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'Getting his legs' Collins impressed with Jordan's stamina at camp
Updated: Thursday October 04, 2001 3:25 AM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) -- On one play, Michael Jordan drove hard along the left baseline, went under the basket and flipped in a gorgeous reverse layup. On another, he curled around a screen, elevated like the Jordan of old and drilled a 20-footer from the side. Sure didn't look like he was dragging on his second day of training camp. "I thought he was much better tonight than he was yesterday," Wizards coach Doug Collins said Wednesday. "You saw those plays. Those are the things he's getting back, and that's when you know a guy is getting his legs." Jordan showed a little of a lot of things -- most of them good, some not -- as he played the final 3:20 of a controlled scrimmage at UNC-Wilmington. Jordan's team lost 85-81, and Jordan lost control of the ball on his team's final possession. Still, the outcome meant nothing. What was important was the way Jordan looked and felt after enduring a second round of two-a-day practices. At 38, he hasn't played an NBA game in more than three years. "It's coming along. It's training camp. I'm off to a nice little start but I'm not where I need to be. I've got 30 days to get to where I can showcase," Jordan said.
Actually, Jordan's regular-season opener is only 26 days away. Apparently his math isn't quite in peak form yet, either. Jordan showed flashes of his competitive side as the scrimmage wound down. With the score 82-79 and Courtney Alexander shooting two free throws for the other team, Jordan stood behind him at the foul line and shouted something just as Alexander was ready to release the ball. Alexander missed. Jordan came right back and did it again, yelling "box out" as Alexander raised the ball to shoot. The second one rattled in. On defense, Jordan fought through a pick and stayed with Richard Hamilton as Hamilton drove to his right across the lane. Jordan hacked him on the arm, then stood with his hands on his hips shaking his head ever so slightly after an official called a foul. Yep, he's working the refs already, too. "I wish you guys could have seen him play the whole night. He was amazing, he really was," Collins said. "Michael had that bounce in his step tonight. He really played well." For a second straight night, Jordan stood behind a protective barrier of folding chairs and addressed a crowd of media that had thinned considerably from the previous night's horde. He said he meant no disrespect to Vince Carter or Allen Iverson by neglecting to mention them in his comeback news conference in Washington on Monday. He brought up the names of Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady two times apiece Monday, but didn't mention any other current NBA stars by name. Jordan said he was trying to get his younger teammates to concentrate on basic fundamentals of the game while trying not to overstep his bounds. He also said he has heard some snippets of trash talk, a staple of any NBA training camp, from his younger teammates. "Every dog has its day," he said, shrugging it off with a laugh.
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