By the time Seattle SuperSonics General Manager Rick Sund and Coach Bob Hill met individually with members of the Seattle media on Friday to wrap up the 2005-06 season and look ahead to this summer, they had already answered one of the team's most important questions when the 2006-07 option on Hill's contract was exercised on Monday, ensuring he will remain the team's coach.
"I think it was really important to get it done before the season ended," said Sund. "I told Bob we'd wait until the end of the year. I told Bob the record wasn't going to determine whether the option was exercised. It was going to be more the belief and trust that the players respond to you and then the organization and ownership responds that you're the man for the job. You could see it build. We wanted no doubt the last week of the season with media, with fans and, most importantly, with players that Bob's going to be the coach."
Sund's holistic approach to evaluating Hill helped free the coach to develop the team's young talent, notably 20-year-old centers Johan Petro and Robert Swift, rather than focusing on squeezing every win possible out of veterans who would not factor into the team's future. After the roster was remade in the month of February with the additions of guard Earl Watson and forward Chris Wilcox, the Sonics were able to both win - they went 14-11 after Watson joined the team, including eight wins by double-figures - and continue developing players.

Even with some uncertainty about his future, Hill began preparing for this summer and beyond with the idea that he would remain coach, an effort that has now paid off.

"You've got to manage your time when you're coaching in the NBA," Hill explained. "I did a lot of thinking and a fair amount of work in terms of preparing for what the projects were going to be this summer - that's the individual programs and the summer workouts for our guys. I did some work prior. Now I'm thankful that I did. I can finish it up, but it won't take quite so long."

With just two free agents on the team's 13-player roster (forward/center Mikki Moore can also opt out of the second year of his contract) and only one in the projected nine-man rotation, the Sonics enter a summer of stability after retaining Hill. The key exception is Wilcox, who is a free agent after averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds during two months in Seattle.

"That's a priority," said Sund. "We want to get Wilcox signed. He's a restricted free agent. I think that's important for people to know. That helps your percentages of being able to keep him. We'll tender him the contract."

Because of their young talent at every position, the Sonics can be especially flexible in the NBA Draft. They hold their own first-round pick - they'll pick 10th if things hold in the May 23 Draft Lottery but have an outside shot of moving up into the top three or dropping if a team behind them moves into the top three - as well as their second-round pick (#40) and one acquired in last year's Draft from Memphis (#53).

"We've got options with the pick," said Sund. "Do we keep the pick? Do we move the pick? Do we draft somebody that might help us in a specific need? Do we draft the best player? Do we draft somebody with big potential down the line?"

Also potentially factoring into the Sonics plans is their second-round pick from a year ago, French swingman Mickael Gelabale, who continues to play in Spain for Real Madrid. Should he decide to come to the NBA, Gelabale, who averaged 9.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in Euroleague regular-season play, would give the Sonics another athletic young player.
"I haven't talked to him or his agent," said Sund, who noted that Director of Basketball Operations Dave Pendergraft does chat with Gelabale regularly. "We'll wait and see what happens."

More than anything else, however, where the Sonics improvement will come from next season - besides having their post-trade lineup for an entire season - will be from within. With only Ray Allen amongst the Sonics projected rotation older than 26, there is plenty of room for growth. Hill plans to emphasize skills development.

"We have a lot of young veterans on this team," explained Hill. "To take those guys and make them better in the summer, defensively or little things offensively, is going to pay big dividends next year. I think that's my responsibility to get that."

Player development has been a priority for Hill since he assumed head coaching duties.

"As much as I like coaching, I like that better," he said. "I love, love being in the gym and helping guys get better. I just do. It all really kind of kicked in when I was in Indiana right away, even that first year as an assistant, developing all of these drills and continuing to work on it."

Even in a season that did not end the way the Sonics had hoped, there is excitement about the way the team played over the final 25 games. It's a unique feeling going into the summer.

"When the season ends in the NBA, particularly when you don't make the playoffs," said Sund, "most of the time it's a situation where people say, 'Boy, I'm glad the season is over. It's behind us.' This season ended and they wanted 20 games. To a man yesterday, they were like, 'I wish this season had kept going.' That is very unusual for a team when you don't make the playoffs."

"I think that Wilcox brings - and Earl too - an excitement to the games because of the way they play - throwing lobs and defense and Earl going coast-to-coast and throwing behind-the-back passes," added Hill. "That was all a great addition. I think the fans see it. If you're not going to the playoffs and you're headed to the lottery and that arena was as electric as it was the other night - now I know a lot of it was Ray (Allen) [breaking the single-season 3-point record] - but there was a big crowd there and it was a great way to finish a tough season."

