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Sonics: Petro's start looking foul
By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
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Johan Petro
Robert Swift
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SALT LAKE CITY — If not for some quirky rule that allows players a maximum of eight fouls, Johan Petro would have been disqualified midway through the third period of yesterday's summer-league game at the Rocky Mountain Revue.
His comprehension of NBA officiating is much like the broken English he uses to communicate with Sonics teammates: Petro understands what's being said around him, but is unable to participate in conversations.
At 7-foot and 247 pounds, the 19-year-old center from Paris, selected 25th overall by Seattle in last month's draft, is athletic enough to compete with the NBA hopefuls and castoffs who tend to dominate play at the Revue.
Still, he has been handcuffed by fouls in each of the past two games, including yesterday's 74-72 loss to San Antonio, due to his overaggressiveness.
"He's got some habits that just don't work," said assistant coach Jack Sikma, who is directing the summer-league team. "He's got to learn how to play defense. He uses his hands and grabs and that's an automatic call in this league. He's going to have to wean himself from that and just get a feel for the defense.
"We want him to get a quantity of work here no matter what the score is. This experience in summer league is going to help frame what to expect in training camp and the best way to do that is to get time on the court. Now these first two games, we haven't been very successful."
In just his second organized game with the Sonics, Petro played just nine minutes and finished with two points on 1-for-1 shooting, one rebound, three turnovers and six fouls.
His performance nearly mirrored Friday's game, in which he scored four points and had one rebound, two turnovers and six fouls in 11 minutes.
"If there's a bright spot, he tries to be in the play every time," Sikma said. "He tries to be active. He goes to it. We realize that he'll be in foul trouble the whole summer league, but hopefully we'll get more than 10 or 15 minutes out of him."
Sikma plans to compile footage of Petro's miscues in the past two games and sit down with the young center for film study tomorrow. Petro's problems range from his one-on-one defensive skills to not recognizing when he should provide help.
"I kind of know what he's going through because I went through it last year," center Robert Swift said. "There's a lot to get down and understand. It took me the entire season before I ever really got it."
Swift struggled in the first half, but recovered after intermission and finished with seven points on 2-for-5 shooting and eight rebounds. He also had six fouls.
The teenage centers were expected to be the focus for the Sonics, but Alex Scales, who has led the Sonics in scoring in both games, Noel Felix and Jermaine Blackburn have impressed the coaching staff.
Scales, a former all-Pac-10 guard at Oregon, followed Friday's 12-point performance with 15 yesterday. The Sonics moved him to point guard, which reduced playing time for Mateen Cleaves, who played just 11 minutes and finished with two points and one assist.
Blackburn had 12 points and Felix added 11.
"Scales is a competitor and he's got some skills, and Noel showed us some things today," Sikma said. "Blackburn wasn't originally in our mix, but he just doesn't go away and I thought he had an excellent game today."
SPURS 74, SONICS 72
SEATTLE (72) — Dickens 2-8 1-2 6, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Swift 2-5 3-4 7, Scales 6-12 3-4 15, Cleaves 1-3 0-0 2, Petro 1-1 0-0 2, Williams 3-8 4-4 10, Felix 3-6 5-6 11, Miles 0-5 3-4 3, Blackburn 5-6 2-2 12, Byrd 1-2 0-0 2.
SAN ANTONIO (74) — Sampson 1-3 0-1 2, Sanders 6-10 1-1 13, Asselin 4-7 2-2 10, Barrett 5-9 0-0 10, Johnsen 6-11 1- 17, Starosta 2-3 2-2 6, Dartez 2-4 0-0 4, Elder 1-5 0-0 2, Hamilton 3-4 1-2 7, Thomas 1-5 0-2 3, Karaulov 0-0 0-0 0.
Seattle 19 16 13 24 — 72
San Antonio 25 15 11 23 — 74
Three-point goals-Seattle 1-10 (Dickens 1-4, Scales 0-1, Williams 0-3, Miles 0-2), San Antonio 5-8 (Sanders 0-1, Johnsen 4-5, Elder 0-1, Thomas 1-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds-Seattle 32 (Swift 8), San Antonio 25 (Johnsen 6). Assists-Seattle 12 (Scales 5), San Antonio 14 (Barrett 8). Total fouls-Seattle 29, San Antonio 28. Technicals-None.
Summer league leaders
Sonics' leading scorers
Player P. College Pts.
