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PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
Pondexter, Robinson impress Wizards at pre-draft workout
by Gene Wang
The Washington Wizards con- tinued to evaluate NBA hopefuls on Thursday during a fourth straight day of workouts at Veri- zon Center, and several second- tier forwards were among those who participated in the approxi- mately hour-long session on the auxiliary court.
With the Wizards expected to
select point guard John Wall at No. 1 overall to join Gilbert Are- nas in the back court, the team figures to perhaps fortify the front line with its other two picks, at 30th and 35th overall. That could be good news for either Quincy Pondexter or Stanley Robinson, the two highest-rated small forwards who worked out for Washington as a part of a six- player group Coach Flip Saun- ders called the best this week. Pondexter, a first-team all-Pa-
cific 10 selection from the Univer- sity of Washington, is a projected late first-rounder and probably will be gone by the time the Wiz- ards make their second pick. The way Pondexter sees it though, mock drafts predicting where he’ll be taken are not exactly reli- able. “Those mock drafts are inaccu-
rate sometimes, you know,” said Pondexter, who is 6 feet 6 and av- eraged 19.3 points and 7.4 re- bounds per game as a senior. “From the NFL draft to the NBA draft, you could look at those mock drafts, print them out, and on the day of the draft they are completely different. I would love to play for the Wizards. It would be a great dream come true, but at the same time, who knows what’s going to happen.” A more likely scenario would
be acquiring the 6-9 Robinson at No. 35, where the Wizards would
NOTEBOOK
Stern: It’s a good time to be a new team owner
by Michael Lee
los angeles — Prospective
Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis will be among a new breed of NBA owners, joining Charlotte’s Michael Jordan and New Jersey’s Mikhail Prokhorov, to lead their franchises next sea- son. Chris Cohan has also offered up the Golden State Warriors for sale, which would add another new face. NBA Commissioner David Stern said on Thursday at his an- nual state of the league address before Game 1 of the Finals that this might be the best time for someone to take over, given the economic climate and the cur- rent collective bargaining agree- ment set to expire after the 2010- 11 season. “They think we’re going to get
a new collective bargaining agreement to put it that simple, number one,” Stern said. “Num- ber two, there was some bargains in there with respect to Charlotte [which Bob Johnson sold for $275 million after originally pur- chasing as an expansion fran- chise for $300 million]. I think the Warriors probably make some money. We have a broad ar-
ray of teams. And if somebody asked me whether a team is a good buy, my response is, you’d better hurry up, they’re going like hot cakes, and they’re going to be even more valuable when get a system that is even more sustain- able.”
Stern said the current eco- nomic model is broken. He esti- mated that the league lost $400 million last season, a claim which NBA union head Billy Hunter said was “baloney.” Having a new collective bargaining agreement in place by next summer is “a high priority,” Stern said. And when asked if he would encour- age prospective owners to stay away should the league and the union fail to reach an agreement, Stern said, “Yes.”
CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES
Jackson won’t commit
Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil
Jackson is in last year of a con- tract that pays him $12 million this season. Earlier this season, Jackson said he would more like- ly to stay if the Lakers reach the Finals. Now that his team has ar- rived, Jackson was not willing to make any official announce- ments about his future. “I’ll be here with them at least the end of the month. That’s for
Celtics center Kendrick Perkins (43) is one technical foul away from an automatic suspension this postseason. He has picked up six so far.
Orlando.
sure, officially,” Jackson joked. “It feels like we’re really headed in the right direction. We believe in what we are doing. We’ve got mo- mentum.
“I know the Celtics do, too, but this is really the topping on the cake, so to speak, as to how you come out in the Finals and how you play. I’m looking forward to this, and that’s it.”
Perkins on the brink
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers has already resigned to losing Ken- drick Perkins for one game, with his emotional center one tech- nical foul away from receiving an automatic suspension. Perkins has six technical fouls this post- season and actually had one re- scinded before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
A big fan’s legacy lives on, and helps kids, at Cooley’s camp
by Rick Maese
Philip Post II will wear Red-
skins colors forever. His parents, Philip and Paula Post, made sure of that. After their 28-year-old son died in a car accident last June, they buried him in a Clin- ton Portis jersey, the only way, really, to honor his fun-loving spirit and passion for his favorite team. A year later, they’ve found a
way to honor his memory as well. At Chris Cooley’s annual football camp this weekend, 17 at-risk kids will attend, their $200 entrance fees covered by a fund established in Philip’s name. “There’s many wonderful places we could have sent the money. Cancer, diabetes — there’s so many charities,” said Paula Post. “But it had to be true to his spirit. The way his eyes popped when I gave him tickets to the game is the way I’m picturing these kids’ eyes popping when they see Chris Cooley at the camp.”
Philip was driving to work on wet Hagerstown roads about 6:30
a.m. on June 12, 2009, when he lost control of his yellow 2002 Toyota MR2. His car spun into on- coming traffic, where it collided with a 1998 Dodge pickup truck. Philip was pronounced dead at the scene.
Amid the grief that followed,
the Post family had a lot of deci- sions to make. Choosing clothes in which to bury their only son was perhaps the easiest. “I re- fused to put him in a suit,” his mother said. “I was scared to tell the minister and my mother, but I said, ‘No, he will wear Redskins. That’s what he would want.’ ” The family also sought and re- ceived the team’s permission to use the Redskins logo on Philip’s headstone, which is still being prepared.
