A second chance

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, March 19, 2005

SEATTLE – Most of the time, Vitaly Potapenko has been the perfect teammate.

At practice, he works as hard as any player. During games, he cheers the other Seattle SuperSonics from the bench. After the game he is often in the weight room, getting in a workout as the other Sonics prepare to head off into the night.

At times, though, the frustration of a season gone terribly wrong gets the best of him. Though not an overtly emotional individual, Potapenko has sometimes given vent to his disappointment.

“Vitaly and I have had a few different conversations,” Sonics coach Nate McMillan said Saturday. “And we’ve had a couple of blowups. But I understand that. I understand how he feels. And I know it’s tough. Because Vitaly probably would have been our starting center this season.

“He’s been about as good as a player could be in his situation. But life isn’t always fair, and it’s been tough for him and tough for me. This kid can play, but I just don’t have the opportunity to play him.”

A year ago, the 6-foot-10 Potapenko was Seattle’s sole bright light at center. Jerome James was overweight and underachieving. Calvin Booth was awkward and ineffective. Potapenko, who was used sparingly early in the season, finally got the position by default and played well enough to stay the starter for 38 of Seattle’s final 40 games.

Buoyed by that opportunity, Potapenko embarked on a vigorous offseason workout regimen. In top shape for the start of training camp, he gave every indication of remaining the team’s starting center in 2004-05.

Then, in a preseason game against Portland on Oct. 29, Blazers forward Ruben Patterson took a hard swipe at a ball being held by Potapenko and instead got mostly his right hand, breaking one of the bones. What Potapenko calls “a freak injury, just bad luck” put him on the injured list for the season’s first six weeks, and by the time he returned the surprising Sonics were 17-4 with James as the starting center.

Since McMillan was unwilling to mess with success, Potapenko was back at the end of the bench with plenty of time to wonder how fate could be so cruel.

Watching “is not fun, especially when your team is doing so well,” he said Saturday. “It is difficult, but you just have to show your professionalism. If you’re ready to perform when your name is called, people will realize what kind of player you are. So I just try to stay ready.”

Potapenko is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and for him playing time is a necessary step toward a lucrative new contract, either in Seattle or somewhere else. Knowing this, he earlier went to McMillan and to general manager Rick Sund, requesting a trade so that he would have the chance to play more regularly.

But with James also a soon-to-be free agent, Potapenko is an important hedge against the Sonics being left without a veteran big man in 2005-06. The result, no trade.

“We’ve had some sit-downs a couple of times this season to talk about different situations,” McMillan said. “Possibly a trade. It was his suggestion. … But what I said is, ‘You’re getting paid a lot of money. I know everybody wants to play, but right now we’re just doing something a little different.’ Everyone still has something they can do and they’re supposed to do. You have to come in here and work. If it’s just practice, you have to practice hard. If it’s just two minutes (of playing time), or if you play one game and the next game you don’t, that’s what you’ve got to do.”

An injury cost Potapenko a chance to be a starter this season, and ironically an injury is at last giving him a chance at meaningful minutes. James suffered a thigh contusion against Detroit on Wednesday and did not play against Orlando on Friday. With Nick Collison moving into the starting lineup, Potapenko became the first substitute off the bench and responded with six points (3-for-4 from the field) and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes.

With James not making the trip to Los Angeles, Potapenko is likely to get additional time in tonight’s game against the Lakers.

These few games are “an opportunity for me,” he said. “It is unfortunate that (James’ injury) happened. I was in the same position at the beginning of the season so I know how it feels. But it is the nature of this sport. Injuries, they are commonplace.

“For me, I’m not hoping for anything. I don’t want to make any promises to myself. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, so my job is just to be ready. But I do look like it as an opportunity.”