Seattle PI Reggie Evans has signed, Nick Collison has rebounded and Vladimir Radmanovic has shot. Danny Fortson has watched. While teammates have begun carving up the 48 minutes to be had at power forward, the 6-foot-8, 260-pound bruiser took part in only limited practice Tuesday and Wednesday. He has turf toe, a much milder version of the crippling hyperextension that blunted Rashard Lewis' postseason. He should return to full strength next week, if not sooner. "I'll be back," Fortson promised. "It's minor. It's taking care of itself." Fortson thinks the "coaching staff knows what I can do." And he thinks right. Even while injured, Fortson has remained a topic of conversation. Again on Wednesday, new coach Bob Weiss stated his desire to bring Fortson and Collison off the bench, together, to spell center Vitaly Potapenko and the as-yet-undetermined starter at power forward, Evans or Radmanovic. Such work, Fortson said, would suit him quite well. "I love my role, coming off the bench," Fortson said. "I don't care about (starting). I left my ego at the door a long time ago, last year." Last year was not representative of Fortson's finest work, even though he enjoyed his best averages in points (7.5) and rebounds (5.6) since the 2001-02 season. While he provided a needed defensive edge, his playing time evaporated from about 17 minutes per game during the regular season to less than 10 in the playoffs after falling out of favor with coach Nate McMillan. He was suspended and de-emphasized, and the team enjoyed its best season since 1998. Source
I think he will be a great weapon off the bench this season. I still remember how he changed games completely with his hustle last seaso. I think he was one of the main reasons why Sonics had such a hot start last year and I think he can do it again. He and Reggie just know how to upset opposite players. I assume there will be lot of whining from opponents this season that Reggie and Danny are dirty and so on....I just hope that he won't lose his nerve because he is still a main target for referees to call fouls. I expect him to be a very valuable role player for us this season!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Semmi:</div><div class="quote_post">I think he will be a great weapon off the bench this season. I still remember how he changed games completely with his hustle last seaso. I think he was one of the main reasons why Sonics had such a hot start last year and I think he can do it again. He and Reggie just know how to upset opposite players. I assume there will be lot of whining from opponents this season that Reggie and Danny are dirty and so on....I just hope that he won't lose his nerve because he is still a main target for referees to call fouls. I expect him to be a very valuable role player for us this season!</div> Im very intestered in fortson this season. he was clearly 1 of our top 5 players for the 1st half or so of the season then because of many factors his importance went down. If he can bring his quality of play back up to where it was at the 1st half of the season that would be absolutely huge for us.
