Jordan revises Wizards' strategy

Minus two All-Stars, the Washington coach has to revamp his style.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eddie Jordan is calling timeouts a little quicker these days. Even the hint of a possible run by the Cleveland Cavaliers had the Washington Wizards coach stopping play during the first two games of their playoff series.
His players know why. Their leader has endured an unenviable plight for an NBA coach. After nearly a full season of planning a postseason strategy built around All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, Jordan had to start virtually from scratch after both were injured early this month.
"It has to be hard on a coach," forward Antawn Jamison said, "to have a certain vision about a team, and then get accustomed to that vision and know what your team is capable of, then all of a sudden you're missing two key components of that vision. All of a sudden it's a different vision.
"He's done an excellent job adapting to it and going with what he has. He's got everybody buying into the system. Unfortunately it hasn't showed up in wins and losses, but this team is still competitive and playing hard."
Intact roster
By contrast, Mike Brown's job looks like a breeze.
Sure, the Cavaliers coach has to concern himself with making the right substitutions, calling the appropriate defenses and conjuring up the perfect words for a pregame speech, but at least Brown has the roster he expected to have all along.
He wouldn't want to imagine what it would be like if, say, he were coaching this series without LeBron James and Larry Hughes.
"I experienced this a little bit when I was in Indiana," said Brown, an assistant with the Pacers for two seasons. "We were part of the brawl in Detroit.
"We had to figure out how to get into the playoffs with Stephen Jackson missing 30-something games, Jermaine O'Neal missing 30-something games, Ron Artest missing the whole season. ...
"You've just got to keep trying to do what he's doing -- keeping those guys motivated, keep trying to throw different wrinkles out there and keep playing for 48 minutes to see if you can get a win. He's doing a nice job with that."
Game 3 today
The Wizards play host to the Cavaliers in Game 3 today, knowing that their 0-2 hole is just what everyone was predicting.
What has been somewhat unexpected is the way Jordan's team kept both games tight in the fourth quarter -- much the way the team stayed close in most games during the 2-8 skid at the end the regular season.
Even if they get swept, no one will accuse the Wizards of throwing in the towel.
"He doesn't put his head down," assistant coach Tom Young said after Friday's practice. "And if he does, he's going to do it at home -- or do it on the way home.
"Eddie's always had an upbeat personality. Our team is probably as well off mentally as we can be under the circumstances.
"With their attitude and his attitude, we've got a legitimate shot. I don't think there's anybody on the team who doesn't think that, and it all starts with the head guy."
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