Alex Scales G Oregon 13.5
Ezra Williams G Georgia 8.5
Robert Swift C Bakersfield HS 8.0
Jer. Blackburn F Boise St. 8.0
Sonics: Petro's start looking foul
By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
PREV | 1 of 2 | NEXT
Johan Petro
Robert Swift
E-mail article
Print view
Search Most e-mailed
Most read
RSS
SALT LAKE CITY — If not for some quirky rule that allows players a maximum of eight fouls, Johan Petro would have been disqualified midway through the third period of yesterday's summer-league game at the Rocky Mountain Revue.
His comprehension of NBA officiating is much like the broken English he uses to communicate with Sonics teammates: Petro understands what's being said around him, but is unable to participate in conversations.
At 7-foot and 247 pounds, the 19-year-old center from Paris, selected 25th overall by Seattle in last month's draft, is athletic enough to compete with the NBA hopefuls and castoffs who tend to dominate play at the Revue.
Still, he has been handcuffed by fouls in each of the past two games, including yesterday's 74-72 loss to San Antonio, due to his overaggressiveness.
"He's got some habits that just don't work," said assistant coach Jack Sikma, who is directing the summer-league team. "He's got to learn how to play defense. He uses his hands and grabs and that's an automatic call in this league. He's going to have to wean himself from that and just get a feel for the defense.
"We want him to get a quantity of work here no matter what the score is. This experience in summer league is going to help frame what to expect in training camp and the best way to do that is to get time on the court. Now these first two games, we haven't been very successful."
In just his second organized game with the Sonics, Petro played just nine minutes and finished with two points on 1-for-1 shooting, one rebound, three turnovers and six fouls.
His performance nearly mirrored Friday's game, in which he scored four points and had one rebound, two turnovers and six fouls in 11 minutes.
"If there's a bright spot, he tries to be in the play every time," Sikma said. "He tries to be active. He goes to it. We realize that he'll be in foul trouble the whole summer league, but hopefully we'll get more than 10 or 15 minutes out of him."
Sikma plans to compile footage of Petro's miscues in the past two games and sit down with the young center for film study tomorrow. Petro's problems range from his one-on-one defensive skills to not recognizing when he should provide help.
"I kind of know what he's going through because I went through it last year," center Robert Swift said. "There's a lot to get down and understand. It took me the entire season before I ever really got it."
Swift struggled in the first half, but recovered after intermission and finished with seven points on 2-for-5 shooting and eight rebounds. He also had six fouls.
The teenage centers were expected to be the focus for the Sonics, but Alex Scales, who has led the Sonics in scoring in both games, Noel Felix and Jermaine Blackburn have impressed the coaching staff.
Scales, a former all-Pac-10 guard at Oregon, followed Friday's 12-point performance with 15 yesterday. The Sonics moved him to point guard, which reduced playing time for Mateen Cleaves, who played just 11 minutes and finished with two points and one assist.
Blackburn had 12 points and Felix added 11.
"Scales is a competitor and he's got some skills, and Noel showed us some things today," Sikma said. "Blackburn wasn't originally in our mix, but he just doesn't go away and I thought he had an excellent game today."
SPURS 74, SONICS 72
SEATTLE (72) — Dickens 2-8 1-2 6, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Swift 2-5 3-4 7, Scales 6-12 3-4 15, Cleaves 1-3 0-0 2, Petro 1-1 0-0 2, Williams 3-8 4-4 10, Felix 3-6 5-6 11, Miles 0-5 3-4 3, Blackburn 5-6 2-2 12, Byrd 1-2 0-0 2.
SAN ANTONIO (74) — Sampson 1-3 0-1 2, Sanders 6-10 1-1 13, Asselin 4-7 2-2 10, Barrett 5-9 0-0 10, Johnsen 6-11 1- 17, Starosta 2-3 2-2 6, Dartez 2-4 0-0 4, Elder 1-5 0-0 2, Hamilton 3-4 1-2 7, Thomas 1-5 0-2 3, Karaulov 0-0 0-0 0.
Seattle 19 16 13 24 — 72
San Antonio 25 15 11 23 — 74
Three-point goals-Seattle 1-10 (Dickens 1-4, Scales 0-1, Williams 0-3, Miles 0-2), San Antonio 5-8 (Sanders 0-1, Johnsen 4-5, Elder 0-1, Thomas 1-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds-Seattle 32 (Swift 8), San Antonio 25 (Johnsen 6). Assists-Seattle 12 (Scales 5), San Antonio 14 (Barrett 8). Total fouls-Seattle 29, San Antonio 28. Technicals-None.
Summer league leaders
Sonics' leading scorers
Player P. College Pts.
Alex Scales G Oregon 13.5
Ezra Williams G Georgia 8.5
Robert Swift C Bakersfield HS 8.0
Jer. Blackburn F Boise St. 8.0
