It feels like an enternity since I attended a Sonics practice at The Furtado Center. Before today, they last practiced there on Nov. 10, which was a week and a half ago - but that's a long time in a season that's only three weeks old.
The Sonics got back to Seattle late Monday night after flying from Memphis and took yesterday off to rest. They're currently in their longest break of the early season, three days, which is useful after a long road trip that included five games in seven days. Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo admitted it would have been tough for the team if they'd had to play today; instead, they get two days to work on the practice court before hosting New Jersey Friday. They did some scrimmaging during the portion of the practice open to the media, as well as the usual shooting drills.
Some other notes:
- Carlesimo said Jeff Green's start on Monday in Memphis was to match up with the quick lineup employed by the Grizzlies. While the Sonics did not get off to a poor start and Green played well, recording his first career double-double, Carlesimo indicated he'd likely go back to the duo of Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison up front on Friday - depending on the availability of Robert Swift and Kurt Thomas, who have been sidelined recently. Swift and Thomas were able to go through part of Wednesday's practice.
- Over the next week or so, Carlesimo plans to meet with the players who have seen heavy minutes and discuss with them what he's seen as well as get their thoughts. With 12 games in the books, the Sonics are already more than 1/7 of the way through the season, which Carlesimo belives is a good enough stretch to have those kinds of discussions. They could be especially valuable for rookies Green and Kevin Durant, whom Carlesimo was planning to speak to at some point before Friday's game.
- Johan Petro did not practice because of a lower back strain.
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