February 1996
Wow, it's been a while since the Bullets have played a game. Two bits of news that are important to every Bullets fan. First, CWebb has successful surgery on his injured left shoulder. The surgery was performed by Russell Warren at the Hospital for Special Surgery, Ambulatory Care Center (in New York); Bullets team physician Stephen Haas was also present. The two-hour procedure has a success rate of more than 95 percent, and CWebb should be able to resume his career normally next season. Doctors said that the surgery tightens the ligaments that have become stretched with every dislocation. In CWebb's case, they had become quite loose, because when Dr. Warren had him on the examining table on Wednesday, he was almost able to pop the shoulder out of place just by manipulating the left arm.

Rehab should be relatively straight-forward. CWebb was to be released from the hospital the next day, and will have his left arm in a sling for about four weeks. He will then begin four weeks of exercises to regain full range of motion (trust me, this is the hardest part of the physical therapy). Following this, he will begin a regimin of light weightlifting, followed by heavier lifting about 3 months after surgery (around May 1). CWebb should be ready for a full summer of basketball drills and running in preparation for training camp in October.

Almost as important, the Bullets have announced the five finalists for the rename-the-Bullets contest. Go to the story in my Rename-the-Bullets page for more information on what the final names are and how to vote. You have through February 20, 1996 to vote for the new name.

2 February 1996. Washington Bullets 113, Portland Trailblazers 97 (record: 22-21)
Game leaders: Howard (26 points), Muresan (16 rebounds), B. Price (8 assists)

The Bullets were down by 4 points at halftime, but outscored the Blazers by 20 points (41-21) in the third quarter to ice the game. All five starters were in double figures, including 3 with more than 20 points (Howard, Cheaney, Muresan). It was a good thing, because the bench provided 11 points total. Also of note: Rasheed finally did it. He got to technicals and wound up being ejected from the game, even after the game was well in hand. Ah yes, the growing pains of youth.

The other bit of news is that with Webber and Mark Price now on IR, the Bullets signed journeyman point guard Gary Grant. He stands about 5'7", plays tough defense and is a true point guard. His size may be a liability for being posted up, but he's being asked to backup Brent Price (because Butler is just not working--both times he was playing PG in the Blazers game, the Blazers made big runs). Grant was with Philly earlier this season, but was cut in favor of Trevor Ruffin. Also, Bob McCann re-signed with the Bullets for the rest of the season; no more 10-day contracts for him.

Also, if you're afraid that Juwan may be heading elsewhere next season, don't worry. Saturday night on "Full Court Press" (WRC-TV-4's sports program, hosted by George Michael, that discusses basketball and Bullets issues over the past week), Juwan was a guest for the roundtable discussion (with Richard Justice and David Aldridge). George asked Juwan point-blank, are you going somewhere else next season? After a little joking about taking the Fifth Amendment (Richard had written a column earlier in the week hinting that Juwan held a big grudge against GM John Nash over the last negotiations), Juwan stated that he is going to be a Bullet for a while; it's not really about money (he'll get his due share), but about establishing a community, and he couldn't think of leaving the Bullets. His future is with the Bullets. Only if the Bullets make an insulting offer might Juwan head elsewhere (my opinion, not stated on the show), and I don't think Nash is going to be that stupid. Nash (and Pollin) will ante up the big bucks to keep Juwan in town. I think most Bullets fans can breathe a sigh of relief for this upcoming off-season.

4 February 1996. Phoenix Suns 123, Washington Bullets 115 (record: 22-22)
Game leaders: Cheaney (29 points), Howard (14 rebounds), B. Price (12 assists)

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see this game in person. I was caught in a traffic jam caused by an accident on the Woodrow Wilson bridge, and the traffic was basically stopped. This was easily a game the Bullets could have (and should have) won. I blame the Bullets free throw shooting in this one, especially Cheaney (1 of 4) and Muresan (5 of 8), both of whom have been struggling from the line but are often more consistent. (We expect Jim McIlvaine to possibly shoot 1 of 4 from the charity stripe.)

