The Sonics put rest to any fears that Lenny Wilkens would stage a coup d'etat by naming P.J. Carlesimo head coach at a press conference today. The team had planned to announce the signing of a veteran small forward to help in the growth of youngsters Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, but that plan has fallen by the wayside.
Instead, Carlesimo will now preside over Seattle's most highly anticipated rookie duo since Dana Barros and Shawn Kemp, or perhaps since Jon Sundvold and Scooter McCray. I'm not sure. Anyway, he's got plenty of work to do, and P.J. will get right at it with a game tomorrow at 6 pm west coast time in the Las Vegas Summer League. Most of the games will be on NBA TV, although the Milwaukee tilt on Wednesday will be on webcast only.
Personally, I'm a bit ambivalent about the whole Durant Era. I think for non-Sonics fans, it's a no-brainer: you're amped for the greatest thing since Jordan. But with the threat of the team moving hovering over this season like a distant storm cloud at a picnic, it's a bit difficult for me to get too excited about the year ahead of us. After all, why bother getting overly enchanted with a franchise that may be leaving in less than a year's time?
It's a weird time for Sonic fans: A gutted roster, exciting rookies, our fifth coach in four years, new ownership, a new GM ... heck, it's gotten so odd that Luke Ridnour is starting to look like an elder statesman on this club.
Whatever your feelings, Kevin Durant puts on a Sonic jersey in a competitive environment for the first time tomorrow afternoon. Let's hope the good times start to roll.
Thursday, July 5
Wednesday, July 4
Seattle's New Head Coach
I woke up this morning ready to give P.J. Carlesimo a break. Let’s be honest, in a perverted way, Carlesimo has become the Kermit Washington of coaches – a man whose entire career has been, as the Sonics’ new head coach puts it, “defined by one moment.”
And that’s unfair. Latrell Sprewell has gone out of his way since the choking incident to prove that he’s not the mellowest fellow on the planet, and if making Rod Strickland upset sentences you to coaching prison, well, there’s going to be plenty of inmates in that jail cell.
As I was saying, I woke up this morning ready to extend a hand to Carlesimo, but, quite frankly, after reading the media’s reaction to his hiring, and the quotes they provided, now I’m not so sure.
"I've wondered for several years now why more people haven't attacked P.J. to come run their program," Gregg Popovich told a San Antonio newspaper last month. “It shows how little people look at what's needed to run a program and how much they look at superficial stuff that means nothing.”
Well, that’s one way to look at it. Another way would be that after 5 ½ years as a head coach, Carlesimo has yet to win a playoff series. And those Blazer teams weren’t devoid of talent, either. Two years after Carlesimo was fired, that Portland team (with 3 of the same starters) was in the Western Conference Finals.
As for the Warriors, Carlesimo took them from 30 wins to 19 wins in his first season. (Bizarrely, this will be the first time in P.J.’s career that he won’t be replacing Rick Adelman, as he followed in Heir Rick’s shoes in both Portland and Golden State. Want to hear something even more bizarre? Carlesimo’s father was the head coach at Forham University, as was Bob Hill.)
Anyways, to say Carlesimo is being judged solely by the choking incident is unfair. He’s also being judged on a middling-to-poor record in the NBA. Yes, he’s been at Popovich’s side for half a decade, and he surely has picked up useful information about the Spurs’ “culture” (ugh) in doing so. Yes, he has supposedly mellowed in the intervening years, as the cold, hard hand of reality smacked him across the face so that he may wake up to the fact that unless he changed his personality, he would never draw a paycheck as a head coach.
Can people change? Of course. Personally, though, I’m not interested in whether Carlesimo becalmed his inner anger.
I’m more interested in seeing if he can win a playoff series.
Tuesday, July 3
Sonics to hire P.J. Carlesimo?
"Must . .. resist . . . urge to choke . . . "The Seattle SuperSonics have decided to hire P.J. Carlesimo as their new head coach, an NBA source said Tuesday evening.Thanks to Supersonicsouliac John McWalter for the tip!
Carlesimo has spent the previous five seasons as an assistant on the staff of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.
Seattle’s new owner, Clay Bennett -- a former member of the Spurs’ ownership group -- has tried to use the Spurs as a blueprint to remake the Sonics. Last month, Bennett hired Spurs assistant general manager Sam Presti to oversee the Sonics’ front office.
Seattle is expected to announce Carlesimo’s hiring Wednesday afternoon.
Read it here.
UPDATE: The Seattle P.I. reports that the Sonics have a press conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon. It looks like this might be for reals.
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