D2
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month, Hamady N’Diaye checked into the team’s Chinatown hotel before fellow rookie John Wall. The hotel clerk told him Wall would be arriving later that day. N’Diaye said he wanted to meet him, and asked for the clerk to let him know as soon as Wall arrived. So not long after Wall and his
traveling companion arrived at the hotel, they wound up in N’Diaye’s room. “We were just sitting in the
room,” N’Diaye told me. “[Wall] was like, ‘I’m bored, I’m bored.’ He was like, ‘You know what, we should go shoot.’ And I said, ‘I
THE SIDELINE T
he day before the Wizards began their summer league training camp earlier this
D.C. SPORTS BOG Dan Steinberg
don’t mind, let’s go.’ ” Which is how Wall and N’Diaye — a 19-year-old kid from Raleigh and a 23-year-old college graduate from Senegal — wound up on Verizon Center’s practice court sometime after 10 p.m. on their first night in the city, dribbling basketballs. They shot around,
Quick Fix 6From the blogs at
washingtonpost.com/sports
WIZARDS INSIDER Ex-Bullet Howard joins Heat, 14 years after the first try It took 14 years, seven teams,
two repeat pit stops, four trades, three free agent signings, one buyout and one outright release, but Juwan Howard has finally found his way back to Miami. The union brings full circle the most agonizing, controversial and possibly disastrous contract in the history of Washington’s basketball franchise. Howard signed a one-year deal for the league minimum — or approximately one percent of the first gigantic deal he signed with Pat Riley and the Heat. This time, there is no outrage or any threats to prohibit its consummation.
QUOTABLE
“Have any of us entered a new field or a new era of our life and said that I have
it all figured out?” Joe Theismann, defending Redskins owner Daniel Snyder on SIRIUS radio
TELEVISION AND RADIO
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 12:30 p.m. Washington at Cincinnati » MASN, WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM) 7 p.m.
SOCCER 10:30 p.m. MLS, San Jose at Los Angeles » ESPN2
WNBA 7 p.m.
GOLF Noon
3 p.m. 6:30 p.m.
CYCLING 6:30 a.m.
BOXING 11 p.m.
SOFTBALL 8 p.m.
LACROSSE 8 p.m.
Los Angeles at Indiana » ESPN2 MARVIN FONG/ASSOCIATED PRESS Tyler Gast, 8, left, and his brother Carter, 6, right, show their crossed out LeBron James jerseys outside Quicken Loans Arena. Question / Comment
NATS TICKET PRICES I know the Nats are going through a rough patch, but their ticket prices are very reasonable. . . . parking is another matter.
Minnesota at Baltimore » MASN, WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)
MAYBE IT’S A MOTIVATION PROBLEM Can we get that soccer guy to yell RRUUUUNNNNN! when the Natinals score?
WORST PERSON CONTEST Worse person, LeBron James or Nick Saban?
Champions Tour, Senior British Open » ESPN2 PGA Tour, Canadian Open » Golf Channel LPGA, Evian Masters » Golf Channel
Tour de France » Versus
Bantamweight bout, Jose Navarro vs. Juan Jose Beltran » Comcast SportsNet
DOWN THE OCEAN HON! [I’ve] been going to Ocean City since the late 1960s. It used to be all DC and Baltimore area residents but sometime in the 1980s/early 90s OC became overrun with people from the Philly area. . . . How sad is it that a Redskins fan gets accosted for wearing Redskins stuff at the beach resort closest to DC?!?!?! Where did you beach growing up?
World Cup, Canada vs. United States » ESPN
BEST PERSON DEBATE Better person, Ray Allen or Kevin Durant? Is Durant possibly the heir to Allen’s good person throne?
MLL, Chesapeake at Long Island » Comcast SportsNet
TRIO NICKNAME Wade, Bosh & Co.
only from Comcast. DIGEST COLLEGES
Navy will visit Penn State in football in 2012 The Navy football team will
play Penn State in State College, Pa., on Sept. 15, 2012, the schools announced Wednesday. “Playing Penn State again will bring back many memories for our alumni and friends of Navy Football,” Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said in a state- ment. “The opportunity to visit one of the most impressive stadi- ums in all of college football and take on the challenge of this sto- ried program will be very in- spiring to our coaches and stu- dent-athletes. This experience will be very special for everyone wearing the Blue and Gold that day.” Penn State leads the all-time series, 18-17-2, with the most re- cent game being a 7-6 Navy win in 1974. Navy opens the 2012 season on Sept. 1 in Dublin against Notre Dame. . . .
