Sam Cassell

BaseballCardinals: Placed C Tom Pagnozzi on the 15-day DL. Activated C Eli Marrero from the 15-day DL.Diamondbacks: Promoted Sandy Johnson to assistant general manager.Mariners: Recalled OF Ryan Radmanovich from Triple-A Tacoma.Mets: Signed IF Robert Eenhoorn and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk.Rangers: Assigned P Danny Patterson to Triple-A Oklahoma on rehab assignment. Assigned P Xavier Hernandez to Double-A Tulsa.Royals: Assigned IF Joe Vitiello to extended spring training.BasketballNBA: Named New Jersey's Sam Cassell (Dunbar)

BaseballDiamondbacks: Purchased contract of P Ken Robinson from Blue Jays.Dodgers: Signed P Chan Ho Park to two-year contract.Marlins: Signed P Manuel Barrios, P Oscar Henriquez, P Andy Larkin, P Mike Villano, P Felix Heredia, 3B Josh Booty, INF Amaury Garcia, INF Derrek Lee, OF Fletcher Bates, OF Todd Dunwoody and OF Julio Ramirez to one-year contracts.Mets: Selected Tim Foli as manager of Rookie League Kingsport.BasketballNBA: Selected Utah Jazz F Karl Malone as Player of the Week. Other candidates included Nets' Sam Cassell (Dunbar)

No. 1 seed Chicago (62-20) vs. No. 8 New Jersey (43-39)Season series: Chicago, 4-0 (99-86, Nov. 8; 100-92, Dec. 20; 100-98, Jan. 23; 82-81, March 16).Last playoff appearance: In 1997, the Bulls won the NBA title, beating Utah in six games. The Nets last appeared in the playoffs in 1994 when they lost to New York in the first round, 3-1.Key players: Chicago -- Michael Jordan (28.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.5 apg), Scottie Pippen (19.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 5.8 apg), Dennis Rodman (15.0 rpg), Toni Kukoc (13.3 ppg)

Opponent: Phoenix SunsSite: America West Arena, PhoenixTime: 9TV/Radio: HTS/WWRC (980 AM)Outlook: Washington has lost 16 straight to the Suns since beating them March 9, 1988, in Landover. The Suns lost their first 13 games of the season, but have responded under new coach Danny Ainge by winning seven of their past 10. The streak has nearly coincided with the return of G Kevin Johnson, who was activated on Nov. 24 after missing the start of the season because of hernia surgery. G Sam Cassell (Dunbar)

When Dave Carrodine sat down nearly three years ago to develop a marketing plan for Sam Cassell, he didn't have the easiest of jobs. Cassell was not a lottery pick (he was the 24th player taken in the 1993 NBA draft, by the Houston Rockets). He lacked the name recognition of Chris Webber, the top pick that year. And he was attempting to break through in a market where future Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon was entrenched."When I first started out with Sam, it would be hard to get people to take my calls, and when they did they said, 'No, thank you,' " said Carrodine, the vice president for marketing at Columbia-based Precept Sports.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- After missing the first three preseason games, Washington Bullets forward Juwan Howard was looking forward to his preseason debut last night. But after last night's game against the Phoenix Suns, Howard wasn't sure when he would get back on the court.After missing 12 of 15 shots in 33 minutes of the 106-102 loss to the Suns in the opening game of the GTE Shootout, Howard, with a bag of ice wrapped tightly around his aching shin splints, said that he would not play another game until he is 100 percent.

COLLEGE PARK -- It could come tonight at Cole Field House against Duke, or Saturday against Virginia. It probably will come in the wink of an eye and the wave of a hand. And it likely will come in the frenetic crush of Maryland's pressing defense.When Johnny Rhodes finally collects the 329th steal of his larcenous college career, it will mark the crowning achievement of a four-year run to the Atlantic Coast Conference record book.Coming into tonight's 9 o'clock tip-off against Duke, the Terps' 6-foot-4 senior guard has amassed 325 steals, three shy of the ACC career record held by Chris Corchiani of North Carolina State.

BaseballDiamondbacks: Hired Ted Uhlaender as major-league scout.Indians: Signed IF Herbert Perry, OF Jeromy Burnitz and P Paul Shuey.Reds: Reassigned P John Roper, P Domingo Jean, P Brett Tomko, IF Aaron Boone, IF Stephen Larkin, IF Ruben Santana, OF Keith Mitchell, OF Pat Watkins and OF Cleveland Ladell to minor-league camp.White Sox: Signed P Bobby Thigpen to minor-league contract.BasketballNBA: Named Rockets C Hakeem Olajuwon and Magic C Shaquille O'Neal Players of Week. Olajuwon averaged 35.3 points, 13 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.67 blocks in three wins.

BaseballReds: Recalled OF-1B Eric Anthony from a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis. Optioned former Orioles OF Curtis Goodwin to Indianapolis.Yankees: Announced that OF Tim Raines will begin a three-game rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Columbus.BasketballGrizzlies: Signed G Cuonzo Martin to a second 10-day contract.Rockets: Placed G Tim Breaux on the injured list. Activated G Sam Cassell (Dunbar).FootballJaguars: Signed unrestricted free-agent DT John Jurkovic, who had been with the Green Bay Packers.

