Tuesday, April 21. 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 3
Wizards again lack magic potion
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—Their three years together in Washington have brought more embarrassment than success. Now, with the Wizards out of the playoffs once again, the front office must wrestle with the continuing question: Is it time to break up Chris Webber and Juwan Howard?
"I'm pretty sure the area, the fans, the organization are looking for a change for next season." Howard said as the team missed the postseason for the ninth time in 10 years.
"I'm pretty sure they're going to make some changes. You've got to respect this organization. They want to win. They wanted us to produce."
The Wizards were the most disappointing team in the league on the court and brought disgrace off it. Injuries, inconsistency, lack of leadership, two arrests, an in-team fight and a grand jury investigation all put a stain on the first season in owner Abe Pollin's shiny, new $200 million arena.
It's was almost too much for anyone to take, including the coach.
"I'm going to take some time off and get rid of the emotions," Bernie Bickerstaff said yesterday.
Bickerstaff and general manager Wes Unseld say they aren't going to make snap decisions about the team whose last playoff chance died Sunday when New Jersey got the last spot by beating Detroit. But it's no secret that friction exists between management and the team's two star forwards.
Webber was upset when Unseld criticized the players' judgment after he and Howard were named in a sexual assault complaint earlier this month.
"I'd love to stay here," said Howard, who signed a contract with Miami two years ago before the league leveled it and gave Washington another chance to keep him. "I just want to win, like everyone else."
When the University of Michigan buddies arrived in 1994 — Howard via the draft, Webber from Golden State — there were consensus predictions that Washington would soon rise.
Bulls.
Last year, the apparent breakthrough came. The team put together a late surge to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years, then earned praise from Michael Jordan as a championship-contender-of-the-future after three close games with the
WIZARDS
the Wizards to play down the violent connotation, the team moved from the suburbs to downtown.
Injuries didn't help. Center George Muresan missed the whole season with a leg injury that surfaced while filming a movie, and he may never play again. Tim Legler and Lorenzo Williams also missed huge chunks of the season.
But that left a potent lineup of Webber, Howard, Rod Strickland, Calbert Cheaney and sixth man Tracy Murray. Victories over Chicago, Seattle, Utah and the Los Angeles Lakers displayed the team's potential, yet the lack of a locker-room leader meant Webber and Howard would lose their focus in losses against some of the NBA's worst teams.
Away from the arena, Strickland and Murray got into a fight at a Charlotte hotel. Strickland appeared in court on a drunken-driving charge, and Webber is
awaiting trial on charges of possessing marijuana. Then, on April 6, a woman filed a sexual assault complaint naming Webber and Howard after a late party at Howard's house. They denied any wrongdoing; the case is in the hands of a grand hury.
No wonder fans were scratching their heads when Webber, after the team's last game Saturday, called it "a pretty good year."
"Because we've all stuck together." Webber said. "And we have remained friends through it all, so basically it's been a pretty good year."
In Washington, there is talk not just of trading Webber or Howard but whether both should go. The team also has to decide whether to re-sign Strickland, the NBA assists leader, whose outstanding season was tempered by poor practice habits, his fight with Murray and a torn muscle late in the season.
For now, Bickerstaff said, he is only going to dwell on the positives.
"I think a positive was the way Chris Whitney and Ben Wallace stepped up." Bickerstaff said. "They got an opportunity."
He didn't mention Webber or Howard.
Runaway Love still reigns supreme at MCI Classic
The Associated Press
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Birdies fell everywhere for Davis Love III at the MCI Classic, including at his feet.
While in the midst of his runaway victory Sunday, Love was distracted on No. 12 when a baby bird fell from a tree by his ball.
"The mother and father started attacking me, and I really didn't do anything," he said.
Maybe that was their way of breaking Love's concentration at Harbour Town Golf Links. After all, no else could. Love cruised to his fourth MCI victory in record-setting style.
"To win four times here is really unbelievable, but I won this three times when I really needed something, and I think it doesn't have as much to do with the golf course as the time of the year," Love said. So much work!
He shot a 7-under-par 65 for an 18-under 266 total, one off Loren Roberts' 1996 record, and won by seven strokes, bettering Nick Price's record six-shot victory last year.
His on-target irons and precise putting led to seven birdies — the golf kind — as Love ended an expected duel with Phil Mickelson on the front nine and almost matched the scoring record on the back.
So much work goes into his preparation for the Masters, he says, that it often pays off at the MCI.
