Daniels article

[ZiggyZoomba]

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.

[Metz]

I take it you are on the AD mailing list Grant?? I just got that same article in an email today

[HoustonFalcon]

Although I'm happy that AD is doing very well in Seattle, I really do wish that he was in Houston. Then I could see him play every game, and he would be a starter. He is the point guard that the Rockets need. But as long as he is doing well, and has a chance to get another ring, good for him. Oh how I miss those days of watching him at AA, back when it really was the House That Roars.

[ZiggyZoomba]

I take it you are on the AD mailing list Grant?? I just got that same article in an email today

I am, but actually I've got a Google alert that emails me any Antonio Daniels news as it's published... and Josh Harris, and Dan Dakich... and.... Google RULES!!

[Dayons_Den]

Oh how I miss those days of watching him at AA, back when it really was the House That Roars.

Actually, my recollection of the years Jimmy Larranaga / Daniels was at BG , 94-97 the student crowds were pretty lousy. In fact his senior season the sellouts didn't come until the Blade printed an article about how poor our attendance was fora first place team with an NBA caliber player on it.

It was the later Stacey/Pardon/Matela years under Dakich that really got it rockin.

[ZiggyZoomba]

Oh how I miss those days of watching him at AA, back when it really was the House That Roars.

Actually, my recollection of the years Jimmy Larranaga / Daniels was at BG , 94-97 the student crowds were pretty lousy. In fact his senior season the sellouts didn't come until the Blade printed an article about how poor our attendance was fora first place team with an NBA caliber player on it.

It was the later Stacey/Pardon/Matela years under Dakich that really got it rockin.

You beat me to it, you're exactly right. Attendance sucked under Larranaga... with the exception of the MSU game.

[C-bus Falcon]

Attendance was pitiful AD's senior year before the Blade Article came out. Ball State came to town with Bonzi Wells as the reining MAC MVP and a tough team. Sad to say the bleachers were not even half full that evening.

[golfertk14]

I take it you are on the AD mailing list Grant?? I just got that same article in an email today

I am, but actually I've got a Google alert that emails me any Antonio Daniels news as it's published... and Josh Harris, and Dan Dakich... and.... Google RULES!!

I have the same thing for Cole Magner, Omar Vizquel and Kenny Lofton-very handy for a BG/Indians fan like myself.

[TG1996]

Antonio went for 16 and 6 last night, but the Sonics fell down 2-0 to the Spurs. Led the team in assists, second in points for Game 2.

[Falconfreak90]

It's great that AD is doing well. I never got to see him play in person for BG...I was 4 years gone when he came to BG.

I look for his stats in the box scores often.

[kslates]

McMetz-

Your Sonics aren't looking so hot...but my Pistons didn't last night either

[TG1996]

It's great that AD is doing well. I never got to see him play in person for BG...I was 4 years gone when he came to BG.

Its amazing sometimes to flip on a Sonics game and see him make a move or drive, and get almost an instant flashback to watching him at AA. Even with the moderate success he's had in his in the NBA, its been awesome to see the numbers he's put up regularly this season.

Hopefully now he can help them dig out of a 2-0 hole.

[golfertk14]

Do you guys think A.D. would consider a trade to the Cavs? I don't think that Ray Allen's going anywhere soon. Daniels might be able to be that second-hand man that 'Bron needs.

[ZiggyZoomba]

Do you guys think A.D. would consider a trade to the Cavs? I don't think that Ray Allen's going anywhere soon. Daniels might be able to be that second-hand man that 'Bron needs.

I think AD is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, so it's not whether or not he'd consider a trade, it's wherever he'd get the best offer!! I'd love to see him closer to home... I hope he plays where he can showcase his talents. Seattle has been great for him!!

I got to see him play his rookie year at Detroit where he sunk a game winner at the buzzer to beat the Pistons in the Palace... that's the only time I've seen him play in person in the NBA. I'd love for that to change though.

[Metz]

Nice stolen pic! March 3, 1997 issue of Sports Illustrated...Sugar Ray Leonard is on the cover and it's sitting right next to me now