At the funeral service, friends placed mini-helmets and Red- skins trinkets among the flowers near Philip’s coffin. Some handed checks to the family to defer fu- neral costs. Insurance, though, had already helped cover the ex- penses, and for many months the family wasn’t certain what it should do with the money. Even- tually, they realized the Redskins
would be a natural conduit. Born to parents and grand- parents who cheered on the team, Philip’s DNA was stained burgun- dy and gold. He was wearing Red- skins clothing before he could walk. As he graduated from Mid- dletown High School, attended
“He just loved the Redskins,” said Philip’s sister, Jenni. “More than anybody I know. ” Even when Philip moved out on his own, he still returned to Middletown every weekend to watch games with his family. He’d have a laptop propped next to
“He’ll still be there. Right there with us.”
FAMILY PHOTO
Frederick Community College and landed an accounting job at AugustaWestland Inc., the Red- skins were the one constant in his life. Nearly everything in his home, it seemed, was somehow stamped with his favorite team’s logo: lamps, blankets, trash cans, candles, figurines. There were Cooley magnets on the refrigera- tor, a Portis Fathead on the wall and a closet full of jerseys.
him to monitor his fantasy team, the Three N Outs. His phone buzzed constantly with score up- dates and a handheld video game nearby allowed him to tinker with the Madden video game during commercials. Sundays just weren’t the same last fall. Without fail, Paula would drive to the Zion Lutheran Cem- etery in Middletown every Mon- day to recap the previous day’s
Redskins game for her son. “I didn’t have much good news
— Paula Post, on her son Philip Post II, who died in a car accident last June, and whose memory will be honored at Chris Cooley’s annual football clinic
every week, but I was there and I’d just tell him, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get ’em next week’,” Paula said. A family member made a dona- tion in Philip’s name to the Red- skins Charitable Foundation, the team’s nonprofit philanthropic arm, and it sparked a series of conversations between the team and the Post family. Paula began talking with B.J. Corriveau, the team’s vice president of commu- nity and charitable programs, about what they could do with the money friends and family had given. They quickly settled on the 17 scholarships to Cooley’s camp. “We all knew he’d want some-
thing good to come from it,” said Philip’s sister, Jenni. “He spent his life trying to make other people happy. He did whatever it took to make other people smile.” Cooley’s annual camp, where 300 kids age 7 to 14 learn football fundamentals, will feature a few new wrinkles this year. The Post family will attend Saturday to vis- it with the Redskins tight end and see the children who are partici-
pating in Philip’s name. “I just thought it was so cool.
The Redskins were something they loved, their son loved,” Coo- ley said. “It’s my camp that they chose to do this for, and that makes it special to me. It’s an hon- or, and it makes you want to do your best for everyone there. You know you have to make it special.” Cooley also will hand out the Philip Post II Teammate Award to the camper who exemplifies great teamwork throughout the two- day camp. The winner will receive a plaque and a photo with Cooley and the Post family.
Almost a year has passed and
it’s still difficult for Paula Post to talk about her son without crying. This Saturday won’t be easy, nor will the following weekend, the one-year anniversary of Philip’s accident. But she’ll show up at Fairfax
High, studying each camper and searching for that 500-watt look that meeting a player such as Cooley would have brought to her son’s eyes. “He’ll still be there,” Paula said. “Right there with us.”
maeser@washpost.com
“I think it’s very likely,” Rivers said of Perkins collecting a tech- nical this series. “There’s going to be a double-technical in this se- ries, and if there’s a double-tech- nical in the series, there’s a very good chance it’ll be with Perk in- volved. But we’re not going to change who we are, and we’re definitely not going to tell Perk to
play any differently.” Rivers also suggested that the
NBA shouldn’t count double- technicals to players’ postseason totals, a suggestion Stern sup- ported. Perkins said that he would look to walk away rather than pout or complain to officials and risk hurting his team. “I’m not dumb,” Perkins said.
leem@washpost.com
FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010
MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ex-Husky Quincy Pondexter says playing for the Wizards would be a “dream come true.”
since they dealt center Brendan Haywood, among others, to Dal- las as part of a trade deadline purge. “I’m just aggressive, I’m hun-
gry, and I’m just dedicated to win- ning,” said Robinson, who was able to distinguish himself de- spite the Huskies’ NIT season, “and I’ll do whatever the coach tells me to do.”
Robinson and Pondexter are
ERIC GAY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Connecticut forward Stanley Robinson is known for his acrobatic dunks. He averaged 14.5 points and 7.6 rebounds in his senior year.
be adding one of the most dynam- ic finishers in the country. Rob- inson averaged 14.5 points and 7.6 rebounds, both career highs, dur- ing his senior season with Con-
necticut, but he’s perhaps best known for acrobatic dunks. One of his most memorable came against Georgetown at Veri- zon Center on Jan. 9, when he ran
in along the left wing to grab a re- bound off a missed shot and dunked it with two hands. A week earlier, Robinson got in the lane after a missed foul shot against
Notre Dame and put it back one- handed.
Robinson is also a skilled offen- sive rebounder, an area in which the Wizards have been lacking
somewhat distinctive in this year’s NBA draft, which has an abundance of players who did not play four years of college. One of those who declared early was De- Paul 6-10 forward-center Mac Koshwal, who also worked out for Washington on Thursday. Guard Jermaine Beal (Vanderbilt), for- ward Jeremy Evans (Western Kentucky) and guard Ricky Har- ris (Massachusetts) were the oth- er three players who worked out for the team.
wangg@washpost.com
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