Sonics Update
Published 9:00 pm Monday, February 9, 2004
Opponent: Golden State Warriors
When: 7 p.m.
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: None
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
Probable starters: For Seattle – forwards Rashard Lewis (6 feet, 10 inches) and Calvin Booth (6-11), center Vitaly Potapenko (6-10), guards Antonio Daniels (6-4) and Ray Allen (6-5). For Golden State – forwards Clifford Robinson (6-9) and Brian Cardinal (6-8), center Erick Dampier (6-11), guards Jason Richardson (6-6) and Speedy Claxton (5-11).
Next game: Toronto at Seattle, 7 p.m. Thursday.
Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis were bruised enough to be excused from Monday’s practice, but both players are expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Sonics host Golden State.
Allen, who suffered a sprained shoulder in Friday’s game at Phoenix after absorbing a hard screen, and Lewis, who has a sore wrist, were soon joined on the sidelines Monday by Vlade Radmanovic, who got smacked in the face during a short but aggressive workout. Like his teammates, he is expected to be ready tonight.
“There are a lot of guys right now who are fatigued and who have some bumps and bruises,” said Seattle coach Nate McMillan. ” (Allen and Lewis) have logged a lot of minutes, and lately they’ve taken a beating with teams being physical and being aggressive with them. So we allowed those guys to watch practice today. They have some soreness, but most of the players in the league do.”
Allen, who was not available for comment Monday, had been expected to miss Sunday’s game at Portland. In fact, he had told McMillan an hour before the game that he did not expect to play. Twenty minutes later, Allen decided he would try.
Against the Blazers, Allen had a good game, going 8-for-17 from the field with four free throws for 22 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. He seemed to forget about the injury on offense, but on defense, “you could see him a few times really looking for screens,” McMillan said.
Lewis, who was also not available for comment, was hurt after going to the floor for a loose ball in a recent game. “He’s suffering a little bit from scrapping, which is not bad,” McMillan said. “I’ve seen him on the floor a lot in the last two weeks.”
Vacation ahead: The All-Star break is this coming weekend, which means all the Sonics except All-Star participants Allen and Lewis will get a few days of rest. McMillan, though, wants his players to keep their focus through tonight’s game and Thursday’s meeting with Toronto.
As a staff, he said, “we’re not even talking about the break.” Still, he conceded, “if you know you’re vacation is coming up Friday, you’re going to think about it. And we have guys who are fatigued and tired and sore, so they need (a break). But we still have two games.”
Trivia question: What former Sonic had his uniform number retired by the Warriors?
That’s a fact: Ray Allen missed the first 25 games of the season after arthroscopic ankle surgery, and the Sonics went 12-13 in his absence. Since his return, Seattle has also gone 12-13.
That is a bit surprising, but as McMillan explained, “We ran into some very good teams in the last two weeks.”
Trivia answer: Tom Meschery, one of the original Sonics. Meschery played one season for the Philadelphia Warriors, then moved with the team to San Francisco for five seasons before joining the Sonics in the 1967 expansion draft. He then played four seasons with Seattle, including two seasons as a player/assistant coach to player/head coach Lenny Wilkens.
Meschery is one of four players to have his uniform number (14) retired by the Warriors. The others are Al Attles (16), Rick Barry (24) and Nate Thurmond (42).
Surprisingly, the Warriors have not retired the jersey of Wilt Chamberlain, who played the first 5 1/2 seasons of his remarkable career in Philadelphia and then San Francisco. His jersey has been retired by the Philadelphia 76ers, where he played 3 1/2 seasons, and the LA Lakers, where he played five seasons.
Rich Myhre
