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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...314_soni17.html
Team beginning to show cracks
By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
DETROIT — In the aftermath of what appeared to be a perfectly understandable defeat on the road against the defending NBA champion, a corrosive and perhaps divisive element emerged from the visiting locker room at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Sonics returned to Seattle last night with a 2-1 record after a 102-95 defeat to the Detroit Pistons that ruined their hopes for a sweep on their three-game East Coast trip.
They also returned as a splintered team that has separated into cliques and is spitting venomous remarks about each other. They returned with a Northwest Division leading 43-20 record, but far more questions than answers.
And they returned with Rashard Lewis, their All-Star forward and co-captain, questioning the motives of teammates and insinuating that a few players would rather score points than win games.
"It's frustrating when everybody is not on the same page," he said. "It seems like guys were on different agendas tonight. Some guys were trying to win and some guys (weren't). It just seemed like we weren't playing together.
"Just looking at it from our standpoint, we felt like it was a bad loss. We just didn't play our style of game. Guys have different attitudes on this team. I don't know what the problem is, but we've got to solve it."
Lewis declined to name who he believed the offending teammates were, but one Sonic, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said several players are upset with both All-Star guard Ray Allen, who made 6 of 11 shots and finished with 20 points, and forward Vladimir Radmanovic.
"Too much one-on-one stuff and not enough ball movement," the Sonics player said. "You saw that game just like I saw it. Nate (Sonics coach Nate McMillan) talks about that all the time. Move the ball. But some of us in here don't do that."
McMillan never singled anyone out, but said the Sonics played one-on-one basketball at times.
McMillan praised Lewis, who led the Sonics in scoring for the fourth straight game with 26 points, and center Jerome James, who tallied 12.
"You can look at a stat sheet and say that this guy had a good game, but when you look at it closely, you can just realize that this is what happens in this league," McMillan said. "It's all about helping together and working together out on the floor."
Allen, who seemed to play his normal game, bristled when asked about his shot total.
"No, I'm not getting enough looks," he said. "You've got to talk to the coach."
Allen's shooting didn't have as much impact on the game as Detroit's 47-31 rebounding advantage, Chauncey Billups' game-high 32 points and a critical turnover by Daniels, which began a comedy of errors for the Sonics.
"We had this game won," Allen said. "We were up three with two minutes left and we just gave it away."
Seattle led 90-87 before Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace ripped the ball away from Daniels in the backcourt and raced in for a dunk that cut the Pistons' deficit to one with 2:23 left.
On the Sonics' next possession, Radmanovic botched a pick-and-roll play and tossed the ball to Wallace. Detroit took a 91-90 lead seconds later when Wallace scored two of his 24 points on a midrange jumper.
Radmanovic missed a three-pointer that led to Tayshaun Prince (18 points) connecting on two free throws, which put the game out of reach, 96-90, with 41.3 seconds remaining.
Still, the Sonics didn't grumble about their last-minute miscues nor were they overly impressed that Detroit (40-23) won its 10th straight home game in front of a soldout crowd of 22,076.
Instead, they vented about their lack of cohesiveness.
"We can't blame our offense; it's not that," Lewis said. "It's just how we run our offense. If we're setting good picks, if we're running through all of our options and if we're getting easy layups. It's just a number of things we've got to execute to make our offense work instead of taking a quick shot when you catch the first pass.
"It's not just one person, it's a collaboration of everybody. Some guys thinking they need a shot if they hadn't gotten a shot in a while. Taking quick shots. We've just got to get back to playing team basketball and moving the ball around to the open person instead of holding on to it, including myself. It's everybody."
When asked when he first noticed the separation, Lewis said: "I don't want to say it's the first game. It's been slowly creeping in. It's getting towards the end of the season."
Most of the season, the Sonics seemed immune to the backbiting and selfishness that usually accompanies a team with eight players who will become free agents after the season.
"I don't want to say it's cause a lot of guys are free agents," Lewis said. "I'm hoping that's not the reason because we're going the playoffs, then it's going to be a total mess up.
"We've got to continue playing the way we've been playing at the start of the season. ... If we get beat in the first round and we have a terrible second half of the season, then nobody is going to get their part. You've got to have success as a team for everybody to either get paid or to go where they want to go."
