Kevin Pelton has a really good article on the progress the Supersonics have made thus far in the season. From that article (read the whole thing!) I'm going to steal a few quotes from Sam Presti for conversation here:
"Obviously, we'd like to have a few more W's," Presti told Sonics KTTH 770 AM play-by-play broadcaster Matt Pinto on Friday. "Everyone in our locker feels the same way, everyone in our organization. But at the same time, our focus for this basketball team - now and in the future - is trying to improve each and every day.
There have definitely been some successes thus far in the season, primarily the competitiveness that this young group has shown night in and night out and the improved defensive play in the last 10 or so games."
Pelton goes on to write:
As SUPERSONICS.COM looked at last week, the Sonics have shown improvement on defense. Their ranking in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions has improved from 27th a year ago to 18th so far this season. Given defense has been a key focus for the organization, that progress is welcome.
"We have an 82-game season to chip away at it and develop it," said Presti. "Thus far, we've been pleased with some of the incremental improvement that we've made. We're seventh in the league in field-goal percentage right now; in the first 10 games of the year we were 16th. That's in comparison to last season, where the Sonics were 28th. We certainly feel like we've taken a step forward there.
"Are we where want to be? Absolutely not. We've got a long ways to go. But I think our players should be commended for their willingness to commit to each other, to commit to this style of play and understand and accept that we're a defensive team first and that's what it's going to take for us to be consistently successful in the NBA and hopefully make an impact in this league."
I see it too, and agree that progress is being made. It excites me. Gives me hope that at least on the court things are heading in the right direction. What are your thoughts and responses on this?