Bullets Journal: 21 October-27 October 1996

When you shoot 27.8% from the floor, you deserve to lose. Bad. I hope it never gets this bad during the regular season. There really isn't much more to talk about this game. Forward Harvey Grant sprained his ankle early in the game and only netted 7 minutes. He joins the list of injured players that includes Juwan Howard (shin splints), Gheorghe Muresan (strained hip flexor), and Lorenzo Williams (sore knee).

What is up with Rod Strickland?

For a little more on Rod Strickland, check out J.A. Adande's article in the Washington Post.

Free agent forward Ben Wallace reportedly continues to impress. In yet another highlight play, he grabbed a loose ball and jammed home a dunk over Blazers center Chris Dudley. However, Chris Webber was less sucessful against Dudley - he cocked back for a dunk he thought he was clear on, but instead had it stuffed by Dudley.

Webber was not pleased with the team's performance, including himself: "Nights like this, every team is going to have. I, for one, played terrible. Start teh blame with me. I was in scoring positions where I should score. Things that I should do, I wasn't able to do. Whether that was because of their team or whether that was because of me, but I didn't do my job. I think it spread. I think we didn't play well, but we're going to come back and play well our next game. There's nothing we can do about it now. ..." Way to tell it like it is, CWebb.

The Bullets have two preseason games left, coming up this weekend. Then, it's on to the final roster cuts and the regular season.

Grant reportedly said after Monday night's game that "it will be all taken care of in time. I don't have any other comment." Davis is seeking $450,000 in emotional distress damages and $1,500 in damages for "psychological and psychiatric care and couseling." Ah, the foibles of mankind. Let's hope this embarassing episode is satisfactorily concluded for all parties.

According to Discovery Communications chief executive John S. Hendricks: "Annual sales are projected to justify our millions of dollars of investment. ... We expect to be at break-even in four to five years." He expects shoppers to stay for 45 minutes or more, longer than the average at a standard store.

Owner Abe Pollin has the idea that MCI Center will be open from morning until night every day of the year, rather than being a building that's dark except when open for a concert or sports game. The other tenants, which will fill the other half of the assigned retail space, will probably be announced in about a month.

This is the wave of the future. Your entertainment complexes will also include stores not tied to sports and other entertainment sources. According to the Washington Post article: "Such entertainment-oriented projects are considered cutting-edge among retailers, who say that stores with glitz attract tourists and suburbanites who can help revive faltering downtowns." I agree with that in the short-term, but what about the long-term viability? Hopefully this marks the start of the continual renewal of this core of downtown DC.

ps In another visible marketing area (reported in the Washington Post, artist Matt Wiley is painting a 20-foot by 25-foot mural of CWebb at the Kennedy Playground on Seventh and P Streets, NW. He will finish on October 30, when he will be joined by students from Shaw Junior High School for the unveiling. I'll see if I can get some pictures shortly.

In former Bullets injury news, Brent Price recovers from his swollen knee only to break his left humerus bone in a preseason game Thursday night against the San Antonio Spurs. Price had surgery to place seven screws and a plate just above the left elbow. He will be out for about 4 months and will probably lose some range of motion because of the injury, but at least it's not his shooting arm. Best wishes, Brent, and may you have a speedy recovery.

Not only were the Bullets missing 5 of their top 6 front court players (as noted earlier), but they also had to scratch Tracy Murray before the game. Murray traveled with the team and was in uniform, but couldn't shoot during pre-game warmups. He had sprained his wrist last weekend, but x-rays were negative. An MRI of the wrist, looking for ligament damage, may be necessary. Said Murray: I "couldn't shoot a 10-foot jumper." Not good, considering his game.

What did it for the Bullets was defense. They held the Hornets to 33.3% shooting during the game, and the Hornets only had 45 points after 3 quarters. The Bullets used a 22-6 run in the first 9 1/2 minutes of the third-quarter to build a 31 point lead that they coasted on the rest of the game.

Cheaney was just plain hot, shooting 10 of 16 from the field, and he was enjoying his exploits during the game. Said Cheaney: "Sometimes you get out ther and the goal is so big, you can't help but laugh." He was referring to an incident in the third quarter where he broke out laughing after hitting yet another jumper. He smiled all the way back to the bench for a timeout.

Strickland was a little loose with the ball, turning it over 8 times (to only 6 assists), but he also made up for the lack of muscle inside by grabbing 8 rebounds. Wallace continues to play huge around the boards, with 13 rebounds and 2 blocks in 28 minutes, though his offense is suffering.

The Bullets have one more pre-season game, on Sunday against the Celtics, and then they have to pare down their roster. I have a feeling at least one more Bullet will start the season on IR (probably Williams), and the Bullets will keep Matt Fish, Ben Wallace, and Jaren Jackson. Stay tuned for those decisions.

The Washington Hall of Stars bears plaques of the influential Washington-area sports and entertainment stars. These plaques ring the lower edge of the upper deck of RFK Stadium, where the Washington Redskins and DC United (soccer) play. My question is: where will the Hall of Stars reside when the Redskins move out of RFK Stadium next year? I don't know.

You can read the article yourself (it's too long to summarize here, especially to try and get all of the salient facts), but what's most important was a chart included in the article (and not the online version) that detailed the NBA's and Miami's contentions about the salary cap. Suffice it to say, the fact of who is right is moot, but it's interesting to compare the differences.

SOURCE: Washington Post, 27 October 1996, p. D13
	Miami's version	NBA's version
Salary Cap	$24.3M	$24.3M
All other Heat players	$4.26M	$4.26M
Alonzo Mourning	$6.84M ⁽¹⁾	$9.4M ⁽²⁾
Tim Hardaway $2M salary $2M bonuses	$2M $2M salary $2M unlikely bonuses	$3M $2M salary $1M likely bonuses, $1M likely
P.J. Brown $1.7M salary $1.5M bonuses	$1.7M $1.7M salary $1.5M unlikely bonuses	$3.2M salary $1.7M salary $1.5M likely bonuses
Juwan Howard	$9M	$9M
Total	$23.8M ($500k under cap)	$28.86M ($4.56M over cap)
Areas of dispute.
(1) Heat's figure - representing 150 percent of Mourning's salary last season, in accordance with the new collective bargaining agreement - was based on its contention that it had not made agreement with Mourning before making agreement with Howard.
(2) NBA's figure - representing salary league believed Mourning would receive in 1996-97 - was based on league's decision that the Heat had made an undisclosed deal with Mourning before it made its deal with Howard.