Team beginning to show cracks
By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
DETROIT — In the aftermath of what appeared to be a perfectly understandable defeat on the road against the defending NBA champion, a corrosive and perhaps divisive element emerged from the visiting locker room at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The Sonics returned to Seattle last night with a 2-1 record after a 102-95 defeat to the Detroit Pistons that ruined their hopes for a sweep on their three-game East Coast trip.
They also returned as a splintered team that has separated into cliques and is spitting venomous remarks about each other. They returned with a Northwest Division leading 43-20 record, but far more questions than answers.
And they returned with Rashard Lewis, their All-Star forward and co-captain, questioning the motives of teammates and insinuating that a few players would rather score points than win games.
"It's frustrating when everybody is not on the same page," he said. "It seems like guys were on different agendas tonight. Some guys were trying to win and some guys (weren't). It just seemed like we weren't playing together.
"Just looking at it from our standpoint, we felt like it was a bad loss. We just didn't play our style of game. Guys have different attitudes on this team. I don't know what the problem is, but we've got to solve it."
Lewis declined to name who he believed the offending teammates were, but one Sonic, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said several players are upset with both All-Star guard Ray Allen, who made 6 of 11 shots and finished with 20 points, and forward Vladimir Radmanovic.
"Too much one-on-one stuff and not enough ball movement," the Sonics player said. "You saw that game just like I saw it. Nate (Sonics coach Nate McMillan) talks about that all the time. Move the ball. But some of us in here don't do that."
McMillan never singled anyone out, but said the Sonics played one-on-one basketball at times.
McMillan praised Lewis, who led the Sonics in scoring for the fourth straight game with 26 points, and center Jerome James, who tallied 12.
"You can look at a stat sheet and say that this guy had a good game, but when you look at it closely, you can just realize that this is what happens in this league," McMillan said. "It's all about helping together and working together out on the floor."
Allen, who seemed to play his normal game, bristled when asked about his shot total.
"No, I'm not getting enough looks," he said. "You've got to talk to the coach."
Allen's shooting didn't have as much impact on the game as Detroit's 47-31 rebounding advantage, Chauncey Billups' game-high 32 points and a critical turnover by Daniels, which began a comedy of errors for the Sonics.
"We had this game won," Allen said. "We were up three with two minutes left and we just gave it away."
Seattle led 90-87 before Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace ripped the ball away from Daniels in the backcourt and raced in for a dunk that cut the Pistons' deficit to one with 2:23 left.
On the Sonics' next possession, Radmanovic botched a pick-and-roll play and tossed the ball to Wallace. Detroit took a 91-90 lead seconds later when Wallace scored two of his 24 points on a midrange jumper.
Radmanovic missed a three-pointer that led to Tayshaun Prince (18 points) connecting on two free throws, which put the game out of reach, 96-90, with 41.3 seconds remaining.
Still, the Sonics didn't grumble about their last-minute miscues nor were they overly impressed that Detroit (40-23) won its 10th straight home game in front of a soldout crowd of 22,076.
Instead, they vented about their lack of cohesiveness.
"We can't blame our offense; it's not that," Lewis said. "It's just how we run our offense. If we're setting good picks, if we're running through all of our options and if we're getting easy layups. It's just a number of things we've got to execute to make our offense work instead of taking a quick shot when you catch the first pass.
"It's not just one person, it's a collaboration of everybody. Some guys thinking they need a shot if they hadn't gotten a shot in a while. Taking quick shots. We've just got to get back to playing team basketball and moving the ball around to the open person instead of holding on to it, including myself. It's everybody."
When asked when he first noticed the separation, Lewis said: "I don't want to say it's the first game. It's been slowly creeping in. It's getting towards the end of the season."
Most of the season, the Sonics seemed immune to the backbiting and selfishness that usually accompanies a team with eight players who will become free agents after the season.
"I don't want to say it's cause a lot of guys are free agents," Lewis said. "I'm hoping that's not the reason because we're going the playoffs, then it's going to be a total mess up.
"We've got to continue playing the way we've been playing at the start of the season. ... If we get beat in the first round and we have a terrible second half of the season, then nobody is going to get their part. You've got to have success as a team for everybody to either get paid or to go where they want to go."
. Any game is a winnable game for us now, it does not matter it is against Spurs, Detroit or Phoenix.