Georgetown has signed wom-
en’s basketball Coach Terri Wil- liams-Flournoy to a contract ex- tension through the 2014-15 sea- son. “Terri has been an asset to our
women’s basketball program and we’re excited that she has agreed to a contract extension,” George- town Athletic Director Lee Reed said in a statement. “She has built a successful program while serv- ing as a mentor for the young women on the team as well as those in the community. Her commitment to our mission here at Georgetown and her passion for the game has truly made a dif- ference in the program and we look forward to the future with Terri at the helm.”
Williams-Flournoy has a 96-84 record in six seasons at George- town. Last season, Georgetown went 26-7 overall, 13-3 in the Big
TITLE IX Competitive cheerleading is not an official sport that colleges can use to meet gender-equity re- quirements, a federal judge in Hartford, Conn., ruled in order- ing a school to keep its women’s volleyball team. Several volleyball players and their coach had sued Quinnipiac University after it announced in March 2009 that it would elimi- nate the team for budgetary rea- sons and replace it with a com- petitive cheer squad. The school contended the cheer squad and other moves kept it in compliance with Title IX, the 1972 federal law that man- dates equal opportunities for men and women in education and athletics. But U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill dis- agreed in a ruling that those in-
PRO FOOTBALL Baltimore Ravens Pro Bowl
safety Ed Reed says he expects to miss the start of the regular sea- son while he recovers from off- season hip surgery. Reed told 105.7 The Fan he ex-
pects to be placed on the physi- cally unable to perform list, which requires a player to miss the first six games of the season.
PRO BASKETBALL Dell Demps says he’s looking
forward to working with old friend and new Hornets Coach Monty Williams in New Orleans, where Demps will fill his first general manager’s post. The Hornets formally named Demps as the franchise’s seventh general manager Wednesday. He takes over for Jeff Bower, who stepped down last week. . . .
East and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history.
volved say was the first time the cheerleading issue has been de- cided by a judge.
Richard Jefferson is returning to the San Antonio Spurs after opting out of his old contract that would have paid him $15 million next season. Terms were not dis- closed, though Jefferson was will- ing to part with his bloated deal that expired next summer for lon- ger-term security. . . . The Philadelphia 76ers signed
free agent center Tony Battie. Team President Ed Stafanski said that the 76ers want Battie to provide front-court depth and a “veteran presence” for younger players. Terms of his contract were not disclosed. . . . The Oklahoma City Thunder signed free agent Royal Ivey to add depth to its back court. . . . The Milwaukee Bucks com-
pleted a trade with the Sacra- mento Kings for forward Jon Brockman in exchange for for- ward Darnell Jackson and a 2011 second-round pick. . . . The United States has lost an- other big man, as David Lee will
miss the world championships because of an injured middle fin- ger on his right hand.
SOCCER Gabriel Obertan scored in the
76th minute to give Premier League powerhouse Manchester United a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union of MLS in an exhibition in Philadelphia. . . . Premier League club Bolton
defeated Toronto FC of MLS on penalty kicks after playing to a 1-1 draw.
AUTO RACING NASCAR placed drivers Carl
Edwards and Brad Keselowski on probation following their late- race incident during last week- end’s Nationwide race at Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis. Edwards was fined $25,000 and docked 60 Nation- wide series driver points. — From news services and staff reports
Answer
I still think baseball remains the best deal, ticket-wise, because you can always find some pretty cheap seats. The parking is really a shame, though. They need to provide some handicapped parking spaces. I know they want to encourage public transportation, but I still wish the stadium was on two Metro lines, or one busier line. Taking the Green Line over there is not pleasant, or at least I haven’t found it to be so.
Yes, in a real sarcastic voice. Excellent idea.
