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News, Sports

Seattle’s “New” Sonics Team Not Likely to be Super Soon

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DeMarcus Cousins (photo by Scott Mecum via Wikipedia)
DeMarcus Cousins (photo by Scott Mecum via Wikipedia)

Give a starving man a burger, and he’s not going to ask whether it’s made from organic beef. So it is with we local basketball fans, who miss the NBA too much to quibble about the composition of the team we’re likely to get. Which, not to be harsh, but when we talk about the Sacramento Kings, we’re talking more “what-Burger-King-doesn’t-want-you-to-know” than grass-fed.

The Sacramento Kings have one good player. This is not hyperbole, it is documented statistical fact. According to John Hollinger’s widely-loved Player Efficiency Rating, only one Kings player rates among the NBA’s top 50.

That player, DeMarcus Cousins, is an immature hothead. This too is documented statistical fact: Cousins is the NBA leader in technical fouls with 12, and yesterday managed to get ejected from a game during halftime.

Cousins’ problems do not end there — he is out of shape, an inconsistent defender, and gambles too much on both ends of the floor.

On the other hand, Cousins is a rare talent. His combination of a 6’-11″, 270-pound body and world-class athleticism is once-in-a-generation. And he is a multi-faceted player — Cousins leads the Kings in points, rebounds, and steals, and is second in assists. He is unstoppable at the basket, and is a decent outside shooter. Eventually, he’ll be a threat from three-point range à la Sam Perkins or Rasheed Wallace.

The rest of the Kings one cannot say as many nice things about. Starting point guard Isaiah Thomas is a local hero — a Tacoma kid who starred at the University of Washington — but he is simply too short to be an effective defender against starting NBA point guards. Starting shooting guard Tyreke Evans struggles with an important part of his job description — shooting. I could go on, but I don’t want to depress myself.

If you read Sactown Royalty, the best of the Sacramento Kings fan blogs, you’ll see that alongside the justifiable anger about the prospect of losing their team is some gallows humor. To paraphrase, it’s basically: “Can you believe we’re fighting to keep this team?”

Sonics fans will remember the sentiment. While we were all hectoring our legislators and damning David Stern, the basketball team we were trying to save was perpetrating embarrassments like a 168-112 loss. There may even be a relocation blues phenomenon–one Kings blogger has charted a decline in the team’s play since the sale was announced.

If there’s a bright side to look on, its that the Kings are helping secure a better draft pick with little or no emotional damage to their future fans. If the season ended today, the Kings would have the league’s 7th worst record and a 1 in 8 chance of landing one of the top three picks in June’s draft. Continued awfulness would push them down the standings and potentially up the draft order.

The downside, of course, is that if the team loses a lot, they are even worse than we thought. You may not care right now, Seattle. Just want you to know that come November you could be leaving KeyArena with a bad taste in your mouth.

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Sports

What Makes Everyone So Sure the Sonics Really Are Coming Back?

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sonicsnodderChris Hansen and Steve Ballmer’s plan to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle was presented as a done deal when the news came out earlier this week. However, Sacramento’s efforts to keep the team have dominated headlines ever since. What makes people so sure the Sonics really will come back? I’m here to tell you.

Q: Sacramento is putting together a counter-offer, funded by billionaires, to buy the team and keep them where they are. What happens if the NBA takes that offer?

A: The NBA can’t just “take an offer.” This isn’t an auction. NBA owners will vote, likely in April, on whether to approve the specific sale agreement between the Hansen/Ballmer group and Sacramento’s current owners, the mercurial and nearly-insolvent Maloof family. If the NBA rejects the sale, the team goes back to the Maloofs.

Q: Couldn’t the Maloofs then sell the team to the Sacramento group for the same price?

A: They could, but why would they? Now they have the leverage of a bidding war. They could drive the price up further and keep the franchise in a period of uncertainty–the last thing the NBA wants.

Q: Has the NBA ever cancelled a sale agreement?

