Times discussing the opening week in the NBA lives of Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.

Good news: Kurt Thomas' hamstring is only strained, and he is still day to day. Bad news: probably won't play tonight, and the Sonics could use him against the rugged Utah frontcourt. Ugly news: Wednesday's game vs. Memphis drew only 10,761. Now this was a mid-week game, vs. a less than marquee opponent, but you would expect better attendance numbers for Kevin Durant's second game.

Luke Ridnour might be able to stop wearing the hideous face mask next week (bottome of the column in the notes section).

Thoughts:

Do the Sonics have anyone that can slow down Carlos Boozer? He's picked up right where he left off last season, averaging 24 ppg and 13 rpg for the 3-2 Jazz, and is an underrated passer out of the post, averaging over 3 assists per game over the last two seasons. Expect Wilcox to start on Boozer, but Collison should get solid minutes on Boozer after Swift sits soon after the opening tip.

The Jazz also have a decided advantage at point guard, as Deron Williams as seemingly taken another step forward averaging 20 and 10 (ppg/apg). His 22.14 PER is borderline all-star level right now. The second coming of Stockton and Malone indeed.

Mehmet Okur holds down the Center position...sort of. Though he's the biggest starter for the Jazz, he's a feared shooter, and will draw Swift (or Wilcox) out of the lane, as he must be respected from outside. Defensively he's not much to write home about, but neither are any of the Sonics options in the post aside fromWilcox.

Picks: The Jazz are a loaded team, and their strengths seem to match up perfectly with the Sonics weaknesses. They even have an excellent defensive player to lock-up Durant in Andrei Kirilenko. Utah 111 - Sonics 99.

Starting today, I'm also going to give a couple of recreational gambling picks. These will just be some games I particularly like, and would be inclined to bet on if there was any place to legally gamble in Oklahoma. Home teams are in bold.

Utah (-6) over Seattle
LA Clippers (+7.5) over Detroit
Indiana (-2) over Charlotte
Boston (-8.5) over Atlanta

We'll keep track throughout the season, and see how I do.