NEXT GAME
Opponent: Memphis Grizzlies
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: KeyArena, Seattle
TV: KONG (Ch. 6/16), ESPN (cable)
Radio: KJR (950 AM)
No time for Potapenko
At the end of last season, Sonics coach Nate McMillan was trying to juggle minutes for five centers – Jerome James, Calvin Booth, Peja Drobnjak, Vitaly Potapenko and Elden Campbell – which didn’t work out all that well.
This season Seattle is down to three centers – Drobnjak was traded to the LA Clippers and Campbell is in Detroit – but still McMillan is having trouble keeping his big men happy.
James and Booth are both getting regular minutes, but Potapenko had played in just three of Seattle’s first eight games – a total of 20 minutes – heading into Tuesday’s contest vs. Miami.
Knowing it was probably going to be this way, McMillan sat down with Potapenko before the season and spelled out his plans for the season.
McMillan says he told Potapenko, a native of the Ukraine, and told him that James and Booth “are two guys this organization has signed (to multiyear contracts) and we’re giving those guys an opportunity to play. … and not go back and forth with the rotation. I said (to Potapenko), ‘If something happens and they don’t play well, then your opportunity will come. But it kind of has to play out.’
“I wanted to be up front with him, but I also wanted to be up front with Jerome and Calvin and give them an opportunity to play. And they know they’re going to play.”
Counting down: The Sonics set a team goal before the season of winning at least 50 games, which they hope to achieve by winning 30 or more at home and 20 or more on the road.
To help remind the players of the goal, numbers have been hung on the locker room wall which will be counted down to 0. For instance, the number for Seattle’s road victories is at 16, meaning the team has already won four times away from home (including one of its wins in Japan, which was designated a Sonics road game). After Tuesday’s meeting with Miami, the number for home wins was 27, signifying its two triumphs at KeyArena and one in Japan.
More than a shooter: Though he has been scoring at a brisk pace – a 23.1 average heading into Tuesday’s game – Seattle’s Flip Murray says he still considers himself a defender first.
“I’ve got a lot of shooters on this team so I really don’t have to score a lot for us,” Murray said. “But if I come out and play good defense, that’ll be more helpful to the team.”
Rich Myhre
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