Northwest Passages

What papers in the Seattle area are saying about the series:

DAVE BOLING, NEWS TRIBUNE OF TACOMA

So, may we presume that this scotches all those George Karl-will-be-hired-away-to-coach-the-Lakers-next-year rumors?

Perhaps that’s the only positive for Seattle fans arising from the Sonics’ third consecutive playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

And that too depends on your perspective. And whether or not your single-minded hunger for a championship obscures rational standards of judging excellence.

Karl, the Sonics’ coach, warns that this series isn’t over. And for the moment, we won’t dispute that--on semantic grounds, if no other.

What we’ve witnessed might say more about the emergence of the Lakers than the submergence of the Sonics.

We’re seeing the transformation of the Lakers from a talented-but-underachieving club into one that might have dynastic potential.

RON C. JUDD, THE SEATTLE TIMES

Take pity on George Karl.

Please. Someone must.

Sportswriters can’t. Fans won’t. Opposing coaches shouldn’t.

Even Sonic General Manager Wally Walker is too far into a contract-related whizzing contest to offer Karl a supportive shoulder.

He needs one. He’s earned one.

It’s an odd occasion when you see little second-guessing of a coach whose team is down three games to one in a seven-game NBA playoff series. This is one of them. Karl took--and probably deserved--much of the blame for the Round 1 Minnesota squeaker. Not so here.

What could Karl do differently against a team that’s suddenly and obviously quicker, faster, deeper and--brace yourself, fans--smarter than the Sonics?

Double- and triple-team O’Neal, and he scores 39. “Do we not [double] him and give him 100?” Karl asks rhetorically.

It comes down to an old premise of life in the NBA: He who enters the playoffs with a truly dominating inside player, a cast of cold-blooded perimeter shooters and a few Robert Horry-style hustlers often winds up receiving a shiny gold trophy from the commissioner.