From Deseret News archives:
Greg Ostertag steaming; Rashard Lewis grieving
"Sometimes," Sloan said, "guys don't like the substitution pattern that I use — because if you can't do what we want you to do, I'll play somebody else.
"You know," he added, "I don't think we have anybody that can't be substituted for."
Sloan did not name names.
But one suspect seems to be starting center Greg Ostertag , who was visibly upset when Sloan yanked him in favor of rookie Curtis Borchardt with 3:02 remaining in the opening quarter of Wednesday's 83-76 victory over the Rockets.
Ostertag, who was not in foul trouble at the time, tossed a towel into the stands after the substitution was made. He did return after that, though, finishing with 29 minutes overall, which is quite close to his per-game average.
LEWIS GRIEVING: According to Thursday's Seattle Times, Sonics star Rashard Lewis likely will miss Seattle's game against the Jazz tonight after learning Wednesday that an older brother had unexpectedly died.
The Sonics' starting small forward reportedly returned home to Houston to be with family members.
If Lewis does not play, the Times suggested, Seattle could either start Ansu Sesay at small forward or move Vladimir Radmanovic to small forward and open with Reggie Evans at Radmanovic's power forward spot.
Lewis is averaging 21.3 points per game, ranking him in a tie for No. 12 among NBA scorers prior to Thursday's games.
OH WELL: Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko entered Wednesday's game as the league's leading free-throw shooter at 92.4 percent (61-of-66), but his success rate from the line plummeted to 88.9 percent — not even among the NBA's top-eight as of Thursday afternoon — with a 3-for-6 effort against the Rockets.
Utah's Raja Bell did not attempt a free throw against Houston, keeping him at 88.6 percent (23-of-26), good for 11th place among league leaders in that statistical category.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
