Thoughts Before Game 2...

• Is Damien Wilkins now a 3-point marksman? Wilkins picked up right where he finished last season hitting 4-6 from outside. This comes after finishing last April on a tear where he shot over 45% from 3 while taking 3.5 of them per game. The team lost two of the best 3-point shooters in the game this offseason, but Wilkins improvement and the addition of Durant might be able to make up for it.
• Can the Sonics slow down the Suns? This game is going to be another shootout. The Sonics clearly seemed to tire last night as the game went on, while the Nuggets blew the game open in the 4th quarter. Can the Sonics keep up for their home opener on the 2nd night of a back-to-back?
• Two games, Two national TV appearances. Anyone else think the Kevin Durant era might draw more national attention?
• It will be interesting to watch how Durant's minutes are monitored. Will they hold him to around 30 mpg this year? Or will they take off the covers and start running him for the 40 mpg he's destined to play in this league. Personally, I hope they bring him along slowly. He's still unbelievably skinny, and its going to be a LOOOOONG year. That said, if his ankle is fully healed, and he starts playing at an all-star limit, it's going to take an organizational mandate for Coach Carlesimo to not play him 40 minutes a night.
• The Sonics actually outrebounded the stout Nugget's frontline last night. Nick Collison and Johan Petro both grabbed 10+ boards in 30 and 24 minutes respectively. Chiris Wilcox and Wilkins both grabbed 8 apiece. There will be a lot of balls up for grab tonight, and the Sonics should be able to out-rebound the smaller Suns by a substantial margin. It will be interesting to see how this plays out this season.
• Johan Petro! If he can give us a double-double in 25 mpg this year, that will be a huge leap forward. He's still really young, and one of the bigs the Sonics have drafted over the years has to pan out. Might as well be Petro. He added two blocks to his statline as well.
• The Seattle police have put out an APB for Wally Szczerbiak. He hasn't been seen since the Ray Allen trade. If anyone has any information, please contact Coach Carlesimo.
• The Sonics shot 59% from the stripe last night on 16-27 shooting. This team is not good enough to give away points at the line. It was a group effort, and Jeff Green should improve on his 3-7 performance as the first-game jitters wear off. He shot 78% from the stripe last year at Georgetown, but only 62% the year before that. Hopefully he'll be closer to 78% in the pros.

I'm excited for game-time. It's going to be a tough game to win, but if the Suns come out flat, or if Shawn Marion attacks Amare' Stoudamire at halftime, the Sonics could sqeak one out. Otherwise it's going to be an 0-2 start.