I apologize for the lack of posts but I've been working on our Sonics tab, which comes out this Wednesday.

It was a pretty big news day on the Sonics front.

The city of Seattle won its first battle in its suit against the Sonics, as a federal judge ruled that the dispute over the KeyArena lease will be decided in federal court, and not in arbitration as the Sonics had wanted.

And in somewhat of a surprise, Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo announced after practice today that Earl Watson would probably start on Wednesday against Denver in the season opener, and Delonte West would back up Watson up at point guard.

That leaves Luke Ridnour as the third point guard in the rotation. Carlesimo had been mulling the decision at point guard for several days, but decided to go with Watson and West because he believes Ridnour has had trouble dealing with the mask he’s been wearing to protect his broken nose. Ridnour missed most of the second half of the last exhibition game against Phoenix because his mask broke.

Ridnour broke his nose in the opening half of the Sonics first preseason game against Sacramento.

“My honest feeling is the mask has been a pain for Luke,” Carlesimo said. “I think it’s been uncomfortable at best from the beginning. So my leaning right now would be to start Earl at point guard.”

“I’d like to see Luke A) either get the mask situated or B) just get the mask behind him, which is like a week or 10 days,” Carlesimo said later in the conversation. “So kind of use that as the reason to look at this particular rotation first.”

Carlesimo said he isn't going to make Ridnour inactive, but he believes it’s just an easier rotation to look at Watson and West until Ridnour is done with the mask.

Listen to the rest of the conversation with Carlesimo here.

West was hurt almost half of the preseason and played in only four games. But when he did play he earned minutes with is ability to create his own scoring opportunities, both in the half-court and in the open floor. West averaged 16 points a contest in the preseason.

“We’re all professionals,” West said. “You’ve got to have competition to make each other better. But I’m happy to be given an opportunity to be a part of the Sonics team. And I’m going to work hard, try to make my teammates better in practice, and cheer them on during the games.”

West said it doesn’t matter whether he plays point guard or shooting guard.

“I’ll play at the center spot if it gets me on the floor,” West said. “I’m just blessed to be here, and to get an opportunity to play for the Seattle SuperSonics. And I’m not going to take nothing for granted.”

Listen to the full conversation with West here.

Rookies Kevin Durant and Jeff Green practiced today. Both suffered sprained left ankles during the preseason, but went through the full practice on Monday. Carlesimo said that Green may have been a little stiff afterward, but both received treatment at the end of practice. If both practice again on Tuesday and things go well, they should be cleared to play on Wednesday.

“I thought he looked decent,” Carlesimo said about Durant. “He probably did a little more than we thought he might do. We were just going to possibly let him do non-contact stuff, but he said he felt good. Now it will be a question to see how they feel when they wake up tomorrow morning.”

If Durant can go, he’ll start at shooting guard for Seattle. If he can’t then West could start at shooting guard, or Damien Wilkins could slide over to shooting guard and Jeff Green could start at small forward.

Robert swift practiced but didn’t make it through the workout, so it’s looking like he might not play on Wednesday. Swift is experiencing swelling and discomfort in his surgically repaired right knee.

“Robert didn’t look good,” Carlesimo said about Swift.

If Swift can’t go, then Nick Collison or Kurt Thomas will start at center.

As of right now I think if Durant and Green or healthy the starters for Denver will be Watson (PG), Durant (SG), Wilkins (SF), Chris Wilcox (PF) and Collison (C).

Carlesimo also addressed his team’s struggles defensively. The Sonics still have not picked up Carlesimo’s defensive system, and it’s led to a lot of open looks for their opponents, particulary from the 3-point arc.

Listen to Carlesimo talk about the defense here.