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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mcilvaine Has Firm Grasp On Reality Expensive Sonics Center Knows His Role May Be Limited In Upcoming Playoffs

Ronald Tillery Seattle Post-Intelligencer

He looks in the mirror each morning and marvels at the opportunity given him. He is exceedingly thankful for the gift and promises he will use his body to its fullest potential.

To Sonics center Jim McIlvaine, only God knows the negative words that are said and written about him in the same instant. Truth be known, the player most often pitted against McIlvaine by the sporting public, teammate Shawn Kemp, is not one of the detractors.

“Jim never knew, but I was the one who told the organization about him,” Kemp said Monday. “I was the one who told the coaching staff that they should take a look at him during the off-season.”

Kemp’s observation was not the sole reason McIlvaine landed a seven-year contract worth more than $33 million. But Kemp’s endorsement has made it easier for McIlvaine to deal with lofty expectations.

His signing last fall intended to offer great hope for a postseason that finally arrives against the Phoenix Suns Friday.

These figured to be McIlvaine’s days of reckoning. Instead, these days have proven confusing.

McIlvaine’s deal, one in a wave of high-priced, free-agent signings last summer, initially seemed to catch the ire of Kemp but has become a tired subject. McIlvaine started 79 games this season, but even he has to wonder how much he will play come Friday.

Terry Cummings now is the Sonics’ starting center, which leaves McIlvaine on the bench to deal with the perception of being one of the Sonics’ disappointments. Then again, McIlvaine has lived with that reaction since the day he was wooed last fall.

How can this player, this big free-agent acquisition, not be a dominant player in the NBA? When will his skill level catch up with his 7-foot-1, 260-pound frame? When will his ability match his checking account?

If anyone has been listening lately, sports talk radio is filled with those questions. If anyone has been watching McIlvaine this season, he has been exactly what the Sonics knew they were getting.

“What we’ve asked him to do, he’s tried,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “At times he looks awkward, and at other times he’s been very successful. In the playoffs he’s going to be in a role capacity. And that’s what he really was, even though he was a starter all year.

“If you drafted a guy who would play 20 minutes on a team that won 57 games, you’d be elated. You’d go, ‘God, we’ve got a young kid that’s going to help us for many years to come.’ Instead, it’s the bias of ‘free agent signs for a lot of money and disrupts team.’ Basketball-wise, we got a good player. And he’s probably a little better than we thought he would be. And no one wants to believe that.”

Wrong.

The person who understands the situation best is perhaps the guy who matters most: McIlvaine.

“Where I am in my game right now and where I’m going to be is far away,” the 24-year-old center said. “It’s not something that’s going to develop overnight or over the course of one season.

“I don’t think it’s any secret what I’ve done in the past. To expect me to come in and score 20 points and 10 rebounds a night because of the money I make is unrealistic.”

McIlvaine was viewed as the shot-blocking, inside presence the Sonics lacked last year in the NBA Finals. With Shaquille O’Neal joining the Lakers, the Sonics also figured they needed a big, physical body to help them through the suddenly tougher Western Conference.

But if Sonic fans are still waiting for the second coming of Jack Sikma, McIlvaine is not concerned.

“I think if I pick up the paper and read about it all the time, and turn on the radio and listen to talk shows, it would probably get to me,” McIlvaine said of the discontent. “And that’s why I don’t do that stuff.

“People are going to analyze you more when you’re making more money. If I was making the money I was making last year ($575,000), I’d be a bargain in the league.

“The important thing for me is to not focus on what I should be doing per dollar, per minute or whatever.

“Early in the year, the guys really wanted him to play well and they were really into him,” Karl said. “As the season came along, everybody got a little frustrated.

“At times, he plays nervous now. But that’s (because he is) a young player we ask to do things his talent level isn’t at right now. And because Sam (Perkins) does it well or some of our other big (players) can do the rotations and scrambles, he gets caught in awkward positions. We understand that as coaches, but it sometimes looks bad on TV.”