A: They have, actually. In 1994, the league blocked the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves to a group that intended to move the team to New Orleans. However, the league’s decision had less to do with the possible relocation of the team than the fact the new buyers — headed by a boxing promoter — didn’t actually have the cash to buy the team; their financing plan relied on unknown investors, unsigned loans, and future revenue from an unbuilt arena. Even so, the NBA’s rejection of that deal was called “stunning” at the time.

Q: If the sale is approved, won’t the NBA owners still have to approve the move?

A: Yes. And NBA commissioner David Stern has promised Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson the opportunity to argue that the team should stay before NBA owners vote. But NBA owners typically like to support the rights of their fellow owners to move their teams wherever they want. You may remember a team called the Seattle SuperSonics that wanted to move despite a massive outcry from fans, protests from two U.S. Senators, and a proposal to keep the team in Seattle by one of the richest men in the world. The NBA approved that move 28-2.

Q: So it’s a 100%-absolute-sure-thing?

A: Of course not. The NBA could find that Chris Hansen’s wealth is entirely tied up in risky Somalian goat futures. Steve Ballmer could be revealed as the true identity of Jack the Ripper. Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson could have compromising photos from the Annual NBA Owners Nazi Dress-Up Orgy. Nothing is 100 percent, but barring some unforeseen circumstance, the Kings will play here as the Sonics this fall.

Q: Is it fair that Sacramento fans are likely losing their team?

A: No, it is terribly unfair. It was also terribly unfair when the Kings left Kansas City for Sacramento under shady circumstances. It was unfair when the Sonics left for Oklahoma City. It’s unfair that society says we have to wear pants to work. If you’re going to wait around for life to be fair, you’d better bring a book.

You can buy that Sonics bobblehead for $75 from Gasoline Alley Antiques.

News, Sports

The Sonics (and the NBA) are Coming Back to Seattle!

sonicsnodder“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” — Trad.

Our fight seems so silly now. You wanted a new home, we wondered what was wrong with the old one. Soon we stopped trusting each other, even stooped to name-calling. You started thinking you’d be better off with someone else. And — we’ll admit it — sometimes we thought that too. But then you left.

And we went crazy.

We made movies for you, we bitched out our friends for talking to you, we tried to pretend you didn’t exist. We even stalked you 3,000 miles away. We had to have you back. Of course we’ll build you a new place. Need a loan?

Now you’re coming back. And we are SO HAPPY.

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Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer have negotiated a deal to buy the Sacramento Kings. They’ll ask and almost assuredly get permission to move the team to Seattle for the 2013-14 season. After five seasons without, Seattle will have an NBA team again.

The NBA was not a runaway success when it first came to Seattle in 1967. There had been no huge public demand, no heroic local owner — at first, the NBA didn’t even disclose who the owners were. Only 4,500 people came to the Supersonics’ first home game; the team was frequently outdrawn at Seattle Center Coliseum by a minor league hockey team.

As the Sonics improved and hockey left, Seattle embraced pro hoops. In 1979 the Sonics moved to the larger Kingdome and won an NBA championship. The team led the NBA in attendance in each of the next four seasons. From 1975 to 1998, Seattle was one of the NBA’s most consistently successful teams, missing the playoffs just five times.

Then things went downhill. A storm of shrinking state budgets, terrible coaching, terrible drafting, a petty and tone-deaf owner, and clueless local leadership pushed the team into the hands of out-of-town owners, who moved the franchise to Oklahoma City over desperate local protests.

While most fans of the former Sonics were in one of the various stages of grief, one man was looking to the future. And, thank God, that man is really, really rich. Seattle-raised hedge fund manager Chris Hansen started quietly buying land south of Safeco Field for a potential new arena.

