Sonics Update

Published 9:00 pm Friday, March 1, 2002

Opponent: Memphis Grizzlies

When: Noon Sunday

Where: The Pyramid, Memphis, Tenn.

TV: KING (Channel 5)

Radio: KJR (950 AM)

Seattle SuperSonics assistant coach Bob Weiss left the team for the remainder of this road trip, flying home from Atlanta with a viral infection.

Weiss’ absence is subtle, not noticed by the average fan who doesn’t take much notice of the various assistant coaches lining the bench.

But he is a loss to coach Nate McMilllan, who relies on the experience of Weiss, who has been in the league for more than 35 years, including head coaching stints with the Clippers and the Hawks.

“He’s always communicating with me, play calling, substitution, sets, plays, rotations, he even tells me when to call a timeout,” McMillan said. “I want that experience that he’s had on the bench, and that’s why I told him, ‘I want you to come to me even more.’ Any time he feels like we need to do something during a timeout. I just like his knowledge and his feel for the game.”

McMillan approaches Weiss about getting more involved in part because McMillan felt he, Weiss and Dwane Casey were not utilized when they were assistants under Paul Westphal. McMillan did not want to create the same atmosphere that at one point led McMillan to think about resigning.

“That is what I want our coaches to do,” McMillan said. “In particular, I went to coach Weiss because he has been (a head coach), he knows what it’s like to be on the sidelines. A lot of times I’m looking at so many different things that I may miss something or I may not see something that is working. If they have something they think will work, he and coach Casey, I want them to come to me.

“Because of the way we did things with Paul, we didn’t feel that we were being used. We basically sat on the sidelines. I did my work before the game, working guys out. We never communicated with him on the sidelines.”

The assistant coaches take turns scouting and preparing the team for opponents. Weiss was supposed to scout the New York Knicks, but Casey handled the job in Weiss’ absence.

“He had already had some game notes made up and some of the tapes were already broken down,” McMillan said. “So Casey took that over, but we all watch tapes and make it everybody’s game.”

Frank Hughes

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