NBA

Hair of the Dog: Podcast with Joe Davidson about Huskies Basketball Recruits, Josh Hamilton, Mariners Huge Screen, AL MVP Voting

Published November 17, 2012 | By Casey McLain | Posted in Huskies, Mariners, NBA

Sometimes you say something is going to happen every week. Then a week later it doesn’t happen. A week after that it doesn’t happen again. Then you realize how easy it is to not make it happen. This is another stab at Hair of the Dog, our link post about the week that was. It should include some multi-media, too, but no promises.

Earlier this week the Washington Huskies mens basketball team signed a combo guard named Darin Johnson out of Sheldon High School in Sacramento. In other news, top-10 national recruit Aaron Gordon trimmed his list down to Washington, Arizona, and Kentucky.

I got a chance to talk to Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee about both players.

(About seven minutes of audio, I was late to interview Joe so he was on the road, headed to some high school football games, thus the occasional cell phone static)

The Huskies also signed Nigel Williams-Goss, a four star recruit from Nevada.

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And the Huskies basketball team could use some help after an ugly loss to Albany.

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The Huskies football team entered the BCS top 25 after beating Utah. Of course, the catalyst was beating Oregon State and Stanford. But whatever, top 25. Yay.

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I had the pleasure on Thursday afternoon to tip a couple of adult beverages with Kris Brannon, better known as Sonics Guy. Kris is a guy that always has a lot going on, a lot of which is probably because he’s constantly switching between himself, and his alter ego. In a prior week I wouldn’t have been able to tell you who is the alter ego, and who is the actual guy. Fortunately, my girlfriend taught that exact topic to her sixth graders this week, so I can tell you that for… Continue reading →

Kings Arena Deal Dead in Sacramento, Again

Published July 6, 2012 | By Joseph Chong | Posted in NBA, Sonics

Back on April 13, 2012, the Maloof brothers reneged their contributions for their new arena at the Downtown Sacramento Railyards after the Arena deal seemed ready to go in February. After the arena deal was reneged, Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson declared the end of a relationship with the Maloofs after fighting to keep the Kings from moving to Anaheim in April of 2011.

As of now, the Kings are going to play the 2012-2013 season with many questions to be answered by the end of the year.

With the Maloofs reportedly over $200 million in debt from the NBA and City of Sacramento combined and no support for relocations to Anaheim, there has been raising questions on whether they were going to sell the team.

According to Joe Maloof after the drafting of Thomas Robinson 5^th overall pick from Kansas:

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re not moving. We’re not selling. We’re going to fix our team-that’s what we’re going to do.”

But can Thomas Robinson really turn this franchise around with a very low payroll and a young team? Recently Tyreke Evans has been rumored to be on the trading block with the Kings not having the money to extend his contract. As long as the Maloofs are stuck with Power Balance Pavilion, it looks like the Kings are going to be stuck in the draft with a very limited ability to sign any players in the free agent market.

FINALLY…..

Kevin Johnson’s “Plan B” to build the new arena has been declared dead as of July 3^,2012. The second option for a new arena for the Sacramento Kings or any other professional sports tenant-never really took shape, Johnson stated “The city and arena operator AEG have concluded that the financial model is not viable… Continue reading →

From NBA Finals to NBA Beginnings: Positivity Is Key As Thunder in Finals, and NBA Prospects in Seattle Begin

Published June 12, 2012 | By Kris "Sonics Guy" Brannon | Posted in NBA, Sonics

Oh, the good old days.

This is the toughest column I’ve ever had to write. I knew I would one day eventually have to write this but I thought it would take longer for this event to happen. The team we loved and cared for 41 years is now again in the NBA Finals, but this time in a different city with different colors.

Until recently I had a newspaper clipping on my fridge that was from the first year of the Thunder playing when they were truly a team rebuilding. It talks about how they fell short to Dallas and their record dropped to 2-22.