"I just need to find a way to get that backed up a week," said Love, who won $342,000 for his first victory since the Buick Challenge last October.
It would take an encyclopedia to list Love's Harbour Town honors since first showing up as a 13-year-old junior prodigy.
He's the event's career money leader with $941,553; he's the tournament's youngest champion (23 in 1987); he's among the two repeat winners, with titles in 1991 and 1992; and he's the only one with four claid MCI champions coats.
For Mickelson, it was his second straight Sunday collapse. He was two shots behind Fred Couples in the Masters through 54 holes and shot a closing 74.
Here, Mickelson trailed by two strokes at the start of the last round, and matched Love's second-hole birdie, but never got that close again. He faded to a 73.
A lot was expected of the Love-Mickelson pairing. The two played a memorable match in the American finals of the Andersen Consulting World Championships nearly a year ago, with Love landing a tee shot within two feet of the flag to win on the second playoff hole.
Love made sure that didn't happen here. When Mickelson's approach on No. 3 came in 10 feet, Love
plopped his to six inches. After Mickelson chipped to six feet set to up birdie on the par-5 5th, Love got his to three feet.
At No. 8, Love slipped his second shot within a foot for a tap-in birdie. A hole later, Mickelson made the last of three straight bogeys and Love was ahead by seven shots.
"I'm excited I had the chance to win the past few Sundays," Mickelson said. "I haven't done it, but as long as I keep getting the opportunities, I will."
Glen Day was the only one besides Love to control the swirling Harbour Town winds, shooting a 67 to finish second at 10-under. Day finished second in The Players Championship and third in the Freeport-McDermott the past month.
Payne Stewart, who shot the tournament's low round of 64 on Saturday, had hoped to join him as a three-time MCI winner. But Stewart bogeyed the first hole to drop from contention and tied Mickelson for third after a 72.
Divots: Nick Faldo shot an 83 and finished last at 16-over among those who made the cut. It is first time that's happened to Faldo in 219 tournaments since 1979. One day after Love angrily said that golf fans needed to have better etiquette on the course, he pointed out a couple trying to snap a picture while Mickelson teed off on No. 2. The couple was warned to put the camera away.
Hornets guard plans to appeal ruling
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Charlotte Hornsby guard Vernon Maxwell must remain in a Houston jail on a marijuana conviction, though he might get to return during the playoffs, a judge ruled yesterday.
State District Judge Jay Burnett denied Maxwell's claim that he received ineffective counsel in 1995 when he pleaded no contest to marijuana possession.
However, Maxwell's attorneys immediately announced their
intention to appeal yesterday's ruling. Maxwell is scheduled to appear before Burnett this morning to determine if he should be
released pending the new appeal.
Asked if she expected Maxwell's latest appeal, prosecutor Connie Spence said, "Nothing
released pending the new appeal.
Maxwell had been free on $25,000 bond since the conviction, but the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case in February. He surrendered to Harris County authorities a week ago to begin serving a 90-day sentence.
In addition to claiming he had inadequate counsel, Maxwell also said the search of his car during a routine traffic stop was illegal.
surprises me."
Charlotte opens the playoffs at home Thursday against Atlanta.
Carolina could get Redskin defender
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Carolina Panthers signed Sean Gilbert to an offer sheet yesterday, moving them one step closer to completing their four-week quest to acquire him from the Washington Redskins.
The Redskins have seven days to match the Panthers' seven-year offer oi $46.5 million contract, a deal that would make Gilbert the NFL's highest-paid defender.
Washington is expected to let Gilbert go to Carolina and receive two first-round draft choices from the Panthers. Washington gave up one first-round pick to acquire Gilbert from the St. Louis Rams in 1996.
The offer Gilbert signed Monday is the same deal he was offered March 24. But the Panthers and Redskins could not agree on compensation; Washington demanded Carolina's first-round choice in last weekend's draft, and the Panthers refused.
But the Panthers made a trade Thursday with Miami that gave them an extra first-round choice in the 2000 draft, thereby freeing Carolina to complete the post-draft acquisition of Gilbert.
Gilbert's relationship with the Redskins soured early last spring when the team designated him as its franchise player for 1997. The Redskins then offered Gilbert a multiyear contract averaging $4 million per year, but Gilbert wanted at least $4.5 million.
His deal with the Panthers, which includes a $10 million signing bonus, would average more than $6.6 million.
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