360 Sports Blog

I don’t mean to get your hopes up. It probably won’t happen. However, a few current and former players are pushing for it, including former Sonics Detlef Schrempf, Gary Payton and Ray Allen. They are organizing a charity basketball game at Key Arena to promote the return of the SuperSonics to Seattle.

For more information, click this link.

The NBA says the stadium issue will need to be addressed before it would be considered, though they acknowledge that Seattle is a stronger market than many of its current locations, including Sacramento.

My take: it’s the longest of long shots, but it could happen. Seattle would have to come up with an investor with lots of $$$, and have the NBA relocation fee (a cool $30 million) waived. Key Arena then needs to attended to, so as to fit David Stern’s requirements.

It is times like this I wish I was Bill Gates. I mean seriously. The man has more money than he knows what to do with, and gives countless amounts to charity all over the world. Why not, just for fun, go out and compete against Paul Allen’s Blazers and bring a team back to Seattle?

Bill would be hailed as a hero (more than he already is) and his Seattle Legacy would be unquestionably cemented. He’d be known as the man who brought basketball back to Seattle. I don’t know. Maybe he’s not into sports. Besides, it’s not his responsibility to bail out a franchise. All I’m saying is, it would be awesome if he did.

Share on Facebook

It was a big week for Seattle Sports, particularly for the Sounders and Huskies. Here’s how everything wound up:

Sounders:

The Sounders kicked of the 2010 MLS season in fantastic fashion, beating down the Philadelphia Union 2-0 at Qwest Field. I was in attendance for this match, and I’ll tell you the score should have been 4-0 at least. The Union were not ready for this game and relied on physicality rather than skill.

Danny Califf picked up Philly’s first ever yellow card in the first minute of the game. In the 40th minute, teammate Toni Stahl picked up the first red card. Later Freddie Llungberg was kneed in the back, causing a bone contusion. He was subbed out in the 60th minute.

Both goals came in the first half. The first came off a Zakuani cross, which Brad Evans put under the keeper to the far post. The second was a header by Fredy Montero, who  deflected a Llungberg shot that was going wide. It was a great effort by the Sounders, who dominated the whole match.

As for Philly, they’ve got a long way to go. They were understandably jittery, but their passing was awful. They relied too much on taking out our players, as opposed to playing football. Unecessary.

Huskies Basketball

Moving on, my Huskies were in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and came up against a formiddable opponent in West Virginia. Looking at them in the opening tip off, I knew it was going to be tough.

The sheer size of their team dwarfed ours, which made it tough to get rebounds. In the first half, however, the Dawgs played tough and forced several turnovers. Going into the half, we were up a point.

In the second half, WVU stepped up the pace, started making shots and forcing turnovers. Thus, they started to pull away and wound up winning the contest handily. I hate to say it, but the better team won. Even worse, I’m now forced to root for them again, as they go up against Duke in the Final Four (Everybody hates Duke).

It was a roller coaster of a season for the Dawgs, but they turned it on when it mattered. No one expected them to be in the tournament at season’s end, much less the Sweet 16. With Quincy Pondexter leaving, expect Justin Holiday (probably my favorite player) to step up. He was the only consistent part of our game against WVU.

Huskies Football

Not much going on. Spring practice starts March 30 and runs through mid April. For more info, visit Condotta’s blog.

Mariners

It’s Spring Training in Peoria, AZ. Bedard and and Lee are still injured. Also, Griffey hit his first walk off grand slam home run against the Reds, a contest which the Mariners won 6-5. More to come when things start to matter.

Seahawks

Other than speculation about Brandon Marshall, there hasn’t been much on incoming players. Much of the talk has been centered around the upcoming draft in April.

I’m on record as saying that the Hawks primary focus should be on the offensive and defensive lines. Broken record time: If you cannot protect your quarterback or put pressure on the opposing quarterback, you are going to have problems. There are other problems to address, but I think the Hawks need to start here.

Share on Facebook

Both the Dawgs and the Sounders (probably the best thing to root for in Seattle at this time) have huge games tomorrow. The games will overlap, so hopefully you have two TVs right next to each other or your local pub will put on both. Honestly, I ran out of time when posting this, because I have to leave early Thursday to get to the Sounders game and need some shut eye. Here is a quick profile of the games:

Huskies vs West Virginia (Sweet 16): Tip off at 4:30pm on CBS

West Virginia is good. Even without their starting point guard, Truck Bryant, they are going to be a handful. They’re a big, fast and physical team who can shoot the three. I’m cautiously optimistic because of how well the Dawgs have been playing, but we’ll need everything we have to pull this one out.

Key point: the three ball. The Huskies are shooting 55% from three point range in the tournament. In the regular season, it was 35%. We need to keep this up.

