Tuesday Insider

[Guest]

Can Jordan make

his last shot count?

by Chad Ford

Send an Email to Chad Ford

Also Below: Growing pains | Antonio Davis lashes out | Here comes Dajuan | Peep Show

NBA Insider Chad Ford will be chatting live on ESPN.com today at 12 p.m. ET. Click here to submit your questions.

Can Jordan point the Wizards in the right direction?

The juices are flowing. The heart has never been bigger. The will has never been stronger. The crowd is on its feet. The clock is ticking on the greatest career in NBA history. Michael Jordan readies himself to take that final shot. His one last moment is finally here.

At the end of this season, Jordan, 39, will likely hang up his Air Jordan's for a third time and bid farewell to one of the most storied careers in sports history. Unlike the last two times Jordan retired, there will be no miraculous comebacks. No whispers about secret workouts at Hoops Gym. At some point the cameras will stop rolling. The press will lose interest and Jordan will become a cherished memory on a plaque in Springfield, Mass.

This time, father time is beating down MJ's door and his instincts, the ones that led him to six NBA World Championships, are telling him it's time to put the kids in day care. He has one last shot at glory. And he's not going to get there babysitting Kwame Brown.

The GM in Jordan (we're still not sure how much of that there is in him) wants Brown, Jared Jeffries, Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas to learn on the job. They need to play now in an attempt to rebuild the fledgling Wizards into the next big thing.

The player in Jordan (we're pretty sure how much of that there is in him) trades for veterans like Jerry Stackhouse, Bryon Russell and Charles Oakley and then pushes the kids aside before they mess everything up.

For the first 13 or so games of the NBA season, the line between player and GM in Jordan was fuzzy. But after a disappointing 6-7 start, Jordan the player is taking charge. For the second straight day, Jordan is turning up the heat on coach Doug Collins. He wants more minutes. A bigger role. He wants to lay it on the line now. Even if it leads to a career-ending injury.

Michael Jordan is all about the now — Brown and the rest of the Wizards' rebuilding project be damned.

Michael Jordan

Small Forward

Washington Wizards

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

13 15.7 4.0 2.9 .470 .732

"I'm not concerned about [injury]," Jordan told the Washington Post. "I know they are. Doctors are supposed to be conservative, especially with a guy who's about to turn 40. I might not make it to 41 — who knows?

"I'd rather live in the moment. I'm a guy who'd rather live for now."

Jordan is using the inconsistent play of Brown, Haywood and Thomas as leverage in his quest to be more relevant.

"I don't want to handcuff Doug in terms of what he foresees in trying to build for the future, to let the guys grow," Jordan said. "If we're winning and the other guys are playing well, I'll be over here cheering and wishing everybody the best. . . . Everything is predicated on how these young kids play."

Right now, their play has been shaky at best. Which is why Jordan is making his move now.

The whole predicament should be enough to make Collins pine for the good old days when he sat behind a microphone and sent Jordan love notes over the airwaves. Collins has limited Jordan's playing time, for the most part, to under 30 minutes per game. Bringing him off the bench, Collins reasoned, would keep Jordan fresh for the fourth quarter and ultimately the playoffs.

The doctors are all telling Collins the same thing. Jordan's knees can only take so much pounding. Fatigue will only exacerbate an arthritic condition in his knees. One source close to Jordan told Insider on Monday evening that Jordan ignored that advice last season and it cost the Wizards a playoff berth. He bought into the plan early this summer, but frustration too often leads to amnesia.

"It's complicated," the source told Insider. "He knows his goal is to be healthy in April. That's where he'll help this team the most. He thought by adding Jerry [stackhouse] and Bryon [Russell] he wouldn't have to play as much. Now he's not so sure. He's not as confident that this team can make the playoffs if they go with the status quo. He's essentially lost his patience. And when Michael makes up his mind about something, good luck changing it."

The source, who is familiar with Jordan's medical history, went on to reiterate that Jordan is taking a big risk by increasing his minutes. While injuries can't be predicted with any medical certainty, the risks may be higher than the rewards. Jordan's move has put Collins in the most awkward of positions. How do you say no to the greatest of all time. Especially when he also happens to be your boss?

"I've tried to keep my eye on that but you know what, I don't think Michael wants me to keep my eye on that," Collins said. "Michael feels that he's strong enough to do those things, so I'm going to trust in my conversations with him about the way he feels and we'll go from there. All the eyes are on me about the minutes, but I also have to trust him. It's his body and he knows what he can and cannot do. He and I have to have a real trust with each other and I trust him to the highest level."

Still, Collins is concerned about the message he's sending his young players. For now Collins appears to be offering a compromise. Jordan will continue to come off the bench. In exchange Collins appears willing to increase Jordan's minutes.

