Practice Notes: Numero Uno
Posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 at 4:01 pm by Brian Robinson
This was it. The very first day of practice and I was excited, though exhausted throughout. Time limitations prevent a truly detailed article but practice reports are all about tossing together random bits of information for readers to enjoy.
For new SC.com readers keep in mind that media access to practice is limited to the final ½ hour of the day and there is a lot that we don’t see. SC.com tries to be in the building each day to give you the rundown of the little bits and pieces that don’t make the big news outlets. Here goes:
Practice today went nearly 3 ½ hours end to end and the players were beat by the time we got there. A few new details were in place, tributes to Bob Hill’s more regimented approach. A newly taped line on the floor restricted the media from overflowing casually onto the baseline which was basically covered with towels for sweaty players to wipe down with. The towels were interesting to me only in that I never recall seeing a single one last year. This year they had both the towels, and a ball boy with a mop charged with wiping sweat off the floor. I think it was indicative of Bob Hill’s style. There is going to be lots of sweating and lots of intensity.
The vibe was slightly different. Although other reporters there did not notice it quite as much as I did there seemed to be more intensity. The coaches barked their commands a little louder than I remembered, the players cheered and clapped more than I remembered, and there was a sense of some tough love. It may have just been the difference of the first day of training camp compared to the final days of practice last season and it could have been manufactured to prove a point.
Media was available for the very end of scrimmage which Noel Felix led off with a beautiful breakaway jam. Felix was joined on the red team by Mike Wilkes, Denham Brown, Mickael Gelabale, and Mo Sene. They matched up against the green team of Luke Ridnour, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Chris Wilcox, and Robert Swift. The white team consisted of Earl Watson, Desmond Farmer, Damien Wilkens, Nick Collison, and Johan Petro. We did not get to see much of the game but in the limited portion I saw I was impressed with Felix’ defense on Wilcox and the general intensity and tenor of the game. Guys were pretty fired up.
After the scrimmage the team ran 3 and 4 man weave drills in which they were clearly exhausted. The speed and coordination of Sene stood out as did the dunks of Robert Swift. A media-room rumor was that Ray Allen has told a couple of people that Sene has been the most impressive big man in camp.
Lastly it was extremely interesting to see a 15 minute sermon by ex-NBA official Mike Mathis who was brought in by the team to teach players how fouls are called. Mathis will be with the team this entire week as he was last year. Last season he advises that Bob Weiss wanted him “in the background” advising coaches about officiating trends. This year he is being encouraged to be an active participant in practices, stopping play when he observes players making poor plays. Today he focused on post defense and how fouls are called. It was amazing watching him to describe the angles involved and the indicators referees use to determine whether or not to call a foul. He focused not on what the rules are, but how those rules are usually enforced, how they can be avoided, and how some players in the league work to draw fouls. Specifically the conversation of the day focused on the topic of “re-routing” the offensive player with your forearms.
In the after practice drills Mo Sene, Robert Swift and Johan Petro took turns shooting 10 free throws. I missed out on Petro but Sene has beautiful rotation. He made 7 of 10 with 6 being nothing but net. Swift was 5 of 10 with 2 swishes and a couple bouncing in.
Desmond Farmer gets credit for being the last man on the floor. Despite the intense workout he remained hard at work practicing jumpers when I left, outlasting every other player by a good 20 minutes. Noel Felix was reportedly the first to arrive at just prior to 8am this morning
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Great stuff. Thanks. As one who nearly wept immediately after the Sene pick I can’t believe all the props the guy keeps getting…
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Wow, great info Brian. Even though you saw a limited amount of the practice, you really got a feel for what was happening.
Great work!
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:52 pm
How does Wilcox look? Big questions about him getting out of shape over the summer…is it true?
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Wilcox looks good. A couple of other notes, I notice that people were cheering(again seemingly instructed, this could have been staged) for defensive stops rather than offensive makes. They were running 3 second left drills, trying to score off the inbounds play and on one play the offense just completely bungled it, took a long time to get the ball in and then the inbounds got tipped. I would guess that Weiss would have been like “OK guys, lets do that one again” but everybody cheered the defense “great job guys, big stop” like the drill was more oriented that way.
Mike Mathis says that Nick Collisons handwork is significantly improved from last year and that right now “he is probably the most legal player in the league” in terms of defensive form.
Wilcox looks OK, not stunningly great, but everything I am hearing about him is positive. Ray had a couple comments about him being a team leader, as did Hill. Gordy Chisea lists Wilcox as a guy who will be a better defender than expected and says he has all the tools, they’re going to make him a very good defender.
I love this time of year. The team is undefeated and optimistic.
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:50 pm
With Fortson and Palacio limited only enough guys for 3 teams so somebody had to sit out. I guess today it was Rush and Adeleke.
Any words on them from other parts of the day?
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Rush actually pulled a groin muscle today and sat out part of the workout.
They have another practice now (6pm).
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:01 pm
An article on hoopshype mentioned Felix’s mom from Belize, similar to Palacio, but both raised in LA. Huge place of course but do they know each other, well?
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:05 pm
Nice post, full of fun and exciting tid bits. Did you get to see Gelabale scrimmage? If so, what do you think from your limited time? Could he challenge DW at this point?
I think Sene’s problem is going to be fouls. I bet he is athletic enough, long enough and passionate enough to be very disruptive, but it seems hes a bit out of control. Not in a bad way, but more along the lines of a fired up young Garnett. Just going all out crazy at times. I get the feeling he thinks he should be able to block any shot attempt.
Glad to hear, not sure where I even read it; I have read about 4 articles in the last ten minutes, but Rid is not sulking and playing hard for his starting spot. I hope he keeps it up, that will only make us better.
