On the heels of two impressive home victories, the Seattle SuperSonics headed to Denver on Monday, hoping to make it three in a row with a win over the Nuggets tonight.
Yes, they have some momentum, thanks to Sunday’s stirring 113-94 decision against the San Antonio Spurs. But coach Nate McMillan, who savored that outcome for maybe all of 20 minutes before turning his attention to Denver, says the Sonics still have plenty of challenges ahead.
“Two games really doesn’t do anything,” McMillan said. “Those were two very good wins, but now we have to go out on the road and play against a very good Denver team. They have a lot of talent on that team, but it’s really not so much what they do or who they are as opposed to what we do and how we play.
“It’s going to be a test for us every night,” he said. “We’re a team who is still trying to figure out who we are and what we’re about.”
The first week of Seattle’s season was one of extremes. There was the wonderful win over San Antonio and an equally impressive triumph against Atlanta, but before that was a dreadful 30-point season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Most of the players were stunned by the severity of that defeat, and more than a few wondered if it hinted at an unusually grim season ahead.
“Most definitely, I was thinking that,” admitted forward Rashard Lewis. “If we were going to come out and play like that every night, I was thinking we might have a long season.”
“We were thinking that, no question about it,” agreed guard Antonio Daniels. “And I know you guys (in the media) were, too. That’s a part of being human, is having some sort of doubt. But we have to believe in ourselves. Because if we don’t believe in ourselves, who will?”
What turned it around against Atlanta and San Antonio was a renewed commitment to effort and intensity. Borrowing from the philosophy of former Seattle coach George Karl, who used to preach that “playing hard is a talent” akin to running fast and jumping high, the Sonics simply set out to work harder than the Hawks and Spurs.
“We have to do that,” McMillan stressed. “We normally play better when we defend and work hard because the two go together. That’s how we have to play this game and we have to do it for the next 79 games. We didn’t do it the first game (against the Clippers), but the last two games we have.”
“We have to learn to bring it night in and night out,” Daniels added. “Every game will present a different test, and we just have to be ready to respond to it.”
Among the Sonics, no one is quite sure how good this team is. Remember, Seattle started last season by winning six of its first eight games – without injured All-Star guard Ray Allen, no less – and ended up with a disappointing 37-45 mark. That’s why Lewis, for one, figures the Sonics need 20 or 30 games to figure out the kind of ballclub they have.
“But I’ve been feeling good about this team from the start of training camp,” Lewis went on. “The guys we’ve got are the guys in this locker room. This is what we have to work with. We can’t expect to go out and get other players to help us win a championship or get to the playoffs. We have each other and we have to help each other, because that’s all we’ve got.
“We’ve got a good momentum going right now,” he said, “but we’ve still got a lot of work to do because there’s a long season ahead of us.”
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