Update: The Sonics have requested waivers on Noel Felix. Updates to follow.
Swift developed a love affair with tattoos during his rookie year and admittedly, he's addicted. By his count, he has 15, which decorate his back, torso, arms and legs. It's difficult to know for certain how many he has because a few of the intricate designs are intertwined and some are in varying stages of being complete.
"The easier way to say it is, overall I've gotten about 40 to 43 hours of work," Swift said. And he's not done
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Apologies if this was posted before, but there's a couple of interesting tidbits here. Milt Palacio seems to have made great strides in his recovery.
And the first exhibition game is Wednesday, wow time is flying by ...
Frank Hughes writes that Rashard has been working on his dribbling skills. And offensive rebounding. Stop me if you've heard this one before.
Lewis said his ball handling has taken so long to develop because he never was required to dribble when he was growing up. Bigger than his teammates, he said, he always played center and had the ball thrown to him.
Now, Hill hopes Lewis has improved enough that he can install an offensive set in which Lewis initiates a pick-and-roll play and has to make a decision to shoot the ball or pass to an open teammate.
“I want to see,†Hill said. “I can take it out if it doesn’t work. But I want to see. Small forwards don’t cover the pick-and-roll as well.â€
We'll see.
Hill also drops some hints about how the preseason rotation will shake out:
Preseason plans: For the first few exhibition games, Hill said he will play Allen, Lewis and Chris Wilcox probably a quarter, at most two. The first four games, he said, will be used to allow players to show what they can do. The last four are going to be for building toward the regular season.
Two warm and fuzzy pieces by Gary Washburn today. One on Denham Brown:
The Sonics' first three preseason games are going to be critical for Brown, who needs to make a positive impression and show he's capable of being Ray Allen's backup. Hill said the Sonics are not likely to stash their 15th man on the team's NBA developmental league roster in Boise.
Provided they keep 15 players ... that's the first and only mention I've read of the team possibly intending to keep 15.
The other piece focuses on Mikael "Jelly Belly" Gelabale and Saer Sene overcoming the language barrier and integrating more into the team every day. Funny stuff here.
Gelabale flipped on the television and caught the VH-1 show, "The Flava of Love," and asked Petro, "Who is Flava Flav?" The trio were talking about the show at camp and suddenly Sene, who has a slight resemblance to the former Public Enemy star, gained the nickname Flava Flav.
A slight resemblance ... heh heh heh.
Hill has raved about Gelabale's skills and athleticism and said the primary obstacle is learning the NBA and becoming familiar with basketball terms.
"Gelabale is starting to figure it out," Hill said. "He's starting to get more comfortable and he's really running hard. He's a very efficient player. He doesn't do anything that he's not capable of doing. He's a coach's dream, you wish all players would be that way. He's starting to figure it out."
I seriously can't wait to see Gelabale. I'm not expecting him to be an All-Star or anything , but if he can defend the wing and hit a 3 or two I think he's going to be one of the most popular Sonics this year on his hairstyle alone.
Don't forget to check out SonicsBeat for your last chance to vote for the 90s edition of the 40th Anniversary Team and another cool picture of Gelabale.