McMillan said he was surprised by some of the decisions Associate Head Coach Dwane Casey made while running the team in his absence, but that he absolutely supported Casey's right to go his own way at times.

Radmanovic and Richardson will compete in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

"That's your team," he said he told Casey. "Who you play, who you start, you have to be comfortable with that. It has to be your call and not so much how I would do it."

The one disappointment to McMillan, naturally, was the Sonics performance in a 103-84 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday.

"It didn't seem like we thought we could win that game," he observed.

McMillan wasn't referring to the Spurs, but he could have been when he said, "We have to not play the record, but play the team."

That moral will be particularly applicable as the Sonics face the 8-39 New Orleans Hornets tomorrow at KeyArena (7:00 p.m., FSN, TICKETS).

Two Sonics in Shootout

A pair of Sonics representatives were chosen for the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout on All-Star Saturday Night on Feb. 19 in Denver. Guard Ray Allen and forward Vladimir Radmanovic will join Philadelphia's Kyle Korver and Suns swingmen Joe Johnson and Quentin Richardson in trying to unseat defending champion Voshon Lenard, the hometown favorite.

Allen, who won the 2001 Shootout while with the Bucks (he finished fifth in 2002 and third in 2000), said he felt a lot of pressure in the Shootout.

"It's pretty nerve-wracking," he said after Monday's Sonics practice It's fun to be able to say at the end you won, everybody watching you. You feel like you're on a stage all by yourself."

"The three-point contest has been the most consistent competition that we've had on All-Star Weekend. You see some of the best shooters you ever see make history in that moment. When I won, I was thinking about all those times when Larry (Bird) won, Craig Hodges, different shooters - some of the best shooters I've watched. I can't say that I've ever patterned myself after those guys, but you're part of history when you win."

Radmanovic is making his first Shootout appearance.

All-Star Selections Coming

As All-Star anticipation continues to heighten, tomorrow will see the reserves selected for the All-Star teams. Allen is considered a shoo-in to be selected for his fifth All-Star Game, while Rashard Lewis is battling several players, including Memphis' Pau Gasol, Phoenix's Shawn Marion and Sacramento's Chris Webber, for a backup forward sport.

"It will be a disappointment if he doesn't make the All-Star team," said McMillan, who added that he had called a handful of Western Conference coaches to lobby on Lewis' behalf and heard that two of them had voted for Lewis.

"I have thought about it a little bit, but it is out of my control," Lewis said last week. "There is nothing I can do. If I get voted, I will be extremely happy. I want to be (voted in). I want to go. At the same time, there are a lot of All-Stars in the Western Conference and it is going to be tough. I feel right now it can go either way."

Lewis is averaging a career-high 20.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Injury Update

Rookie forward Nick Collison missed today's practice because of Gastroenteritis, making him, improbably, the third Sonics big man so afflicted during the last month or so. (It is not contagious.) Jerome James left practice because of a sprained left knee. His injury is not considered particularly serious, but McMillan did say that James was scheduled to see a doctor.