No Love for the Sonics

Game 5: San Antonio

I was eagerly anticipating writing my glowing review of Ray Allen, Antonio Daniels, Luke Ridnour and the smart, gritty play of the bench (Nick Collison). Sadly, the lack of defense on Ginobli and Mohammed in the 3rd quarter in particular, combined with the defensive effort by the Spurs on Ray Allen means that the upbeat commentary/love letter is shelved until Thursday night. That's right, the Sonics will win on Thursday. They haven't lost a playoff game at home. Key Arena will be LOUD. Ray Allen will not have two poor shooting games in a row. I could go on with the reasons why there will be a Game 7 in San Antonio, but I won't.

The Sonics should be encouraged that they managed to stay in the game despite the lack of offensive output from their All-Star guard. The Spurs' aggressive play at the start of the 3rd quarter was their undoing. I'm not sure what was worse, watching the Spurs go ahead or listening to the crack commentating team on TNT discuss how Reggie Evans was not an offensive presence last night. Apparently, they haven't noticed that he is rarely, if ever, an offensive presence. That said, I prefer TNT coverage to ESPN/ABC coverage, woe are NBA fans when the finals are broadcast on ABC. I'm not sure anything compares to Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkely. And I mean that in a good way. They are amusing, insightful, crass at times, and merciless at others. You have to appreciate their honesty even if they are tearing apart your favorite player or team.

Time for work and to studiously avoid all negative articles about the Sonics. I like the bubble I live in and I'm going to keep it that way for another couple of days...