TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010 GOLF


KLMNO PRO BASKETBALL Leaping into the spotlight


McGee joins Wall as dynamic duo in summer debut


by Michael Lee STUART FRANKLIN/GETTY IMAGES


Since winning the 2008 PGA, three-time major champion Padraig Harrington hasn’t won on either the PGA or European tours.


BRITISH OPEN NOTEBOOK


Harrington is looking to press even less


Pairings unveiled by Barry Svrluga


st. andrews, scotland — Padraig Harrington counts two British Opens among his three major championships, but what- ever confidence that comes with being tied for third in majors among active tour players is somewhat countered by his re- cent performances:


Since winning the 2008 PGA


Championship, the Irishman not only hasn’t won on the PGA or European tours, but he has fin- ished better than 22nd in a major only once, a tie for 10th at last year’s PGA. “It’s nice to have won a couple


of” British Open titles, Harring- ton said Monday. “I should try and be a little bit more relaxed about trying to win a third one.” Harrington missed cuts at the 2009 British Open and this year’s Masters. The issue, he said: Win- ning majors is addictive, and can cause him to grind too hard. “I would defy anybody to find


anybody who didn’t enjoy their actual major victories as much as I did,” Harrington said. “I certain- ly enjoyed them. . . . “But afterwards, there is no question that one of the biggest issues with winning majors is the fact that you focus on them, you think about them, and you just want to go out and win another one. Having won the three that I have, it’s all about winning the fourth. Well, I’m sure if when I had zero, if somebody told me I would win three, I would have said, ‘Thank you very much. I’ll take that.’ But there’s a certain na- ture of pushing on and pushing on, and that can be a destructive force.” Harrington has not played


since June 27, when he tied for fifth at the Travelers Champi- onship in Connecticut, just his fifth top-10 finish in 14 tourna- ments worldwide this season.


One of the highest-profile


groups for the first two rounds boasts both Tiger Woods, who has won the past two Opens staged at St. Andrews, and Justin Rose, the Englishman who has won two of his last three starts on the PGA Tour — including the AT&T National, which benefits Woods’s foundation. That pair, along with Colombia’s Camilo Villegas, tee off at 4:09 a.m. EDT on Thursday and 9:20 a.m. EDT for Friday’s second round. ESPN’s coverage will begin at 4 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. both Thursday and Friday, so Woods’s full round will be aired. There are several intriguing groups for the first two rounds, including five-time Open cham- pion Tom Watson joining Har- rington — the Open champ in 2007 and ’08 — and rising Japa- nese star Ryo Ishikawa in the group immediately following Woods on Thursday. Masters champ Phil Mickelson plays with Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, the captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team who earned his spot through a European qualifying tournament, along with South Af- rica’s Retief Goosen. And three U.S. Open champions — Jim Fu- ryk (2003), Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Graeme McDowell (2010) — begin play together at 9:53 a.m. Thursday. Steve Marino of Fairfax, who shared the lead with Watson mid- way through last year’s Open at Turnberry, is in the first three- some off the tee, joining Scot- land’s Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champ, and Frenchman Thomas Levet at 2:30 a.m. EDT. . . . Two-time Open champion


Greg Norman, who nearly won two years ago at Royal Birkdale when he took a two-shot lead into the final round, withdrew from the tournament last week. He was replaced by Australian Jason Day.


svrlugab@washpost.com


las vegas — The overflowing crowd — some standing along the sidelines and others in the stands, many dressed in University of Kentucky T-shirts — gathered at Cox Pavilion on Sunday night to get their first look at No. 1 overall pick John Wall. But it was impos- sible for them to watch the Wash- ington Wizards without gazing at the 7-foot-1 gazelle galloping up and down the floor, grabbing re- bounds and dunking with feroc- ity.


JaVale McGee announced his


arrival at summer league shortly after the opening tip, after Wall dove to the ground to recover a loose ball, gathered himself and flipped the ball ahead. With an open court ahead of him, McGee enhanced his collection of electri- fying, highlight-reel slams when he leaped, rocked the basketball near his knees, whirled it around and dunked, much to the amuse- ment of the audience. Wall later found McGee for an


alley-oop dunk, tossing the ball well out of the reach of any Gold- en State Warriors, and watched McGee throw it down with two hands. Wall said he has already learned, “You throw it anywhere around the rim and he’ll get it.” McGee finished with 21 points,