"You've got a lot of players [who] are very fragile and, the minute inconsistency deals with less playing time, then all of a sudden it's like, 'Coach has given up on me, he doesn't trust me anymore,' " Collins said. "From a coaching standpoint you're saying, 'I can't lose games.' When you have delicate, fragile situations, sometimes that's walking that tight rope and that's what I have to be able to try to do."

Jordan is walking that tight rope too. His goal this season is one last shot at a championship. He can't get there by holding back on the accelerator. If he pushes too hard, however, he'll run out of gas when the Wizards need him the most.

There are no more safety nets for Jordan. If he falls this time, he might not ever get up again. That ultra competitiveness that pushed Jordan to glory may be the same instinct that pushes him off the cliff.

Does he understand the risks? Or is he lost in the moment?

"You can save all you want, but if you don't get to where you want to go, by the end of that time I may be healthy, but I may be playing golf in April or May. So if I feel good, which I do feel good, I'd rather get on the court and play."

The world waits, breathlessly, one last time. Can MJ do the impossible? Can he make his last shot count?

Jordan Wants More Air Time

Steve Wyche / Washington Post

Jordan, Wizards Hope They Produce Some Answers

Steve Wyche / Washington Post

Growing pains

Michael Jordan's Wizards aren't the only ones experiencing growing pains this year.

Tyson Chandler

Forward

Chicago Bulls

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

14 8.4 5.1 0.9 .506 .600

Bulls coach Bill Cartwright is battling the same issue in Chicago. Does he give more minutes to players like Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall, Fred Hoiberg and Corie Blount in an attempt to win now? Or does he build for the future by giving the court time to Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jay Williams and Eddie Robinson?

The debate has led to near chaos in the Bulls' locker room. Players have been whining all season about their roles, playing time and the fairness of their demotions.

"There's no substitute for experience," Cartwright told the Chicago Tribune. "That's the tough part. We're giving Eddy and Tyson a chance to learn, but they're learning through trial and error. It's a tough way to go. But we feel they will learn if we give them the opportunity, and coming into the second half of the season we'll be stronger."

While Cartwright, as a coach, feels pressure to win games, GM Jerry Krause tries to keep perspective. "We need to be patient with our young kids," Krause said. "I have to be patient with them. The coaching staff has to be patient with them. Fans have to be patient. As long as we're patient, they're going to grow and get better and better."

That's easier said than done when the team is on pace for its fifth consecutive losing season.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili

Forward

Denver Nuggets

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

13 2.5 1.5 0.8 .317 .500

Nuggets head coach Jeff Bzdelik is fighting through the same thing. In his case, he has too many rookies to develop. That means one game Nikoloz Tskitishvili is starting. Two games later he sees one minute. Or Rodney White gets the nod one night. And then doesn't get off the bench for the next two games.

Bzdelik understands his need to develop his young players. He just can't play them all.

"We have an overload," Bzdelik told the Rocky Mountain News. "Our young players are inconsistent. If you were to view our practices every day, you would see that a player is here one day and here the next day. It's all over the charts."

Players like White and Skita say it's tough to remain consistent when their roles change daily.

"One day I might play 35 minutes and the next day I might not play," Tskitishvili said. "If [forward] Donnell Harvey is playing well in the low post, I might not play much. But if I'm shooting well, I might continue to play."

"It's awfully hard to get into a rhythm when you never know how you're going to be used," White said. "But that's coach's method, and I have to respond to it."

Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown is also trying to teach his young kids how to play at the same time he tries to win games. Brown's strategy early on has been to create two units. He then employs an unique rotation system in which he subs in an entire unit at a time.

Brown feels that the system gives young players a defined role which leads to confidence. "They want to know if they are going to play and they want to know if they are going to get their minutes," Brown told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "When you play 10 guys, guys know they are going to play. The worst thing for an athlete is to play 20 minutes one night and maybe play two minutes the next night."

Curry and Chandler continue to take their lumps

K.C. Johnson / Chicago Tribune

Looking for the right combination

Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News

Second line isn't second rate

Ron Higgins / Memphis Commercial Appeal

Antonio Davis lashes out

Antonio Davis

Forward-Center

Toronto Raptors

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

9 14.1 8.4 1.4 .387 .695

With the Raptors beset by injuries and underachieving once again, coach Lenny Wilkens made a bad situation worse on Sunday when he decided to sit his three best players, Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Alvin Williams, for a long stretch of the fourth quarter. With the three on the bench, the Sixers went on an 18-1 run that sealed the Raptors' fifth straight loss. Even when Davis was in the game, he wasn't getting the touches he needed to keep the struggling Raptors in the contest.

