Hov's Kings - Retired

[puttincomputers]

Casspi!

[Martti.]

OKC/Durant.

[Clutch]

great stuff going on right here

SUCKS the injury bug visited Seattle this early (and took out THE man - ugh!), but at least it's being impartial and visiting other teams to cripple their money guys as well... then again, i guess better now, than a week before the playoffs

also, ditto martti: 8-0KC coverage pls!

[kibaxx7]

Casspi article Sucks about Tyreke...

Finley signed with the Thunder in all 4 seasons I simmed...

[Lamrock]

God that sucks about 'Reke. Playoffs and an all-star spot already look out of the question, seven games in.

[Houndy]

With Tyreke out, Playoffs are out the window.

[Lamrock]

Also, I'd like to see a Thunder article. They're on the other side of the standings but are your main rivals.

[Mark.]

Im gonna go against the norm with this vote and say Lance Meredith

[Wyze]

Sorry, this might have been explained earlier, so I apologize.

But did you just trade all the King's players to the Thunder, and are now just using the old school jerseys?

Or is this a roster patch?

[Justine.]

I'm curious about Lance Meredith, so there goes my vote.

[hova-]

Casspi and OKC tied up at 3. Lance Meredith has two votes. So who likes to tip the scales?

[dare]

OKC

[hova-]

Ok, Ima go with the Thunder then. Voting's over

[hova-]

Little update ... I might post the next recap first and then a report bout the Thunder.

Hope I can update tomorrow. It's start of the semester so I need some time.

[Valor]

Haven't posted in here since i only pop in for 5 minutes spurts these days, but looking good man! Sonics are awesome, glad they are back in the league

[hova-]

Despite Omri Casspi's great season, the Sonics find themselves in a major slump.

Loosing streak keeps Coach Hova restless
By Carl Column, NBA.com
Posted on November 2010 12:34PM

The Seattle Supersonics just can't win games without their sidelined superstar Tyreke Evans. After giving up three of four at home the Sonics went on to play the Suns at Phoenix and lost their 3rd road game of the season.

"I think it was one of our best games without Tyreke (Evans) so far, but even when we play pretty well for three quarters, we seem to loose our heads in the last", Coach Hova said after the game.

The Sonics got solid production from their bench as Jason Thompson scored a season high 20 points but the Suns outrebounded them 50-34 with Robin Lopez and Hakim Warrick combining for 26 boards (6 on the offensive end). Beno Udrih actually outplayed Steve Nash scoring 18 points and dishing out 11 assists (Nash had only 6 points and 9 assists), but apart from Omri Casspi (25 points) and the slovenian guard no Sonic was able to step up.

Even the Pistons can win in Seattle

After one road game the Sonics went back to Seattle for another four-game homestand starting against the Detroit Pistons, who were at 2-7 at this time. Tayshaun Prince's stellar shooting (24 points, 11-16 from the field) helped the Pistons to overcome the struggling Sonics 95-77.

"In this game there was nothing we did well", a frustrated Coach Hova said afterwards. "I want to emphasize Demarcus' (Cousins) performance, I felt sorry for the kid being the only one really battling out there".

Cousins had 18 points, 8 rebounds and a big swat, shooting 8-10 from the field. Still the Sonics lost after simply not trying hard enough in the fourth.

Moving on Seattle got blown out big time against the now 9-6 Knicks. Nothing was falling for the Sonics whilst the Knicks shot the lights out shooting almost .550% from the floor. Eight Knicks were in double figures with Wilson Chandler leading the way with 17 points. New York won 110-80 and there some booes in the Key Arena when the home players left the floor.

The Sonics' fresh signing Jerry Stackhouse scored 12 points against New York but was also very disappointed with the team's play.

"The last two games were my first two for this franchise and I'm really doubting that these young guys know what they're doing right now", the veteran fulminated. "Without 'reke we need to get out there and bust our [expletive]. I'm not here to miss the Playoffs", Stackhouse, who signed for one year for the veteran's minimum added.

"He shouldn't talk like that, he knows the consequences", Coach Hova told media later.

Following the big loss against New York the Nets visited Key Arena. Demarcus Cousins had his breakout party against his big rival Derrick Favors, but it wasn't enough to grab a win.

"I definitely outplayed him. The Nets will regret that they picked Mr. Favors", Cousins said later. He scored 23 points, grabbed 8 boards and added a steal but only shot 5-11 from the charity stripe.

"I don't care wether or not he outplayed me", a disgruntled Favors answered, "he shoots bricks from the line like Shaq and actually he's not much more agile than O'Neal is right now. We won, that's it", the Nets rookie forward added. He had 16 points but also 5 fouls. Even without Brook Lopez (ankle sprain), the Nets were able to hang on and beat the Sonics 92-86. Devin Harris was the game-high man with 23 points.