Cheaney continues to be on fire from the field, though, for some reason, he had no assists or rebounds in 43 minutes of playing time. Come on, Calbert, let's work on those facets of the game! Everybody (except Butler) played and provided some scoring for the Bullets, including Bob McCann and his three-pointer at the end of the first half. It was the first in his career! (No surprise, considering he can't even shoot from the free throw line.) But the Bullets let this one slip away and have receded back to .500, with murder row coming: 11 of their next 15 games are on the road, including one last road swing in the Western Conference (6 games) at the end of that stretch.

7 February 1996. New York Knicks 87, Washington Bullets 82 (record: 22-23)
Game leaders: Cheaney, Howard (20 points), Muresan (15 rebounds), Howard (5 assists)

This game wasn't as close as the score suggested. Only a late barrage of 3s in the final minute closed the double figure gap that existed for much of the 4th quarter. Yeah, the Bullets kinda made a game of it in the middle, but Patrick Ewing was unstoppable and Hubert Davis was a killer in the second half. Otherwise, the rest of the Knicks kinda weren't there, or so it seemed. Of course, the Bullets seemed the same way, with the other three Bullets starters providing 11 points each, and 9 points total off the bench. Not good bench production.

8 February 1996. Atlanta Hawks 98, Washington Bullets 92 (record: 22-24)
Game leaders: Howard (21 points), Wallace (10 rebounds), B. Price (6 assists)

Well, it's now time for the All Star break, and none too soon. The Bullets could have pulled this game out, but made too many errors down the stretch to keep it respectable. In fact, they had the ball, down by 2, with about 30 seconds but lost the defensive rebound and the game. They did not look sharp and showed some of the wear from playing on consecutive nights (especially Big Gheorghe). Legler provided 11 key points off the bench, but it wasn't enough to overcome 4 Atlanta starters scoring at least 17 points. For the third straight game (can you say, doghouse?), Mitchell Butler did not play. Unfortunately, the next game after the All Star break is also on the road, against...Chicago. Ugh!

Well, three Bullets are off to the All Star game: Rasheed Wallace, to play in the Schick Rookie Game; Tim Legler, to compete in the AT&T Long Distance Shootout; and Juwan Howard, as an All Star reserve for the East squad. Here's hoping they do well.

In other news, I believe there was a report that the Bullets and Magic are tentatively scheduled to play two regular season games against each other next November in Japan. That's a lot of star power: Shaq (hopefully) and Penny vs. CWebb and Howard (hopefully). They'll open the season against each other as the NBA continues to make itself an international presence.

Well, the Bullets performed reasonably well at the All Star Game. As I'm sure you're aware, Tim Legler won the AT&T Long Distance Shootout, with rounds of 23, 22, and 20 points (out of 30 points possible in each round). He's the first player to score at least 20 points in each round; his 23 points is also 4th highest in the history of the competition. He hit 13 of 15 money balls (worth two points each) in the three rounds. A very impressive outing, he takes home $20,000, which will be going into the college fund for his new daughter, born February 1. His wife (not he) insisted that they induce labor because the baby was due during All Star weekend and she didn't want Tim to miss this opportunity. It's a good thing he didn't.

Rasheed performed alright in the rookie game. I don't have a boxscore for him, but he scored in double figures (12 points, I believe) and had 6(?) rebounds. However, he hit the game-winning shot for the East squad with six seconds left, grabbing an offensive rebound off a Damon Stoudamire miss and hitting a turnaround jumper for the margin of victory, 94-92.

Juwan played like a nervous rookie for a while, but soon settled into his game. His final box score: 16 minutes, 2 points (1 of 5 shooting), 6 rebounds (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, 3 personal fouls. He missed a couple of would-have-been-awesome dunks because the ball didn't quite stay in his hands, but he looked like he was having fun out there.

