| | When Michael Jordan went to Washington, the big question was how quickly could he turn around the Wizards.
|  | | Michael Jordan isn't off to such a great start as an executive. |
Today, the question is how could the Wizards have turned Jordan from the most dominant athlete of his time into such a bumbling executive?
"He's lost," said an agent who has dealt with him. "He doesn't know what he's doing. It's sad to say, but Michael is really out of his element trying to run a team."
The negotiations with Mike Jarvis are a case in point. Jordan tried to lowball Jarvis with $1 million. That would have made him the lowest-paid head coach in the NBA and barely given him a salary increase over his contract at St. John's.
Jarvis' agent, Rob Ades, responded by demanding $7 million a year. That's how absurd negotiations were at the end. When both sides walked away, Jordan had upped the ante so that Jarvis would have made $2.5 million in the fifth year of his deal. Not good enough at that point.
Jordan should have known better, but he has fallen under the spell of Wizards president and beancounter Susan O'Malley and already discredited general manager Wes Unseld. In low-balling Jarvis, Jordan argued the Wizards were still financially obligated to two previous coaches (Bernie Bickerstaff and Gar Heard, whom Jordan dumped shortly after taking over). In other words, the pound-foolish Wizards are going to suffer for the mistakes of the old regime.
What does this tell us?
"It says a couple of things," the agent noted. "First, it tells me that Michael didn't learn a thing from years of association with David Falk. Second, it tells me that Jordan and Falk are no longer close. If they were, David would never have allowed Michael to blunder this badly."
Meanwhile, Jordan has given private assurances that he has another coach on the hook. One insider says it could be South Carolina's Eddie Fogler, like Jordan an ex-Tar Heel, who like Jarvis has no previous NBA connection. Fogler was moderately successful at Vanderbilt before going to South Carolina where his team suffered in transition.
There is reason to believe Darrell Walker might still be an option for the job although he already agreed to join the Wizards front office. The problem there is how to sell a guy who was essentially passed over after doing a creditable job on an interim basis.
Austin powers Indy
Larry Bird loved Austin Croshere when the Pacers drafted him three years ago. Now, we know why. Croshere might turn out to be the difference in the Eastern Conference finals.
Quite simply, the lanky forward is more than Marcus Camby can handle. When the two big forwards enter the game against one another the Knicks need Camby to work the boards, block shots. Croshere loves to drift to the perimeter where he sank four 3-pointers in Game 1. He can beat most his size off the dribble.
When Pacers president Donnie Walsh shipped Antonio Davis to Toronto last summer, Bird frankly acknowledged the team would miss the power forward badly. Before Game 1, Bird admitted that. "I felt we lost a lot when we gave up Antonio, and I said that throughout the season, but here we are, and so we've gotten along pretty well without him. But I still miss him."
Less and less, though, with the development of Croshere, who helped limit Camby to two offensive rebounds.
Consider that Croshere was not on the active roster for the 1998 playoffs and played exactly one playoff minute last year. "He (Camby) was unproven last year; I'm unproven this year," Croshere said. "Watching the last two (years) has created a big desire for me to pull my weight in this postseason."
That Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose commanded New York's defensive attention helped the younger player. That Dale Davis and Rik Smits got off early put Knicks big men in early foul trouble and gave Croshere another small advantage.
"Everybody was sticking shots, and they had to leave somebody open with their double-teaming," Croshere said. "Fortunately, I was able to knock them down. I'm sure I wasn't their primary focus with Jalen, Reggie and Rik out there. That's something I've tried to take advantage of throughout the course of the year."
On Wednesday, as is their habit, Bird and Croshere sat down to watch tape together and Croshere knew what the verdict would be. "He'll find something negative to say. He always does. But that gives me the incentive to do better."
He wasn't complaining. And neither is Bird.
If Croshere can keep it going, he becomes the X-factor in the series. The Knicks knew Smits would try to get going early on. They knew Davis would board (he had 16 in Game 1) and maybe score on baseline shots. They knew they would have to deal with Miller, who has taken over while Rose has faded somewhat in the postseason. They knew Mark Jackson would be a dangerous opponent because he is both bigger and stronger than the Knicks smallish point guards, Charlie Ward and Chris Childs.
The Knicks might have suspected Croshere could be a factor, but not 22 points worth in the opener that proved to be a slicker, more entertaining game than anyone might have figured from two Eastern rivals that have a history of beating on each other.
"They're the best offensive team in the East, no question," Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy said, looking very unhappy.
Who could blame him?
Around The League
Already they're suggesting the 76ers might deal Allen Iverson during the offseason. The argument is that a trade for the mercurial guard is the only way Philadelphia can get better.
The problem that with that sort of thinking is that it goes beyond the absurd. Who can Philly get? Grant Hill in sign-and-trade? Gary Payton? Eddie Jones? How does that make them better?
An easier path would be to convince Iverson to spend the offseason improving his 165-pound body in the weight room, so that he is not so prone to injury, them maybe planting an alarm clock in his brain so he shows up on time.
The truth is fans in Philadelphia are finally excited about their team again. The franchise that traded Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone and Charles Barkley had best beware of falling off another cliff.
The Nets are in trouble. They have the No. 1 pick. They have too many opportunities now to make a mistake. The betting is they are determined to err on the side of size and take Texas center Chris Mihm. But a smarter way to go might be Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin, who can be a superstar. Draft Martin and trade Keith Van Horn for a package that includes a solid center.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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