Nothing ‘Preseason’ About Sonics’ Games
Exhibition games are usually meaningless, except for the pair the Seattle SuperSonics will play Friday and Saturday against the Los Angeles Lakers, the underdog who eliminated the Sonics in the first round of the playoffs last season.
“You never forget who beat you,” Sonics forward Shawn Kemp said. “You never forget who beat you, in the back of your mind.
“Even though it’s a preseason game, you have to take the game serious with a serious attitude. Often times, during the preseason, coach has to look at other players and different rotations, but I imagine we’ll still be fired up because they did knock us off and we can’t forget that.”
The Sonics are making a 5-1/2-hour flight this morning to face the upstart Lakers at their Honolulu-based training camp. Although Sonics coach George Karl won’t play a starter 35 minutes to ensure a Seattle victory, he admits that these exhibition games are special.
“I don’t think we’ll need any pep talks in the locker room,” he said. “I think with the veteran team we have, it’s an exhibition game. But they’re athletes and I think we’ve gotta be challenged to our pride level.”
Notes
Although Ervin Johnson is the starter and Karl has raved about Frank Brickowski’s quick acclimation to the Sonics, Karl said that Sam Perkins is still “our best player at that position, even though he’s not 7-feet.”
The 6-10 Perkins has shared the center position since he was traded from the Lakers to the Sonics in 1993.
“When I got here, me and (Michael) Cage, we always shared it because we don’t have a dominant center,” Perkins said. “Now, myself, Erv, Scheff (Steve Scheffler) and Frank are going to make up that position.”
Kemp was sidelined during practice by a pulled quadriceps muscle incurred in the intrasquad game.
Free agents Evers Burns and Melvin Robinson were cut after Wednesday’s practice, reducing the Sonics’ roster to 16 players. The Lakers have only 13 players in their Honolulu-based training camp, in the absence of guard Eddie Jones, who suffered a severe thumb injury.