Watson Breaks Thumb

Patches Pal · Post #1 » by **Patches Pal** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 3:11 pm

Earl is out for four months.

http://tinyurl.com/5arnhg

For all you Ridnour haters, once again the Sonics are down to one experienced PG. Do you really want to go into the season with nothing but a rookie who is playing the point full time for the first time? Twenty straight loses would be the result. This is the third year in a row that either Watson or Ridnour have lost significant time due to injury. Earl may be back by the start of the season but will miss training camp and who knows how long before he is playing at 100%. This injury really fouls up our strategy of trading one of them.

Downtown · Post #2 » by **Downtown** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 3:30 pm

Maybe yes, maybe no that this fouls up our strategy. If you can believe the article, it says that he should be out 3-4 months, which takes us to the beginning of October or November, which isn't that bad.

I mean really, going with a rookie at the very beginning for a month or so isn't going to have dire ramifications on the big picture. Did Presti, or anyone else for that matter think the Sonics were going to explode out of the gate and be contenders? Unless there's some player changes they likely will be about the same as last year under PJ Carlisimo. Russel Westbrook and DJ White aren't going to have an immediate impact in their rookie season.

If anything, this solidifies the idea that Ridnour, not Watson, will be the one traded since he now has more value. But Presti does need to weigh the possibility that complications could happen and Watson is out an extra month or so. A contingency plan of aquiring another lower end pointguard may need to be looked at.

I'll stop with this. We have discused Marquis Daniels as an expiring contract in a Pacers trade. Daniels plays three positions and I remember well that he did a pretty good job at the point when he was in Dallas, which lead him to getting that big contract from Cuban. So he handles backup pointguard duties if Ridnour is moved until Watson returns. He then goes back to a different role at shooting guard and small forward.

Ex-hippie · Post #3 » by **Ex-hippie** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 7:00 pm

Ridnour needs to be thrown overboard no matter what. He epitomizes all that I have disdained about the Sonics during this dark chapter of their history: soft, all finesse, no defense, not mentally tough, not efficient. Westbrook is the kind of player we need, and it does no good having Ridnour around to teach him lessons like "how to play like you're scared." I'd rather sign a D-league guy as the backup for the first couple of weeks before Watson returns than have Ridnour.

Dick Tate · Post #4 » by **Dick Tate** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 8:30 pm

Patches Pal wrote:For all you Ridnour haters, once again the Sonics are down to one experienced PG. Do you really want to go into the season with nothing but a rookie who is playing the point full time for the first time? Twenty straight loses would be the result.

Who cares? It's going to be another evaluation/tanking season regardless. BTW: Am I allowed to use the "T" word on this site now that Eddie isn't posting here anymore?