SEATTLE – Already this fall, the Seattle SuperSonics have dealt with a good many sub-plots, including contract issues, injuries, new players, new roles and the possibility of this team finishing last in the NBA’s new Northwest Division.
None of these topics will go away anytime soon, but for a few hours tonight they should at least fade to the background.
That’s because the Sonics open their 2004-05 regular season this evening in Los Angeles against the Clippers, and for one night the primary focus should be basketball.
“Everything that was done in preseason is over,” said Seattle coach Nate McMillan. “The real deal starts (tonight).”
The Sonics worked out in Seattle on Tuesday, then boarded a charter flight to LA for the beginning of the 38th season in franchise history. Nineteen times previously the Sonics opened their season with a victory, 18 times in defeat.
No one doubts this Seattle team, one of the youngest ever, is an absolute long shot to contend for an NBA championship. The Sonics, in fact, are not even favorites for a playoff spot, based on their youth – eight of 14 players on the roster have three years of experience or less – and a drop in the team’s record each of the last two seasons.
Seattle has missed the playoffs two straight years and four of the past six, and only a few people seem to think that trend will turn around this season.
Which means absolutely nothing to the Sonics themselves.
“There are so many predictions placed on each player and each coach,” said guard Ray Allen, the team’s leading scorer the past two seasons and a four-time All-Star. “We talk about who is going to win the championship and who is going to finish last, but I don’t think too many people are ever right in the beginning. And that’s why we play the games.
“A team builds camaraderie over the course of a season,” he went on. “Sometimes it’s during the worst times in a season that a team really builds its character and its heart. At any point, if things go negative, how do we respond to it? I like to think that a lot of these guys have heart … and that that’s going to be the turning point for us.”
Before the season, “it’s always unknown,” added coach Nate McMillan. “Until the season gets started, you really won’t figure out what’s going on.”
McMillan used training camp to preach the style and characteristics he wants to see this season. The Sonics, he said, need to be improved defensively, and in particular must be better at keeping opposing teams away from the basket. On offense, McMillan wants Seattle to play up-tempo whenever possible, but also to execute better in the half-court.
And, he said, his players should not take refuge behind their inexperience.
“They shouldn’t be here if that’s the case,” he said. “We have to go with what we’ve got. And young or old, basketball is still basketball.
“As I have told them, young and old, you will play if you play the right way. If you’re out there giving 100 percent, if you’re defending and if you’re hustling, then you’ll play regardless of what age you are.”
Because the NBA season is a grueling six-month trek, many answers about the Sonics will not emerge in the first few weeks. Many, in fact, may stay hidden for the first few months.
“There’s always wait and see,” Allen said. “This is the NBA.”
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