1.   Camoufleurs, the set designers and stage actors of the group, operated separately from the sonic teams, who recorded and broadcast mock battle sounds.

2.   Nothing much about Sonic team dynamics this season would point to a sudden, dramatic turnaround.

3.   Payton has grown into an All-Star point guard and leader of a Sonic team functioning at a league-best pace.

4.   Secrecy often led to confusion and frustration when sonic teams and camoufleurs turned up on the battlefield without explanation.

5.   So an aging, small and fragile Sonic team now feels the pressure.