a summer-league-best 13 re- bounds and two blocked shots, dazzling awe-struck fans with his incredible athleticism and unique flair. But McGee has been down this road before, having already turned summer league into his personal showcase last summer, when he averaged 17.3, 6.3 re- bounds and 4 blocked shots and earned an invitation to partici- pate in Team USA mini-camp. “It’s no nervous bugs since I’ve already done it,” McGee said on Sunday. “I’m just coming out here to show everybody what I have. I’m trying to get out there and be aggressive and not back down from anybody and show them that we’re ready to defend and get some wins out here. “I believe I’m the highest excite- ment I can be,” McGee said, “and I’m just ready for next season.” He expected to build upon his summer league success last sea- son to become a serviceable back- up for Brendan Haywood, but he wound up mostly getting buried on the bench until the Wizards dealt Haywood to Dallas near the trade deadline. McGee eventually slid into a starting role and he re- sponded with some decent games, but he was inconsistent and struggled with his endurance and strength. Coach Flip Saunders


CYCLING On some days, it’s really not about the bike tour from D1


Stapleton, because the bus is more than seven feet shorter than most on the pro cycling circuit. With the athletes’ comfort the


primary consideration, HTC-Co- lumbia installed deluxe leather seats in the front of the bus. They face each other to encourage con- versation and host pre- and post- race meetings. “We see this as a mobile locker room for the athletes,” Stapleton said.


Garmin’s rig is not fancy; if


HTC-Columbia’s bus is function- al, it must be considered utilitari- an. Highlights include a pull- down projector screen and two refrigerators full of cold drinks. “If the toilet doesn’t flush, that’s a problem,” said team director Jonathan Vaughters. “But the fact that we don’t have mood lighting I’m less worried about.” Yes, mood lighting — five dif- ferent colors that evoke five dif- ferent feelings, in fact. That’s how far Team Sky, a new squad owned by Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Broad- casting, pushed the envelope when assembling its bus from scratch last year. Team leaders also added reclin-


ing seats, computer docking sta- tions for each rider and a Blu-Ray DVD player. It is hands-down the most elaborately outfitted bus in pro cycling. “We’re more comfort- able on the bus than in hotel rooms sometimes,” said Team Sky rider Michael Barry. On the Garmin-Transitions bus, which is wrapped in the team’s official orange and blue ar- gyle logo, an iPod connection al- lows hip-hop, upbeat rock and even house music, a type of tech-


“I don’t think we could function without them


now.” Tour cyclist Ryder Hesjedal, on the team buses


thing is an arms race. Once one team has something new, others rush to replicate or surpass it. By the late ’90s, buses had become de rigueur. While it’s certain that bus in- teriors have evolved in the last two decades, the vehicles them- selves are rarely new. With diesel engines that can be refurbished every few years, many buses out- last their original owners. When a team folds or buys a new bus, they put the old one on the market. “These buses have a long serv-


JON BRAND FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


It’s rare to see riders outside the team bus before the race. But here Team Sky rider Michael Barry offers himself for an interview.


no, to blare through the vehicle. Selecting tunes can sometimes become a source of tension. “Because there are different


styles, it’s a war over music,” says Andrea Bisogno, a Garmin-Tran- sitions mechanic who drives the bus. Team buses made their first ap-


pearance during the early 1990s. Some insist that the Dutch team PDM, which folded in 1992, pio-


neered the practice. Others say the initial bus was owned by the now-defunct Spanish squad ONCE.


“I remember that the ONCE guys used to be able to shower af- ter the race; that changed things,” said Erik Zabel, a former racer and adviser to Team HTC-Colum- bia.


Cycling is no different from other professional sports; every-


ice life,” says HTC-Columbia’s Sta- pleton. “Especially because there’s not many ways to make it more fuel efficient.” However, the use of alternative fuel technologies such as bio- diesel might not be far off: throughout this year’s 2,263-mile race, Garmin will use almost 800 gallons of gasoline at a cost of about $3,500 for the three-week tour.


Because many teams still use


RVs and station wagons to trans- port their minor league teams during races, the bus has become a symbol of success, something young riders, who rarely travel in high style, aspire to. “You know when you’ve gotten on a big bus, you’ve gotten to where you want to be,” says Gar- min-Transitions’ Hesjedal. “It’s part of the deal.”


