According to 82games.com, Brendan Haywood was the fourth best in the league last year at rebounding his own missed shots. Kwame Brown was sixteenth overall in the league. But in terms of putting up shots that your other teammates will rebound, not one Wizard cracked the top thirty. Maybe it's time to start shooting shots that have a chance at being rebounded? Antawn Jamison was the 29th best player in the league in that department last year. Coincidence? I think not.

Haywood had 28 offensive rebounds off of 188 missed shots, for a possession retention rate of 14.9 percent. Brown had 31 offensive rebounds off of 299 missed shots, for a possessions retention rate of 10.4 percent. These numbers compare to 10.1 percent for Shaquille O'Neal and 9.5 percent for Tim Duncan. All numbers are from 82games.com.

In terms of putting up shots that teammates would then rebound, Jamison's teammates were able to rebound 38 percent of his missed shots. That means his shots were taken at smart times: when his teammates were in good rebounding position and/or when the shot is probably close to the basket. The Wizards could use some of that. If the players don't put up reboundable shots, then it reflects in the fact that their teammates are not able to rebound it very often.

To flip it around and put it another way, last year at least a couple of the Wizards were good at continuing to rebound their own missed shots, but none excelled at rebounding the missed shots of their teammates. There are three possibilities for how that could happen.

One possibility is that the Wizards just don't have guys on their roster with the skills required to offensively rebound others' shots particularly effectively. It requires tremendous vision, timing, and hustle to go after someone else's offensive rebounds. If this is the case, then it is up to the coaching staff to fix these deficiencies quickly.

The second possibility is that the team hasn't meshed well at all. Plays are not being executed in such a fashion that allows the frontcourt guys to get into the right position at the same time as the shot is going up. If this is the case, it'll go away in time.

The third possibility is that the Washington guards take too many poor shots, i.e., shots where there is no chance at an offensive rebound. This could be an over-reliance on long-range shooting instead of penetration and it could suggest that the frontcourt players tend to get dragged out of the post in the Princeton-like offense that requires the center also be the passer out of the middle. If this is the case, then the addition of Jamison will help indeed, as his missed shots tend to be freebies for his own teammates.

Haywood was third in the league last year with 6.0 offensive rebounds per 48 minutes, and his numbers should only go up with the addition of Jamison. So what front-row ticket holders ought to be able to overhear Wizards players yelling next year is: Hey, would you rebound that for me?

NEXT GAME
The Wizards will participate in the 2004 Pepsi Pro Leaguein Orlando, Florida from July 6-11 at the RDV Sportsplex. The games are not open to the public. Their first game will be against the Miami Heat on Tuesday, July 6th, at 3:00 p.m. EDT. In addition to the Wizards and the Heat, the other teams participating in the Pepsi Pro League are the Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, , Cleveland Cavaliers, and host Orlando Magic. The complete Pepsi Pro League schedule is as follows:

*Tuesday, July 6th - Miami - 3:00 p.m. EDT
*Wednesday, July 7th - New Jersey - 3:00 p.m. EDT (**3)
*Thursday, July 8th - Orlando - 3:00 p.m. EDT (**2)
*Friday, July 9th - Boston - 3:00 p.m. EDT
*Saturday, July 10th - Cleveland - 10:00 a.m. EDT (**2)
(**2) means the time listed is the tipoff of the first game; the Wizards game starts 20 minutes after the completion of the first game
(**3) means the time listed is the tipoff of the first game; the Wizards game starts 20 minutes after the completion of the first and second game

The Wizards will also be participating in the 2004 Reebok Vegas Summer Leaguein Las Vegas, Nevada from July 13-18 at the Cox Pavilion. These majority of these games are expected to be broadcast on NBA TV. Their first game will be against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, July 13, at 5:00 p.m. EDT/2:00 p.m. PDT. In addition to the Wizards and the Suns, the other teams participating in the Reebok Vegas Summer League are the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, and Cleveland Cavaliers. The complete Reebok Vegas Summer League schedule is as follows:

*Tuesday, July 13th - Phoenix - 5:00 p.m. EDT
*Thursday, July 15th - Orlando - 5:00 p.m. EDT
*Friday, July 16th - Boston - 7:30 p.m. EDT
*Saturday, July 17th - Cleveland - 7:30 p.m. EDT
*Sunday, July 18th - Boston - 5:00 p.m. EDT

TEAM NOTES
Wizards Dance Team Auditions will be held July 10, 2004, from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. EDT and on July 14, 2004, from 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. EDT at the MCI Center Practice Court. You must be 19 or over and able to attend both tryout dates. You must pre-register by 3:00 p.m. EDT July 9, 2004. No walk-ups. The application fee is $25. For further details and an application form, click here.

The summer league team will practice at MCI Center July 2-4 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. EDT. The final 30 minutes will be open to the media and players will be available for interviews following the practice. You may call the Washington Wizards Media Information Hotline, 202-628-3200 ext: 6397 (NEWS), after 10:00 a.m. EDT for updates on the practice schedule.

NEWSLINES

Bob Finnan ofThe Morning Journalwrites: The Cavaliers shocked the league by not picking up the option year in power forward Carlos Boozer's contract on Wednesday... But all indications are that Boozer wants to make Cleveland his home. Golden State lost guard Gilbert Arenas last year when he signed a contract with Washington. The Warriors were over the cap and not able to match his offer with the Wizards.The difference with Cleveland is that it's under the cap, which affords it some flexibility.

Joe Juliano ofThe Philadelphia Inquirerwrites: In addition to Blount, the list of free-agent big men expected to be pursued by the Sixers includes Brian Skinner of the Milwaukee Bucks, an ex-Sixer; Keon Clark of the Phoenix Suns; Adonal Foyle of the Golden State Warriors; and Etan Thomas of the Washington Wizards, the only restricted free agent on this list.

Tracy Gordon Fox and Jim Farrell ofThe Hartford Courantwrite: Manute Bol, the towering former NBA shot-blocking phenomenon from Sudan, was critically injured on Route 2 in Colchester late Wednesday in a one-car crash that killed the cab driver who was taking Bol home.The 7-foot-7 Bol was believed to be returning from one of the casinos, which he is known to frequent... Bol's 10-year NBA career began promisingly as he led the league in blocked shots as a rookie with the Washington Bullets during the 1985-86 season.