The Seattle SuperSonics hosted their annual community practice Friday at Seattle Pacific University. The event was well attended, with over 2,000 fans packing the Royal Brougham Pavilion.

The fans got their first glimpse of rookies Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. And they also got a chance to see how the Sonics will play this year, which is fast.

Point guards Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson pushed the ball up the floor at every opportunity, with wings Jeff Green, Delonte West, Durant and Damien Wilkins running the floor well.

“We’re going to try and play at this pace,” Carlesimo said. “It’s not easy to play at this pace all of the time and to be a good defensive team. That’s not an easy combination. Nor is it easy to play man and to play zone. But we want to try and do that. We want to try and play at a quick pace. And we definitely want to be a good defensive team.”

Listen to the full conversation with Carlesimo here.

Luke Ridnour looked good in his first action of the year, and may have taken the lead in the competition to see who will start at point guard. Ridnour led the white team with 11 points in the first scrimmage. The white team, consisting of Ridnour, West, Jeff Green, Robert Swift, Nick Collison and Jermaine Jackson defeated the green team 24-14 in the first scrimmage.

Ridnour looked like the Luke of old, and seems to be flourishing in Carlisemo’s fast-paced system. He also seemed to develop a nice rapport with Green, as the two hooked up on two alley-oop finishes.

Listen to a conversation with Green after the scrimmage here.

Watson played solid as well for the green team, finding Durant and Damien Wilkins for several scoring opportunities.

The green team, consisting of Watson, Durant, Wilkins, Chris Wilcox, Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene and Mickael Gelabale played better in the second scrimmage, but lost 18-17 when West drained a long jumper from the wing with less than 30 seconds left.

Watson and Durant jumpers at the end of the game came up short.

Speaking of West, he was probably the most impressive player on the floor on Saturday. I hadn’t seen him play much, but for 6-foot-4 he has great bounce and got to the hole several times for easy buckets. He had several authoritative dunks during drill work. And he shot the ball well during the scrimmage. I think he could become a fan favorite during the year.

Green showed off his versatility, running the floor well, playing solid defense and showing a nice mid-range game.

Durant showed a nice shooting touch and quick release from the outside, and an ability to get to the basket.

Wilkins also continued to play well during the camp, hitting a couple jumpers during the scrimmage and playing good defense.

And along with West, I also was impressed with Robert Swift. He seemed to be struggling with conditioning and soreness in his rehabilitated right knee early in training camp. But Swift moved well during the scrimmage on Saturday, blocking Wilkins shot attempt under the basket out of bounds, and finishing with a nice turnaround jumper on the other end.

“I was trying to push it as hard as I can to get back as fast as I can,” Swift said. “But at the same time I know have to be smart about it. So I’m compromising by taking some time off.”

Listen to more of the Swift conversation here.

Veterans Kurt Thomas (left thigh contusion) and Wally Szczerbiak (left knee swelling) sat out the scrimmage, but it seem like more of a precaution to rest those guys and I imagine they will be ready to next week.

Overall, I think the team played solid, and I’m interested to see how they play against Sacramento on Tuesday.

The Sonics will take Sunday off, and go through a light practice on Monday before flying down to Sacramento.