As we get on to more Howard news, Richard Justice reported in the Feb. 12 issue of the Washington Post that the Bullets have penciled Juwan into their salary cap at approximately $7M for next year. IOW, they expect to sign him, and the package could run at $63M over 6 years, or $78.4M over 7 years (the longest contract allowable under the current CBA). (Note: Justice's figures in the article are wrong.) This contract would be slightly larger than CWebb's contract, but within the realm of reasonableness. Also, Michael Jordan was quoted over All Star weekend as saying that he believes that Juwan should get a chance to play on the Dream Team in Atlanta. Don't get too excited about this. Remember, Juwan's agent is also Jordan's agent (David Falk), so they're trying to talk up Howard's value even higher. Secondly, there are other just as worthy players out there who deserve one of the two available slots (most people agree that Mitch Richmond will get one of the invites). But it makes for nice copy!

13 February 1996. Chicago Bulls 111, Washington Bullets 98 (record: 22-25)
Game leaders: Howard (28 points), Howard (9 rebounds), B. Price (7 assists)

Oh, my, the Bullets FIRST 4-game losing streak of the season. Can you actually believe that? This isn't your recent Bullets team. Still, the Bullets hung tough for about two and a half quarters before the Bulls really turned up the pressure and put the Bullets away. The Bullets made a couple of stabs, but the Bulls seemed to be toying with the Bullets. Howard came up big (any surprise there?), and there were some fine performances from Cheaney and Legler, but the Bulls just broke down the Bullets in the end. Nothing to be too ashamed of. Butler, however, is buried so deep in Lynam's doghouse that I have a better chance of playing for the Bullets than he ever will again.

Greg Grant signed his second 10-day contract with the Bullets over the weekend. I doubt that they will pick him up for the remainder of the season, however. Also, if you missed it, I added some more information about the process used to select the 5 finalists to replace the team name. Check it out.

15 February 1996. Milwaukee Bucks 109, Washington Bullets 98 (record: 22-26)
Game leaders: Muresan (29 points), Muresan (13 rebounds), B. Price, Legler (5 assists)

Well, not really a good loss for the team. The Bucks are definitely beatable, and Howard and Muresan had good games. But the bench (once again) failed to come through, providing only 15 points; it was even more important because Rasheed Wallace only played 10 minutes in the game before severally spraining an ankle. Also, the opponent shot over 50% from the field (52.6%), and the Bullets rarely win a game when they allow that. The losing streak stands at 5 games; next up, the Indiana Pacers in Baltimore (the last game in Baltimore this season).

16 February 1996. Indiana Pacers 95, Washington Bullets 94 (record: 22-27)
Game leaders: Howard (32 points), Howard, Muresan (9 rebounds), Wallace (4 assists)

Well, Juwan had a career high in points scored, but he alone wasn't enough to pull the Bullets through. The Pacers got 29 from Reggie Miller and 28 from Rik Smits; meanwhile, Muresan was limited to 27 minutes due to foul trouble and the bench only provided 16 points in this game. Rasheed played in this game, but when he is your leading assist man, it more-than-likely means that your offense was not clicking as hoped. The Bullets had a chance to win, but Muresan's dunk on a tip pass from Howard occured after time expired. The losing streak now stands at 6 games; next up, the Minnesota Timberpuppies on the road--maybe they can win this one.

Some quick notes on the Bullets. First, some impressions I've had of the Bullets over the past month or so. Their defense is definitely worse than it was at the beginning of the season. Opponent's shooting percentages are up about 2% and steals per game are down significantly; I might say that the Bullets definitely miss Pack in the lineup for his pressure on opposing point guards. The Bullets scoring average is also sliding, down about 2 ppg in the past month alone. Go back over the past month of scores and see how often the Bullets are scoring over 100 points--not as much as they used to. We're definitely seeing a drop in scoring off the bench (as I've started calling out recently); when the bench scores, the Bullets generally win, and vice versa. I would really like to see Pack back in the lineup, because I think he could really help this team, and allow Brent Price to come as a spark off the bench.

The funny thing is that despite being 5 games under .500, the Bullets are still outscoring their opponents on average by 2 points. For the season to date, the 11 of the Bullets' 27 losses have been by 6 points of less. They're not putting away opponents when they have the chance, or they're not taking advantage of opportunities presented by opponents. To further reinforce this notion, the Bullets are 1-6 in games that are decided by 3 points or less. They still sound like the Bullets of the past decade in that respect. They are (excuses or no excuses) one of the youngest and most talented teams in the league, and they definitely show it.

