UPDATE: Aaron Miles Reportedly practiced today with the Summer League team and may be joining the summer league squad. Miles, a former star at Kansas was a training camp invitee of the Sonics last season and a KU teammate of Sonics PF Nick Collison. Ostensibly he would bolster a back court which has had a great deal of difficulty entering the ball into the post.
While current circumstances make it very difficult to focus on basketball we are committed to continuing discussion of our team while we have them. Yesterday's game produced an interesting storyline as Mo Sene sat out with an as of yet undisclosed physical problem. Replacing Sene was third year center Robert Swift who was allowed to play after petitioning GM Rick Sund repeatedly for a chance to play.
Swift produced a very lackluster performance committing seven fouls and taking only 2 shot attempts. A report I have from the game implies that the third year center was extremely frustrated by his guards unwillingness to give him the ball and help him get into a groove.
It is interesting to discuss whether anything should be read into this performance. Over the last couple of weeks I have been consistent in a couple of arguments. First off I believe that summer league stats are fairly irrelevant for big men as the game does not cater to their skill. Secondly it is clear from observations that players with NBA experience have a huge advantage in summer play and should dominate.
With both of these ideas in mind impressions of Swifts play can go either way. On one hand his veteran status and nearly 1800 minutes of game play last year should have allowed him to produce superior statistics. On the other his play could mean nothing simply because of the style, tempo, and players involved in the Rocky Mountian Review.
How then do we reconcile the play of Swift with the relatively strong play of Mo Sene in the first three games? While Swift failed to produce a single block and struggled with fouls Sene was able to block 5 shots in two out of three games with the exact same supporting cast. The question which now needs to be asked is whether these stats are completely irrelevant, Sene may have be an even better player than we know, or Robert Swift may not be the player we hope he is.
What are your opinions?