By Frank Hughes
The News Tribune
SEATTLE – Things have been so bad for the Seattle SuperSonics lately that even video coordinator Walt Rock and assistant general manager Rich Cho are hobbling around with injuries.
“I walked in today,” said coach Nate McMillan on Monday, “and I see Jerome (James) with a boot on his foot, and then I look … and Rich is on crutches. And I’m thinking, ‘What is going on?’ “
While assistant GMs cannot be placed on the injured list, a 7-foot-1 center with a bum foot can be, and so the Sonics placed James there. He is required to miss a minimum of five games.
James had a magnetic resonance imaging scan done Monday morning which revealed he had a sprained right foot. It will keep him out 2-4 weeks.
“I was practicing (Thursday), and my foot came out of my shoe,” James said. “But I kept on going. I tried to block a shot with my shoe off, and I hurt my foot.
“It’s frustrating, because it seems like every time I have a big opportunity, I get hurt.”
After his rookie season with Sacramento, James said, he was playing in the team’s summer league and was in negotiations for a new contract when he suddenly blew out his knee. He did not get a contract.
To replace James on the active roster, the Sonics activated rookie Peja Drobnjak, who practiced Monday and is expected to play tonight against the Dallas Mavericks.
Former Maverick Calvin Booth also is expected to play after missing the past six games with an ankle injury. He will start against his former team.
Who starts alongside Booth remains to be seen. Desmond Mason sat out the back half of Monday’s practice with a hamstring injury that continues to bother him. If he can play, he will start at small forward and Rashard Lewis will be the power forward.
But if Mason is unable to play, Art Long will start at power forward and Lewis will be the small forward.
Also, Gary Payton missed Monday’s practice with flu-like symptoms. He flew with the team to Texas and is expected to play, but he will be re-evaluated today.
It got so bad on Monday that McMillan was forced to participate in the practice. It is not exactly a formula for success that McMillan envisioned when he came into training camp.
“You are really searching for a system to fit a group of (different) guys each night,” McMillan said. “We just haven’t been able to have a combination of players for a period of time that our offense is built around.
“I have to scrap basically everything that I am doing because I don’t know who is coming in, who will play tomorrow, who will be healthy. I can’t say I want to run this set, or play this type of defense. I am basically making decisions right before the game and doing what I can.”
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