Sounders vs. Philadelphia Union (Season Opener): Kick off at 6:30pm on ESPN2

Former Sounder Sebastien Le Toux makes his return to Seattle (He was drafted/stolen by Philly in the expansion) and is scheduled to start. I don’t know much about their team, but I know Seattle needs to get over their goal drought (Tying the White Caps 0-0 and losing to P*rtland 1-0) in order to pull out a victory.

Share on Facebook

Breaking news out of New York: West Virginia’s Darryl ‘Truck’ Bryant, their starting point guard is out of the Sweet 16 game against UW with an undisclosed foot injury.

For the record, I think this sucks. No player should have to miss a game like this because of injury, but that’s how this slinky has slunk.

It’s obviously good news for UW, as Bryant averaged 9.3 points and had 108 assists to 71 turnovers while shooting 34.6 percent from the floor and 31.5 percent form 3-point range.

Share on Facebook

Jim Mora went on the Kevin Calabro Show (710 ESPN) yesterday and gave a very honest, in depth interview. It was interesting to hear his take on his firing and how he moved on. You can listen to everything by clicking here.

Below are some exploits from the interview:

On how he feels about the Seahawks organization:

He is still mad about two things:

1) When they sent him out to do a press conference while they were interviewing Pete Carrollin L.A. To him this was completely unacceptable. I agree it is shady.

2) Paul Allen has never called or talked to him since the firing. To me that seems a bit chicken s and unprofessional (if it actually happened). If you fire someone the way you did with Mora, at least talk to the man.

On his $13 million severance:

He would give it all back if he could coach again. He says he never coached for the money.

On current Seahawks players:

Rob Sims will likely be gone next year (he says the Hawks asked him to not work out at their facilities any more). Sean Locklear’s future success is unkown. He has athleticism, but time will tell.

He doesn’t know much about Charlie Whitehurst, the new Seattle QB.

Matt Hasselbeck – If he stays healthy he can play for a while – look at what Warner and Favre have done. He’s a Matt hasselbeck fan, but acknowledges that at some point you need to get a young guy to build your franchise around.

On his future:

He has done or will do interviews with Fox, ESPN, NBC and CBS for commentating.

On Brandon Marshall:

Jim sat and talked to Brandon for 15 minutes at the superbowl. He liked him, but acknowledges that’s just a snapshot. He classifies him as “buyer beware.”

Share on Facebook

In an effort to demonstrate some sort of coherent consistency with this blog, I’m introducing the Monday Round Up – a brief update on the status of all things Seattle/Kitsap Sports. Nothing will be off limits. Enough with the introduction, let’s give it a shot.

Huskies Basketball – As just about everyone knows, UW made its way into the Sweet 16 this past Saturday. They pulled off a great game against 6th seed Marquette and obliterated the 3rd seeded New Mexico. They now move onto play number 2 seed West Virginia (the second worst state in the Union behind that state which shall not be named), which will be a very tough game. The Mountaineers are ranked number five in the nation and will be favored going in.

Huskies Football – Spring practice will take place from March 30th to April 30th. Additionally, the Dawgs received a commitment this week from Elijhaa Penny, a 6-2, 240 tight end/defensive end from Norwalk, Calif.

Kitsap Pumas – Signed the former number one overall pick in the 2005 MLS Superdraft – Nik Besagno. He’s a midfielder who hasn’t quite lived up to his potential, but will have his time to shine in Kitsap.

Mariners - Cliff Lee was hurt in a preseason game and also was suspended for the first five games of the season for throwing at Arizona’s Chris Snyder. It’s been a bumpy road so far for Lee.

Milton Bradley has also had issues (these seem to be inherent with him; can you say baggage?), getting ejected from two straight games for arguing balls and strikes. Wakamatsu’s take: “To me, it’s almost like a witch hunt,” Wakamatsu said. “It’s almost embarrassing to me that egos get in the way and [Bradley] doesn’t even get a chance.”

The Mariner’s season opener is April 5th at Oakland.

Seahawks – No one seems to be safe on the roster. Burleson is gone to Detriot, Seneca Wallace and Darryl Tapp have been traded and we have two key signings – TE Chris Baker and QB Charlie Whitehurst (who looks like the second coming of Jesus). For a full run down, check out Field Gulls.

It’s basically spring cleaning time for the new administration. While I commend their desire to make new moves, I have yet to see any progress on the two most important fronts: Offensive and Defensive line.

Sounders – The MLS Strike issue has been resolved and the season is set to kick off this Thursday at Qwest. We take on the Philadelphia Union, who stole Sebastion Le Toux from us in the expansion draft. I’ll be there.

Seattle Sonics – Nothing new. Check out the Sonicsgate Documentary to learn how everything really went down.

All for now.

Share on Facebook

Happy 26th birthday to Stuart Faris, fellow roommate, fraternity brother and Husky alumni. The Dawgs felt like giving him a present yesterday, gift wrapping an 18 point ass whooping over New Mexico. They even got to light the human victory cigar, Brendan Sherrer.

