Durant on Rome is Burning

Sonics rookie Kevin Durant will be live on ESPN's Rome is Burning with Jim Rome today at 1:30 p.m. Tune in to see what Durant has to see about the upcoming All-Star Weekend and more!

Carlesimo on KJR

Tune in to hear Sonics Head Coach PJ Carlesimo talk about his team at the midway point of the season. Carlesimo will be on Mitch in the Morning on KJR 950 AM on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 8:15 a.m.

UPDATE: Listen to Carlesimo on with Mitch.

Durant Q&A

While the Sonics were in New Orleans earlier this week, Hornets.com went 1-on-1 with Sonics rookie Kevin Durant. Check it out.

Hornets.com: Texas is currently ranked 19th in the country and the
college season is getting into conference play. Do you miss the excitement of the Big 12, March Madness, and college basketball in general?
Durant: You know, I more miss my teammates than anything else, man. That was a great experience for me and the atmosphere was just a great atmosphere to play in. But I just miss my teammates, just joking around with them and having fun with them every day.

Jeff Green's "Amazing Journey"

Leading up to the start of the 2007-08 season, NBA.com is doing a series of 30 interviews with NBA players about the paths they took to the NBA. Today's featured subject is Sonics rookie forward Jeff Green.

Who was your basketball hero and why?
JG: I would say my Dad because he was a guy around his neighborhood who was one of the best players, but he didn't get the chance to go the lengths that I did, going to college and making it to the NBA. I would just say going to his neighborhood and hearing all the stories that he has had, and all the success that he has had growing up playing basketball and not being able to make it to a college because of the things that surrounded him. I feel the way he has pushed me to be the kind of player I am now, I owe a lot to my father.

Go check out the whole interview if you haven't already.

Different Perspective on Watson

On Wednesday, I did a feature on Sonics guard Earl Watson's new philosophy this season. I thought it was interesting to see Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer take an entirely different approach to a similar Watson feature in today's paper. Washburn discussed Watson's renewed focus on fitness.

"I feel way better. The first week I started, I obviously started losing
weight and the energy was just there," he said. "It's amazing. I was doing a lot
(of working out) during the day. And I still had energy.

"Pilates is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. You do like
10 sit-ups and your body's shaking because of the way you're doing them and how
you breathe."

During training camp, the beat writers know that they are going over much of the same territory, so it's important to be creative in looking for storylines.

Season Previews Begin

Four weeks away from Opening Night at KeyArena, season previews are already beginning to pop up on the Internet. NBA.com's Preview Section features breakdowns of all 30 teams, including the Sonics. An anonymous scout offers his take on Kevin Durant:

"I love Kevin Durant. He would be my choice for Rookie of the Year going in. The
biggest thing is he is almost 6-10 and he has a 7-5 reach and he has skills of a
three-two. He can post up, he will rebound, block shots, he can run. He is a gym
rat. Will he have a rocky year? He will definitely have a rocky year. He is only
19 years-old. He is going to be their man. He is going to have plenty of
opportunity to shoot and score. I think he will end up having a good year."

One interesting aspect of the NBA.com previews is the NBA Live 08 simulated season, complete with predicted stats leaders. My brother just picked up NBA Live 08 and I beat him with the new-look Celtics in our first matchup. (Yes, yes, there will be plenty of time to play with the Sonics.)

ESPN.com turned its season previews over to John Hollinger. If you have Insider, there is a ton of material available. From Hollinger's take on the Sonics:

"This might be as deep a lottery team as the league has seen in years. The
Sonics don't have much for star power besides Durant, but they go 12 deep and
should be able to withstand the 82-game regular-season grind as well as
anyone.

"In fact, few teams can boast a frontcourt rotation as deep as
this one. Wilcox, Swift, Collison, Thomas and Petro all are decent players,
while the 6-11 Durant and 6-9 Green also can shift to the frontcourt. That's
seven potential bodies the Sonics can use in their rotation up front, and not
one is a stiff."

Westhead on KJR

Newly-announced Sonics Assistant Coach Paul Westhead will be on the air with KJR this afternoon at 2:20 p.m. I'll also be chatting with Westhead at some point today, so look for more from him this afternoon.

UPDATE: Westhead will also be on KIRO 710 AM tonight at 7:15 p.m.

Sonics on ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic allowed Bill Simmons, aka the Sports Guy, to choose an NBA matchup a week to televise. Tonight's Simmons pick is Game 5 of the 1993 Western Conference Finals between the Suns and Sonics.

Explains Simmons:

"You can't go wrong with any game involving the '93 Suns, but this one features
two superb matchups (Barkley in his prime vs. a young Shawn Kemp, KJ in his
prime vs. a young GP) and Dan Majerle going nuts with a then-record eight 3s. Up
until this point, the series sucked ... then Game 5 turned out to be a classic."

I disagree slightly with Simmons. Three of the first four games were pretty lopsided, yes, but Game 2 had an outstanding finish - especially for Sonics fans. Sam Perkins made a key three-pointer as the Sonics stole a game in Phoenix.

