Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

[Cruzerr]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

TOLD YOU ALLEN GOES BIG BOYS!

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

TOLD YOU ALLEN GOES BIG BOYS!

Showed up for me when I least expected it. Dude has been smothered by Shumpert all series but he broke out his game and I NEEDED it -- those triples saved my life.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Game 4 starting soon ... big game. BIG GAME.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Sonics Play Super in Game 5 Win

May 30th, 2016

By Vonny Lee



The Seattle SuperSonics now have a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals in a loss that has to leave Cleveland questioning its best players.

The first quarter of the game was high-octane, as every first quarter has been, and the Sonics and Cavs came out firing and looking for buckets. Both teams found them early and often as defense was an afterthought. Early on LeBron James got going, helping get his team out front behind his relentless post game.

Hollis-Jefferson had trouble early with LeBron and that trouble would be indicative of the way the game would go for the rookie. During the early part of the first Jefferson would get run over by a LeBron drive -- no foul was called but Jefferson was clearly hurting. A timeout was taken by Lionel Hollins to allow the training staff to take a look at him.

"My hip was hurting real bad," said Jefferson. "Trainers looked it over, determined it wasn't broken or anything, but I could see the bruise already coming ... it turned my whole right side purple."

The staff determined Jefferson could keep playing and the rookie gamely stepped up; despite being limited due to the injury, he asked to keep guarding LeBron and Hollins let him. The next Cavs possession LeBron was fouled hard by Jefferson -- a possible retaliation move -- and was sent to the line for two free throws.

James missed both. In what would become one of the strangest sights seen in an NBA Finals game in many years, LeBron James, MVP of the NBA, practically disappeared for the next two quarters. He was a non-factor in both the second and the third, going to the line ten times all game but shooting only 4-of-10 from the charity stripe.

James' lack of consistency there allowed the Sonics to hack at him, send him to the line, and slow the pace of play while also watching him, at best, split his free throws.

"It's on me," said James. "I'm a leader on this team and I led us to this lost. My responsibility, my fault."

James finished the game with 22 points and 10 assists on 8-of-16 shooting, so he was far from a liability, but his poor shooting from the free-throw line greatly contributed to the Cavs loss.

But the Sonics did plenty to win this game. Led by the player of the game, Marcin Gortat, Seattle pounded the ball inside.



Gortat was fed with a steady diet of great passes on pick and rolls and post ups, beating up the Cavs interior defense.

"I was like hungry bear," said Gortat. "When bear is hungry, it eats whatever. I ate them."

Jarrett Jack led the Sonics with 20 assists and only five points; Nerlens Noel feasted on the inside as well, showing Kevin Love up at every turn, and finished with 20 points and seven boards: Noel showed off his mid-range game, a wrinkle the Sonics have only allowed him to use a few times this season, but it was on full display tonight as Love abandoned Noel to guard the inside and the big man banked in multiple mid-range jumpers.

The fourth quarter put this game in doubt till the last minute despite the superb play of Seattle. The Cavs had closed the gap to only five-points and started off the quarter scoring four points consecutively as Seattle scrambled to slow them down. A quick timeout by Hollins calmed everyone's nerves (including the fans) and allowed Seattle to get into its gameplan.

Blows were traded back and forth throughout the quarter, with Seattle's bench players, led by Thomas Robinson, doing work in relief as the Sonics starters grabbed a few minutes of rest at the beginning of the fourth.

The game came down to the wire in the final three minutes. With Seattle up 107-106 with 2:12 left, Jack passed the ball to a streaking Noel, who stopped and dished it to a retreating Ray Allen, who stepped behind the three-point line and sank a triple right in the face of Iman Shumpert.

The first of many daggers it would take to kill the Cavs. LeBron James would get the ball on three consecutive possessions after that, but go 1-of-3 on the shots he took during those possessions. Perhaps most damning is that LeBron was responsible for two defensive lapses in the final minute of the game.

After a LeBron miss, Jamal Crawford (who was subbed in after Jefferson fouled out) brought the ball upcourt, called for a pick from Gortat, got it and hit a streaking Gortat as he went to the rim. LeBron cut him off, had him doubled with Kevin Love, but Gortat pump-faked, freezing both of them long enough for him to lay it in and take Seattle's lead to 114-111 with 43 seconds left.

The Cavs weren't dead, however. On the next possession Mosgov was fouled, went to the line, and hit both his shots to bring the score to 114-113 with 36 seconds remaining. But Seattle wasn't done. They brought the ball up the court, called for a Gortat pick, got it, and passed to the man streaking towards the rim.

Cleveland immediately gravitated to him and Gortat passed to a cutting Noel -- covered by LeBron -- who caught the ball and slammed it home for the final kill shot. Leading 116-113 with 23 seconds left, the game was essentially over: Mosgov was fouled again on the next possession, split his free throws, and then Jack was fouled.

Jarrett Jack then calmly sank his two free throws, bringing the lead to 118-114, where it would remain with 16.7 seconds left. Cleveland could not find a good shot to score on and the clock wound down as the Sonics took the game and control of the series.

