April 25, 2002

"Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life," read Heavy's fortune cookie. Heavy figured that meant there were a lot of happy people in Seattle Sonic basketball forums about now. Jeez, one game, & some of them needed to be scraped off the ceiling. Didn't they realize that we weren't the only team capable of making adjustments? His favorite comment had been, "All we need to do now is hold serve, & it's on to the second round!" Is that all? Apparently they'd conveniently forgotten that this was a team that as recently as the beginning of this month was capable of winning four in a row & then following it up with three consecutive losses, all within the span of 12 days. The quality of the competition really didn't matter then, & it doesn't matter now. This team doesn't need any help from their opponent to be streaky. And the way they've stretched out these series to two weeks for five lousy games,anything is possible.That's enough time to go on three swings depending in large part on any adjustments Vin's voodoo doctor makes in his medication.

"Anything is possible" is this week's mantra. Sure it is. The world could end tomorrow. Vin could score those 150-200 points for the series that Heavy had facetiously predicted. But Heavy learned a long time ago that betting with your heart was what kept the bookies in business. He preferred to take the short odds, tempering observation with facts; & not living in a dream world. Maybe that was why he kept getting fortune cookies like he did. Did the bookies have some hitherto-fore unknown interest?

This week all the talk has been about the advisability of Desmond Mason's prime-time 3600-degree dunk. Did it show a lack of respect? Did it beg for retribution? Will it motivate the Spurs? SHOULD a team NEED motivation this time of year? To Heavy's way of thinking, everyone was missing the point for the most part. All this talk about hard fouls on the part of the Sonics; this "take it to us if you can attitude"; & what will happen if San Antonio tries to turn things into a brawl. Hasn't everyone forgotten about our basket-case Power Forward, Vin Baker, in this whole scenario? All you've got to do is accuse Baker of having bad breath in a crowded elevator & he'll be in a funk for WEEKS! So what do you think a couple of hard fouls are going to do to him?

Heavy had speculated before the first game started that Vin would excel in this series & that the controversy which surrounds him would start all over again. Sure enough, people were saying things like, "Vin feels like an all-star again." They were debating whether or not he was showcasing himself; whether or not he could turn it on or off at will; whether or not many NBA players coasted like Shaq during the regular season, & turned it on only in the playoffs. Heavy laughed at the whole notion. First, you had to play on a good enough team to have the luxury of doing that. Second, you had to have enough INDIVIDUAL talent to even THINK you could get away with that. Obviously some players got away with it, but remember:70% of Shaq is still better than 100% of Vin Baker. So Heavy kind of chuckled at the notion of Vin "saving himself" for the playoffs.

Everyone's REAL concern, Heavy mused, should be focused on how VIN reacts to a more physical game. Yes, the Sonics took it to the Spurs by being more physical as a team in game two. And yes, everyone expects San Antonio to retaliate in game three with bad feelings exacerbated by Mason's dunk. But nobody seems to have calculated that the primary victim of this change of attitude & more physical play on the part of the Spurs will most likely be none other than the VERY fragile psyche of our very own Mr. Softee, Vincent Baker.

Vin plays a very touchy feely kind of game with his hands; he doesnt seem capable of looking you in the face when he mugs you. On defense, he'll push you in the small of the back, or otherwise move you out of the way to get position for a rebound. On offense he'll back you down with his ponderous backside, or push off with his free hand before whirling like a dervish to the basket for one of his patented finger rolls en lieu of a dunk. Vin eschews any kind of outright violence, preferring the sneaky approach. He does everything possible to avoid eye contact. When was the last time you saw him menacingly stare some one down after a monster dunk; or play the part of the World War One fighter ace a la Snoopy on his dog house after an intimidating block?

No, the best one usually gets from Vin is a look of exasperation, arms extended palm upward or hugging his head as he whines & WHINES about a foul call. This is not a tough guy, folks. This is a guy who CAN be intimidated simply by talking trash to him. If you actually get physical with the guy like Webber did; get up in his grill & stare him in the eyes as you're doing it, he'll wither like a newly budded flower on a chilly spring night. Hell, that's the way I'd defend Vin ALL the time. The worst I'd expect in retaliation would be perhaps a backhand to the face, punctuated by a high pitched "mon Dieu" as he stood there arms akimbo tapping his foot!

Yes, ladies & (cough) gentlemen, as soon as San Antonio figures this out; that's the end of Vin's resurgence & the Sonics' chances in this series. Certainly David Robinson is more important to the Spurs' fortunes than Vin is to the Sonics. And because of Vin's aforementioned propensity for shoving players in the small of the back just as they're preparing to uncoil, I'd keep the Admiral as far away from Vin as possible. But if I wanted to take Seattle out of their game plan in the easiest possible way, I'd physically intimidate Vin. Without Robinson, that may not be enough to turn the tide for San Antonio. But it's certainly the easiest of many possible adjustments to make in this long, drawn-out series.

So Heavy was looking for San Antonio to squeak out a second victory in game three; forcing Seattle's collective backs up against the wall -- provided of course that they didn't let Vin get off for a third straight game. Any team that did THAT didn't deserve to advance in the playoffs. Then it was up to Seattle to find the intestinal fortitude, to dig down deep for the inner strength necessary to send this game back to Texas where it would probably be all over anyway. Thus far, the Spurs' plan seems to have been to shut Bones down. After seeing how easy it had been in game one, Heavy figured they got a little lazy in game two. Much the same as we figure we can't shut Duncan down, & concentrate on playing the rest of the team tight; I think that they felt by disrupting Barry, & forcing everything to go through Gary, they could wear the latter down. But I think they underestimated the number of other weapons we have on this team.

San Antonio doesn't have the athletes to outright beat this Sonics team on physical ability alone, especially without Robinson. They will have to play like the cunning, wily, veteran team that most have appraisedthem as being. Pops has gone all the way before, so Heavy had to give them the edge in coaching as well. But in Heavy's mind, the cat and mouse game all came down to San Antonio recognizing the Sonics' Achilles heal. Take them out of their plan in game three by holding Vin back to no more than 12-13 points & 5-6 boards, & the series was winnable, most probably back home in 5 with a healthier Admiral. Oh the Sonics would probably adjust in game four instead of folding, provided that Vin wasn't so emotionally drained from the added pressure that he copped out with a couple of sprained pinkies. Heavy REALLY wanted to believe that. But asking this young team to pull out a series-deciding victory on the road in the final game was more than he could reasonably believe this team was capable of. It was more fantasy than reality as far as he was concerned. Heavy looked at his fortune cookie again.

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