For you CWebb fans out there, I HIGHLY recommend that you read the article about trying to grow up as CWebb in the Washington Post Magazine, dated 18 February 1996. Life isn't all cake and cookies, but CWebb also still has some growing up to do. Yet, he has grown up a lot in his short 22 years to date. A very interesting read. I will not retype it here, but you might try to get your hands on a copy if you want to read it.

18 February 1996. Washington Bullets 108, Minnesota Timberwolves 96 (record: 23-27)
Game leaders: Howard (30 points), Wallace (12 rebounds), Howard, Cheaney (7 assists)

Well, the Bullets break their 6-game losing streak and 8-game road losing streak by bombing the Puppies. Legler was left open again and again, and he came through with 5 three-pointers. Wallace played big with 19 points and 12 rebounds in 43 minutes. Howard, after going a season and a half without scoring 30 points, breaks the 30 point barrier in two consecutive games. Bench production was much better--29 points (although 21 of those points belonged to Legler). Muresan was limited to 18 minutes because of foul trouble, but in that time collected 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. A solid performance for the team across the board. They shot 50% from the field (42 of 84), and when they shoot that accurately, they are 20-7 this season. Of course, most teams that shoot 50% win their games.

19 February 1996. New Jersey Nets 99, Washington Bullets 81 (record: 23-28)
Game leaders: Cheaney (27 points), Howard, Muresan (8 rebounds), Legler (7 assists)

One statistic tells it all: the Bullets commited 24 turnovers, resulting in 35 New Jersey points. The goal is usually to keep the ratio of points to turnovers below 1. Your chances of winning are greatly decreased if it's over that level. While the Nets made 15 steals, the Bullets only forced 4. Brent Price had 8 turnovers in 18 minutes; CBA backup PG Greg Grant got the majority of minutes at PG.

There was no fire in the belly of these players today. They were always slow of foot, and the only player to provide help defense was Jim McIlvaine. Everyone else seemed to stand around, on both offense and defense. Sure, you might blame it on playing 5 games in 7 days, and 2 full NBA games in less than 24 hours (Sunday's game started at 3:30pm EST on the road, and Monday's game was over by 3:30pm), but that can't explain it all. Jimmy Lynam is supposedly pissed at the players for playing a very selfish brand of ball, and if you look for it I think you can see it. I think Brent Price is suffering from it; he's trying to dribble out of trouble too much. Other players are also showing signs, even Howard, who seems to be trying to carry the whole team on his shoulders. Hopefully, this will turn around shortly.

Good news for the Bullets. Robert Pack is finally regaining some sensation in his leg; according to doctors, once this process starts, recovery should come rather rapidly. It still may be a week or two before he's ready to play again, but he might be running within a week or so. Good thing, too--with Pack out of the lineup, the Bullets have been 7-15. His return would be greatly welcomed (at least by this fan).

Lastly, today is the final day to vote in the name change contest for the Bullets (the official or unofficial version). Also, the Washington Post ran an unofficial poll about the name change, and the results weren't pleasing (at least to the team, one would presume). See the related notes on this poll.

21 February 1996. Charlotte Hornets 96, Washington Bullets 92 (record: 23-29)
Game leaders: Muresan (20 points), Wallace (11 rebounds), Howard (8 assists)

Well, can it get any uglier than this? The results remind me of the Bullets of the past few years. The Bullets have a 17 point lead at halftime, but completely squander it during the third quarter (outscored 29-14) and eventually lose the game (outscored in the half 53-32). The front court, for the most part, performed admirably, despite Juwan shooting 6 of 21. In the second half, Juwan was 1 for 10 and Muresan was 3 for 7. Even worse: the Bullets shot 57% in the first half, but only 29% in the second. At least Mitchell Butler got off the bench in this game, his first in quite a while.

Well, Greg Grant's second 10-day contract has expired, and the Bullets decided not to re-sign him. To do so would guarantee Grant's contract for the remainder of the season. He performed well enough for the Bullets, but he's hardly a key for the Bullets. They signed Kevin Pritchard out of the CBA to serve as the backup PG on a 10-day contract.