Once his purchases became public, he negotiated first with the city and county to get political support for a new arena, and then with the mercurial owners of the Sacramento Kings to purchase that franchise. The NBA must still approve the sale and the move, but barring Hansen’s $951-million hedge fund going under, approval is a formality. The result: Largely due to Hansen’s patient, low-key efforts, Seattle will have basketball again in October and a state-of-the-art arena soon after.

In the next few weeks, you may notice strange behaviors from local sports fans — penciling out season ticket budgets on envelopes, suddenly taking an interest in a confused 22-year-old named DeMarcus Cousins, standing wordlessly and worshipfully outside KeyArena. Our minds are in the future now too, instead of the past. In about nine months, we’ll be proud hoops parents.

You can buy that Sonics bobblehead for $75 from Gasoline Alley Antiques.

News, Sports

The Mariners Give Seattle Hope Just When We Need It

If your Twitter feed includes many Seattle sports fans, Wednesday night was a scroll through Hell.

In the moments after the Oklahoma City “Zombie Sonics” Thunder advanced to the NBA Finals, the anger came in a flood. And those are tweets from professional writers! As you can imagine, those from regular folks were even more colorful. Happily, at this bleak moment, our town’s baseball team–if you’ve forgotten, they’re called the Mariners–look like they just might be emerging from a decade of irrelevance.

In a nine-game road trip over the last week-and-a-half against three of the best teams in the American League, the Mariners went 5-4 and scored 66 runs. A 21-8 romp over defending AL champs Texas was the highlight, the most runs scored by a team all season. (The Mariners also had a perfect game pitched against them this year, so they own the best and the worst team offensive performances in MLB. Baseball is weird!) The happy portent of the road trip wasn’t just that so many runs were scored, but who scored them–the outburst was powered by the Mariners’ young hitters. In the nine games:

–1B/DH Justin Smoak had 3 homers.
–C Jesus Montero had 12 hits.
–3B Kyle Seager drove in 10 runs.
–CF Michael Saunders hit .487.
–2B Dustin Ackley scored 9 runs.

None of these guys is older than 25!

Don Draper watches the 2002-2011 Mariners

The last 11 seasons of Mariners baseball have been ugly. No playoff appearances, six last-place finishes, two 100-loss seasons. Not to mention the off-field problems: disastrous trades, horrible drafting, awful free agent signings, and plummeting attendance. Still, there have been glimpses of competence. The Mariners won 88 games in 2007, and 85 games in 2009. But that success wasn’t sustainable. The best hitters on both teams were older than 30–expensive veterans whose salaries were rising as their production was diminishing.

In 2012, the Mariners’ best hitters are young. They’re getting better and they are under team control–that is, they aren’t eligible to become free agents–for several more years. The future, for the first time, seems bright. Cue Jimmy Cliff.

Saunders especially seems to have turned a corner after being one of baseball’s worst hitters last season. Check out these charts USS Mariner ginned up, showing how successful Saunders has been at that toughest of all batting skills, hitting the ball to the opposite field.

This weekend, Saunders and the rest of the Mariners get to measure themselves against baseball’s best team. The Los Angeles Dodgers come to town for the first time since 2000, for a three-game, Friday-to-Sunday series. I’m going Friday night–seems like a better idea than sitting at home thinking about the Thunder.

Sometime next week, the 45-year-old franchise that was the Seattle Supersonics will compete in just their 4th NBA Finals. The man who took the team to Oklahoma City could well end up hoisting a championship trophy. For Seattleites who rooted for the team in their 41 years here, it’s a tough pill to swallow. Here’s hoping the resurgent Mariners can make it go down a little more smoothly.

News, Sports

Could Soccer Be the Sport Seattle Finally “Beats L.A.” In?

How long must Seattle sports fans suffer at the hands, bats, shoulder pads, and now feet, of teams from Los Angeles? The Sounders are the latest local franchise to absorb annual Angelino assaults, having won just once in eight MLS matches against the L.A. Galaxy. They get another shot at the Galaxy tonight, at 7 p.m., at CenturyLink Field..

