This next blurb is entitled "Kicking a man while he's down":
Michael Olowokandi was involved in one of the most stunning off-the-court incidents in years.
I was stunned when I heard he was arrested for refusing to leave a club.
Did you happen to see his mug shot? His appearance was quite stunning.

Sorry, just..... needed to get that out of my system.

Random facts about the Sonics this season
--They're actually shooting 3-pointers less frequently, but more accurately, this season than they did last season.

Percentage of field goal attempts that are 3-pointers
2003-04: 29.4%
2004-05: 27.6%

3-point accuracy
2003-04: 37.3%
2004-05: 40.2%

--Only the Phoenix Suns have a better offensive efficiency rating right now, 108.9 to the Sonics' 108.8. (Offensive efficiency just means points scored per 100 possessions.)

--This is Ray Allen's 3rd season with the Sonics, but just the first that he's actually started the year with the team on the court. In 2002-03, he arrived in a midseason trade. Last year, he missed Seattle's first 25 games because of a knee injury.
That's significant, I think, not so much because it helps team chemistry or continuity, but because any team that gets Ray Allen for 82 games is miles better than one that only gets him for 56 (last season) or 29 (2002-03).

--There isn't a player in the NBA who gets his shot blocked more often than Danny Fortson. Well, I can't say that for sure because I've only counted the number of shots Fortson has had blocked, but I'm relatively sure no other player in the league has been blocked 18 times, as Fortson has after Wednesday's games.
If you can find someone who has, I doubt he can top this: Fortson has 67 field goal attempts this season, meaning he's had 27% of his shots blocked.
27%!
That's a pretty astounding total, but if you've ever seen Fortson play, not really. He has the vertical leap of Jennifer Capriati, for one thing, and as a 6'7" forward-center who's glued to the interior he's nearly always being defended by a player who is 3-4 inches taller than him. On top of that, he has only one move on offense, the head fake, and that nearly always comes underneath the basket after he pulls down an offensive board. i.e. nearly all of Fortson's shots are being contested by 2 or 3 taller players.

DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING RATES (after Tuesday's games)
Percentage of opponents' missed shots rebounded (Defensive efficiency/League rank)
1. New York: 77.32% (103.8/28)
2. Miami: 73.99% (99.9/11)
3. Denver: 73.87% (97.8/5)
4. Cleveland: 73.37% (95.3/2)
5. New Jersey: 73.14% (100.7/13)
6. Milwaukee: 73.07% (103.3/23)
7. Golden State: 72.97% (99.1/9)
8. New Orleans: 72.50% (103.3/22)
9. San Antonio: 72.44% (93.3/1)
10. Minnesota: 72.29% (102.7/21)
11. Indiana: 72.21% (101.5/16)
12. Utah: 71.91% (103.7/27)
13. Detroit: 71.89% (101.8/17)
14. Atlanta: 71.84 % (107.7/30)
15. Orlando: 71.77% (97.7/4)
16. Boston: 71.72% (99.6/10)
17. Chicago: 71.11% (103.7/27)
18. Houston: 70.94% (99.9/12)
19. Seattle: 70.93% (101.1/15)
20. Philadelphia: 70.74% (100.8/14)
21. LAL: 70.24% (102.4/20)
22. Memphis: 69.79% (102.0/18)
23. Dallas: 69.46% (97.3/3)
24. LAC: 69.34% (98.7/8)
25. Washington: 69.20% (102.3/19)
26. Portland: 68.63% (98.1/7)
27. Charlotte: 68.3% (103.7/25)
28. Sacramento: 67.31% (105.3/29)
29. Toronto: 66.42% (103.6/24)
30. Phoenix: 65.82% (98/6)

You ever see color analysts point to "the battle of the boards" when they assess the keys to a game? Well, I don't think anyone can prove that a high defensive rebounding percentage can hurt a team, but after looking at these numbers and then matching them up with the teams' defensive effiency ratings, I'm starting to wonder just HOW important raw rebounding numbers are.
The most interesting fact to me is that the Knicks, who are far and away the best defensive rebounding team in the league right now, are also one of the worst defensive teams in the league, as well. Their defensive efficiency rating ranks 28th in the league, while their opponents are shooting 48.2% from the field.
By contrast, Phoenix, which is by far the worst defensive rebounding team in the league, has the 6th best defensive efficiency rating in the league, and its opponents are shooting 42.2% from the field.
Go figure.
Now obviously, if the Knicks didn't rebound so well their defensive efficiency would be worse, and if the Suns rebounded better their defensive efficiency would probably be better. But I guess the point here is that while it's important to prevent 2nd chance opportunities, it means little if you're frequently allowing teams to score on their 1st chance.
Clearly, there's far more to playing defense than just rebounding. Is the team defending the 3-point line? Is it forcing turnovers? How often is it allowing the opposition to get to the free-throw line? Those are some factors that need to be considered in addition to the battle of the boards.