Daniels article
Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 3:00 pm
Seattle's next opponent is a mighty tall order
By DANNY O'NEIL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Antonio Daniels was at the playoffs last season, he just
wasn't in them.
It was a problem that kept cropping up at the SBC Center,
where he watched the first two games of the San Antonio
Spurs' second-round playoff series against the Los Angeles
Lakers.
Daniels was a Spur from 1999 to 2002 before he was traded
to the Portland Trail Blazers. He met his future wife,
Sonia, in San Antonio. Spurs star Tim Duncan was part of
their wedding last summer. It was only natural that
Daniels show up to cheer on his friends and former
teammates.
The seats were great, right next to the television
announcers. The view was another story. After five
consecutive years in the playoffs, it was a little tough
for Daniels to watch. The questions only made it worse.
"How come you guys didn't make it?"
"Why aren't you all still playing?"
"It got to the point that I didn't want to go to the games
anymore," Daniels said. "This isn't fun. You want to be
there, you want to be a part of it."
Daniels won't be a bystander in the Western Conference
semifinals this time. He'll be there in his role as the
Sonics' shock absorber off the bench, the guy who takes
the hard bumps at the hoop and makes the decisions that
even out the ride.
At 30, Daniels is the oldest player on the youngest
playoff team in the West. He has the most playoff
experience of anyone on the team's roster, and he's a
guard who is as reliable on the court as he is when it
comes to cuisine. He's a meat-and-potatoes guy on both
counts.
There were two Sonics who played the entire fourth quarter
of Games 4 and 5 in their first-round playoff series
victory over the Sacramento Kings: Ray Allen and Daniels.
Tough to believe that last summer Daniels was as good as
gone from Seattle had the Sonics re-signed Brent Barry or
added Derek Fisher. Daniels was likely headed to the
Houston Rockets in what might be the best deal the Sonics
never made.
Daniels averaged a career-high 11.2 points, and was the
kind of high-assist, low-turnover guard that teams clamor
for in free agency. And over the past two games, the
Sonics returned to the format used so effectively the
first few months of the season: Daniels finishing what
Luke Ridnour starts.
They have constituted a very effective point-guard
combination punch. Ridnour is a jitterbug, dodging in and
out of a defense; Daniels is at his best streaking in a
straight line. Ridnour is a pest on defense; Daniels is
the Sonics' plastic man, long and rangy.
"Size and strength is something I try to use to my
advantage," Daniels said.
As the first guard off the bench, Daniels is to the Sonics
what the keel is to a sailboat: a stabilizing instrument
that works beneath the surface.
He made 3.96 assists for every turnover, second-best in
the league for the second consecutive year. That statistic
highlights a player's ability to balance risk against
reward and it's hard to find anyone more consistent.
Against the Kings, no one put his body on the line more
often than Daniels, who is unafraid to take his high-wire
act to the rim.
If only he were that risky when it came to dinner.
"I've come to the point where I quit asking him," said
Sonia. "He does not like any kind of vegetables."
Except for potatoes. He'll eat those baked or mashed.
He likes steak. Chicken, too, but he'll ask for it without
any sauce. He's so predictable that the staff at
Benihana's knows he likes fried rice without the onions.
His game-day routine is just as rigid. Before every home
game, he goes from the team's shootaround to the same
taqueria and orders the same thing: Two almost-jumbo
burritos. He eats one, most often with teammates Damien
Wilkins and Allen. He takes the second one home, eating it
after his nap.
The playoffs had become a habit, too. He played in each
postseason from 1999 to 2003, a streak that ended last
season. He learned the playoffs are not necessarily a
routine occurrence.
"It's not like some place you can just go every year,"
Daniels said. "It's not something that you can take for
granted."
This season, he helped punch his own ticket to San Antonio.
By DANNY O'NEIL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Antonio Daniels was at the playoffs last season, he just
wasn't in them.
It was a problem that kept cropping up at the SBC Center,
where he watched the first two games of the San Antonio
Spurs' second-round playoff series against the Los Angeles
Lakers.
Daniels was a Spur from 1999 to 2002 before he was traded
to the Portland Trail Blazers. He met his future wife,
Sonia, in San Antonio. Spurs star Tim Duncan was part of
their wedding last summer. It was only natural that
Daniels show up to cheer on his friends and former
teammates.
The seats were great, right next to the television
announcers. The view was another story. After five
consecutive years in the playoffs, it was a little tough
for Daniels to watch. The questions only made it worse.
"How come you guys didn't make it?"
"Why aren't you all still playing?"
"It got to the point that I didn't want to go to the games
anymore," Daniels said. "This isn't fun. You want to be
there, you want to be a part of it."
Daniels won't be a bystander in the Western Conference
semifinals this time. He'll be there in his role as the
Sonics' shock absorber off the bench, the guy who takes
the hard bumps at the hoop and makes the decisions that
even out the ride.
At 30, Daniels is the oldest player on the youngest
playoff team in the West. He has the most playoff
experience of anyone on the team's roster, and he's a
guard who is as reliable on the court as he is when it
comes to cuisine. He's a meat-and-potatoes guy on both
counts.
There were two Sonics who played the entire fourth quarter
of Games 4 and 5 in their first-round playoff series
victory over the Sacramento Kings: Ray Allen and Daniels.
Tough to believe that last summer Daniels was as good as
gone from Seattle had the Sonics re-signed Brent Barry or
added Derek Fisher. Daniels was likely headed to the
Houston Rockets in what might be the best deal the Sonics
never made.
Daniels averaged a career-high 11.2 points, and was the
kind of high-assist, low-turnover guard that teams clamor
for in free agency. And over the past two games, the
Sonics returned to the format used so effectively the
first few months of the season: Daniels finishing what
Luke Ridnour starts.
They have constituted a very effective point-guard
combination punch. Ridnour is a jitterbug, dodging in and
out of a defense; Daniels is at his best streaking in a
straight line. Ridnour is a pest on defense; Daniels is
the Sonics' plastic man, long and rangy.
"Size and strength is something I try to use to my
advantage," Daniels said.
As the first guard off the bench, Daniels is to the Sonics
what the keel is to a sailboat: a stabilizing instrument
that works beneath the surface.
He made 3.96 assists for every turnover, second-best in
the league for the second consecutive year. That statistic
highlights a player's ability to balance risk against
reward and it's hard to find anyone more consistent.
Against the Kings, no one put his body on the line more
often than Daniels, who is unafraid to take his high-wire
act to the rim.
If only he were that risky when it came to dinner.
"I've come to the point where I quit asking him," said
Sonia. "He does not like any kind of vegetables."
Except for potatoes. He'll eat those baked or mashed.
He likes steak. Chicken, too, but he'll ask for it without
any sauce. He's so predictable that the staff at
Benihana's knows he likes fried rice without the onions.
His game-day routine is just as rigid. Before every home
game, he goes from the team's shootaround to the same
taqueria and orders the same thing: Two almost-jumbo
burritos. He eats one, most often with teammates Damien
Wilkins and Allen. He takes the second one home, eating it
after his nap.
The playoffs had become a habit, too. He played in each
postseason from 1999 to 2003, a streak that ended last
season. He learned the playoffs are not necessarily a
routine occurrence.
"It's not like some place you can just go every year,"
Daniels said. "It's not something that you can take for
granted."
This season, he helped punch his own ticket to San Antonio.
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