Washington

Larry Hughes is Ready!


Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services 

Larry Hughes chatted with fans yesterday on the Wizards' home page and we learned quite a few things. First and foremost, he has been working out and looking to get in the best shape of his career. He is expecting an increased role now with Jerry Stackhouse out. And he is, in a word, ready. Ready to play 82 games. Ready to dominate. Ready to lead.

Hughes started his workouts a month earlier than usual and focused particularly on strengthening his legs. After that, he says, he started working on his usual things -- "dribbling, shooting from long range, defending." His goal is simple: "I want to be in the best shape possible so I can play in 82 games this year."

The man who's idol was the famous #23, but who chose and stuck with #20 since high school because it's "a solid, even number," has been in the league longer than most of his teammates though they are at similar ages, because he started earlier.

He is ready to lead by example and by voice: the NBA game, he explains, "is really a thinking game." That bodes well for Hughes increasing his assists numbers from the 2.4 and 3.1 he averaged the past couple of years in Washington back up to the 4.0 and higher that he averaged for 2.5 years with Golden State.

He and Gilbert Arenas are reunited with Antawn Jamison and reports of bad blood between them were false. Hughes says the three of them were hit hard by the losing but that they all agreed they needed some veteran help.

Now theyarethe veteran help. And the three of them are looking to make these Wizards this year a winner.

TEAM NOTES
Washington's super smooth shooting guard Larry Hughes stopped by to answer your questions and chattedabout the upcoming season, his famous friends from St. Louis, and an eventful summer of player movement in DC that reunited the Wizards' playmaker with former teammate Antawn Jamison.

You can shop at the Wizards team storewhere you can personalized jerseys with your name and number.

NEWSLINES

Dan Reed ofThe Mercury Newswrites: Robin Ficker, possibly the nation's most famous heckler, spent years deriding opponents of the NBA's Washington Bullets and Wizards, grabbing the attention of the national media and the ire of such notables as then-Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson... Ficker, 61, an attorney and sometime political candidate, used to read up on opponents, gleaning inflammatory facts to put into his act. ``If they don't like what fans are saying,'' Ficker said, ``they should go and buy a set of earplugs for three bucks.'' But his tirades were amusing, never beery, profane rants. One of Ficker's favorites was against the rotund former NBA star Charles Barkley: ``Hey Barkley, you've got guts all right. That's the problem. You've got two of them.''