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| Tuesday, October 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last year: 25-25, fifth place in Pacific Coach: Paul Westphal Arena: KeyArena (17,072) Last NBA title: 1979 Record the last 5 years/NBA rank: 264-114 (2nd)
Outlook By Ronald Tillery Basketball News The Sonics are building no illusions about this group being a championship contender. But they are promising this: It will be a fun team -- and one that makes the playoffs. Actually, team president Wally Walker guaranteed a playoff berth after shipping out 10 players from last year's 25-25 team. The less-than-bold prediction amounts to a one-game improvement considering the Sonics barely missed the playoffs in 1999. A major overhaul (just five players returned) was necessary. If anything, it improved the team's mix of veteran leadership and youth. "The thing I like is we're not sitting here saying we're rebuilding and shipping everybody out," Sonics coach Paul Westphal says. "We think we have good veterans to be able to not call ourselves in the rebuilding mode. When you have (Gary) Payton and (Vin) Baker and (Horace) Grant and (Vernon) Maxwell, Brent Barry and Greg Foster, that's not a team that is saying, 'We give up. We're going to shoot for the lottery and build in the draft.' We're looking for some contributions from some second-year players, but we haven't torn everything apart." Overall, with Payton and Baker, the team has a formidable inside-out combination to win games. Baker, who is coming off his worst NBA season, apparently has beaten his weight problem, and the team is betting its chances (and a seven-year, $86 million contract) that Baker will return to his All-Star form of two years ago. And the Sonics know what to expect from Payton, who is a proven star in the league. But this team will run and gun more, taking advantage of the NBA rules changes and the team's added athleticism. Still, there are more questions right now than answers. "I don't know how good we'll be -- there are questions, legitimate questions," Westphal says. "More than anything, the West is unbelievably tough. At the same time, I like our team. We're going to be fun. I'm not putting out any predictions one way or another. But I'm not putting a ceiling on what the team could do."
Point guard Young, quick Shammond Williams will see a lot of action behind Payton, and he should even see some time playing alongside the veteran. The downside to Williams is his 6-1 frame. To cover that, the team has sharpshooters in Fred Vinson and NBA journeyman Emanual Davis, who are both at least four inches taller than Williams. But neither of those players performs with Williams' moxie, and no member of the trio is anywhere near Payton in ability.
Shooting guard Barry will be the starter because of his athleticism and finishing ability on the break. Plus, he has more than $20 million left on his contract, compared to Maxwell's two-year, $3.1 million deal.
Small forward Patterson gives the Sonics qualities they hadn't had at this position in some time: athleticism and grit. The best part of Patterson's game is his penchant for doing the dirty work. He is an excellent one-on-one defender and is always vying for rebounds because of his explosive leaping ability. Neither Patterson nor Lewis is a perfect answer at the position, and Westphal may decide to go big with second-year seven-footer Vladimir Stepania, who is quick and skilled enough to give most opposing 3s trouble.
Power forward He is a player who usually relies on his quickness around the basket to perform well against most power forwards, which is why the Sonics insisted on eight contract clauses to ensure Baker plays closer to 260 pounds. So far Baker's said all the right things and has employed a workout schedule dedicated to losing weight. But the jury is out on him for the entire season. The assumption is that if the Sonics return to the playoffs, Baker will have played well enough to get them there. Second-year man Jelani McCoy will serve as the backup, giving the team its only real shot-blocking presence.
Center That's the same type of situation backup Greg Foster hopes to exploit. Foster, a wiry 6-11, is a solid outside shooter. The fact the team lacks a true, dominant center will hurt when games slow down and opposing offenses execute in halfcourt situations.
Coaching That the roster has so many young players is no coincidence, either. Westphal is a teacher who likes youthful exuberance and energy. He wants to run and sometimes experiment without having his decisions questioned. While the Sonics will be a run-and-gun team on offense, there will also be defense played, much like the pressure that made the Sonics feared earlier this decade. Material from Basketball News.Visit their web site at http://www.basketballnews.com |