Culturally and aesthetically, we Seattleites have no desire to best Los Angeles. On our weekends we choose hiking over Hollywood, on our bodies we choose Burt’s Bees over botox. In sports, it’s different. A generation of Seattle sports fans has desperately desired to, and frequently chanted, “Beat L.A.” But our hopes, like a North Face sleeveless fleece vest on Rodeo Drive, seem misplaced.

Something about the words “Los Angeles” strikes #FAIL into the hearts of Seattle sports franchises: The dreadful ’70s and ’80s Mariners played the franchise then known as the California Angels as well as they played any other team, and went 66-60 against the Anaheim Angels. Then, in 2005, that franchise added “Los Angeles” to their name, and the Mariners have gone 49-83 against them since.

The Seahawks lost eight straight against the Los Angeles Raiders in the early ‘90s. The Los Angeles Lakers, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, swept the Sonics four to zip in the 1987 NBA playoffs, and again in 1989.

Those late ‘80s Lakers/Sonics matchups may be the best comparison to the Sounders/Galaxy rivalry. Like those Lakers teams, the Galaxy are studded with stars. The supreme stud: David Beckham, one of the best-known people on Earth. The Galaxy also have Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane, who’ve both captained their respective national teams and are well-known to soccer fans worldwide.

The Sounders are a good team. But who the hell are they? Outside of Seattle, the names Fredy Montero, Mauro Rosales, and Brad Evans are known only to hard-core fans–much like the late ’80s Sonics Xavier McDaniel, Tom Chambers, and Dale Ellis.

(While we may argue whether Abdul-Jabbar or the X-Man had the better movie cameo, their relative on-court merits are indisputable.)

You may already be asking yourself: Why do Seattle teams get perennially mauled by those from Los Angeles. You obviously weren’t paying attention to the Black Bloc’s message yesterday. The answer is: Money.

Los Angeles has a larger local television market, so their teams get more lucrative local television contracts, which means more money, which means better players. According to ESPN’s recent (and awesome) survey of world professional sports team salaries, the average player on a Los Angeles professional team is making $3.8 million. The average player on a Seattle professional team is making $1.8 million. (Here, check my work!) Who do you think gets the better players?

It is no accident that the one Seattle team that has the best record against their L.A. counterparts–the Seahawks (11-13 against the L.A. Raiders)–are in the NFL, the one professional league where television contracts are negotiated only on a national level, with the revenue shared among the teams.

Until the other leagues decide to start sharing local television revenue (which, frankly, will never happen), Seattle teams will always be at a disadvantage. The inequity of television revenue may even keep us from getting another NBA team–the Maloof brothers, who own the Sacramento Kings, are considering moving to Anaheim, where they can command a piece of L.A.’s sports market. Even though Los Angeles already has two NBA teams, owning DVR-proof programming in such a large and influential market is more valuable than being the only show in town in Seattle.

Twice the money doesn’t always get you twice the player. But it helps. If you watch the Galaxy/Sounders match tonight (7 p.m., KONG TV), you’ll be watching a team with a $17-million payroll against a team with a $5-million payroll.

On the bright side, a large part of that payroll isn’t with the team today. Beckham, Keane, and starting goalkeeper Josh Saunders reportedly didn’t travel to Seattle. For once, a Seattle/L.A. will be a fair match.

News, Sports

Seahawks to End One of Seattle’s Three Great Sports Droughts?

The 2012 NFL Draft begins Thursday, and is considered to be one of the deepest drafts ever by people who consider these things. The Seahawks pick twelfth overall, and are expected to take a pass-rushing defensive end.

I am hoping they do. Getting a good, pass-rushing defensive end wouldn’t just address the weak link of the Seahawks defense, it would end a Seattle sports drought.

Every sports franchise seems to have one position they just can’t seem to get right. For the Mariners, it’s been leftfield, where they haven’t had an All-Star performer since 1981. During Ken Griffey Jr.’s 1989-99 reign in centerfield, 67 different men manned left for the Mariners. I made a Sporcle quiz to prove it!