It must be nice to be Sherrer – think about it. He will go his entire UW career without playing in a game that they lose. It’s quite impressive.

Though close early, the Huskies’ pace was simply too much for Los Lobos to keep up with. They dominated in every category, as evidenced below:

Washington (26-9) Season Stats | Roster Starters Name Min Reb Ast PF Pts Q. Pondexter, G 30 5 1 3 18 M. Bryan-Amaning, F 26 9 1 1 15 I. Thomas, G 28 2 7 2 15 J. Holiday, F 27 7 4 4 5 A. Gaddy, G 21 0 3 1 5 Bench Name Min Reb Ast PF Pts E. Turner 19 2 1 1 10 V. Overton 21 3 1 2 6 S. Suggs 10 0 1 0 5 C. Trent 3 3 0 0 2 D. Gant 11 4 1 2 1 T. Breshers 3 0 1 2 0 B. Sherrer 1 0 0 0 0

New Mexico (30-5) Season Stats | Roster Starters Name Min Reb Ast PF Pts D. Gary, G 32 4 4 1 25 D. Hobson, G 33 9 2 4 11 R. Martinez, F 30 3 0 3 10 A. Hardeman, F 31 5 0 3 4 P. McDonald, G 24 3 0 2 3 Bench Name Min Reb Ast PF Pts N. Garth 18 1 1 1 5 W. Brown 17 6 0 1 3 J. Fenton 8 1 0 1 3 C. Adams 5 1 0 2 0 C. Dennis 2 0 0 0 0

The key here is depth. We kept up the pace and ran los lobos ragged, even with our bench players. Most notably, the play of Elston Turner has been clutch in the past two games. He’s stepped up and given us a boost off the bench when we really need it, keeping the intensity in the game.

Here are a few other thoughts:

- If we play like this consistently, we can beat any team in the nation. It’s a tall order, but it’s possible. Just sayin’.

- The game also demonstrates how badly the NCAA messed up the seedings for this tournament. An 11 seed beating a 3 by 18?! Give me a break. UW is obviously better and New Mexico is worse.

- Similarly, it shows how underrated the Pac 10 Conference is. Both Cal and UW have had dominating performances over their opponents, despite. Where’s the love?

- Abdul Gaddy is technically a starter, which is a joke. Romar obviously guaranteed him a starting position when he committted to UW, but the true 5th man should be either Overton, Turner or Suggs. He’s got talent, but he’s not a starting caliber player, as evidenced by his minutes.

In other news, Kansas absolutely screwed my bracket with their lost to 9 seed N. Iowa. Though I liked to see the corn fed white boys take down the Kansas power house (the spirit of March Madness), I did have them winning it all. Luckily, so did just about everyone else.

Share on Facebook

It was a fantastic result Thursday night, one of the best NCAA moments UW has had. While still riding the wave of excitement, the Dawgs now must take on New Mexico, the first place team out of the Mountain West conference.

There are several sources pointing to UW’s advantage in this game. Most notably, the folks in Vegas have the Dawgs as a favorite by 1.5. I cannot remember an 11 seed ever being favored over a 3 seed since I have been watching the NCAA tournament. It gives credit to our team as whole, but is also reflective of the Lobos’ performance versus Montana.

Additionally, the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta (probably the only self respecting aspect of that organization) is 100% convinced that the Huskies will prevail. For those of you who don’t know Bob, he is the Huskies sports guru. Though more known for his Husky Football Blog, he also has an in depth UW basketball knowledge as he covered them for years. Thus, when Bob is this confident, I am confident.

This is not to say that Los Lobos will be a pushover, however. They finished first in their conference and have some strong offensive weapons. Do I think they should be a 3 seed? No. They barely beat a Montana team that finished 3rd in the Big Sky.

Let’s look at some of their notable wins: @BYU (by 2), New Mexico State (twice by 10+), Cal (by and notable losses: San Diego State (twice), and UNLV. It’s not exactly a compelling track record. Furthermore, their star player Darington Hobson will be hindered with a wrist injury.

It’s not a guaranteed win, but the Dawgs have a good chance. The keys are simple: Keep up the tempo, don’t give away shite turnovers and force Los Lobos to play our game. Like I said before, if we play like we did against Marquette, this should be a W. QP, IT and MBA need to dominate. Also, keep Gaddy on the bench. It’s not his time yet.

Share on Facebook

It’s not often northwest sports fans are on the positive side of a stunning, epic finish to a game.  Thursday night was one of the pleasant exceptions, however, with the 11th ranked Huskies beating the 6th ranked Marquette Golden Eagles 80-78 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The game was a fast paced, up and down thriller. Both teams wanted the win badly, and wouldn’t give up. Early on, the Golden Eagles were down six, but came back to lead. In the second half, the Huskies got down by 15 with about 10 minutes to go. This was caused by a run of weak turnovers, bad shots and all around crap play (ahem, Abdul Gaddy). It looked bleak.

