<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SI:</div><div class="quote_post"> A rugged forward needs to catch, shoot and worry about misses later Nick Collison was a pleasant surprise last season. After undergoing surgery on both shoulders and missing his rookie year, the 6'9", 255-pound forward blended into the Sonics' system well enough that, by the playoffs, he was consistently contributing at crunch time. Collison was, euphemistically, the "gritty, gutty" guy with the "lunch-pail work ethic." Which is to say he set screens, grabbed rebounds, slammed into guys and rarely, if ever, looked for his own offense. This was partly by design -- with Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Vladimir Radmanovic, the team had plenty of scorers -- and partly because Collison had that rarest of traits for an NBA player: a reluctance to shoot. "Last year I'd hide a little bit, just trying to be in position to rebound," he admits. Determined to develop his catch-and-shoot skills, Collison spent his summer in Seattle working on two things: his 15-to-18-foot jumper and the pick-and-roll. He and point guard Luke Ridnour ran drills and played two-on-two every day against local college players. "I shot a lot of midrange shots, pick-and-pops," says Collison. "I feel I can be more aggressive offensively now." New coach Bob Weiss envisions Collison expanding his range even farther. "He's a decent three-point shooter," says Weiss, even though Collison missed the three treys he took last season. "I don't know if he has enough confidence to be taking the three, but before he's done, he's going to be a three-point-shooting big man." For now Collison will be expected to provide consistent, heady play and physical defense at the four and five spots. "I don't know who will be my starting power forward," says Weiss, "but I know who'll be finishing, and that's Nick Collison." -- Chris Ballard Issue date: October 24, 2005 </div> Link
