Kevin Pelton, SUPERSONICS.COM | Oct. 8, 2004
It was a slightly sleepy, jet-lagged Ibrahim Kutluay that met Seattle SuperSonics beat writers Friday morning after a 17-hour flight from Turkey finally brought him to Seattle three days late for the start of training camp. But even after a restless first night in his new home, Kutluay, who goes by "Ibo" (pronounced ee-bow) was happy to be here.
"I was ready to come here," Kutluay said after shooting around at the Furtado Center during an optional shooting session for the Sonics. "I wanted to be here for media day and start of practice day, but I couldn't because I had to wait for my visa and working residence. I get all stuff Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon I get back everything. I am here now; now I am very happy to be here."
Signed to a contract as a free agent three weeks ago, Kutluay shared that he was close to coming to the NBA with the New Jersey Nets during the 1998-99 season, and probably would have had it not been for the NBA's lockout.
"It was the lockout year, so I could practice with them," Kutluay said, "but they didn't offer me (a contract) because they said they can offer me (a contract in) like November and December because of lockout (when it was over), and I said I cannot wait because I have contract in Europe."
After continuing his career in Greece and Turkey, Kutluay decided again to try his hand at the NBA, a decision reinforced by his performance against the U.S. Olympic team during a pair of pre-Olympics exhibitions in Turkey. Kutluay averaged 22.5 points during the two games.
"Dave Pendergraft heard that he had interest in coming to the league, so it was really something that we made a decision on fairly quickly," said Sonics Coach Nate McMillan. "Up until the Olympics, he hadn't made his decision to come to the NBA. After the Olympics, I think, is when he decided he wanted to give the NBA a shot. We talked to his agent, his agent talked to a couple of teams, we found out about it and got the video real quick on him to take a look. Dave knew his agent. He told him (Pendergraft) that he (Kutluay) had interest in coming to the league, and we had to make a decision."
With the Sonics looking for an outside shooter to round out the roster and replace the perimeter production lost with the free agent defections of Brent Barry and Richie Frahm, Kutluay was a good fit. There is a consensus that Kutluay is one of the best pure shooters in the world.
"Dave and the people he talked to felt like he was a legit shooter," McMillan said. "I was basically going off of the two games (against the U.S. Olympic team) that I saw, but, talking to our scout and talking to some of the other people in Europe, the scouts over there, they felt like he was legitimately one of the best shooters out there."
McMillan admitted that one of his concerns was whether Kutluay had range to the NBA three-point line, which is much longer than it is international play. After watching him shoot yesterday night following practice, McMillan is confident that won't be an issue.
"He was shooting it with ease last night, and he just shot that one," McMillan said to the media as Kutluay shot behind them. "You heard it [a swish]? He has that range."
There still will be adjustments. Kutluay must learn the Sonics offense and defense and will be behind because his visa situation forced him to miss all of the Sonics two-a-day practices. However, he's not particularly worried about the transition, so long as he puts in the necessary work.
"I think I will adjust quick," Kutluay said. "I know my role on the team. I have to do my best, work hard in practices, because we have a short period to play games and I have to be okay when the games start."
Kutluay emphasized that while there are individual differences in offenses and defenses between teams and leagues, the game is fundamentally similar.
"Everything's almost the same," Kutluay said. "Basketball is simple, not so many differences. Some offenses I know from Europe. Of course, we have different options, different plays in the game, but day-by-day I will be okay. You're not to supposed to know everything the first day. But I have to be quick and I have to concentrate, focus all practice and I will learn everything."
The good news is that Kutluay is a hard worker. He was the last Sonics player off the court Friday morning, and he passed on an opportunity to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers despite the noted distaste Philadelphia's star player, Allen Iverson, has for practice.
"I like to practice and I like to work hard," Kutluay said when jokingly asked whether he knew what he was giving up signing with the Sonics.
That and a smooth shot have taken Kutluay a long way.
McMillan changed this morning's practice to the optional shooting session after the NBA and the NBA Players Association clarified the new rules regarding two-a-day practices. Teams are allowed to hold two-a-days the first five days of training camp, but are limited to three hours of live contact, a trade-off in exchange for having all players report at the same time (last season, veterans reported three days later, itself a trade-off for extending the first round of the playoffs to seven games).
The understanding had been that the three hours could be split between both practices, but the Players Association requested all three hours be in the same practice. As a result, McMillan decided to cancel the second practice today and tomorrow in lieu of doing non-contact drills.
The Sonics had been scheduled to conclude two-a-days Saturday.
