Seattle SuperSonics coach Nate McMillan thinks his bench has hit the wall.
Made up primarily of young players, the Sonics bench has been AWOL lately, contributing 15 points in a win over Milwaukee on Thursday, 19 points in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night and just six points against Denver last week.
“You need your bench,” said McMillan, who was forced to play all his starters except Art Long for more than 30 minutes for the second consecutive night.
“But we have a lot of young guys who are playing NBA basketball for the first time. We have no experience on the bench. I can’t expect to be getting any more than what I am getting from these guys. If they make mistakes, that is part of growing up and playing.”
The most noticeable difference in McMillan’s rotations lately has been Shammond Williams backing up Gary Payton instead of rookie Earl Watson. There is speculation that the Sonics are showcasing Williams for a possible trade, but McMillan said he thinks Watson is fatigued.
“I think Earl hit a wall,” McMillan said. “He has had a few games where he looked a little tired. He isn’t creating, making things happen as much. I’m not down on him, I still like him, I just want to give Williams some minutes.”
The Sonics youngsters get no break any time soon, either. Normally, first-year players have rookie orientation before the season. But because of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the orientation was canceled.
Now Watson, Vladimir Radmanovic and Predrag Drobnjak must travel to Philadelphia during the All-Star break to go through rookie orientation there.
Frank Huges
The News Tribune
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