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Undercover Star Swift Makes Strides Sonics News Archive

Bob Hill

(7:30 p.m, , FSN)

"I'm thinking about it, but I haven't made any decisions yet," Hill said after his team practiced for more than two hours Wednesday.

"I've got to give him a fair chance to see if he can become that guy. If he can't, then we've got to go somewhere else and lock him into another spot." Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty

While speculation has focused on the possibility of rapidly improving Robert Swift moving in front of Johan Petro on the depth chart at center, "I wanted to look hard at the four position too," said Hill. "I think Vlade (Radmanovic)'s played four really good games and I think he's played four average games. Nick (Collison) has struggled, but I thought he played awfully well at Golden State. Nick had some games early in the year where he came off the bench at four and played very well, so I'm trying to get that position solidified too."

For the time being, Hill seems to favor keeping the lineup intact. He's concerned about whether Swift is ready to accept the responsibilities that come with being a starter, something he has done as a professional only during preseason and summer-league play.

"I talked to him today before practice about it," explained Hill. "He's anxious to start; everybody wants to start. But the responsibilities as a starter are a lot different than coming off the bench. When he does it, I want him to understand that.

"Right now, I'm leaning toward not starting him, but I may wake up tomorrow and say, 'What the heck?'"

If and when Swift moves into the starting lineup, Hill will be looking for consistent production, a solid presence in the middle every night.

"You can't start and play hit or miss," he said. "You have to start and hit. When you come off the bench, because you're a little cold, people understand it might take a few minutes to get into it. But when you start, you've got to be ready to go and you've got to do your job to get the team off on the right foot."

That consistence has eluded Radmanovic. In his four double-figure scoring efforts as a starter, Radmanovic has averaged 19.0 points on 25-for-53 shooting and 6.3 rebounds. In his other four games, Radmanovic has averaged 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, shooting 10-for-35 from the field.

Hill preached patience in evaluating Radmanovic as a starter.

"Let me put it this way: If you put him in the starting lineup and he gives you starting numbers right away, something's wrong, something's been wrong here," Hill said. "Well, he didn't, so it wasn't wrong. I've got to give him a fair chance to see if he can become that guy. If he can't, then we've got to go somewhere else and lock him into another spot. He has a role on this team for sure; he played 30 minutes a game last year and they had a really quality year."

Hill is somewhat hesitant to start Collison, who had 12 points and seven rebounds against the Warriors to break a streak of 11 games without scoring double-figures, because Collison has a tendency to pick up early fouls as a starter. Still, Collison would be the logical replacement for Radmanovic if and when Hill decides to make a change. Reggie Evans also "absolutely" figures into that mix, though the time Evans spent away from the team last week to attend a funeral factors against him.

"When you miss two or three days in the midst of a scenario like this, you're going to get behind, because I can't wait to add stuff, so he's probably a little bit behind," said Hill.

Backup point guard is another area that could be in flux, though Hill is not yet ready to throw Rick Brunson into that position even though Brunson was cleared by the doctors and dressed for the Sonics last two games. Hill wants to see Brunson get into better shape.

"He got through the practice, which I'm pleased with, but he'll stay on the injured list for a while until we feel real comfortable that he's ready to go," Hill said. "He played a little bit in game one; that was it."

Damien Wilkins, who is ill, sat out Wednesday's practice, but the Sonics are moving towards full health. Ronald "Flip" Murray was able to participate after being held out Tuesday because of a right hip strain. Vladimir Radmanovic practiced off and on, bothered by tendinitis in his left Achilles that is not considered serious.

Centers Danny Fortson and Vitaly Potapenko remain injury concerns.

"Vitaly told me today he was feeling better," said Hill. "Danny walked through, but I don't know how he's feeling."