Notebook | Sonics' Wilcox reacts to All-Star snub: "It's crazy"

MIAMI — When told he was not among the 24 Western Conference forwards chosen for the All-Star ballot, Sonics forward Chris Wilcox looked as if someone had sucker-punched him in the stomach.

"You kidding me?" he said. "It's crazy. I don't know what to say. I'm not upset. Well, I guess maybe I'm a little upset. But more than anything, I'm just shocked that I wouldn't be on the ballot. I thought at least I would get a chance this year.

"You mean to tell me there's 24 other forwards in the West that are better than me. Man, that's crazy."

Wilcox, Seattle's leading returning scorer from last season, averaged 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds in 2006-07.

"I was looking at this season like it could be my year to get in there," he said before finishing with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds in Seattle's 104-95 victory against Miami on Wednesday. "Elton [Brand] is out. KG [Kevin Garnett] is gone. I thought I'd have a chance."

While Wilcox received the snub, four Sonics (Kevin Durant, Nick Collison, Luke Ridnour and Wally Szczerbiak) were chosen among the 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers from each conference.

Balloting begins today and continues until Jan. 20 for the Feb. 17 game to be played in New Orleans.

Lesser-known Western Conference forwards on the ballot include Houston's Luis Scola, Memphis' Rudy Gay, Los Angeles Lakers' Luke Walton and New Orleans' David West.

"It's definitely respect, but evidently I haven't gained it," Wilcox said. "I'm not good enough to be on the ballot. That's tough. I'm not upset. I'll use it as motivation."

Durant pressing

Having converted 31 percent of his field-goal attempts (27 of 87) over the past five games, Kevin Durant admitted he's in a shooting slump, but doesn't believe he has to do anything differently to work himself out of it.

"I just have to continue playing hard and not force the issue so much," said the Sonics rookie, who scored 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting and had five rebounds Wednesday.

Coach P.J. Carlesimo has given Durant the green light to take any shot he wants.

"He's a volume shooter, not that he's not a good shooter, but he's got to get a lot of shots," Carlesimo said. "No, I don't want him just coming out and firing up 35 knowing some of them are going in. Him learning how to be efficient will be a big part of us learning how to win."

Notes

• C/F Kurt Thomas made his first start of the season in place of C Robert Swift (sore right knee) and finished with nine rebounds and two points. He played just two minutes in the fourth quarter because he felt a twinge in his right hamstring. Thomas is questionable for the game Friday in Atlanta.

SEATTLE
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Wilkins	36:34	7-11	2-3	0-5	2	1	19
Wilcox	32:52	8-11	4-4	3-10	2	3	20
Thomas	13:50	1-4	0-0	1-9	2	2	2
Watson	26:04	2-4	3-4	0-2	6	2	8
Durant	33:30	6-16	3-4	2-5	1	2	18
Collison	28:05	3-7	3-4	2-11	2	5	9
Green	18:50	3-4	0-0	2-4	1	3	6
Szczerbiak	17:28	3-6	0-0	0-2	1	1	6
West	29:25	4-10	5-6	2-4	6	2	16
Petro	3:22	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Totals		37-75	20-25	12-52	23	22	104

Percentages: FG .493, FT .800. Three-point goals: 10-19, .526 (West 3-5, Wilkins 3-5, Durant 3-6, Watson 1-1, Szczerbiak 0-2). Team rebounds: 9. Team turnovers: 24 (34 PTS). Blocked shots: 2 (Collison, Green). Turnovers: 22 (Durant 5, Green 3, Watson 3, West 3, Wilkins 3, Collison 2, Szczerbiak 2, Wilcox). Steals: 5 (Wilcox 3, Collison, Durant). Technical fouls: Coach Carlesimo, 11:23 second.

MIAMI
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Hardaway	23:51	1-6	0-0	0-1	4	0	2
Haslem	33:40	3-10	3-4	1-11	0	2	9
O'Neal	16:11	4-4	2-2	2-3	0	4	10
Williams	32:25	5-13	0-0	1-2	1	1	14
Davis	37:58	5-18	9-9	1-3	4	2	19
Mourning	23:30	4-9	5-9	3-6	1	1	13
Wade	24:16	5-9	5-8	1-1	5	3	15
Blount	15:57	2-4	0-1	0-3	0	1	5
Johnson	6:42	0-0	0-0	1-1	0	3	0
Parker	16:44	0-4	0-0	1-2	0	0	0
Cook	8:46	3-6	0-0	0-1	0	1	8
Totals		32-83	24-33	11-34	15	18	95

Percentages: FG .386, FT .727. Three-point goals: 7-26, .269 (Williams 4-8, Cook 2-5, Blount 1-2, Parker 0-2, Wade 0-2, Hardaway 0-3, Davis 0-4). Team rebounds: 8. Team turnovers: 12 (15 PTS). Blocked shots: 3 (Haslem, Mourning, Wade). Turnovers: 12 (O'Neal 3, Davis 2, Haslem 2, Wade 2, Blount, Mourning, Parker). Steals: 14 (Wade 3, Davis 2, Haslem 2, Johnson 2, Williams 2, Hardaway, Mourning, Parker). Technical fouls: Mourning, 0:19 second; Coach Riley, 7:38 third.

Seattle	30	31	19	24 — 104
Miami	25	16	27	27 — 95

Attendance: 19,600 (19,600). Time: 2:21. Officials: Ken Mauer, Scott Wall, Zach Zarba.