It's been awhile since we've looked at the record books, but it struck me last night after what was probably the Sonics' best game of the season that they're headed for their worst season in franchise history.

Last night's loss dropped them to 9-28, which is slightly behind the pace of the inaugural team in 1967-68 that started 10-28. That squad finished with a club worst 23-59 record.

No Sonics team has ever went this far into the season without 10 wins, which says as much about the history of the franchise as it does about the current players and coaches.

I predicted Seattle would finish 26-56, but now I'm not sure they can make it to 20 wins. With 45 games remaining, the Supes would need to finish 11-34 to get to 20 wins and 15-30 to better the '67-68 squad and finish 24-58.

As for the daily notes, the Sonics flew to New Orleans this morning where they begin a four-game road trip on Wednesday. After this road trip, they play a season-long seven straight games at KeyArena.

With the return of Chris Wilcox and Luke Ridnour, the Sonics are the healthiest that they've ever been this season.

And keep an eye on the power forward position because there's another controversy brewing. You got to love Nick Collison. Last season, Bob Hill asked him to play center and the guy goes out and averages nearly 10 points and 8 rebounds.

This season, he's bounced back to PF, replaces Wilcox and turns into a beast.

P.J. Carlesimo's coaching/managerial skills will be tested in the coming weeks because Collison is playing well enough to remain in the starting lineup, however, Wilcox had been the starter.

I asked Carlesimo several days ago if he believes a starter should lose his job because of injury and the coach said no. He thinks the starter should return to the starting lineup as long as he wasn't out for a significant amount of time.

But how in the world can you demote Collison when he consistently pulls down 15 rebounds and plays solid defense? And if he scores 24 points like he did against the Lakers, then it's nearly impossible to yank him out of the starting lineup.

This one could get interesting.

Finally, I saw Robert Swift last night and meant to talk to him, but didn't have a chance to. Carlesimo told me that the injured center has lost a considerable amount of weight (I'm guessing 15 pounds). Still, it's troubling to see him continue to walk with a pronounced limp after more than a year since his arthoscopic knee surgery.

Carlesimo said Swift's recovery is going well, but didn't elaborate.