Davis was visibly upset after the game and refused to talk to reporters. His wife, Kendra Davis, who wandered past reporters under the stands, suggested that her husband will demand a trade in another week.

The Toronto Star printed her comments in Monday's editions. The story drew an angry response from Davis on Monday afternoon. "Keep my ... wife's name out of your column," Davis told Star columnist Dave Perkins, while being ushered out of the gym by a member of the team's staff. "She's not a part of this team."

Wilkens tried to explain his action and the actions of Davis on Tuesday, "We were trying to give them a rest. They have been playing hard. These guys have been playing a lot of minutes."

"I think he does take a lot of it on his shoulders, but we're a team. It's all of us," head coach Lenny Wilkens said. "He didn't hurt anybody. You know, I mean, these things happen. I've talked with him and he sees what we're doing ... and I'll keep talking. I talk to all my players."

Raptors GM Glen Grunwald agreed with Wilkens' assessment and laughed off the notion that Davis wanted to be traded.

"I think it's just a lot of frustration and I think we have to turn that energy, that frustration, into something positive," Grunwald said. "And we had a good practice today. Hopefully, we'll keep working, get some guys back and be OK."

The Raptors should get a huge shot in the arm this week when Vince Carter returns to the team. Both Grunwald and Wilkens insisted the practice — in which Carter participated fully — was the most promising in recent weeks. Wilkens was especially pleased he had a full complement of players on the court.

"This is the first time I've had enough guys for practice, and everyone really likes that because we can work on a lot of things, we can work on the zone press, we can trap, we can double-team, we can get up and down the floor — we can do all of those things," Wilkens said. "In that respect, it was a good practice."

Angry Rap Davis lashes out

Jennifer Quinn / Toronto Star

Wilkens' moves leave Davis sitting and stewing

Dave Perkins / Toronto Star

Here comes Dajuan

We've seen Yao Ming dominate. Jay Williams waffle between great and bad. Mike Dunleavy sit on the bench. Drew Gooden attack the boards. And Nikoloz Tskitishivili stumble up and down the court. To varying degrees, this year's rookie crop has found a ways to make an impact.

Enter little Dajuan Wagner, the most explosive scorer in the draft. After missing the entire preseason and the first 14 games of the regular season with complications from a bladder infection, Wagner is finally ready to make his debut tonight versus the Kings.

Cavs coach John Lucas expects big things from the kid who once scored 100 points in a high school game.

"He'll struggle for a week or so," he told the News Herald. "Then he'll explode."

"I was convinced about Dajuan Wagner three years ago. He's got some growing pains to do, but he's the real deal. I've known about 'Juanny' for a long time. He just hasn't been playing like the messiah yet."

The big question in Cleveland is where will he play? Wagner is the size of a point guard, but doesn't have the mentality to run the team. With Ricky Davis thriving at the two and Darius Miles entrenched at small forward, what exactly is Wagner's position?

Coach John Lucas envisions him backing up Davis at the two. He also, down the road, expects to be able to play Wagner alongside Davis and Miles. But for now, Lucas doesn't want to burden him with running the team. Instead, the Cavs just want Wagner to burn up the nets.

"He makes scoring plays," Cavs assistant coach Keith Smart said. "He's a good passer. When defenders collapse on him when he drives toward the basket, he makes really good decisions with the basketball. It's not just the right pass, it's the right feel to pass. From the top of the key in, it's an opportunity to make a play or make a play for someone else.

"He's just a basketball player. He has the potential to beat you off the dribble. He has the drive to win. Everyone knows about his ability to score with the basketball. He can definitely do that. He's a great, great competitor."

Wagner makes his debut tonight

Bob Finnan / Willoughby News-Herald

Peep Show

Blazers: Suddenly all of those Jail Blazers jokes aren't so funny. Bob Whitsitt is famous for giving guys second chances. But what about third and fourth ones? Ruben Patterson is the third Blazer in less than a week to be arrested after he allegedly assaulted his wife Monday night. Patterson's wife, Shannon, called police to their house about 5:20 p.m., said Sgt. Doug Nafizger, a Tualatin police spokesman. If convicted, Patterson faces a minimum of one year and up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine, Nafizger said. Patterson's teammate, Derek Anderson, posted his $10,000 bail Monday night, authorities said. With Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire also facing charges for marijuana possession, the Blazers are running out of teammates to bail each other out.

Mavs: Raef LaFrentz participated in his first full practice Monday since spraining his right ankle Nov. 2. The forward said cutting and jumping still caused discomfort, and conditioning will be a priority this week, but he is close to returning. Nick Van Exel has recovered quickly from Nov. 11 knee surgery. He began running just days after the procedure and practiced Monday, as well. Both players could be ready to return as early as Saturday.