In their last game before leaving Seattle for Utah, the Sonics gave the New Orleans Hornets a tough time, but ended up loosing their 6th game in a row, 108-100. Coach Hova still sounded promising after the game.

"It's the first time we scored 100 points this season and I think our offense worked well this game. We outscored them 34-36 in the last quarter which is a decent progress", the Coach said.

Omri Casspi scored a career-high 32 points and added 6 boards. He also had a career-high 4 three point field goals. Francisco Garcia, who came back from a back injury added 26 points and 7 rebounds, being a solid replacement for injured Tyreke Evans. But the Hornets showed solid team basketball and behind 22 points by David West and a 15 points, 12 assists, 4 steals night by Chris Paul the Hornets were able to grab the road win, moving to 6-6 this season.

Picking up the scoring

The biggest problem for the Sonics can still be found on offense. The Sonics rank last in the league in scored points per game (85.5) and are sixth to last in field goal percentage (.414%). Even their pretty decent defense (94.9 OPPG, good for 10th in the league) can't help them picking up their scoring problems.

Tyreke Evans will still miss 1-2 weeks with his achilles tendon injury. The biggest problem is the lack of consistency of the other Sonics' scoring threats. While sophomore Omri Casspi is having a breakout season which makes him one of the earlies contenders for the Most Improved Player award, others could not keep their hot shooting throughout the first games.

Casspi is averaging 20.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists shooting .450% from the field and .390% from downtown over the last 5 games. He had a career high 32 against the Hornets.

"I guarantee you, Omri (Casspi) is on his way to being an All-Star", Coach Hova, a European-affine Coach for sure, says about the young Israeli.



Still, statistics show, that the Sonics miss Tyreke Evans big time. Others were able to up their scoring recently, but the inconsistency kills the Supersonics. Carl Landry scored 14 points in the last three games, combined! Beno Udrih had 21 points against New Jersey and 3 against the Pistons. Demarcus Cousins scored 4-18-9-23-7 over the last 5 games.

The Sonics hope that Stackhouse and Garcia can help them winning at least a few games, before their Messias, Tyreke Evans returns to action.



Granger breaks ulna, out for 5 weeks ...
Rondo has 18 assists in blowout win against Raptors ...
Despit being only 8-6, LeBron takes POTW for three straight weeks ...
Thunder loose first game of the season against Bucks ...


Check Sonics stats and League Standings here ...

[Fresh8]

Man, I hope you can help Omri become an All-Star. Nice update. You're doing good my man.

[Martti.]

I'm glad that Cousins is actually contributing, but the losses are too much. You need Tyreke back quick.

And also, Thunder can't can't handle Yung Buck!

[The X]

Casspi

Figured you'd struggle without Evans though. I feel your pain

[mp3]

Casspi's a solid player who clearly is playing better without Evans in the line up

[kibaxx7]

Hope to see Evans back quickly...

When did you sign Stack?

[Lamrock]

Love that sexy court. Great team you got. Casspi's killing it, but I wouldn't mind seeing more production from Landry. My favorite player on your team, and also the best in my opinion.

[Valor]

Forget about Tyreke, Casspi is your all-star
Nice to see Cousins contribute also, too bad about losing to the stupid Pistons though

[mp3]

Love that sexy court. Great team you got. Casspi's killing it, but I wouldn't mind seeing more production from Landry. My favorite player on your team, and also the best in my opinion.

It does look good seeing the Sonics court again , the nba should never of let that happen

[hova-]

Sit, thx, mate. It's quite funny that Casspi is playing that well, I mean he's only a 69 in the game. Still I think I can make him an All-Star in years to come.

Martti., I really found some rhythm with the other guys, so when Evans comes back, I think we will be better than we were in the first three games with him. The injury kind of helped me to find more scoring opportunities. You changed your avatar to Haslem? James Jones had 20 and was 6-8 from downtown this night!

The X, I hope I can be better than youre pro rata 8-25

mp3, yes, Casspi stepped up. But he's a decent shooter, so I think he also profits from Evans' game.

Thierry •, I signed Stack after the Suns game. He has not managed to contribute like I would like to see ...

Lamrock, actually Landry's a pretty good player, and I don't think 13/7 and a block are so bad for him. The problem is that I also have Thompson on the bench, who likes to see some minutes ... for me, Landry is the perfect role player.

Valor, the Pistons game was really bad. I was pretty pissed as they hit everything (especially Prince) whilst I couldn't hit the easiest shot. Reminded me of some comeback code live 05 footage