Eddie Jordan

WASHINGTON - When the Washington Wizards played their only home preseason game recently at MCI Center, they didn't look vastly different from the team they were facing - the expansion Charlotte Bobcats. An air of uncertainty, and unfamiliarity, followed the Wizards throughout the night before they pulled away at the end to win. Except for a few well-executed backdoor dunks, the Wizards still looked a bit impatient running the Princeton offense second-year coach Eddie Jordan brought here last season.

WASHINGTON - Like a father hoping to see his son blossom into a man, Washington Wizards coach Eddie Jordan has been waiting patiently for Kwame Brown to mature. Brown's progress has been slow, but it finally appears to be on target, as was displayed in the Wizards' 94-84 win over the Atlanta Hawks at MCI Center last night. For a second straight night, Brown was terrific, with 27 points, on 10-for-14 shooting, with 11 rebounds. Brown, who posted a career-high in scoring (30) and rebounds (19)

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Viewed in the context of a glass of water, there are a couple of ways to view the Washington Wizards' backcourt situation. If you think of having newcomer Gilbert Arenas flanked with returning veteran Jerry Stackhouse as a half-full situation, then you see the Wizards as having one of the NBA's youngest and best guard tandems. But the pessimist would ask how Arenas, who usually shot first at Golden State then passed from the point guard slot, will co-exist with Stackhouse for shots.

WASHINGTON - In their fondest dreams, new Washington Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld and new coach Eddie Jordan would like to have their rebuilding process go smoothly, with lots of patience exercised by the team and fans alike That may be their hope, but it's not necessarily shared by free-agent point guard acquisition Gilbert Arenas, who wants the Wizards to be transformed with the same speed with which he attacks the basket....

BOSTON - Of all the trips Etan Thomas has made to Boston, either when he was with Syracuse or with the Washington Wizards, the last one might have been the least necessary but the most important. Thomas, a 6-foot-10 reserve center, could have taken the recent week off that the Wizards' rookies, young veterans and free agents spent playing in the Reebok Pro Summer League. Brendan Haywood, whom he will share time with upfront, elected to stay away, while Kwame Brown came to Boston for a couple of days before taking off. But after missing most of last season with a fractured orbital bone in his left eye, Thomas, whose three-year career has had more stops and starts than a municipal bus on a downtown route, felt Boston was the place for him to be to get his career jump-started again.

UNLESS University of Georgia forward Jarvis Hayes becomes a star, no one will remember who was actually instrumental in the Washington Wizards making him the No. 10 overall selection last night in the NBA draft. It's not that the Wizards are trying to keep it a secret, or because of humility. It's because this team has no leader and an accountability problem. They now have a No. 1 selection in Hayes, a new coach in Eddie Jordan, a second-round public relations tool in Maryland point guard Steve Blake, but no replacement for former president of basketball operations Michael Jordan, who was fired by owner Abe Pollin on May 7. It's been 52 days, which says something about this franchise, already one of the worst in the league.

WASHINGTON - It took Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin eight fewer minutes to hire a Jordan than it did to fire one and as a result, the team has a new head coach. Pollin, who fired Michael Jordan as president of basketball operations a reported 18 minutes into a meeting last month, essentially settled on hiring former New Jersey Nets assistant Eddie Jordan as the franchise's seventh coach since 1999 within 10 minutes. "When you sit down with [Pollin], he can close a deal in 10 minutes," said Eddie Jordan, who replaces Doug Collins, fired late last month.