Well, this is better than “who is more handsome?” I guess. Hmmmm. Right now, I’d have to say LeBron.
On July 13, 1996, Howard signed a seven-year, $100.8million contract with Miami that set off red flags in the NBA office and put the Bullets in panic mode. The Bullets were blasted and lambasted for offering just $84 million to the 23-year-old all-star forward and letting him depart. Four days after signing the
deal, Howard and Riley spoke about a promising future. But two weeks later, the NBA voided the deal, claiming that the Heat exceeded the league’s salary cap by failing to count nearly $2.5million in bonuses. Howard returned to Washington, signing a seven-year, $105 million deal. — Michael Lee
KLMNO
WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS After Stephen Strasburg’s ninth start, take a look at a breakdown of the Nationals’ phenom’s performance to date with our pitch tracker.
THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2010
WASHINGTON POST LIVE WITH IVAN CARTER 5 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Academy Award-winning producer Lawrence Bender, 106.7’s Frank Hanrahan and The Post’s Barry Svrluga.
Two rookies bond on and off the basketball court
then they began doing organized drills, and finally they started practicing the pick and roll, before finally going back to their hotel around midnight. Wall earned plenty of praise for his play in Las Vegas last week, but he had already impressed N’Diaye from the time they met in the hotel. “Some players really take it the wrong way, when they’re the No. 1 pick, all that hype and everything,” the 7-footer said. “He’s not one of those players. That’s the main thing I really like about him. He keeps to himself, and how do you say? He’s conservative about his ways.”
And so, in their first week in
Washington, the guard and the center began hanging out. Every morning before he left the hotel, N’Diaye would text Wall. Every night, Wall would come up to N’Diaye’s room for a visit. “He just knocks on the door, and I know it’s him, because he’s the only one that comes to visit me,” N’Diaye told me back then. “He comes in, we talk for a little bit, couple seconds or whatever, and then he goes back to the room.” The bonding didn’t necessarily
translate onto the court in Vegas. Wall was dynamic, averaging better than 23 points and seven rebounds as he won the league’s most outstanding player award. N’Diaye was mostly quiet,
averaging 3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1 block in 12.6 minutes per game. Coaches said he just needs more experience. But N’Diaye has the gift of making people like him, which is probably why coaches spoke so fondly of him, and why it took all of one day for he and Wall to become friendly. “I mean, my relationship with
everyone is going to be important on this team. That’s one of my goals — I plan on really getting to know these guys and learning from everyone,” he said. “That’s one of the main things, you’ve got to develop a relationship with all your teammates. [Wall] was the first one. We just clicked.”
So in practice, Wall began calling N’Diaye “Africa.” They went out to some meals, where N’Diaye noticed the fans noticing Wall — “I looked around and said, ‘Oh yeah, they got you,’ ” he remembered. They didn’t talk much about basketball in that first week, and N’Diaye didn’t go visit Wall in his room, explaining that he didn’t want to bother the young star. But he, like everyone else, was excited by the potential. “He doesn’t have any problems
—he’s still young and appreciating everything and he works hard,” N’Diaye said. “That’s the main thing you can have. I don’t mind that.”
steinbergd@washpost.com
Hot Topic First Things First
Excerpt from Wednesday’s chat by columnist Tracee Hamilton. Discuss the latest sports news with Tracee each weekday at 9:30 a.m. at
washingtonpost.com/sports
Good one. I “beached” at Wilson Lake. My closest beach experience was the Gulf of Mexico when we went to Texas on vacation. You shouldn’t get accosted wearing anything, anywhere. A couple of friends came over for the World Cup final and one of them wore a K-State T-shirt IN MY HOME. I did not accost her. Of course, the other friend and I were wearing our KU shirts. I know the beach traditions out here are hard to break but you may have to rethink your choice, because that sounds awful, really.
Oooooh, tough one. I think Ray Allen still holds that spot, but yes, Durant could be the heir apparent. How odd to be discussing good behavior. What’s wrong with us!
Too funny to resist! I’m thinking of “Tres” something. Something in Spanish, but something clean. Hmmmm. “Tres Dopes” . . . “Tres Big Heads.” No good. The Three Amigos is too sunny.
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