Sonics Need to Fit Five Not-So-Easy Pieces

The package has some interesting wrapping: style and grace, power and speed. It comes with a depth of skill that is comparable from top to bottom.

These are the components of the 1990-91 Seattle SuperSonics.

If it all fits, this will be one interesting NBA season and the Sonics could surprise people with their young talent and versatility. But if this wrapping doesn’t stick together with new coach K.C. Jones’ tranquil manner, the whole package will fall apart and they won’t make the playoffs for the second year in a row.

“The old saying of success is it’s all based on symmetry,” Jones said. “The sum of the individuals make it all come together. That’s what it’s all about, but it’s hard to get. It creates a stability that Detroit, the Lakers and the Celtics have. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

It’s too early to get an exact read on the future of this young team. For the Sonics to make the playoffs as a considerably improved team over the erratic one of a year ago, there are five not-so-easy pieces that must mesh. And those pieces must nurture under the understated style of Jones as opposed to the fiery coaching of Bernie Bickerstaff last season.

“The overall chemistry will come, but only if they have a belief in what K.C. is trying to accomplish,” Sonics president Bob Whitsitt said. “He’s different and he’s giving the players room to play the game. They have to be able to handle that while learning a new system.”

And if that component isn’t accepted, the following five pieces will fade into oblivion.

1. The new kid: The team must grow with rookie Gary Payton as the floor leader. Not only physically, as the guy who brings the ball up the floor and sets up the plays, but as the emotional charge, with the latitude to arrange the players on the floor.

“The ultimate key is Gary,” Jones said. “We needed a floor leader and we got him. He’s shown flashes of what he’ll be -- the same presence as Magic controlling the show. He puts it together for us driving the stagecoach.

“This team has to rush the ball up the floor with consistency and purpose. It’s a sense of timing and feel. That’s what we got Gary for. It’s up to him to jump-start the offense every night, and the rest of the guys should just fall in line.”

2. A two-headed center: Olden Polynice must earn at least 20 minutes a game at center, splitting time with Michael Cage in the middle. The two should average between 16-20 points and 16-20 rebounds every night. That is the only way the team will compensate for not having a dominant, low-post center.

“You have to throw Olden in there as a key,” Whitsitt said. “He hasn’t played a lot of minutes his first three years and this year he’s going to get the chance. He’s still a young guy with talent. We have to see if he can do the same thing for most of a regular season that he’s done at the end of seasons and during exhibition games.”

And Cage has to be able to handle decreased minutes. He played less than 32 minutes a game last season and isn’t likely to get that much this season. He hits the open jumpers from the wing and crashes the offensive boards. Polynice is more of a low-post guy who rebounds and applies pressure in the trapping defense perhaps better than any other 7-footer in the NBA.

“They’re different so we need them both to be great at what they do best every night,” Jones said. “Obviously Olden has to get more minutes than last year (13.7) and Michael needs minutes too. They are a perfect example of playing the team concept of making each other look better.”

3. The two who would be stars: More Shawn Kemp than Dana Barros, but the two 1989 first-round draft choices need to be consistent impact players this season. Not just the once-every-two-weeks big games, but Kemp must be a nightly factor blocking shots and rebounding, and Barros needs to average double figures off the bench with 100 three-point goals.

“You have to believe the upside on those guys is very good,” Whitsitt said. “We just don’t know when that will be.”

Barros was saddled with ankle and thigh injuries during the exhibition season and never really had a chance to show how much he has improved his ballhandling skills during the off-season.

Kemp, who won’t be 21 until the end of this month, is a different story. His defense and rebounding have been excellent, but put his hands on the ball, and, well, he has been as unpredictable. That could be expected from a guy who never played college basketball.

“He’s got great stuff on the defensive end already and that’s the way I’d prefer it,” Jones said. “It’s hard work and desire he has with great talent. He’s got to work on the offensive end to get better. Work hard to have a better outside jump shot and moves to the basket. It will all come.”

When?

4. The Mac Attack: It’s hard to figure what will happen with Nate McMillan and Xavier McDaniel. The two have been traded seemingly every week, but no deals have been consummated. They’re looking over their shoulders, and have played fairly well in exhibition games despite the distractions.

McMillan, despite an ankle sprain, has accepted his bench role at small forward with open arms. McDaniel is playing as hard as ever, but stewing over his status. As long as Kemp is still in the learning stage, he’s OK, but when Kemp is ready for major minutes, a decision has to be made.

And the biggest Mac, 6-10 Derrick McKey, has gotten his weight up to 230. But are they still forcing it by putting him at power forward? He’s a finesse player, and it’s a push for him to match up with the brutes up front. Even if he does get the ball out on the floor more this season, he’s still rebounding against Buck Williams and Karl Malone instead of Jerome Kersey and Blue Edwards. He’s suffered through torn muscle fibers in his thigh, a sprained ankle and a badly jammed thumb, and the season hasn’t even started yet.

5. The Ellis Illusion: For now, Dale Ellis isn’t playing because he’s got tarsal tunnel syndrome in his right foot, a mysterious affliction that causes varying degrees of numbness. Last season, he missed 27 games because he broke three ribs in a car accident. He was distracted and out of shape through much of training camp because of the subsequent trial that convicted him of drunken and reckless driving.

“Every team has at least one player who has problems off the floor,” Whitsitt said. “The bottom line is how they do on the floor.”

Jones is counting on a lot.

“He and X (McDaniel) are our scorers,” Jones said. “For us to have a smooth sailing ship, they’ve got to get their shots and points.

“No one carries this team. The team carries everyone.”