SEATTLE – Wednesday night’s intrasquad scrimmage was a chance for the Seattle SuperSonics to mingle with their fans. Sign autographs, pose for pictures, that sort of thing.
Top-notch basketball? Well, that was evidently not on the evening’s agenda.
In an often ragged display, the White team defeated the Green team 87-77 before a few hundred fans at Seattle Pacific University’s Royal Brougham Pavilion. There were some outstanding moments, but also a good many flaws. Neither team shot particularly well, which was understandable in an unfamiliar gym, but there was also an unusually high number of fouls.
One reason may have been the coaches’ decision that no one would foul out, which meant players could foul freely. And several did.
“There was too much fouling,” said head coach Nate McMillan, who watched the scrimmage from a seat at the scorer’s table. “There was more grabbing than moving our feet. We want to use our fouls, but we also want to be smart about it.”
The good news, he added, was that everyone “got out of here without an injury. This was an opportunity for the fans to see the guys. We wanted some execution and I thought we got a little bit of that, but the main thing was to get out of here without anybody getting hurt.”
The Sonics have 16 players on their roster. With forward Rashard Lewis and guard Flip Murray sitting out with injuries, the remaining 14 were divided between two teams.
The White team, coached by assistants Dean Demopoulos and Dwane Casey, included guards Antonio Daniels, Mateen Cleaves and Ibo Kutluay, forwards Vlade Radmanovic and Reggie Evans, and centers Vitaly Potapenko and Robert Swift.
The Green team, coached by assistants Jack Sikma and Bob Weiss, included guards Ray Allen, Luke Ridnour and Galen Young, forwards Danny Fortson, Nick Collison and Damien Wilkins, and center Jerome James.
When it was over, Radmanovic led all scorers with 20 points, including three 3-pointers.White teammates Daniels and Cleaves each contributed 17. High for the Green team was Collison with 18 points, with Allen tossing in 17.
“Vlade is continuing to work,” McMillan said. “The one thing we’re trying to get him to do is learn to make good decisions with the ball. … This year he’ll see the ball more. He’s seen the ball a lot this preseason and we’ll give him a few more opportunities.”
Collison, meanwhile, has shown throughout the preseason that he has recovered nicely from the two shoulder surgeries that kept him out all of last season.
“He’ll definitely be in the rotation,” McMillan said. “But since this is his first year on the floor, I don’t think anybody can project how much he will do.”
The Sonics return to the practice court this morning, then fly out of Seattle on Friday morning for the start of a three-game, four-day exhibition road swing to San Antonio, San Diego to face the Los Angeles Lakers, and Phoenix.
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