It was at this moment we had a choice: continue the mediocre play and typify the northwest sports norm of underachieving, or be badasses and refuse to back down. The latter was chosen. To quote the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: “You have chosen – wisely.”

On the Huskies last possession, the game was tied 78-78. It was then that Quincy Pondexter took control, driving to the hoop and banking in a short jumper, despite being bumped in the back (a no call, conveniently). There’s now 1.7 seconds left.

A chess match/head game then ensued, with three consecutive time outs being called – the first two by Marquette, the last by Washington – which had me in turmoil. On the ensuing inbound the Golden Eagles got it to mid court and heaved a desperation shot, which was way too close to going in.

There were several key things the Huskies were able to do well (some of which I highlighted in my previous post):

- Intensity. We kept the pace up, which created countless opportunities and kept the pressure on Marquette. It also helped force turnovers, including the last one which led to the winning shot by QP.

- Matthew Bryan Amaning was a force inside with 3 key blocks and stayed out of foul trouble. Hey was a key size advantage.

- Quincy Pondexter had 11 rebounds and 18 points, despite a shaky first half. He also took over the game when it mattered.

We also had several things we can do better:

- Sit Abdul Gaddy for the entire game. Seriously, just put him in the corner with a dunce cap on. This kid has no fire in his eyes. He lacks passion and heart (Read: get him off the damn court!). In this contest he had three turnovers and zero points in limited play.

Now I’m not saying he is a bad player, I’m saying he’s too young. He’s not stepping up when he needs to, which is creating problems on the floor. Once he matures I’m sure he will be a “go to” guy, but right now he needs to keep his ass on the bench until he decides to show some effort.

- Prevent silly turnovers. This is part of what lead to us being 15 down in the contest. We tried to force passes and flopped on inbounding. I don’t know how to fix this one, but it should change.

Share on Facebook

We’re just one day away from the Madness, which will feature two northwest teams: Huskies of UW and the Bulldogs of Gonzaga. The Dawgs have historically underwhelmed in the tournament (losing in the third round as a 1 seed in 2004 and had an abysmal second game last year) while the Zags will probably always be known as the perennial sleeper pick. Below is a quick preview of both games.

Also it’s not too late to join the join the 360 Sports Blog March Madness Pool.

Huskies (11) v Marquette (6):

I think the Huskies match up well in this game, and I expect them to come away with an upset victory. For one, Marquette is a smaller team, which bodes well for our inside man MBA.  Second, they rely on outside shooting, which UW defends well against. Third, depth is an issue for the Golden Eagles, whereas UW has Overton, Gaddy, Holiday and others that can come in and make an impact.

The problem for Washington is maturity and experience, which they displayed in all of the road losses this year. A few guys have been to the dance before, but haven’t had much success. Also, Marquette reigns from a tough Big East conference, whereas the Pac 10 has had an off year. We’ll need to grow up quickly for this matchup.

Keys to the game:

I always love these for their redunancy. Some TBS examples before an NBA game: “outside shooting,” “defending the jump shot” and “rebounding.” Yes guys, we all understand that you need to score more points than the other team to win. You need to prevent the other team from scoring. I swear sometimes they have Magic Johnson write the script for them. With that said, here are few specific things UW can do to help their chances:

- Intensity. Throughout the season, I’ve seen the Huskies play two styles: A lacksidaisical, I don’t give a crap mentality (pretty much every road game) and a ferocious, fast style (the last part of the season/Pac 10 Tournament). The latter must prevail for the Dawgs to win.

- Penetration (that’s what she said). UW does well when they are able to drive the lane, instead of relying mostly on outside shooting.

- Keep Matthew Bryan-Amaning out of foul trouble. He’s our big man inside, giving us a substantial size advantage against Marquette. Keep him in the game and our chances improve.

- Abdul Gaddy. So far he’s played second and third fiddle to Isaiah Thomas and Venoy Overton, insisting on just being a passer. Honestly, he doesn’t look like the top recruit everyone picked him to be.

My previous post compared him to the gay kid on “My So Called Life,” which I remember only because my sister used to watch it all the time. I know he’s young, but if he can step up to the plate and play with up to his ability, he’ll give us a real boost off the bench.

Gonzaga (8) v Florida State (9)

Most of you know I’m not a huge Gonzaga fan, but since they made their name in the NCAA Tournament and they’re in Washington I figured they deserve a mention. They (Gonzaga, 8 seed) take on Florida State (9 seed). I think they’ll get a first round win, but will come up short in the next game against Syracuse. My basis for this: nothing. magic. a hunch. It’s March Madness, I don’t need to explain myself.

Share on Facebook