It's comes naturally for Nate McMillan to avoid sugarcoating when assessing his basketball team.

And the Sonics' coach has occasionally blasted his players to the media just minutes after a tough loss. But much of the venom in McMillan's words has stemmed from emotion. And after reviewing the game on videotape, McMillan sometimes realizes that his words may have been too harsh.

"I'm a very emotional guy," McMillan said. "And I'm very impatient whenever I feel intensity is not there. And sometimes I have to step back and look, observe before I react or make comments."

McMillan still intends to be candid about his players. But now he says he won't be as quick to excoriate them partly because of the damage it can cause.

"I don't think you can continue to blow up at your team," McMillan said. "You don't want to lose those guys or have them quit on you, or just look at you as another person who is screaming. But I think they know me, and whenever I react that way, I'm normally right."

Although Vin Baker is having his best season in three years, the power forward had been a target of McMillan. Baker is a sensitive player who reacts better to positive reinforcement than constant criticism. So if Baker has a bad game, McMillan is more likely to talk about him publicly in the context of whether the Sonics won.

Payton is the NBA's 'best'

What NBA player comes to mind as the most productive offensively? Shaquille O'Neal? Allen Iverson? Kobe Bryant?

All of those players lag behind Seattle's Gary Payton when generating points for his team. In a recent statistical analysis by USA Today, Payton was the NBA's best at producing offense each game.

The formula for the statistic ? points generated ? is points scored plus points from assists. And each assist is 2.13 points after averaging assists for three-pointers.

Entering last night, Payton accounted for 41.5 of Seattle's average of 96.9 points, either by scoring or passing. Payton was slightly ahead of Allen Iverson, who generated 41.0 points while Nick Van Exel came in third at 40.5.

After early results for the All-Star Game, Payton has the third-most votes for Western Conference guards after Bryant and Steve Francis.

Yesterday's game at a glance

Player of the game: Brent Barry showed why he's one of the best open shooters in the NBA. He made 4 of 5 three-pointers in the first half before finishing the game with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting. And as usual, Barry filled in other areas of the box score with nine rebounds and five assists.

Top reserve: Maybe we should name this category after Earl Watson. Last night, the rookie had four points, five assists and four rebounds in only 20 minutes.

Key to the game: The Sonics shot 56.7 percent in the first half but led by only six points because of 11 turnovers. In the second half, Seattle's turnovers kept pace but its fast-break offense didn't slow down all night.

Next: Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.