With the Sonics back in Seattle after a two-game road trip and with three exhibition contests now in the books, Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo had the opportunity to run down the state of the team for the media.
"Sacramento we looked like we hadn't practiced at all," observed Carlesimo. "Cleveland we played better than I would have hoped for. Indiana was in the middle. Indiana was what I would have hoped for from the Sac game, to be honest with you. It was some good and it was some bad. Sac was mainly all bad and Cleveland was way more good than bad. At least the constant has been they've played hard; they keep trying. "
Carlesimo suggested the back-to-back over the weekend might have felt better had the results been reversed. The performance against the Cavaliers raised expectations for the following day, which were not quite met.
Later, Carlesimo suggested that his expectations might have caused him to be a bit too negative in his assessments early in the season.
"They're (players) doing a good job," he said. "I really think that a day off yesterday was as good for the coaches as it was for the players just in terms of sitting back and saying, 'What did you think was going to happen in 10 days? Did you think we were going to reinvent the wheel and all of a sudden we're ready to compete for the league championship Oct. 15?' We're not going to be there Oct. 15 and it's probably more important that I recognize that. Maybe we don't tell the players that in the middle of a game, but maybe after a game or certainly at practice the next time you practice. To be honest, they're doing as well as we could have expected them to do because their effort has been good, their attitude has been good and we didn't have any way really of knowing how quickly stuff would get in or how quickly things would come together. I, more than anybody, shouldn't forget that."
A little more on the injuries.
Damien Wilkins: "Damien's sprain was not as bad as feared. You never know. The big thing is, flying back, it didn't swell up that much on the plane. He's got a sprain, it's not good, but it doesn't look like it's going to be very serious."
Robert Swift: "Robert was decent for the first day back. It (his knee) didn't look like it bothered him. Usually with him, it's see what it's like later today or what he comes in like tomorrow, but he looked alright during practice. He went the whole practice; it didn't seem to bother him at all."
Luke Ridnour: "I just think he's uncomfortable with the mask. He struggled with the mask in Indiana. He was uncomfortable with it - he kept taking it off, he was trying to adjust it and it bothered him a little bit. He has to get comfortable with it. I think we're looking at 4-5 weeks. The injury is one thing; the other thing is playing with the mask. If he doesn't get comfortable playing with the mask, it's going to be a concern, because he's going to be playing with it for a while."
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