When former Overlea High basketball star Bernard Hopkins goes to his internship at a home for troubled boys in Richmond, Va., he sees kids trying to escape the violence on the streets. It's the same kind of violence that Hopkins saw growing up in East Baltimore, the same kind that took the life of David Brown, a basketball standout at Baltimore City Community College and a good friend of Hopkins'."Something has to be done," Hopkins said. "Too many young kids are dying."Hopkins and other local basketball stars, including Sam Cassell of the Houston Rockets and Keith Booth of the University of Maryland, are hoping that tomorrow's second annual David Brown Memorial All-Star Game will help the fight against violence.

Mixed martial arts competition makes its debut in the state of Maryland as more than 5,000 fans turn out to watch the Shogun Fights event at 1st Mariner Arena. Blood and bruises were in plain view during the 11 fights on the card, but there were no serious injuries, and the promotion ran relatively smoothly. Local celebrities who attended the event included Ravens running back Ray Rice, Dunbar graduate and current Washington Wizards assistant coach Sam Cassell, and former Colts running back Lenny Moore.

I eat, sleep and dream basketball. -Sam Cassell, assistant coach, Washington Wizards He's not kidding. As a kid growing up in the 1980s, Cassell would shoot hoops all day with his pals on East Baltimore's playgrounds, then grab a bite "and brag about what we'd just done to each other." At night, Cassell would curl up in his room on North Montford Street, a ball alongside his bed. Oh, the dreams that lad had. "I was always the point guard for either the Philadelphia 76ers or the New York Knicks," he said.

James' 3s rally Wizards to win; Cassell traded nba Antawn Jamison had 29 points and 11 rebounds, Mike James hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 70 seconds, and the host Washington Wizards beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 111-103. Caron Butler added 17 points, six assists and five rebounds before limping off the court in the final minute, having banged his hip while falling to the court, clutching a rebound. James scored eight of his 15 in the fourth quarter to rally Washington (12-42)

One of the oldest neighborhood axioms around is that you never forget where you came from. Carmelo Anthony is living proof of that. The Baltimore native, in town to promote his annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, showed up at the Cloverdale Park courts yesterday hoping to inspire his old neighborhood and remind everyone that an entire world awaits those brave enough to reach for it. He brought along a group of A-list celebrities to help him get that...

Two days after soaking in the love of the fans in his basketball home, Sam Cassell bathed in the admiration of the fans in his real hometown. And after spending most of Saturday evening as the center of attention at a celebrity charity game at the Towson Center, Cassell proclaimed that neither Boston, Baltimore nor the NBA had seen the last of him in uniform. "I'm playing next year, playing my 16th year," Cassell said without hesitation, minutes after the conclusion of the game put on by his friend and fellow Dunbar alumnus Kurk Lee, benefiting Lee's foundation.

Bulls@Celtics 8 P.M. [ESPN] It doesn't figure to be much of a contest. Boston is even more loaded than when it got off to the sizzling start that allowed the Celts to already clinch a playoff spot. To the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the Celtics have now added Sam Cassell (Dunbar). And the Bulls (12 games under .500) - well, they'll always have their memories.

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Pau Gasol added 26 and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers continued their impressive road trip with a 106-97 win over the reeling Charlotte Bobcats last night. The Lakers improved to 4-1 since acquiring Gasol, and Bryant scored at least 30 points in his third straight game. In improving to 6-2 on their nine-game trip, the Lakers never trailed but struggled to put away the Bobcats. Charlotte cut a 13-point deficit to 89-86 midway through the fourth quarter before wilting in their seventh straight loss.

Towson has a coach who was one win away from the Final Four in 1993. That year, Morgan State's new boss had a Sweet 16 team. Loyola's rotation relies on veterans who began their college careers in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East. Coppin State remains a national name. There's no reason UMBC can't rule its conference and ... For all the excited talk about the local men's scene, here's the reality: The five Division I schools have combined to produce four winning teams in the new millennium, and if no one gets it done next March, this would be the 10th straight season without a Baltimore squad in the NCAA tournament.

MINNEAPOLIS - The task was different for each team last night at the Target Center in the Minnesota Timberwolves' 98-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals. The Lakers were trying to extinguish the fire and emotion that burned within Minnesota and enabled the Timberwolves to become the winningest team in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves, doubted all along, sought to thwart a seemingly superior foe. So the coaches looked down their benches and called on familiar figures.

MINNEAPOLIS - Remember when everyone was celebrating the greatness of the Los Angeles Lakers? Yes, that was Saturday. They weren't yesterday as the Minnesota Timberwolves dominated them in an 89-71 victory that evened the NBA's Western Conference finals at 1-1 and equaled the Lakers' franchise low for scoring in a playoff game. Game 3 is tomorrow night in Los Angeles. "All we've done now is make it a series," Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. And it looks like it may become serious.