Sports Publications

Sonics feasting on a diet of cupcakes and Twinkies

Sporting News, The, Dec 6, 1999 by Dave D'Alessandro

Seattle is playing. 769 ball after four weeks, and you'll have to forgive us when we say we're not impressed. The Sonics have survived a schedule in which they played seven of their first 10 on the road (record: 5-2), but we know we speak for skeptics everywhere who say they need to see more.

We will say this for the Sonics: They're taking themselves very seriously at a time when nobody else really does. Both sides have ample rationale to think the way they do. The Sonics point to their record, which at the start of the week put them near the top of the Western Conference. The non-be-lievers note that the Sonics haven't played anyone yet.

Paul Westphal scoffs at all of this. He always has been accused of running a loose ship, a guy who overlooks the little details, the ones that separate him from his more successful and autocratic peers. But we like his style when West-phal says this: Let it play out. Then let's see who looks stupid.

Even though it's still early, those of us who picked Seattle to finish ninth in the West are getting kind of itchy.

"To predict is useless," Westphal says. "It doesn't make any difference to me what you say about what might happen. It's not going to change what's going to happen.

"Talk is cheap. We'll find out if we're better than last year or not. We feel we are."

Keep in mind, this team started 6-0 last season before completing one of the great nosedives in recent history--from 61-21 in 1997-98 to 25-25 last year, when they finished out of the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. That plummet inspired the Sonics to rip it all up, while protecting their nucleus of two.

Those two have held up their part. Gary Payton is having another season worthy of MVP consideration, with a team-best scoring average, a league-leading assist average and the best rebound numbers of any guard in the NBA. And Vin Baker has trimmed down, toughened up and is shooting 50 percent again.

The pieces they've added have been game-breakers: Horace Grant remains one of the most consistent players in the league and perhaps its best post defender; and Vernon Maxwell has decided to become more reliable than loony and is second on the team in scoring at 18.3 points a game (through last Saturday).

But every year, an aspiring elitist has one guy who comes out of nowhere to be a major contributor, and for Seattle, that guy is Ruben Patterson. Buried on the Lakers' bench last year, Patterson, a second-year forward, has thrived in Seattle's up-tempo system. He has been a defensive stopper and always leaves his mark on the glass. He is as loud and arrogant as Payton, with footspeed to match. He came to town as a self-proclaimed "Kobe stopper," pounding his chest for his purported ability to give Kobe Bryant headaches in practice. Scottie Pippen, Glen Rice ... Patterson welcomes every hardcore matchup that comes his way.

Patterson's demeanor seems to have rubbed off on the entire team, especially with the us-against-the-world attitude it has taken on the road.

"Last year, we couldn't win on the road. This year, we're winning on the road, and we're keeping our composure," says Payton, alluding to Seattle's 7-18 road record a year ago. "What we're doing now is we're staying together like we stay together off the court. A lot of us are real close friends, and we don't get down on each other."

The problem is that the Sonics haven't really been challenged yet. The injuries are starting to mount--Jelani McCoy was on the injured list at the start of the week, and Brent Barry was hobbled by a hip pointer--and they're still going about the game in a backward manner, stressing offense over defense. You always have your doubts about teams that do it like that. Put it this way: Anyone who allows 108 points to Golden State cannot be satisfied.

"Seattle likes to run," Warriors point guard Mookie Blaylock says, "but they don't like to get back."

"Defense is always the key to a good team," Westphal says, but for now he's willing to overlook his team's 21st-ranked defense.

Moreover, that three-point win over the Warriors was part of a breezy early schedule filled with New Jersey, Houston, Washington, Dallas, Vancouver and the like. The free ride is over. The December 5-11 schedule should be a reality check: Charlotte, Minnesota, Utah, Miami (although only Utah is on the road). Check back with us when that's over. Or call Westphal and let him know he was the only one who knew what the heck he was talking about.

"I'm not going to make some case for sure about what's going to happen," Westphal says. "We're going to show up and play the best we can. It's not running for office. I don't have to promise a chicken in every pot."

That would be a more palatable alternative to the turkey they served up last year. Starting next week, dinner is served, and the Sonics may be on the menu.

Dave D'Alessandro covers the NBA for the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger. E-mail him at daved@sportingnews.com.