Now as far as Game 5, I'm not sure you'd want to watch it as a Sonics fan. As Simmons explains, Thunder Dan owned the evening from downtown, though the Sonics made a valiant effort. Man, it seemed like Majerle was always open back then, didn't it?

What I'd love to see is Game 6 of that series, a 118-102 victory at a rocking Seattle Center Coliseum that remains one of my favorite games I've attended (possibly with the long-defunct "standing room only" tickets).

As for Game 7 ... we don't talk about that one.

Hear P.J.

Want to hear a little about the Sonics in August? New Sonics Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo will be on KIRO 710 AM tonight at 7:15 p.m.

You Love to Read This Stuff

This blog post by Sekou Smith, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's excellent Hawks beat writer, is ostensibly about Kobe Bryant's dedication, but the point is made in a way that highlights Sonics rookies Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.

Apparently the U.S. National Team held an optional practice on Sunday and only three players showed up: Bryant, Durant and Green. Another version of the story I've heard indicates that Durant and Green got back in the gym later to get up more shots.

That kind of dedication should serve Durant and Green very well during the regular season and beyond.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post was in Las Vegas and has a story about the budding friendship between Durant and Green:

Durant said Seattle already feels like home with Green and another Maryland native, Delonte West, acquired in the deal with Green. "Going through the lottery experience, I thought I was going to be out there all by myself," Durant said. "God works in mysterious ways."

I asked Green about working out with Durant while back home in the D.C. area as part of my Q&A with Green, in Seattle for the day.

Durant and Green on NBA.com

A little while ago, I blogged about the NBA's rookie photo shoot. NBA.com used that opportunity to grab a lot of rookie-related content for the slower part of the summer and naturally Sonics picks Kevin Durant and Jeff Green have been a big part of that.

First off, check out the NBA.com rookie survey, which saw the league's newcomers surveyed about their peers. Durant was an overwhelming favorite for Rookie of the Year, getting 23 of the 44 votes. No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden was next in line with just five votes. Green got two votes, tying with several other players for second.

Durant was also the clear answer for the question asking which rookie would play in the most All-Star Games before his career is over, getting 24 votes. (Oden, with 14, did narrow the gap.) Green was also a leading vote-getter as the most overlooked rookie.

NBA.com's John Schumann used the voting results as the lede for a Q&A with Durant conducted in Tarrytown. Durant is all alone in being unable to explain the results:

I wish I could tell you. I don't know. It's an honor for my classmates to think
I'll be Rookie of the Year, but I'm not looking for that. I'm just looking to
get better.

Meanwhile, NBA.com colleague Dave McMenamin interviewed Green. I'm sure that had to be tough for McMenamin, who has referenced his alma mater (Big East rival Syracuse) several times. Still, he got Green's take on the summer experience:

The first game was more like a learning challenge – learning the speed of the
game, the plays, the players, the tempo. ... After a couple of games I kind of
got situated into the offense, learned my plays more and it kind of made me able
to have a open mind about things by knowing what I can do at each point [on the
court] and where my teammates are going to be. I think over the course of the
summer league in Vegas I got pretty comfortable with my teammates and just went
out and played.

Carlesimo and Portland

I haven't heard much commentary on another piece to the budding I-5 rivalry between the Sonics and Portland: New Sonics Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo broke into the NBA with the Blazers, spending three seasons in Portland and advancing to the playoffs each time (the Blazers lost all three years in the first round).

Kerry Eggers, who covered Carlesimo in Portland, has a lengthy feature on that experience and how Carlesimo got to Seattle in the Portland Tribune.

Life is much different for Carlesimo now than it was during his time in Portland, when he was a seemingly confirmed bachelor, a denizen of late-night eateries (Jake’s Famous Crawfish, Opus Too, Ringside Steakhouse, Brasserie Montmartre, Genoa, Bugatti’s Ristorante and Il Fornaio, to name a few) and the only NBA head coach with a full beard.

Carlesimo, 58, still wears the beard, though more neatly trimmed and now speckled more with gray than red.

And his family life is much different. Married for seven years to Carolyn, a sports psychologist, they have two young sons – Kyle, 5, and Casey, 2.

Elsewhere, the Grizzlies announced that they have signed forward Andre Brown, who spent most of last season with the Sonics.

The press release Memphis issued is much more interesting than most of the boilerplate releases you see. Quoting Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace:

Andre has what the late, great, first GM of the Portland Trail Blazers, Stu Inman, used to refer to as "stickability." He has persevered and improved after leaving DePaul and playing abroad, in the NBDL and last season in the NBA with Seattle.

Based on Memphis making a relatively big deal of this signing, looks like Brown should stick and see some time. Good for him.

Carlesimo on PTI

Got an e-mail from ESPN Communications informing me new Sonics Head Coach P.J. Carlesimo will be on PTI this afternoon:

P.J. Carlesimo, new head coach of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, will be the "Five Good Minutes" guest this afternoon on Pardon the Interruption. Carlesimo will take time out from NBA Summer League action in Las Vegas to discuss the Sonics and other NBA topics with co-hosts Michael Wilbon and Dan LeBatard on today's program. Pardon the Interruption will be aired on ESPN at 5:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. PT (re-aired on ESPNEWS at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT)