Sonics’ top pick has his moments
SEATTLE – This much is certain about 20-year-old center Mouhamed Sene: He’s very tall, he can block shots, he’ll hustle and he can dunk.
Otherwise, there’s plenty of room for improvement with the Seattle SuperSonics’ first-round pick.
“There’s times he has shown some brilliance on offense and times he’s looked clumsy,” Seattle coach Bob Hill said Tuesday. “But what he does, he does very well.”
Seattle’s newest 7-foot center, taken with the No. 10 pick in last month’s NBA draft, was practicing with the Sonics summer league team. The squad will play in the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City beginning Friday.
While Sonics veterans Luke Ridnour, Nick Collison and Damien Wilkins shot on an adjacent court, Sene displayed some of the attributes that attracted Seattle to the native of Senegal – quickness, hustle and a 7-foot, 9-inch wingspan.
Sene’s selection was criticized by Sonics fans, who booed at a draft night party sponsored by the team. Sene was the third consecutive inexperienced center picked by the Sonics, following Robert Swift in 2004 and Johan Petro in 2005.
Since the draft, Hill’s been stopped and questioned by fans. His reply: You can never have enough big people in the NBA.
“Big players make a difference and change the game. You’ve got to have that size,” Hill said. “Thinking you’re going to win a championship without those big guys is going against City Hall. It’s just not going to happen.”
Sene signed a contract with the Sonics on Monday that will pay him a guaranteed $3.3 million in the next two years, as outlined by the NBA rookie pay scale.
It’s not expected to be the last signing for the Sonics this week.
While general manager Rick Sund would not comment on the ongoing negotiations with restricted free agent Chris Wilcox, last year’s second-round pick, French swingman Mickael Gelabale, was to arrive in Seattle on Tuesday night. Pending a team physical, Gelabale was expected to sign a contract with the Sonics today.
The team has already scheduled a news conference.
“It looks pretty promising that’s going to get done,” Sund said. “Hopefully, we get Chris done too.”
Sene has been in Seattle for more than a week, working extensively on fundamentals with Hill and the rest of Seattle’s coaching staff.
It’s been a quick adjustment for Sene, who played last year for Verviers-Pepinster of the Belgium Division I League. He first saw a basketball game on television five or six years ago and didn’t take up the game until 2002 when his father pushed him away from being a car mechanic and toward hoops.
“It’s hard to go somewhere you don’t know, but it’s OK,” Sene said. “I think I do well in practice every time.”
Where Sene begins next season is still being debated and the team hopes to get some answers based off his performance in the summer league. Hill has been impressed with Sene’s quick learning and doesn’t want him starting the season in the NBA Development League.
“I think selfishly that we can develop Mouhamed right here with us much quicker than anyone else can,” Hill said. “Now, when training camp starts, and he’s really struggling and there’s no way we can use him, then perhaps you do it then. But selfishly, I want him here with us.”