Doug Collins

TOM MCMILLEN, Maryland's tallest congressman, has said it is to his credit he's not an ideologue. Yet even some of his supporters admit to having trouble detecting any internal compass that guides his politics after six years in office.A compelling article in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated won't do anything to dissuade that sense of the congressman.The piece is about the 1972 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. Mr. McMillen, then a star forward at College Park, played for that team, the one involved in that great controversy surrounding the first international loss -- ever -- by an American basketball team.

WASHINGTON - It didn't take long for Kwame Brown, the newest member of the Washington Wizards, to realize that he wasn't in Kansas, or Brunswick, Ga., his hometown, anymore. Brown, the No. 1 choice in Wednesday's NBA draft, mused yesterday about adjusting to the differing traffic patterns in Brunswick, a city of 70,000, and the places he has visited in his journey to the NBA, as he met the media and team employees for the first time. "Any city you come to is going to be bigger than Brunswick," Brown said with a chuckle.

PHILADELPHIA - Go figure these Washington Wizards. One night after playing one of their worst games of the season against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wizards played their best in beating the reigning Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers last night at the First Union Center, 94-87. Michael Jordan scored 30 points, but got a big lift from Richard Hamilton, who scored 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds. The victory was only the second for the Wizards (4-10) in their past 10 games, but it was also the second in their past three games and their second straight this season over Philadelphia (7-7)

MINNEAPOLIS -- What the best sports marketing department in the world conjured up to tip off their game's midseason showcase this year seemed like a great idea. The NBA's brainstormers decided to start their All-Star Weekend by burying what had become a boring ol' old-timers' game and, instead, gather up the best of the newcomers for a half-hour scrap of their own.It was bye-bye to the "American Bandstand" generation and hello to the MTVers. They called their new product the NBA Rookie All-Star Game.

He was selected as a National Basketball Association All-Star nine times, named MVP in the 1971 game, elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988, and ranks third among active NBA coaches with 743 career victories.But no one in the Cleveland Cavaliers organization is willing to give Lenny Wilkens a vote of confidence as his contract expires after this season.The Cavaliers, who play the Washington Bullets at the Baltimore Arena (1 p.m.) today, are 18-32 and likely to qualify for the June lottery for also-rans.

However the Washington Wizards use their possession of the first pick in next Wednesday's NBA draft, the choice will be made on the assumption that Michael Jordan, the team's president of basketball operations, will not come back from retirement, according to new coach Doug Collins. Collins said during a conference call yesterday that Jordan has not ultimately decided whether to emerge from retirement after three years on the shelf but wants things to proceed as if he will not play this winter.

WASHINGTON - While tonight's game against the New Jersey Nets is merely considered an exhibition, it will mark the MCI Center debut of two key members of the Washington Wizards. Neither Michael Jordan nor Kwame Brown played in Tuesday's private intrasquad scrimmage witnessed by local military personnel, firefighters, police officers and their families, but both are expected to be in the lineup against the Nets. The game, which will be telecast nationally beginning at 8 p.m. on TNT, is a sellout.

PHILADELPHIA - The NBA's All-Star Weekend and, particularly, its Saturday skills competition, is a celebration of creativity and versatility. For instance, Milwaukee guard Ray Allen is participating in tonight's three-point shootout and tomorrow's All-Star Game, while Houston's Steve Francis will go for the title of best slam-dunker tonight and will start for the Western Conference tomorrow night. That's all well and good, but Washington rookie center Brendan Haywood is here to do one thing and one thing only at First Union Center: play in this afternoon's Rookie Challenge game, pitting the league's top rookies against a team of second-year players.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - With Michael Jordan on the shelf, the Washington Wizards went retro last night against the Detroit Pistons in more than one way. Washington's look not only harkened back to the 1970s, with each player wearing the knee-high socks that were in fashion then, but also to last season, when Jordan was a retired club executive and points and victories were at a premium. With Chris Whitney and Hubert Davis connecting from three- point range, the Wizards displayed the kind of offensive firepower they could only dream of last season, but the Pistons" Damon Jones, Corliss Williamson and Ben Wallace hit enough big shots to give the Pistons a 97-90 win. Whitney and Davis combined to hit six of 11 three-pointers to give Washington a chance to steal what would have been a big road win over the Central Division leaders, particularly on a night when leading scorer Jerry Stackhouse was saddled with foul trouble.

MILWAUKEE - As if Tuesday night's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers didn't prove the point to the Washington Wizards, the Milwaukee Bucks reinforced the notion that the NBA game is one of runs. The Wizards, who were blistered by two Lakers runs in the first quarter Tuesday, got slammed by a long first-half Bucks blitz and a shorter one in the fourth quarter that snuffed out a Washington comeback try. The result was a 105-90 Milwaukee victory that placed the playoff hopes of the Wizards in serious jeopardy.