Rockets: Coach Rudy Tomjanovich is struggling to keep all of his players happy. Now that just about everyone is healthy, there is a serious crunch at small forward and power forward for minutes. Right now Glen Rice and Eddie Griffin are starting. Maurice Taylor, Kenny Thomas and rookie Bostjan Nachbar are on the outside looking in. "For someone like me, it's definitely an adjustment," Taylor told the Houston Chronicle. "I never had to come off the bench before. It's always a good problem to have too many players instead of last year, not having enough players. But it is an adjustment. It's a mental and physical adjustment. Your time out there is going to be shorter. Your room for error is a lot smaller. It's always an advantage to have veterans coming in. It's definitely a plus. But it's definitely different."

Jazz: Coach Jerry Sloan plans on keeping Andrei Kirilenko coming off the bench. In Kirilenko's place, Matt Harpring has reached 20 points three times, grabbed seven or more rebounds four times, and made more than half his shots four times. "He gives us toughness to start the game that I like," Sloan told the Salt Lake Tribune. Kirilenko has also thrived coming off the bench. "When you start the game, you have a few minutes more to get into a rhythm, but that's the only difference," Kirilenko said. "But when you're on the bench, you can see how guys are playing, how they are guarding you, and maybe you are fresher when you come in.."

Hornets: Baron Davis says he'll experience discomfort from back spasms all year unless a divine power intercedes. "My back is always going to hurt and I'll have spasms every game," Davis, who sat out the second and third quarters of Saturday's victory over the Cavaliers with back pain and knee pain after absorbing a blow on his lower right leg, told the Times Picayune. "My knee is not a problem."

Bucks: The team put Ray Allen on the injured list Monday with a serious ankle sprain. "Most people think he'll be out over 10 days, but we want to give our doctors the ability to look at him," coach George Karl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "If our doctors think he is ready to play [before that], we can reactivate him. And if it is 10 days, the clock starts today." . . . Anthony Mason missed his second consecutive game with a hamstring pull. He said before the game that the injury was improving and he was just taking things day-by day. "A perfect scenario would be that he would play Wednesday [against Cleveland]," said Karl. "But my gut is Friday."

T-Wolves: Wally Szczerbiak is no longer wearing the protective boot on his left foot, but the team is in no hurry to rush him back. Szczerbiak was placed on the injured list a week ago because of a sprained little toe. The All-Star swingman wore the boot several days and will begin some light running to see how his foot responds. Szczerbiak is eligible to play Friday at Utah, but coach Flip Saunders said it might take longer. "Until we're comfortable that it's pretty much pain free, we're going to be very cautious with him," Saunders told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Warriors: It probably comes as no surprise that the Warriors are more than a little thin at point guard. GM Garry St. Jean's inexcusable decision to cut veteran Rafer Alston to save $100,000 dollars is coming back to haunt the team. Bobby Sura is injured, Dean Oliver doesn't have a clue and Steve Logan still hasn't signed with the team. That puts all of the burden on second-year guard Gilbert Arenas. When he's tired, or in foul trouble, coach Eric Musselman has nowhere to go. "We've thrown [Mike] Dunleavy out there, we've thrown Oliver out there, we've thrown Jiri [Welsch] out there," Musselman told the San Francisco Chronicle. "That's a lot of guys to be throwing out there. We're searching for who that guy can be behind Gilbert."

Pacers: Make sure you check out the Indianapolis Star's great story on Donnie Walsh and the rest of the front office of the Pacers. The article is dead on. Not only do the Pacers run one of the tightest ships in the business, they find ways to keep the players they want, and they've been able to pull off the impossible -- completely rebuild a team without missing the playoffs. Coach Isiah Thomas is on the bandwagon. "I would say Donnie's the best I've ever been around," Thomas said. "I said this when I first got here and I'm going to echo it again. I don't think people realize how fortunate they are to have him because he can do it all and has the skills to do it all, he can run the basketball and the business. He's got the brain power and the legal power. He's one-stop shopping. And when you look at the Indiana Pacers it's basically Donnie. If he's not here, it ain't the same kind of place. And it works because of him. Make no mistake about it, Donnie's the Don."

Injured Mavs feeling pressure of win streak

Jodie Valade / Dallas Morning News

Keeping Rockets bench players happy a problem

Jonathan Feigen / Houston Chronicle

Kirilenko Is Solid Off Bench

Phil Miller / Salt Lake Tribune

Davis says back pain continual

Jimmy Smith / New Orleans Times-Picayune

Allen is placed on the injured list

Tom Enlund / Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Recovering Smith working out kinks

Chip Scoggins / Minneapolis Star Tribune

After Arenas, Warriors are missing the point

Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle

Pacers benefit from a streamlined operation

Sekou Smith / Indianapolis Star