Also, if you can get a copy of the February 26, 1996 (I think I got the date right) issue of Sports Illustrated, there's a good article about Juwan Howard in it. It was written by a journalist (Johnette Howard) who's also a sports writer for the Washington Post, so she's familiar with her subject. Fine reading (that's two articles this month about the Bullets' two stars: CWebb and Juwan.

Oh, and the bit you've probably been waiting for. They've announced the new name, and it's hardly a surprise: the Washington Wizards. Read some of my reactions to it, but I'll say this: it's starting to grow on me. I think I'll be able to live with it. Will you?

23 February 1996. Charlotte Hornets 100, Washington Bullets 94 (record: 23-30)
Game leaders: Howard, Wallace (18 points), Howard (9 rebounds), B. Price (5 assists)

Well, the Bullets have done it again. Not only did they lose both games of the home-and-home series to the Hornets, but they did it in fine fashion, blowing two 17 point leads. They did it again tonight, going up 17 points in the second quarter, then allowing Charlotte to close to 8 at halftime (also reminiscent of the December 1995 Phoenix game). Mitchell Butler got into the game as the backup PG (Pritchard wasn't ready yet). Howard fouled out and then got ejected (in frustration, he kicked a water cooler), but it wasn't enough to fire up the players. The Bullets have now lost 9 of 10 games, and they are one game removed from a 5 game road trip out west. Not looking good for the heroes.

25 February 1996. Washington Bullets 111, Milwaukee Bucks 103 (record: 24-30)
Game leaders: Howard (18 points), Howard (14 rebounds), B. Price (9 assists)

For one day, the Bullets actually showed up and played a game. This one looked and played a lot uglier than the high score suggests. Howard played big in this game (though his shooting continues to suffer--it's rumored he has a foot injury, but continues to play 40+ minutes every night). Wallace continues his solid, and now much smarter, play. Cheaney continues to struggle--now that the trading deadline has passed, Cheaney's play has been much more passive. This guy needs to be constantly under threat to be traded! Now it's time for a road trip, with 5 games in 7 days. And the most winnable game (Vancouver) isn't until the final game of the road trip. Hopefully, Robert Pack will be able to play in about two weeks (he's not going on the road trip, but he has started some light running in a straight line without cutting). Cross your fingers on this road trip.

27 February 1996. Denver Nuggets 96, Washington Bullets 92 (record: 24-31)
Game leaders: Howard (27 points), Howard (13 rebounds), Howard (7 assists)

Ugh.The Bullets fall behind big in the second quarter, then put together a fourth quarter rally that just falls short. The man who sealed the win for the Nuggets? Doug Overton! (Aaaggghhhh!) Brent's still a better PG than Doug, but right now the Bullets could use that second PG. Oh well. Kevin Pritchard got his first playing time with the team and dished out 3 assists in 6 minutes. Legler and Eackles played down the stretch for the Bullets to help the run (Cheaney was benched in the 4th quarter). But Howard was the only man to keep trying (although Wallace was 4 of 16 from the field). The Bullets let this one get away.

28 February 1996. Utah Jazz 115, Washington Bullets 93 (record: 24-32)
Game leaders: Muresan (20 points), Muresan (14 rebounds), B. Price (6 assists)

How many different ways is it possible to say, no contest? Muresan scored the first 2 points of the game, then the Jazz went on a 20-0 run to open the game. The Bullets actually got it to within 3 points a couple of times in the second quarter, when John Stockton was out of the game with an injury (he eventually returned). Cheaney continues to struggle (I'd almost start Eackles over Cheaney, because at least he tries hard all the time). One day rest, then on to LA to play the Magic-less (probably) Lakers.

Once again, it's time to wrap up the month for the Bullets. IMO, they desperately miss Robert Pack on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. They were a better defensive team with him in, and the offense scored more consistently with him as floor general. Brent Price has come back to earth, and Cheaney slides back into his passive mode in the latter half of the month. That sums it up well. At least we've seen Rasheed Wallace starting to grow in his role with this team. He could be a monster in a few years.

wtf 1 March 1996

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