The Sonics lost again last night, pushing the losing streak to 10 games (now that the streak has reached double digits, I'm going to grant it italicized status). I (and every Sonics fan) had hoped that by this point in the season we would be referring to a streak of Kevin Durant 30 point games, or Earl Watson 10 assist games, but instead we're being treated to a ten game losing streak as a winless January becomes increasingly possible. Last night's 111-96 loss to the Maverick's certainly did nothing to brighten the mood.
Dallas controlled the game from the opening tap, opening up a 33-24 lead in the first quarter and 66-44 at the half. The Sonics' halfhearted rally fell well short, and the game ended as a 16 point Maverick victory. Wally Szczerbiak continued his strong play, scoring 26 point on 9-15 shooting (sound familiar?). Oddly, Wally did a lot of work at the charity stripe, going 8-8 from the line, while only taking (and missing) two 3-pointers. Szczerbiak has increased his scoring average every month of the season, and is certainly the most consistent option on offense considering Durant's up and down season. Nick Collison had another strong game contributing 16 points and 12 rebounds. Collison's 16 point night was his 3rd highest offensive output of both the season and the month. January has marked a significant increase in production for the power forward, with Collison totaling 24, 18, 16 and 15 points during the losing stretch. Collison's play in spite of the losing streak and tough season echo one of my beliefs of looking at the college player's who come from the winning programs (Collison went to KU). I'm a big stat guy, but I also believe there is something to be said for knowing how to win. Playing like the game matters, even when it doesn't prepares to succeed when it does matter. FYI, Collison's PER is 16.09 this season, a career high.
I have deja vu writing these posts, as I always try to accenuate the positives, noting who played well, and spending less time on who played poorly (ideally anyway). I follow college sports intently (I am from Oklahoma after all), and I don't believe in ripping athletes just because they go about their jobs in a very public arena. But after watching the same players have little or no positive impact on the game over and over again, it's hard not to point it out. The Sonics have gotten nothing out of the point guard position this year. I had high hopes for Delonte West, but his minutes seem to yo-yo and he can't stay healthy enough to build up any momentum. Earl Watson is the lesser of 3 evils, but on a team that is playing so poorly on the offensive end, the offensively challenged point guard has to be viewed critically. Luke Ridnour is shooting under 40% on the season (the Earl Watson line), and also has trouble staying healthy. Damien Wilkins has completely squandered his strong start, regressing to a level where it wouldn't be noticed if he dropped off of the roster entirely. Chris Wilcox's production dropped off after a great start, and now he's trying to get back into the flow after injury. 1-2 of these guys are going to have to turn their season around for the Sonics to pull out of this tailspin.
I omitted Kurt Thomas, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green from the players listed above for different reasons. Thomas is still playing pretty well, and doesn't deserve any criticism. He's not in the Sonic's long term plans anyway given his age. Jeff Green was having a pretty darn good rookie year until January. At some point, Coach Carlesimo moved Green to the perimeter, when in actuality he's a 3/4 tweener. He still needs some time on the inside, but since Kurt Thomas has come back there have been less minutes available inside. Consequently, his rebounding and shooting % have plummeted from his first two months. Green needs to get more minutes in the post to regain some of his confidence. Durant is just confusing. He's taking much longer than anyone anticipated to adjust to the NBA game, and by adjust, I mean show any signs of tangible improvement. Durant's offensive output has slightly declined in each month of the season, to the point that he is shooting just 38% from the field in January, pulling his season fg% to .399 (aka below the Earl Watson line). It will take a whole post to summarize my feelings on Durant, but to start with I think he needs to be shifted to the Small Forward position. I know Coach Carlemsimo thinks he's a shooting guard, but he's not. He's a small forward. Eventually you have to hope that these things become so obvious that everyone knows a change has to be made, and the change is made. I guess we aren't that point yet.
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