By Rich Myhre
Herald Writer
SEATTLE – In his years as an NBA player, Nate McMillan was known to raise his voice in moments of frustration or anger. Whenever a teammate was careless or unprofessional, McMillan would be the fellow in his ear.
Today, as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, McMillan has a license to yell. And he does – on the practice court, in the film room, in the locker room or anywhere else a high-decibel message is needed. Yet there are other times when McMillan the fierce competitor becomes McMillan the benevolent instructor. One of his biggest coaching challenges, he said, has been “learning when to yell and scream, and when to just back off and leave it alone.”
He is learning about patience. And on this Sonics team – a young, impetuous and unpredictable ballclub – McMillan is getting a crash course.
On Friday, as his athletes sat through an afternoon players-only meeting with NBA officials, McMillan reflected on his philosophy of coaching. It is, he admits, a work in progress.
“I’ve had my good days and I’ve had my tough days,” McMillan said. “I haven’t been in this too many years, and it’s a learning process for me to be patient with this group of guys and to teach them my thinking about the game.”
Earlier this week, the Sonics had tight, tough contests against West Coast rivals Portland and Sacramento. Seattle led late in both games, but committed decisive mistakes in the closing moments to suffer defeat.
Disappointment, McMillan said, led him “to be hard on these guys. I’ve been very hard on them, and (at practice Friday) I was even harder.”
Yet there are other times, he said, “when I think I have to sit back and let these guys learn for themselves. … The effort has been there. The guys are working hard. We’re just not making the plays that we need to make.”
An example came in the final minute against the Kings. Because forward Vin Baker had fouled out, the Sonics had rookie Vladimir Radmanovic in the game. Radmanovic, a native Yugoslavian who just turned 21, has an extremely bright NBA future. But with the game on the line against Sacramento, he interrupted a Sonics offensive play by running to the wrong spot on the court. Seattle was lucky to get a decent shot – an uncontested 3-pointer by Radmanovic, as it turned out, that bounced off the rim – but it was the kind of miscue that has hurt the Sonics this season.
Radmanovic is one of the most youthful Sonics, but there are others. Though Gary Payton, the best player, is 33 and two other veterans, Vin Baker and Brent Barry, just turned 30 in recent months, everyone else on the roster is in his early to mid-20s. Seven Sonics are in their first or second NBA seasons. The other three are in their third or fourth years as pros.
Which leaves McMillan to acknowledge that he can only do so much.
“I try to really prepare this team for each game with all the information that I can give them and all the teaching I can give them,” he said. “Then I try to put them in a position where they can be effective in that game. As long as I do that, then I can look back at that end of a particular day and ask myself, ‘What was missing?’ or ‘What didn’t I cover?’ And if I don’t come up with very much, then I sleep OK.”
Ultimately, too, he knows the look of the team today will probably be very different from the Sonics squad of, say, five years from now.
“They way I look at it, we’re building,” McMillan said. “We’re going to add (new players over time). And we’re going to subtract. That is what I’m building toward. I’m working with our (front office) guys on certain things. I’ll say what I need at this position and that position, and we have to get that in place.
“Patience is what is needed now until I get what I think I need to win,” he said.
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