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:05 pm
Sorry mods, tried something out, didnt work. Just delete one of my posts in moderation, they’re the same thing..
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:13 pm
“An article on hoopshype mentioned Felix’s mom from Belize, similar to Palacio, but both raised in LA. Huge place of course but do they know each other, well? ”
They know each other but not super well. At one point they thought they might be related (like grandparents being cousins or something) but I think they figured out that’s not true. Both Noel’s parents and his older sister were born in Belize (though his father is deceased). He and his two younger brothers were born in LA.
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:30 pm
Sounds like everything is going according as planned. A lot of positives so far. Link to audio of press conference is available on the sonics homepage- sounds like it was an excellent practice.
PS- Princess 21- you seem to know a lot of information regarding these players- most interesting- not Felix’s complicated personal business- but Kareem and his groin- and practice at six? That info isn’t published anywhere (because he just told me), bc it just happened. How do you know Kareem and Felix so well?
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:37 pm
I’m a reporter in San Antonio. Some reporter in Seattle told me about Kareem’s groin.
I’m friends with Noel, so I knew about his family and what times practice are. It’s been published that they are having two a days, one morning, one evening.
I don’t know Kareem at all.
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Rush’s injury was reported. I forgot to include it as I wrote out the article.
October 3rd, 2006 at 7:07 pm
Thanks Brian! Look forward to reading your next blog- very informative.
Princess21- reporter for who?
October 3rd, 2006 at 7:52 pm
are the rumors true about robert swift weighing in at around 260?
October 3rd, 2006 at 7:53 pm
In response to Bryce’s post, Sene seems less likely to be a foul machine than either Swift or Petro. The one thing I noticed more than anything else in the summer league was his patience when defending. Petro was swiping at everything last year and averaged something like 7 fouls per game. Sene holds his hands up high and simply waits for the offensive player to commit to a shot - then he either blocks it or changes it. He seems to know that he can block anything and is willing to hang on for the opportunity instead of hacking the guy or trying to push him around.
It is worth noting that he was significantly more impressive in this past summer league in all respects than either Swift or Petro were in their rookie seasons. This is from a kid with a little over 3 years of formal basketball training…that is pretty scary
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:43 pm
Tarryl you know Kareem? Any information you able/willing/ok to share?
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:53 pm
Swift told me in summer league that he had weighed in at 262. He looks like he may be a bit bigger than that right now.
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:55 pm
I see that Kevin Pelton reported Kareem’s groin issue
http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/notebook061003.html
I also see there that Palacio and Adeleke were assigned to teams and may well have subbed in. I assume that will be the norm in the future.
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Swift at 262 does make him seem stouter, hopefully stronger. At that weight he’d be about 30-40th heaviest player in the league. There were 3 PF who weighed more.
Sene listed by Kevin Pelton at 230. Wonder if he will see any time at PF. Might be worth a look in garbage time.
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:17 pm
30-40th heaviest by listed weight. he is probably truthful / even boastful, while for a lot of vets it may have crept up and isnt reflected in their official weight listing.
October 3rd, 2006 at 10:10 pm
i like the sound of swift being 260+
October 3rd, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Maybe I should clarify that my mention of two players in camp with Belizean family heritage was not meant as prying into personal information (I am against that) but rather just a brief mention similar to other references about the NBA being a global game.
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:01 pm
And I asked about Kareem just in the context of his basketball, what he is thinking now- if we have a line to that it would be interesting without going too far.
Over the month Princess’ connection has given us some additional insights into Noel, what he has done in the past, contract status, what he is working on, maybe some human angle too, but it stays professional and respectful.
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Eh, I probably should have said respectful and generally oriented to discussing the player as a professional.
First pre-season game a week from tomorrow.
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Just noticed a few things about early regular season schedule:
Home and away games against the Lakers for n games 2 and 3. That seems a bit unusual.
6 of first 8 games on the road. ouch.
then 10 of 13 at home.
then 11 of 16 on the road.
could be a rollercoast ride the first half of the season.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:23 am
TK - I don’t think you were being nosy or anything about the Belize question. It’s been in a couple papers in the past that his family is from Belize.
Tarryl - I’d prefer not announce where I work, but I cover the Spurs. If I can email you, I will tell you.
Are any of the Sonics preseason games on TV??? Maybe on NBA TV or League Pass?
October 4th, 2006 at 7:43 am
I really look forward to these posts, Brian. Terrific work!
October 4th, 2006 at 9:13 am
Princess, official team schedule shows no TV of any kind for pre-season.
I didnt think I had crossed too far into nosy either, but it just seemed like noting that there is a line was worth saying as a reminder, including to myself, not to push too far. I think it is pretty much observed by all here. Even though you wear different hats of friend, fan, reporter of several kinds and web entrepeneur in my view you also handle the inside perspective responsibly as do the folks here that know players.
October 4th, 2006 at 9:34 am
If you cross a line with princess she’ll let you know….just FYI
October 4th, 2006 at 9:44 am
I havent spent much time looking at the top 100 lists at official Sonics site but thought Allen (rated at 11-20), Lewis (rated at 31-40) and Wilcox (rated at 74-100) were scored fairly responibly on what they have done. Sonics hope Wilcox at that price will rise quite a bit on the list. Maybe there was room for Watson to sneak on top 100 on basis of his defense. Or maybe this full season will provide a stronger demonstration of that. Or Ridnour or one of the young bigs.
October 4th, 2006 at 10:23 am
Hmmm you just know its got to be KILLING KC to not have to do any TV preseason games this year… j/k
Is there anything worse than exhibition sporting events?
October 4th, 2006 at 11:21 am
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