Center was Sonics’ gaping hole–after they traded seven-time All-Star Jack Sikma in 1986. Post-Sikma until the move to OKC, Sonics fans groaned through a parade of mediocre replacements. If the Sonics had put $85 million into a decent mutual fund instead of wasting it on the salaries of Benoit Benjamin, Calvin Booth, and Jim McIlvaine, the team would’ve had plenty of money to remodel KeyArena.

The Seahawks’ great positional drought at defensive end hasn’t gotten as much publicity, but it has been just as pernicious.

After drafting and developing two of the best pass-rushers of the ’80s and ’90s–Jacob Green and Michael Sinclair–the Seahawks haven’t had a single decent young defensive end. The draft has been no help, coughing up such busts as Lamar King, Anton Palepoi and Lawrence Jackson.

As the Seahawks have gotten worse at developing pass rushers, the act of pass rushing has gotten more and more important. Teams throw more now than they did in the ’80s and ’90s, and more efficiently. Without pressure to disrupt a quarterback, a defense is doomed.

The Seahawks have relied on aging veterans to provide quarterback pressure. John Randle, Bryce Fisher, and Patrick Kerney all led the Seahawks in sacks and were out of football within three years. The Seahawks’ current Old Man of the Sack is Chris Clemons. He’s turning 31 this year, an age that is as foreboding for the careers of pass-rushing defensive ends as it is for those of swimsuit models.

Signing aging veterans to play such a critical position is expensive and risky. Younger players are more reliable, cheaper, and often more productive.

If there were ever a year for the Hawks to finally end their defensive end drought, this is it. The 2012 draft is deep and top-heavy with offensive prospects; at least one of the top pass-rushing ends should be available by the time the Seahawks pick twelfth overall.

The five consensus top pass-rushers on the board:

Melvin Ingram, 6-2, 264 lbs., South Carolina: Regarded by many as the top pass rusher in draft. Squat and powerful and could play anywhere along line potentially. Versatile, having played linebacker, defensive end, and even defensive tackle in college.

Quinton Coples, 6-6, 284 lbs., UNC: From a body-type and athleticism perspective, the most beastly pass-rusher in the draft. With great size and long arms, he’s compared to Julius Peppers. But those who study game film say Coples takes plays off. His dedication to the game is a question mark.

Upshaw

Courtney Upshaw, 6-2, 272 lbs., Alabama: Not blessed with the athleticism and body of some of the other prospects, Upshaw supposedly makes up for it with attitude–the “meanest player I ever coached,” according to Nick Saban. Here’s a good pro-Upshaw piece from Seahawks Draft Blog.

Whitney Mercilus, 6-4, 261 lbs., Illinois: Mercilus (what a name for a pass-rusher!) led the nation in sacks at Illinois in his first year as a starter. He’s still a raw prospect–a great pass-rusher, but poor against the run. With the importance of passing in today’s NFL, that may not matter.

Nick Perry, 6-3, 271 lbs., USC: The fastest of the bunch, the 2011 Pac-12 sacks leader ran an insane 4.64 40-yard-dash at the NFL combine (that’s faster than 12 running backs). Pete Carroll knows Perry well, having recruited him to USC. Shutdown Corner’s Doug Farrar points out that Perry ought to be ready for NFL-quality lineman, having faced likely top 5 pick Matt Kalil in practice every day.

The first round of the draft is Thursday at 5 p.m. PST, you can watch live on ESPN or NFL Network. The Seahawks’ twelfth overall pick will probably come around 7 p.m. (though of course they could trade up and pick sooner). For internet coverage, I recommend Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner blog. Rounds two and three are Friday at 4 p.m. PST, rounds four through seven beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. PST.

Will this drought finally end? Do your rain dances, people, so that we may soon see a flood of sack dances.