Apparently these Wizards are learning from Michael Jordan.
Injured or not, Jordan is the undisputed king at turning any slight, real or perceived, into motivation. Don’t think the Wizards’ peevishness with Marcus Fizer before Tuesday night’s 115-90 blowout win at the MCI Center was any coincidence.
Fighting for their playoff lives, and with Jordan watching from the locker room, the Wizards turned their anger at Fizer into a collective effort that overwhelmed the Bulls.
Fizer’s transgression? Several Wizards, including coach Doug Collins, took exception to him scoring a basket at the buzzer of last Friday night’s nine-point Bulls victory.
Collins suggested Fizer would have been punched if he had pulled such a move during Collins’ playing days.
“You think I feel sorry for them for that? Please,” Fizer said. “It happens a lot, but you don’t hear us [complaining] about it in the paper.”
The Wizards did plenty with Fizer’s original slap, shooting a season-high 57 percent and scoring the second-highest total against the Bulls this season. Courtney Alexander’s 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting led five players in double figures as the Wizards scored their season high.
“One hundred points is unacceptable,” coach Bill Cartwright said, “and 115 points is ridiculous.”
Most disturbing is a repeated pattern of teams establishing themselves inside. Washington took advantage of Tyson Chandler’s absence to outscore the Bulls 52-30 in the paint. That included a 13-point, seven-rebound effort from Jahidi White and an eight-point, seven-rebound effort from Popeye Jones.
“It all starts with our big guys inside,” Charles Oakley said. “They have to get respect and pound guys. They’re bringing it to you, you have to take a hard foul sooner or later. I’m coming off the bench, so somebody has to do it at the beginning.”
Oakley hammered Brendan Haywood in the third quarter and turned to a heckling fan and said, “No layups.” But the Wizards scored on plenty of those.
“We can preach it, but you have to do it on the court,” Oakley said. “Some guys just aren’t tough. That’s how they’re going to be. You’ve either got it or you don’t. We have big bodies. But they have to play big.”
Jalen Rose certainly did that, leading the Bulls with 31 points and six rebounds.
In his first game at the MCI Center since tangling with Jordan as a member of the Pacers, Rose was booed consistently by the crowd of 20,674. Rose either didn’t listen or didn’t care, hitting 14-of-26 shots and playing with enough passion to draw a technical foul and a foul away from the ball with the Bulls down 22.
“You have to take this personally,” Rose said.
Travis Best battled foul trouble but still contributed 12 points and nine assists for the Bulls, who actually cut their deficit to six midway through the third before collapsing.
“Our aim throughout the rest of the season is to find a group of guys who will guard,” Cartwright said. “They’re in there somewhere.”
Reality check: Monday’s mandatory team visit to the Pentagon and State Department brought the typical grumbles from players beforehand. But Tuesday some of them talked glowingly of the experience, which included Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld showing them pieces of the plane that struck the Pentagon Sept 11.
“It shows what we do doesn’t really mean anything,” guard Fred Hoiberg said.
One moment of levity came when Secretary of State Colin Powell asked team equipment manager John Ligmanowski what position he played–seriously.
“Point guard,” Ligmanowski replied.
Layups: Chandler missed his second straight game with a hyperextended left little finger and suggests he won’t be able to play Friday night, his expected return date. That means Chandler might miss a matchup with his trading partner, Elton Brand. . . . Four days after being waived, Greg Anthony signed with the Bucks.
