Unseld

The tenuous relationship between the Washington Bullets and veteran forward Bernard King reached the breaking point yesterday, when the four-time NBA All-Star was suspended for four days "for conduct detrimental to the team."The suspension, which extends through Monday and cannot be appealed, will cost King one game's sal- ary -- about $30,000. It resulted from a shouting and shoving match between King and coach Wes Unseld at a team practice Monday morning.Yesterday, general manager John Nash canceled a scouting trip to Philadelphia and returned to Washington to confer with Unseld, team owner Abe Pollin, vice chairman Jerry Sachs, president Susan O'Malley and legal counsel Dave Osnos over what action to take on King.

Detroit Pistons coach Ron Roth-stein was not about to retur the belated 99-97 Christmas present the Washington Bullets hand-delivered to his team Saturday night at the Baltimore Arena, but he did offer holiday condolences to Wes Unseld, whose Bullets (7-19) have lost nine straight."Hey, we'll take it and run with it," Rothstein said, "but I know just what Wes is going through. He's got one of the youngest teams in the league, and right now they're suffering some serious growing pains."I faced the same problems for three years with the Miami Heat," said Rothstein, who won 47 of 246 games with the expansion team from 1988 to 1991 before being replaced by Kevin Loughery."

LANDOVER -- Wes Unseld leaned back in the chair of his coach's office at the Capital Centre yesterday and ticked off the names of John Williams, Bernard King, Pervis Ellison, Darrell Walker and Ledell Eackles."

Wes Unseld has got his plans for the next five weeks all mapped out. The Washington Bullets coach will be watching videos, though he won't have to run down to the nearest rental outlet to get them.Rather, Unseld said he'll be watching film of the "eight or nine" players who may be available when the Bullets select eighth in the first round of June 26th's NBA draft."I could not give you a true assessment of what's out there right now," Unseld told a gathering of local media and team officials at the Baltimore Arena yesterday.

The plan was to exchange older players for younger players. That's still the plan. The big problem is in the execution.When Washington coach Wes Unseld sends forward Charles Jones, center Pervis Ellison, forward Harvey Grant, shooting guard A.J. English and point guard Michael Adams onto the floor tonight in the Bullets opener in Indianapolis, he will have a mix of young and old, but it won't be the mix he expected. Unseld said he has no idea what to expect."I really don't know about this team yet," Unseld said yesterday after practice.

Count Wes Unseld among those who are happy to see Kevin Loughery leading an NBA team again."I'm really gald for him, "Unseld said yesterday upon hearing that Loughery, his former Baltimore Bullets teammate and Washington Bullets coaching collegue, took over the helm of the Miami Heat after three years in exile.It was Loughery, who played with Unseld here for three seasons, who persuaded him to leave his front-office duties and act as an assistant to Loughery during the 1987-88 season, only to have Unseld replace him, when he was fired after just 27 games.

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. -- Wes Unseld scored 29 points and Johns Hopkins beat host Lincoln University, 89-87, in overtime yesterday for the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament championship.Johns Hopkins (19-8) trailed at the half 36-29 before a second-half scoring surge -- 44-37 -- tied the score at 73 and sent the game into overtime.The Blue Jays shot 56.2 percent from the floor in the second half to 50 percent for the Lions (17-10).LINCOLN UNIVERSITY -- Lewis 13-29 6-8 34, Gallon 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 1-3 2-2 4, Horton 0-0 0-0 0, Richards 4-7 0-3 10, Draper 3-5 0-2 6, Richardson 8-12 3-6 19, Conway 2-4 0-0 4, Pernsley 3-16 2-4 10. Totals 34-76 13-25 87.JOHNS HOPKINS -- Zorensky 0-0 0-0 0, Kerrigan 0-1 0-0 0, Coar 3-5 4-4 12, Geschke 1-3 2-4 4, Stromenn 0-0 0-0 0, Wertman 1-3 0-0 2, Ellis 0-0 0-0 0, Peterson 3-5 4-6 10, Roehring 3-11 1-2 7, Unseld 12-18 5-8 29, Gorman 8-10 9-11 25. Totals 31-56 25-35 89.Halftime--Lincoln, 36-29.

Wes Unseld, who has posted a 131-170 record in nearly three seasons as coach of the Washington Bullets, has said he would like to continue his role "until I get it right."Unseld, 45, was granted that opportunity last weekend when he signed a three-year contract to continue the rebuilding job he began in January 1987, when he replaced Kevin Loughery, his close friend and former Bullets teammate.There was never a question that Unseld would remain in control this season, with training camp opening Tuesday.

BOWIE -- Facing mounting criticism from fans, Wes Unseld found himself yesterday in the unfamiliar position of discussing his future as coach of the Washington Bullets."

The New Jersey Nets and Washington Bullets, who close out the first half of the NBA season at the Capital Centre tonight, are trying to improve their present standing and outlook for the next three months.Both teams appear long shots to make the playoffs, but Nets coach Bill Fitch and the Bullets' Wes Unseld have taken different approaches to end the downward spiral.Fitch seemingly escaped an early dismissal when New Jersey won 12 of 15 games in January, but rumors resurfaced after the Nets began February with five straight road losses.