The News Tribune PORTLAND ? The Rose Garden was supposed to be Reunion Arena on Wednesday night, with Nate McMillan facing the Seattle SuperSonics for the first time since he left to become head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. But there were no tear-jerking moments, no emotional hugs, nothing to show that this was anything other than the first exhibition game between two teams trying to prepare themselves for a new season. It was out of the ordinary in the sense that Bob Weiss was working as a head coach again for the first time in 12 years, and McMillan was on the opposite end of an arena that was sparsely populated and devoid of any intensity. But for anyone who was anticipating the sort of pageantry that accompanied Gary Payton?s return to Seattle, or even the titillation of the adolescent showdown between Ray Allen and Kobe Bryant last season, well, they were sorely disappointed. McMillan did join Weiss, Rick Sund, David Pendergraft, Jack Sikma and Ralph Lewis for drinks and hellos in the Sonics? hotel bar on Tuesday evening. And Weiss and McMillan met at midcourt 90 seconds before the game to wish each other well. But after that it was down to business, coaches trying to assess the progress of teams that badly needed to see a new opponent, and players attempting to earn minutes or win roster spots in a league that pays millions. ?I think it will probably mean more in the regular season than it did tonight,? Weiss said. ?After the ball is tossed and all the butterflies are gone, you have to coach and the players have to play,? McMillan said. ?I didn?t think about Seattle. It was just another game.? In the end, the Blazers won, 82-75, on the strength of 16 points from Zach Randolph. The Blazers used many of their rotation players into the final quarter, while Seattle played many of its deep reserves and soon-to-be-unemployed players. That uptempo game the Sonics have stressed during the preseason? Uh, it may need some work. The Sonics, unable to score a fast-break point in the first 22 minutes, ended with five points from the transition game. They were thwarted both by poor rebounding ? the Blazers beat them 48-37 on the boards, including 20-11 on the offensive end ? and a stifling Blazers trap for which the Sonics clearly were not prepared. ?When you hold a team to 31 percent shooting, there should be a lot of fast-break points,? Weiss said. ?And we only had five. That was because we couldn?t get the ball.? The Sonics started Luke Ridnour, Ray Allen, Reggie Evans, Rashard Lewis and second-year center Robert Swift, and at the beginning of the game a league scout declared, ?Looks the same as last year.? Source
