On Wednesday, Nate McMillan appeared on a Seattle sports radio program and was asked to rate his performance as Sonics head coach.
In reply, McMillan said that he was doing “an excellent job.”
Thursday night, he set the record straight.
“I know I’m not doing an excellent job,” McMillan said. “If I was to answer that question again, I would say a good job. There are no excellent jobs in basketball. But (the question) was something that surprised me. It was one of those things where I answered without thinking. But I’ve been thinking about it and it’s been bothering me since.”
Lineup shuffle: One of McMillan’s goals after this weekend’s All-Star break will be to find a lineup he can use from one game to the next.
That said, he switched his lineup again for Thursday’s game. He moved Calvin Booth, who didn’t play in Seattle’s last game, back to the first team at forward in place of Reggie Evans.
McMillan has used 13 different lineups this season, and six of those lineups were for one game. The lineup he has used the most is the one he had at the start of the season when Ray Allen was injured – guards Brent Barry and Flip Murray, forwards Rashard Lewis and Vlade Radmanovic, and center Calvin Booth.
The only players not to start a game this season are guard Richie Frahm and forward Ansu Sesay.
Promising youngster: Add McMillan to the list of NBA folks who are impressed with Toronto rookie Chris Bosh, the 6-10 center/forward from Georgia Tech.
“He’s a very good young player,” McMillan said. “I would compare him to a (young) Kevin Garnett. (Bosh) brings something very similar to the floor, his feel for the game.”
The Sonics explored a possible trade for Toronto’s No. 4 pick (used to select Bosh) before the draft, but shied away when the Raptors’ asking price was deemed too high. For starters, Toronto wanted Seattle’s No. 12 and 14 draft picks, plus Vlade Radmanovic.
Collison has surgery today: Rookie forward Nick Collison took a red-eye flight out of Seattle after Tuesday’s game against Golden State and will have shoulder surgery today in New York. Dr. Russell Warren, who did a previous operation on Collison’s left shoulder to tighten the ligaments around the joint, will do a similar procedure on his right shoulder today.
Collison suffered a dislocated left shoulder in training camp and had his first surgery on Oct. 15. A diagnosis also determined that his right shoulder was prone to a dislocation, prompting the decision to have today’s second surgery.
Having had one operation already, today’s surgery “will be less intimidating because I know I’ll be all right eventually,” Collison said earlier this week.
Collison is expected to start playing again in the summer and should be fully healthy by fall training camp.
By the numbers: Going into Thursday’s game, the Sonics had an 8-1 record in games they shot .500 or better from the field. The one loss came against Dallas on Jan. 27, when Seattle shot .544 in a 118-116 setback.
By contrast, the Sonics are 0-10 this season when their opponents shoot .500 or better.
Rich Myhre
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