the same old mistakes, for decades

> Wizards' 'Soft Play' Draws Jordan's Ire
> Cavaliers 108, Wizards 92
>
> By Steve Wyche
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Thursday, October 23, 2003; Page D10
>
> CLEVELAND, Oct. 22 -- Washington Wizards leading scorer Jerry
> Stackhouse came out of right knee surgery Tuesday with a less
> cluttered joint and an undetermined timetable as to his return on the
> court.
>

Can they fix the *cause* of the problem, his hip? Chiropractor.


> The Wizards, meantime, continued to play without Stackhouse and didn't
> emerge from their 108-92 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday
> night with much to feel good about.
>
> Washington was outscored 34-16 in the fourth quarter, turned the ball
> over 21 times, and for the first time, Coach Eddie Jordan criticized
> his team for "soft play" and making too many of the same mistakes it
> made at the outset of preseason.
>

This is what complex offenses are for. It gives the coach a tighly defined
bitching format.


> "I don't want to accept soft play and the same mistakes over and over
> again," Jordan said. "I'll accept aggressive mistakes. I'll accept

"same mistakes over and over again". So scrap The Princeton. I'm tired of
DC area coaches making the same mistakes over and over and over and over
again.

> playing hard, not necessarily always playing well. But it was a little
> bit of the same mistakes and it's time to move on from the same
> mistakes."
>
> Jordan was displeased mainly with the Wizards' fourth-quarter collapse
> in which they saw an eight-point, third quarter lead evaporate when
> Zydrunas Ilgauskas (25 points) and LeBron James (19 points, eight
> assists) led Cleveland on a 34-16 run that resulted in Washington's
> lopsided loss.

Ilgauskas is "maybe the best offensive center in the East" according to
one basketball annual.

>
> The news regarding the outcome of Stackhouse's arthroscopy was mixed.
> No cartilage or ligament damage was found but he did have scar tissue
> and "thickened capsule material" removed by David Altcheck at New
> York's Hospital for Special Surgery. Stackhouse had received a
> diagnosis of worn lining under his right kneecap.
>
> Doctors and the team declined to estimate how much time it will take
> for Stackhouse, 28, to fully recover until they get a better read on
> the healing and rehabilitation processes.
>
> "The doctors tell us that the surgery was successful and that they
> performed the necessary procedures to address the discomfort in
> Jerry's knee," President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld said
> in a statement released by the team. "Jerry is a very competitive
> person and I know he will do everything he can to get back to help his
> teammates in any way he can."
>
> The Wizards are not expecting Stackhouse to be available for several
> weeks and, in all likelihood, he will start the season on the injured
> list, which would require him to miss at least the first five games of
> the season.
>
> "We've moved away from [counting on Stackhouse] because we know we're
> not going to see him for awhile," Jordan said. "We've got to win some
> games without Jerry Stackhouse."
>
> Rookie Jarvis Hayes is on track to start in Stackhouse's place at
> small forward when the regular season begins Oct. 29 at Chicago. Hayes
> finished with 12 points and four assists and tied guard Steve Blake
> with a team-high six rebounds in Washington's fifth loss in seven
> exhibition games.
>
> "Stackhouse's injury was unfortunate for the team because he was a
> leader on and off the court and for us to miss a player like that is
> going to hurt," Hayes said before the game. "It gives me an
> opportunity to learn on the court and what to do and not to do."
>
> Hayes was steady against Cleveland after scoring a game-high 29 points
> Monday against the Atlanta Hawks, but he was overshadowed by James,
> who scored 11 points and had five assists in the rally.
>
> Guard Gilbert Arenas led Washington with a game-high 29 points, but he
> and Blake combined for 12 turnovers. Kwame Brown scored 16 points.
>
> Wizards Notes: Washington guard Larry Hughes missed his third straight
> game and is questionable for Friday's final preseason game in Atlanta
> against the Hawks. . . .
>
> Washington owner Abe Pollin, in an interview with the Associated
> Press, said he welcomes the fact that his team will have a lower
> profile this season.
>
> "I'd like very much to have sort of a lower profile," he said. "We
> have a young team, and they have to mature, and I think the maturing
> process is going to take some time."

Borscht.

> Pollin commented for the first time since his decision on May 7 to
> dismiss Michael Jordan as president of basketball operations. Pollin
> also explained why he announced Jordan's departure by e-mail rather
> than to reporters.
>
> "I don't deal with the public face," he said. "I just deal with human
> beings."

Thanks, Abe. No sweat, man, I don't think you're a human being either.
Humans have some team game.

The following is an illustration for Pollin to stick on his office wall...



/ \
O O
L `

---


The Public



Rick Hohensee
Public Precision Mojo Engineer