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Another gut feeling Jordan, Barkley would revitalize lowly Wizards
Michael Jordan became involved with a franchise that hasn't had much recent success. When the brain trust of the Washington Wizards goes into a meeting, they sit around the room and ask, "How can we make this team better?" Everyone looks at Jordan. "How can we make more money with this franchise?" Everyone looks at Jordan. Many people, myself included, believe he and Charles Barkley will play together in Washington next season. Knowing Jordan and having talked to Barkley at the All-Star Game in February, I have a gut feeling they both will come back. This turn of events would be sensational for the league, and Jordan and Barkley will be better than merely competitive. The ownership issues probably can be worked out, and, if so, he'll play. If he and Barkley can add another player to the mix, say free-agent-to-be Chris Webber, they'd be pretty good.
Difference of opinion in New YorkLast week, Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy voiced his opinion regarding religion's place in the NBA, and a few of his players -- namely Charlie Ward, Allan Houston and Mark Jackson -- seriously disagreed. While one of Van Gundy's biggest concerns is a pastor who has unparalleled access to the locker room and, hence, to Knicks players, the prayer meetings held before games also seem problematic.
As a practicing Catholic who attends church each Sunday, I certainly feel religion is important. But as a player, my mental preparation before games involved almost hating my opponents. A prayer meeting with them didn't seem to be an appropriate fit with the competitiveness of the game. As a player, I never complained, and as a coach, I never tried to stop the meetings, but it didn't fit my approach to the game.
Hornets' head coach makes last-ditch effortThe Charlotte Hornets are looking like a dead team right now. They've lost four straight and eight of their past 10, prompting head coach Paul Silas to call them "soft as tissue paper." That tact, ripping his players through the media, was probably a last resort for Silas. As a former player and someone who's known as a players' coach, he would never knock his players if he thought there was any other way to get through to them. Unfortunately for Silas, who was one of the toughest players in the league in his day, his front line hasn't been molded in his image. Elden Campbell, P.J. Brown and Jamal Mashburn are good players, but they're not physical by nature. And when playoff time arrives, things only get more physical. Silas is trying to light a fire under his guys, to prepare them for what's ahead, but he needs at least one tough guy, and they don't really have that. There's not much he can do about it now; it's just the personality of his team.
Kevin Loughery is a former NBA player and head coach. He appears each Sunday on CNN's This Week in the NBA.
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