Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

NBA


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 12:00 AM

E-mail article     Print view

Notebook | Sonics taking calls as trade deadline nears

Coach P. J. Carlesimo is committed to shaking up the rotation and perhaps reconfiguring the starting lineup, but what will happen may hinge...

Seattle Times staff reporter

Player of the game: Earl Watson converted 11 of 13 field-goal attempts and finished with a season-high 26 points. He also had nine assists, three rebounds and two steals in nearly 34 minutes.

Play of the game: With 31.2 seconds remaining, Wally Szczerbiak converted a short running jumper on the baseline despite being fouled by center Jason Collins.

Turning point: Down 69-50 with 10:15 left in the third quarter, the Sonics used a 27-7 run to go ahead 77-76 and take their first lead in the second half.

Up next: Portland, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Rose Garden.

Coach P.J. Carlesimo is committed to shaking up the rotation and perhaps reconfiguring the starting lineup, but what will happen may hinge on if the Sonics make a trade before Thursday's deadline.

"[We will see] if anything happens in the next couple of days, and then we go forward from there," Carlesimo said.

While fielding calls from several teams, the Sonics are reportedly shopping disgruntled guard Delonte West, center Johan Petro, swingman Damien Wilkins and Mickael Gelabale. It's also believed veterans Kurt Thomas and Earl Watson are also drawing interest.

Carlesimo plans to use the remaining 30 games to continue evaluating, especially seldom-used center Robert Swift, a restricted free agent this summer recovering from right knee surgery. To carve out time for Swift, who played his seventh game this season in Tuesday's 108-101 win over Memphis, Thomas and Petro may be expendable.

"I would think Robert would be one of the primary ones [goals]," he said. "I would say everything else is still secondary to trying to win games, trying to get better defensively.

"It's a better learning experience when you're winning than it is when you're losing. It's as simple as that. Losing is OK some nights when you learn a little bit, but I don't think nearly as effectively as when you're winning and certainly from a confidence standpoint.

"You want people to understand how we want to play, and we also want them to believe in how we want to play."

The mayor speaks

Mayor Greg Nickels acknowledged the Sonics' $26.5 million offer to buy out their KeyArena lease on Tuesday.

"We expect the Sonics to stay in KeyArena until the end of their lease," he said following his State of the City address.

Note

After playing just one game over a 10-day stretch, the Sonics play their next 16 games over a 27-day period.

Seattle Times staff reporter Sharon Pian Chan contributed to this report.

MEMPHIS
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Gay 40:51 9-23 3-4 0-7 3 5 23
Warrick 39:12 10-18 2-2 3-6 2 2 22
Milicic 20:48 2-8 0-0 3-7 0 2 4
Conley 31:14 3-9 2-2 0-4 9 2 8
Miller 11:50 3-7 1-2 1-2 1 0 7
Collins 26:54 4-7 0-3 3-10 0 6 8
Navarro 34:59 6-15 2-2 2-3 1 1 16
Lowry 18:59 2-7 1-1 0-3 5 0 5
Cardinal 15:13 2-4 2-2 1-3 1 2 8
Totals 41-98 13-18 13-45 22 20 101

Percentages: FG .418, FT .722. Three-point goals: 6-19, .316 (Cardinal 2-4, Gay 2-7, Navarro 2-7, Warrick 0-1). Team rebounds: 9. Team turnovers: 13 (9 PTS). Blocked shots: 7 (Gay 2, Milicic 2, Warrick 2, Collins). Turnovers: 12 (Warrick 4, Gay 3, Navarro 3, Conley, Milicic). Steals: 11 (Lowry 3, Conley 2, Gay 2, Navarro 2, Cardinal, Milicic). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Green 26:35 3-11 4-6 1-9 0 5 11
Wilcox 32:48 2-5 2-2 0-4 0 2 6
Thomas 14:50 4-4 0-0 0-5 0 1 8
Watson 33:57 11-13 2-3 0-3 9 4 26
West 33:02 4-12 0-0 0-5 7 0 9
Szczerbiak 26:42 9-18 3-4 2-4 1 2 24
Collison 22:10 5-7 2-4 4-9 1 1 12
Swift 7:35 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Ridnour 14:03 3-5 0-0 0-0 3 1 6
Petro 13:02 0-1 1-2 0-5 1 4 1
Wilkins 15:16 0-2 3-4 2-5 1 0 3
Totals 42-80 17-25 9-49 23 21 108
Percentages: FG .525, FT .680. Three-point goals: 7-11, .636 (Szczerbiak 3-5, Watson 2-2, Green 1-2, West 1-2). Team rebounds: 5. Team turnovers: 20 (23 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Collison, Ridnour, Szczerbiak, Thomas). Turnovers: 20 (Green 5, Collison 4, Szczerbiak 3, Watson 3, West 3, Ridnour, Wilcox). Steals: 5 (Watson 2, Szczerbiak, West, Wilcox). Technical fouls: None.
Memphis 31 31 16 23 — 101
Seattle 27 21 32 28 — 108
Attendance: 11,391 (17,072). Time: 2:11. Officials: Bob Delaney, Mark Ayotte, Leon Wood.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

More NBA headlines...

E-mail article Print view      Share:    Digg     Newsvine

advertising

UPDATE - 10:45 PM
NBA | Phil Jackson returning to L.A.

Artest to join Lakers, Ariza to Houston

Phil Jackson says he'll return to Lakers

Judge gives suit by Sonics fans class-action status

Jerry Brewer: One year later, pain of losing Sonics persists

Advertising

Video

AP Video

Entertainment | Top Video | World | Offbeat Video | Sci-Tech

Marketplace

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising