http://www.tribnet.com/sports/basketball/s...p-4471439c.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">On Thursday, McMillan was asked if he was pleased with the team's achievements, given his injury-induced limitations. No, McMillan said, he had realistically expected the team to win its first 10 games of the season, given that it was bequeathed an easy early schedule as a reward for taking the trip to Japan. Through the first month of the season, the combined record of the teams the Sonics faced was 104-118. That the team has struggled at times, losing winnable home games to Atlanta, Miami, Memphis and New Jersey, has created a rift in the organization that will only be assuaged through winning. In reality, the divide was there all along, a hairline crack along a seemingly solid rampart. But the fissure widened and became apparent when the Sonics lost an ugly road game to the Utah Jazz on Nov. 28 - the second consecutive double-digit loss at a time the team looked in complete disarray. After the game, McMillan was delayed meeting with the media. It was because, multiple sources have confirmed for The News Tribune, McMillan stormed about the locker room in an expletive-filled tirade, berating the players in an honest-to-a-fault rebuke that exposed for the first time the organizational divide. According to the sources, the essence of McMillan's message was this: "Forget the owner. Forget the CEO. Forget the general manager. From now on, we are doing things my way. I am not here to develop players who don't deserve playing time. I am here to win. I am going to give minutes to the players who earn their minutes. I am going to play the guys who played like I played: hard, scrappy, defense-first." </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The issue, of course, remains: The Sonics are a team playing a style that does not match its coach's personality, with players who are not the kind he would prefer. And that begs the question: Can McMillan change? In the heat and fire of competition, will McMillan be able to step back from his natural inclinations and do what is best for the team? If he can't, decisions will have to be made. And don't assume they will all be made by the Sonics. In the wake of the firings of Orlando's Doc Rivers and Cartwright, McMillan has made oblique references this season to a coach's voice getting old, to players tuning out a coach, to change coming naturally in a demanding profession. He fully realizes that unless you are John Wooden, most coaching jobs don't end amiably. McMillan has one year beyond this left on his contract, at his option. If he feels the situation is just not working, he could simply choose to walk away. He has other options. Charlotte has hired Bernie Bickerstaff as its coach and general manager, but it would not be too far of a reach to think that Bickerstaff, who was McMillan's first coach, would hire McMillan, a North Carolina native, and become solely the team's general manager. Bobcats president Ed Tapscott is the person McMillan wanted to be the Sonics' general manager when Walker moved up to CEO, and so they are close. Of course, there also is the possibility that Allen returns and the Sonics are successful despite a schedule that gets exponentially more difficult in the coming months. If that is the case, winning, as they say, cures everything.</div> Very interesting article this, from Frank Hughes of the News Tribune. I have noted many times this season that Seattle's style of play does not match the way Nate was as a player and prefers basketball to be, and it looks like it could potentially split the two parties if the Sonics don't knuckle down and put the same effort on defense as they do offensively. Watch this space.
McMillan denies rift Finally some positive news... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/spor...nireport08.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">TORONTO — Nate McMillan spent the bulk of his pregame session with the media yesterday refuting a Tacoma News Tribune story that suggested a growing chasm between the coaching staff and management. "There's no rift, not at all," the Sonics' coach said. "What was said in that article, some of it was true and some of it I don't know where it came from." Sonics president Wally Walker, who attended yesterday's game, also refuted accounts about a meeting last Tuesday between McMillan and key members of the front office, during which management was said to have instructed the coach on how to run his team. "It never happened the way it was reported," Walker said. "What we told Nate was, he's doing a great job. He's hard on himself after any loss, but if you step back a little bit and realize where we are without Ray (Allen), then you know he's doing a great job." </div>
ah that's sad. yeap. I don't think he's doing bad at coaching. Cause obviously they've been close to winning before. But I don't know their defense just kinda bites right now. Yea....they need to work on that. & Plus Ray Allen might help them along all these losses. I don't think they've done that GREAT, but they're not like in need of help like the Magics. (my goodness...)
