The team practiced this afternoon at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles before jumping a plane to Sacramento.

Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo seemed to be doing more teaching in practice today -- at least in the 20 to 30 minutes we got to watch.

Carlesimo was emphasizing some of the things the coaching staff worked on in training camp -- getting back on defense, taking care of the ball, executing offensively and running the floor.

Seattle has wanted to be an up-tempo team, but the Sonics only had two fast-break points against the Clippers.

Carlesimo said turnovers continue to be an issue. Seattle is averaging 20 turnovers a game, and giving up an average of 21 points a contest off of the giveaways.

“Anything between 10 or 13 or 14 turnovers you basically say, ‘We’ve got a chance,'" Carlesimo said. “When you start talking about getting above 14 – much less 20 – that’s a major problem just in terms of what it does to your offense.
“But we compound it. It’s possible to turn the ball over 20 times and give up 12 or 14 points off the turnovers. That ain’t great but that’s not bad. We’re giving up double that. We take 20 possessions and basically throw them in the garbage can where we don’t’ get a shot, and then on top of that we’re giving them 25 points off the turnovers.”

Listen to the full conversation with Carlesimo here.

Robert Swift could make his first start of the season. He practiced the entire session, a day after getting his first regular season action against the Clippers on Sunday.

The Sonics practice at Loyola Marymount also marked a return for Paul Westhead, who coached there from 1985 to 1990. Westhead said he didn't think much of it until he entered the gym and saw the sign Hank's Place on the wall -- put there in honor of Hank Gathers, who passed away during a West Coast Conference tournament game in 1990.

Gathers, who had a heart condition, was Westhead's best player. The Lions later advanced to the NCAA tournament and made it to the Elite Elite. Bo Kimble, a good friend of Gathers, shot his first foul shot left handed each game to honor Gathers, who was left-handed.

“It’s a little bit like sacred ground,” Westhead said. “I didn’t contemplate a lot of what I would feel. ... It kind of hit me when I walked in.”