No question, game officials are keeping a close eye on physical play this season, Nate McMillan said before Wednesday’s game.
And Sonics forward Danny Fortson is among those being watched, said Seattle’s coach.
McMillan, along with all NBA coaches, keeps up with memos being sent to officials via a league web site and the word is out. After the recent incident in Detroit involving the Pistons, the Indiana Pacers and fans at the Palace in Auburn Hills, “they’re watching everybody,” McMillan said.
“It’s not just Danny,” he said. “They’re watching any physical contact that may cause players to lose their tempers.”
Fortson wasn’t available for comment before Wednesday’s game, but has previously expressed frustration with some of the foul calls he has received.
“The league is watching it even closer now, especially guys who have that reputation,” McMillan said. “I think at times (Fortson) does feel he’s something of a marked man. And if that’s the case, he has to make an adjustment.”
Fortson has had several flagrant fouls this season, including one in Tuesday’s loss at Portland, and “I think anything close now will be a flagrant foul,” McMillan said.
That said, McMillan wants his players to avoid getting caught up in officiating beefs. In the loss to Portland, Fortson was ejected in the fourth quarter for a second technical foul and his absence may have cost the Sonics a chance to win.
As he prepared to address his team before facing the Jazz, “I have that the top of my list,” McMillan said. “Leave the officials alone. Zip it.”
Twinkletoes: Sonics forward Vlade Radmanovic will join the cast of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Nutcracker” on Friday at 7:30 p.m. He will play the role of Grandfather in the Party Scene, and later will go backstage to work the fly rail and make it snow for the Snow Scene.
It will be Radmanovic’s second PNB appearance.
That’s a fact: Through 16 games, Ray Allen (23.8) and Rashard Lewis (21.2) are averaging a combined 45.0 points a game. That mark, if it holds, would be the highest average for the team’s top two scorers since the 1986-87 season, when Dale Ellis (24.9) and Tom Chambers (23.3) averaged 48.2 points a game.
Rich Myhre
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