The growing pains of that first season in Oklahoma City were plentiful for a while there I thought they may break old record for losses in an NBA Season. However the Thunder slightly improved through that year and never really challenged the old 76ers record of 9-73 in a season or the percentage of the Bobcats in the shortened season last year

I knew I would have to write about Oklahoma City being in the NBA Finals, but it only be after the Sonics had won a couple of more Championships right? We would have our history back and have a 3-0 lead on the Thunder for NBA Titles that would make these words I’m writing less painful.

Alas, I cannot delivery the news that way.

The Thunder are poised on the doorstep of a championship the only thing standing in their way is the team that everybody else (myself included) until a few days ago hated: the Miami Heat. I guess you could call me a prophet–I predicted that I would be cheering for LeBron at the end of the year to stop the Thunder–and here it… Continue reading →

SoDo Arena Plan Moves Forward with Memorandum of Understanding

Published May 22, 2012 | By Kris "Sonics Guy" Brannon | Posted in NBA, Sonics

I just feel great about being able to bring news of a new basketball team coming to the area is getting closer to reality every day. The latest arena meeting I went to was the MOU (Memo of Understanding) it sounds very Seattle in its name, but it’s really a comprehensive deal between the county, city and the investors lead by Chris Hansen.

The back of the one and only Sonics Guy, who has the most famous back to hit the Seattle Times since Randy Johnson.

When I arrived at the meeting there was a buzz of anticipation in the air. Media cameras waited to capture something interesting luckily myself and two other members of Bring Back Our Sonics entered fully dressed in green and gold. The cameras got their wish as they snapped numerous pictures of us Superfans. Their were some seats available in the front row so we sat down waiting for the Seattle Big Three to come in Dow Constantine, (King County Executive) Mike McGinn (Seattle Mayor) and Chris Hansen.

When they came in I almost had to sit on my hands to stop cheering too loudly. The first one to speak was Constantine. He complimented us on our outfits and thanked us as fans for stopping by. He talked about how this was a great deal for the county. He then introduced the mayor who proceeded to mention how this deal will bring NBA and NHL back to the Emerald City. One of the interesting things he said was whenever he talks to kids the first question they always ask is “When will get the Sonics back?”

After the Mayor, the Man of the Hour took to the podium. I felt like he was really connecting on all the good points he was… Continue reading →

Update on Last Two SoDo Arena Meetings

Published March 15, 2012 | By Kris "Sonics Guy" Brannon | Posted in NBA, Sonics

Sonics Guy and the original Sonics Guy: Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens is a legend in Seattle.

The first meeting I was able to attend was simply amazing. The face of the organization to get a team here is Chris Hansen–a hedge fund manager who lives in San Fran but has fond memories of watching hoops while growing up in Seattle–was nothing short of spectacular. As he was peppered with questions for about 45 minutes his answers were measured,solid and well thought out. The committee tried in several ways to get Mr. Hansen to divulge who the other financiers were he kept that information close to the vest, but rest assured he has other individuals that share his grand vision. The panel as well as the audiences seemed impressed with his responses.

They took a break after his testimony so luckilly I was able to talk to him before he left. I simply said “Thank You for your efforts to bring hoops back to Seattle.” he was very gracious and thanked me for support. Two of my friends David and Jeff Brown from the group Bring Back Our Sonics also presented him with a T-Shirt.

During the break I was able to talk to Coach Wilkens about how him coaching the Supersonics to their and Seattle’s only championship really had a positive effect on my life and how him working on trying to find a real solution, and how bringing professional basketball back to the area just showed his commitment to us. He kindly thanked me: a true class act.

The second half of the meeting consisted of experts talking about how the arena would be built , timelines, and what benefit it would be to the region. During the public comment portion I was able to talk about how enjoyed their… Continue reading →

NBA

Hair of the Dog: Podcast with Joe Davidson about Huskies Basketball Recruits, Josh Hamilton, Mariners Huge Screen, AL MVP Voting

Kings Arena Deal Dead in Sacramento, Again

From NBA Finals to NBA Beginnings: Positivity Is Key As Thunder in Finals, and NBA Prospects in Seattle Begin

SoDo Arena Plan Moves Forward with Memorandum of Understanding

Update on Last Two SoDo Arena Meetings

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