The performance down the stretch has the Sonics thinking playoffs for 2006-07. And, if the team works over the off-season and continues to develop as expected, Hill has even bigger ambitions.

"What I want to do is win a championship here," he said. "That's what I think about all the time. That's what I work for all the time. I think we have to change the thinking of our team and get them thinking bigger. I really honestly don't think we're, in terms of the kind of team we need, that far away from challenging for that. I think if we all stay healthy and everybody gets better we can be really, really good next year. But I think with another summer, in two years we can be very, very good."

The Seattle SuperSonics and Phoenix Suns didn't even make the Western Conference playoffs last season. Now, both are trying to run away with their respective divisions as they meet for the second time this season.
The Sonics and Suns finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Pacific Division last season, and were hardly considered contenders to emerge as top teams in the West entering this campaign. But both teams are locked into comfortable first-place leads as the All-Star break approaches.

Bolstered by the addition of All-Star point guard Steve Nash, the Suns are tied with perennial contender San Antonio for the best record in the entire league, and hold a 6 1/2 -game lead over Sacramento in the Pacific.

Phoenix has won three straight and eight of nine since a season-high six-game losing streak, including Tuesday's 125-123 victory at Sacramento. Nash had a season-high 33 points and 17 assists, and Amare Stoudemire blocked Brad Miller's attempt at a tying layup just before the buzzer as the Suns ended an eight-game slide at Arco Arena.

``The last team to score was going to win, and that's about what happened,'' Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.

The Sonics hold a 10 1/2 -game lead over underachieving Minnesota in the new Northwest Division, and have won four straight to start February, including Thursday's 115-107 victory over the Kings.

Ray Allen led the way for Seattle, scoring 34 points, hitting all 10 of his free throws and going 4-of-8 from 3-point range in 42 minutes. Allen is averaging just over 28 points in three games after missing two in a row with the flu.

Seattle forward Danny Fortson scored two points in 17 minutes before getting ejected for a brief skirmish with Sacramento forward Chris Webber after delivering a hard foul.

That incident has cost the Sonics because on Friday, the NBA suspended Fortson for two games for yelling at a referee, throwing a chair and not leaving the court promptly.

He'll sit out this game, as well as Seattle's home game against Dallas on Sunday night.

``We know how good the West is,'' Sonics coach Nate McMillan said before Thursday's game. ``It's going to be a challenge each night.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Phoenix Suns almost blew another big fourth-quarter lead.

But not quite.

Shawn Marion had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Steve Nash had 17 assists to go with 12 points, and the Suns held off the weary Los Angeles Lakers 122-112 on Thursday night.

The Suns, who blew a 17-point lead in the fourth period before losing 111-108 to Dallas in double overtime Tuesday night to start the season, led by 17 with 8 1/2 minutes left in this game.

The Kobe Bryant-led Lakers got as close as three points before the Suns scored the game's final seven points.

James Jones added 17 points, including a game-turning 3-pointer; Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas each scored 14; Leandro Barbosa had 12, and Eddie House scored 10 for the Suns.

``We maybe learned a little bit from the first game, where we had them beat and couldn't withstand the flurry at the end,'' Nash said. ``But we're improving, and that's a good sign.

``Anytime people step up at the end of games to close teams out, that's the sign of a good team. We had a couple of guys who made some big plays and made us a winner tonight.''

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said the difference near the end of the two games wasn't difficult to figure out.

``We didn't hit the big shots against Dallas. We did tonight,'' he said.

Bryant led the Lakers with 39 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Lamar Odom had 23 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, and Smush Parker matched his career high with 21 points.

The game was the Lakers' home opener, and their first regular-season game at Staples Center since Phil Jackson was rehired as coach. They opened the season with a 99-97 overtime victory in Denver on Wednesday night and didn't arrive back in Los Angeles until 3 a.m.

Jackson received a loud ovation before the opening tip -- not long after saying fans attend NBA games to watch the players, not the coaches.

AP - Nov 4, 1:50 am EST
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``The excitement is on the floor,'' he said.

Afterward, Jackson said he was pleased with the Lakers' effort -- especially in the fourth quarter.

``They are obviously a better team now than we are,'' he said. ``They played better than we did tonight, that's for sure.

``For a losing cause, I enjoyed the game. Smush Parker played an entertaining game. We played with a sense of purpose. We just didn't get it done down the crunch.''