NBA commissioner weighs in on James


by Tim Reynolds


NBA Commissioner David Stern congratulated LeBron James on his decision. He just wished it came without “The De- cision.” Stern said Monday he would have advised James to tell the Cleveland Cavaliers of his choice to leave for the Miami Heat earlier than he did, and that the two-time MVP’s public an- nouncement shouldn’t have come in a made-for-television special that attracted nearly 10 million viewers. The commissioner said James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh vi- olated no league rules in dis- cussing free agency among them- selves, and that the league isn’t investigating how the Heat man- aged to land all three. That doesn’t mean Stern didn’t take is- sue with certain elements of free agency, particularly James’s deci- sion to say he was leaving Cleve- land on ESPN. “The advice that he received on this was poor,” Stern said after NBA owners met in Las Vegas. “The performance was fine. His honesty and his integrity, I think, shined through. But this decision was ill-conceived.” Meanwhile, Stern also took


action against Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert, fining him $100,000 for words that the commissioner described as “a little bit extreme.” Gilbert re- leased a sharp-tongued state- ment shortly after James’s an- nouncement last Thursday, call- ing it “narcissistic” and “cowardly behavior.” Later, Gil-


bert told the Associated Press in a phone interview that he felt James quit on the Cavs during the playoffs the past two years. Even Jesse Jackson received a


rebuke of sorts from Stern. Jackson responded to Gilbert’s remarks on Sunday by saying the Cavs owner sees James as a “run- away slave” and that Gilbert’s comments put the player in dan- ger.


“He speaks as an owner of Le- Bron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Jackson said in a release from his Chica- go-based civil-rights group. Stern said Jackson is a friend and ally to the league, but as with Gilbert, he felt the reaction sim- ply went too far. “However well-meaning Jesse


may be in the premise on this one, he is, as he rarely is, mistak- en,” Stern said. “And I would have told him so had he called me before he issued his statement, rather than this morning. But he is a good friend of the NBA and our players. Has worked arduously on many good causes and we work together in many matters.” James, Wade and Bosh all de- cided last week to play together in Miami, working out six-year deals after talking with each other at times throughout the free-agent process. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Sunday he wanted the NBA to examine how all three joined the same team. But in the Monday meeting of the league’s Board of Governors, no formal complaints were levied, Stern said.


—Associated Press


Wizards center JaVale McGee finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds Sunday night. Says rookie sensation John Wall, “You throw it anywhere around the rim and he’ll get it.”


LAURA RAUCH/ ASSOCIATED PRESS


S


D3


had McGee finish the season com- ing off the bench. McGee said he learned that he had to “get stronger and gain some patience.” This offseason, McGee made getting stronger his primary focus and he arrived at summer league seven pounds heavier and even grew another inch in height. “I’m starting to grow into my body and I’m start- ing to mature more, not mentally, but physically,” said McGee, who averaged 6.4 points and 4.1 re- bounds last season. “I’ve just been trying to lift weights every day and eat a lot. I’m trying to get my legs strong and my upper body. Once I stopped growing, I’m start- ing to fill out." Wizards President Ernie Grun- feld said last week that he has been impressed with McGee’s growth. “JaVale’s made good strides. He’s worked very hard in the offseason,” Grunfeld said. “We want to see continued develop- ment. I think he got better at the end of last season and I hope he


continues on that pace.” McGee is the only player on the Wizards’ roster locked into the center position, and Saunders has said that it is imperative that McGee makes the most of the summer, with him projected as the likely starter. “His big thing is working on his rebounding, defensive-type re- bounding. If we can defensive re- bound as a team, we can be pretty good because John is so good in the open floor and has such great speed,” said Saunders. “He’s going to make JaVale and big guys, he’s going to make them a lot of easy buckets. “As much from a strength standpoint, going against main type centers, he’s not as strong as some of those guys so he gets pushed around. What happens is he gets in foul trouble so quick and that takes him right out of his game,” he said. “He’s going to have to learn to play at our level and be able to play as far as from the be- ginning.”


Asked if McGee could develop


that this summer, Saunders said, “He’s going to have to.” McGee has already focused on


developing chemistry with Wall, with the two connecting on three alley-oop dunks. He also benefit- ed from simply running the floor with Wall when Wall broke down the defense and slipped inside the lane for what should’ve been an easy reverse layup. But Wall missed, McGee trailed and cleaned it up with a putback, two- handed dunk before any Warriors could even react. “It’s definitely lovely," McGee said of playing with Wall. “He’s looking for passes and he’s look- ing for his own, so it’s even. It’s no selfishness on the court. We just trying to be good teammates and get that 1-5 [point guard-center connection] going to make sure that we can make it flow correctly and maybe get some highlights this year and be an exciting and a winning team.”


leem@washpost.com


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