Don't look for much improvement in the Sonics this year. Actually, as long as Wally Walker is in charge, don't EVER expect too much in the way of positive personnel changes from Mr. Penurious (how DO you tell a part owner he needs to butt out of player decisions & concentrate on finances, his forte?). This ain't the Jail Blazers' fountain of plenty where a plethora of great players squabble over playing time. After bringing in a surfeit of over the hill veterans in recent years, Wally has changed strategies without admitting failure -- a word he apparently only knows how to apply to others.When it comes to his own actions,Wally has a blind spot as big as Jerome James, our newly acquired backup center. Along with Calvin Booth, James represents the Sonics new youth movement in the paint. These guys may be able to block shots (if they don't foul out in the first half), but combined they represent about as much offensive threat as Patrick Ewing in a Wheelchair. Come to think of it, Patrick might be better.

Unable to think in more than one dimension at a time, Wally probably reasoned something like this, "If we can't get any more mileage out of these old retreads, let's get some serious rubber on these wheels & let Nate drive us home a winner". Trouble is, the only horsepower under the hood up front is lethargic Vin Baker. Oh I know, he's supposed to be all tuned up & raring to go, but seeing is believing. Enough with the requisite metaphors already.

The best thing the Sonics have going for them is Nate McMillan. Wally is banking (no pun intended) on him molding this team of young, socially acceptable young players (and Gary Payton) into a cohesive group of gunslingers with an intimidating presence in the middle. The new rules should encourage a barrage of threes & we've got the guys who can pull the trigger. When they're on, it should make for exciting entertainment.

The key to our success, however, will lie more with what Nate & his assistants can coax from the defense, especially from the Pilsbury Doughboy, who last year played softer than his namesake. The duo of Baker and Patrick was a disaster. New York knew Ewing's knees were shot, I did, the rest of the GM's in the league did; seemingly only Wally didn't. Having invested a king's ransom in the former all-star,we pretty much had to start him. This forced us to play Vin off the bench so we wouldn't have two defensive liabilities down low in the game at the same time. Only problem with that was that Vin's fragile ego, unlike his appetite, couldn't stomach it. So now Wally's switched gears and gone with guys who can get up & down the court w/o appearing to have herniated themselves in the process. With no major surgeries of note, all body parts unrepaired & seemingly in the right place, this should be the group of guys to get it done. But Gary Payton is the only proven veteran defensive presence on the team that can be counted on night in & night out. It remains to be seen if Nate can mold the rest of this this youthful, enthusiastic, & physically fit team into the kind of intimidating, trapping defensive threat that he envisions.If he can accomplish that, even if Howard won't bring back the "Super" in the Sonics, WE CAN!

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