The Lakers won only 34 games last season and missed the playoffs for just the second time since 1976.

As they did in the second and third quarters, the Suns dominated in the first few minutes of the final period, outscoring the Lakers 11-2 for a 106-89 lead with 9:09 remaining.

It was 108-91 when the Lakers went on a 12-2 run, making it 110-103. The Suns extended the lead to nine before Los Angeles went on a 7-1 run to draw within three points with 2:11 remaining.

But the Lakers wouldn't score again.

Jones made a 3-pointer with 1:57 left, Bell added a jumper with 51 seconds to play, and Nash made two free throws with 30 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.

``I think their experience kicked in and overwhelmed us a bit tonight,'' Bryant said. ``We kept fighting back and did some great things with our execution. Our inexperience on defense hurt us, as they were spreading the floor extremely well and getting good looks at the basket.''

The Lakers had won 12 of their previous 13 home openers.

The Suns outscored Los Angeles 9-3 to start the third quarter for a 75-59 lead. With Odom scoring seven points and Parker adding five, the Lakers went on a 12-2 run to draw within six points. It was 95-87 entering the final period.

Phoenix scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to take a 41-30 lead. The Lakers got as close as two points before the Suns extended their lead to 66-56 at halftime.

Bryant scored 17 points in the first quarter including 13 straight for the Lakers at one stage. He lost his cool late in the period, drawing a technical foul for shoving Bell after being fouled.

Notes

Lakers F Luke Walton, who injured his left hamstring Oct. 11 in his team's first preseason game, was cleared to practice starting Friday. ``The last five or six days, I've been running. The last two days, I've been running pretty hard,'' he said, adding there was no timetable for his return. ... The Suns swept the Lakers last season, winning the four games by an average of 11 points. The Lakers won six of the previous seven games between the teams. ... Chris Mihm was replaced in the Lakers' starting lineup by Devean George. Mihm started all 75 games he played in last season -- his first with the Lakers -- as well as the season opener in Denver. He wound up getting three points and two rebounds in 14 minutes. ... Former Boston Celtics star Bill Russell and San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds were among those in attendance. ``Everybody's got to be someplace,'' Russell said with a smile when asked what brought him to the game.

BOSTON (AP) -- Seattle ended its most difficult stretch of the season with a win. Ray Allen scored 32 points to lift the Seattle SuperSonics over the Boston Celtics 113-100 on Wednesday night. "We know we are a better team than we have displayed in the past week," Allen said. "We got an opportunity to prove that tonight and we got on the same page more than we have." The Sonics (3-5), who were playing their sixth game in eight days, closed out a six-game road trip with their first regulation win of the season. Seattle's previous two victories were against Minnesota and Toronto in overtime. "Whenever you have the last game of a road trip, guys can easily get distracted," Sonics coach Bob Weiss said. "Since the beginning of the season, our problem has been getting production out of other guys besides Ray and Rashard (Lewis). Luke Ridnour added 15 points and 13 assists for Seattle, which snapped a six-game losing streak in Boston. The Sonics had lost four games on the road trip by an average of 26 points. ADVERTISEMENT "It's such a tough trip and to lose those four games the way we did," Ridnour said. "Hopefully, we can get back to .500 and get going from there." After a pair of free throws by Justin Reed cut the Sonics lead to 96-85 with 7:29 remaining, Allen hit a pair of jumpers to extend the lead back to 15. Allen finished 12-of-17 from the field. Nick Collison scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Lewis added 22 points and five steals for Seattle. Paul Pierce had 22 points and Ricky Davis added 21 points for the Celtics. "Our problem is not offense," Pierce said. "We need to pick things up on defense and start trusting one another more. We are desperate for a win." Allen and Lewis combined for 35 first-half points to open up a 63-45 halftime lead. The Sonics scored the first six points of the third quarter to extend their lead to 69-45. Raef LaFrentz had 14 points and continued his torrid shooting for Boston. He was 6-for-9 and now has made 24-of-37 over the last four games. "What's embarassing to me is that we shot 52 percent today and 55 percent yesterday and have two losses," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. Boston (3-5) has now dropped three of its last four games. Notes Celtics guard Tony Allen was indicted Wednesday on three counts of aggravated battery stemming from a fight that escalated into a shooting outside a Chicago diner in August. ... Sonics' opponents came into the game shooting 50 percent from the field this season, the best in the NBA. ... Pierce passed Bill Sharman for 10th on the all-time Celtics scoring list and now has 12,289 points.