The Sonics are now one win away from becoming the most unlikely NBA champions in the last 25 years.

(Highlights to come in the morning ... WHEW, what a game, but by far the best game we've had all series. One more and we get to bust out a certain Queen song...)

[infamyice]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

LET'S DO THIS!!!!!

[studbucket]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

"I was like hungry bear," said Gortat. "When bear is hungry, it eats whatever. I ate them."

LOL! Keep it up.

[Cruzerr]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Could this be...?

Man, can't wait to bust out "Another one bites the dust"!

[Gensi2k]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

It's over????

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

And the highlights have arrived.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

LET'S DO THIS!!!!!

^Forgot about that GIF! I have now bookmarked it. Gortat totally went Super Saiyan

LOL! Keep it up.

^I decided to give Gortat the "funny foreigner" quotes from now on. His quotes in real-life are pretty great, too. Take a look at this.

Could this be...?

Man, can't wait to bust out "Another one bites the dust"!

LOL, not the Queen song I was referencing but a good guess.

It's over????

I got to win Game 5 in Cleveland. It ain't over till it's over and LeBron made so many mistakes last game that he has to make up for. The Cavs will have the home energy and be fighting for their lives ... I don't anticipate an easy game at all.

Also, with RHJ injured, LeBron's gonna be pressing my leading rookie HARD. We'll see if he can survive, but if he gets in foul trouble Crawford (defensive liability at SF) or Bogdanovic (slow-footed) will have to face LeBron and that'll be a major plus for the Cavs.

Just have to hope they fold under the pressure. Also, Kevin Love is not doing himself any favors in this series, he's really getting outplayed by Noel and this little experiment with him looks to be short-lived if he doesn't play better ... can't imagine the Cavs will want to pay him and Thompson (and LeBron likes Thompson way more) so Love might hit the trade market and his value isn't high (15 points, 8 boards he averaged this year I think).

[Cruzerr]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

I did get what song you are referencing, Trek, I am not dumb

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Sonics Trounce Cavs in Game 5

June 1st, 2016

By Vonny Lee



The Seattle SuperSonics are NBA Champions.

A city that has been forgotten about and buried by the NBA (Clay Bennett and David Stern in particular) came back from the dead this season and didn't just finish with a winning record, they didn't just make the playoffs, they went on a run unmatched in the modern era of the NBA and defeated the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.

This game showed how dominant the team-first, pass-first system of Seattle could be. From the beginning the Sonics were flying around, the movement off the ball crisp and the the passes, though only 30 assists, were mostly on target. Seattle did have 16 turnovers in the game but eight of those came in the fourth quarter as the subs got more playing time.

Led by the superb shooting of Ray Allen, who scored 26 points on 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, the Sonics came, they saw, and they conquered. The Cleveland Cavaliers went out with a whimper as the home crowd fell silent early and often.

Kyrie Irving had 27 points, Kevin Love -- after multiple sub-par performances -- scored 24 points (and nailed 5-of-8 shots from deep), and LeBron had 20 points with eight assists, but the Cavs got no help from anyone else. Mosgov scored only four points and pulled in a measly five boards, while Iman Shumpert scored 10 points, but mostly in the final quarter as the Cavs were down double-digits and Seattle was playing off him.

Cleveland could not stop Allen or Gortat, both of whom had fantastic closeout games in a series that elevated the legacy of both players. When the final whistle blew, Ray Allen and Jarrett Jack engaged in a long hug, joined later by Hollis-Jefferson.



"It was really emotional," said the usually reserved Allen after the game, his jersey soaked in champagne. "Jarrett played for Cleveland and they let him go, Ronade has been dealing with critics all year about his shot, and people thought I was done." Allen beamed. "I had one more in me."

Marcin Gortat was named Finals MVP for his outstanding play.



"I am honored to be here, to be with this team, in this time. We are champions, now and forever!" Gortat exclaimed to the Sonics fans in the crowd, the green and gold proudly represented at this game. "We are SuperSonics!"




The next few days will all be celebrations for the Sonics. But for the Cavs and their fans, this game represents another Finals loss and another team celebrating on their own floor, marking the second-straight year they've watched this.

"Nothing to say. They won. The end," Kyrie Irving said after the game.

James was more diplomatic.

"Played their *sses off, deserve it. Happy for Ray (Allen), happy for Jamal (Crawford) ... they're the true definition of a team. That's what it takes to win and they won."

Asked about how he felt, LeBron just shook his head. "No words right now. Give me a few weeks."

The Seattle SuperSonics are your 2016 NBA Champions. Savor it. Enjoy it.

And, if you're an Oklahoma City Thunder fan, eat it.

[trekfan]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

2016 RETIREMENTS

[janmagn]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

That HOF class! KG, Kobe, Timmy, Ray, Steve Nash, Manu... The NBA lost so many greats at once

Lähetetty minun LG-H440n laitteesta Tapatalkilla

[Gensi2k]

Re: Second Coming: A SuperSonics Return

Simply a super season.

I give all credits to you, bro. Incredible job.

Winning a championship with J.Jack as starting PG...WOW!