Wizards

WASHINGTON - You can actually begin to see the legacy Michael Jordan is about to leave behind in Washington. That's what this NBA season is about here, developing young players, particularly one Kwame Brown. A year ago, some were already calling the kid a bust in his rookie season after he averaged 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds a game and shot 38 percent from the floor, the least-productive numbers of any overall No. 1 pick in the lottery draft. Now, coaches Doug Collins and Patrick Ewing just can't wait for the day Brown becomes one of the dominant forces in the league.

They are one of just six teams in the league that have recorded victories over the four current division leaders (Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat, Seattle SuperSonics), yet they lost their season series to the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics. They're also the only team in the league to claim a series sweep against the Jazz, but they're also one of eight teams to lose to the woeful Denver Nuggets.Can anyone figure out the Washington Wizards?Not even the players themselves can answer that question, because when they look around their locker room, they see a team that they figured would be approaching 50 wins and jockeying for playoff position.

There was a report on a Washington television station last week that Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin is considering selling the team, the Washington Capitals hockey team and the new MCI Center.When that report aired, the many frustrated fans of the Wizards were likely crossing their fingers, hoping that the news would somehow become reality. Because those fans are getting tired of a franchise that lately has shown few signs of improvement.With the trade for Mitch Richmond and the signing of Rod Strickland, the Wizards expected to make the playoffs.

J.R. Smith scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Denver Nuggets pull away for a 97-87 victory Tuesday night over the visiting Washington Wizard, who lost their ninth straight game. Carmelo Anthony (Towson) led the Nuggets with 29 points and 12 rebounds. The game marked the return of Nuggets coach George Karl , who was back on the bench after missing four games over the past week for cancer treatments. Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 23 points; Al Thornton had 16. Heat: Miami signed 6-foot-3 guard Kenny Hasbrouck (Cardinal Gibbons)

Barring a work stoppage, the NBA will return to Baltimore in October, when the Washington Wizards are scheduled to open their 1998 preseason at the Baltimore Arena.The Wizards are scheduled to play here Oct. 16 against the Boston Celtics. The Wizards' other preseason home game will be Oct. 17 against the Philadelphia 76ers at the MCI Center in Washington.Since leaving Baltimore in 1973, the Bullets had played selected games here. But after changing its name to Wizards last year and moving into the MCI Center, the club decided not to play regular-season games in Baltimore.

WASHINGTON -- Much of the crowd of 19,859 for the Wizards' home opener last night got to their seats a little late. That was a good sign -- the streets around MCI Center were packed with cars and fans on foot some two hours before tip-off, indicating that the team's prospects and its early production were paying off. Meanwhile, many of the fans who were in their seats for player introductions wore Miami Heat black and red and whooped it up for Shaquille O'Neal....

WASHINGTON - As far as the Wizards were concerned, this wasn't Fan Appreciation Night at MCI Center. Nothing about last night's Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals signaled a farewell for the home team, actually, including the way the Shaq-less Miami Heat played in the first half. The Wizards offered up the way they played as their tribute to this season, and made no apologies. It was not the night to be looking back in admiration about this turnabout of a season,season, nor was it a time to look ahead at where this franchise might be headed.

WHEN HE HEARS sports talk radio callers say blow up the Wizards, Washington general manager Ernie Grunfeld thinks back to the start of the season. Fans were "unbelievably supportive" of the Wizards' plan to rebuild with young players, to go about things "the right way." "The city understood that," Grunfeld said. Way back then - it seems so long ago - the post-Michael Jordan Wizards were running and gunning, taking down Western Conference powers such as the Mavericks. Free-agent gym rat Gilbert Arenas was looking every bit the $64 million answer.

Washington -- MCI Center could easily have been mistaken for Denver's Pepsi Center last night, there were so many powder-blue Nuggets jerseys in the stands. Either that, or Washington's NBA franchise could've been mistaken for Baltimore's, there were so many fans from the Wizards' former home in the building. Whatever the case, it was another testament to the role Baltimore still plays in the fortunes of the team that left town 32 years ago. Under the right circumstances, the city can still make its presence known in the NBA - even though the Wizards' presence in Baltimore practically doesn't exist.

WASHINGTON - How could you tell that the NBA playoffs had come to the nation's capital? Not so much by the din raised by 20,173 towel-waving die-hards wedged into MCI Center yesterday, who had waited eight years for the privilege and 17 years in the hopes of seeing an actual win by any version of the franchise. No, you could tell most by the sight of the Chicago Bulls' Andres Nocioni curled up near midcourt clutching his unmentionables in pain, rendered immobile by Larry Hughes' inadvertent knee.