THROUGH THE YEARS
	Year	Record	Playoffs
	1994-95	21-61	--
	1995-96	39-43	--
	1996-97	44-38	0-3
	1997-98	42-40	--
	1998-99	18-32	--
	Totals	164-214	0-3

Status of the team
The Wizards' recent draft choices, trades and free agent acquisitions haven't been very productive. They are currently mired in the basement of the Atlantic Division at 12-28, having lost five games in a row and eight of their last 10. The talent level on the team is considerably better than its record. The team and its individual players are underachieving.

In Rod Strickland, Mitch Richmond and Juwan Howard, the Wizards have players of All-Star caliber that are all are performing well below their potentials. Strickland is scoring about 12 points a game -- the lowest point total in the last 10 years of his NBA career. Richmond, hampered by injuries all season, is averaging 17 points this season -- in contrast to his 23-point average over his career. Howard is averaging 14 points and 5 rebounds. Juwan is a career 19-point and 8-rebound performer.

Ike Austin, acquired from Orlando to fill the center void, is averaging only 8 points and about 5 rebounds, which is far short of his career best of 14 and 7, recorded in 1998 at Miami and with the L.A. Clippers. He's even lost his starting assignment to Jahidi White, who has done an acceptable job.

Coach Gar Heard, new to the job at Washington, told me that there was a severe lack of work ethic and punctuality evident with which he was receiving a lot of resistance trying to correct. Players seemed to think it was acceptable to come late to practice or to not practice at all. These are obviously not the conditions by which competitive NBA teams are forged.

They are also not conditions that Michael Jordan will tolerate.

Strengths and weaknesses
There's enough talent for the Wizards to be in the hunt for a playoff spot. But it's probably too late for that to happen this season. Strickland and Richmond, although a tad on the downside of strong NBA careers, have enough skills to function at a positive NBA level. They have to be physically able, however, and both have sustained nagging injuries.

Howard and Austin must lift their overall games -- scoring, rebounding and team defense -- and Heard should make the decision to play either rookie Richard Hamilton or veteran Tracy Murray at small forward. That would allow Howard to operate at his best position -- big forward -- and also give Michael Smith the chance to come off the bench, where he's more comfortable and effective.

The bench is adequate. Aaron Williams, either Murray or Hamilton, White or Austin, Chris Whitney and Gerard King play hard and effectively. Heard must find a way to get the same effort from his complacent starters.

The Wizards score enough to win (about 95 points per game). They are too careless with the ball (18 turnovers a game) and are too passive defensively (allowing 99 points a game).

The Future
Michael Jordan will go on the practice floor and demonstrate to his players what it means to really compete. He'll be hard to resist. I foresee the Wizards turning up their intensity level and improving their performance in upcoming games.

But Michael is only going to demonstrate -- he isn't going to play in games. This isn't a situation that he can reverse by himself. But he'll find out first hand which players he wants to keep. The problem is that Richmond, Strickland, Howard and Austin have long-term contracts. Unless they improve their performance levels, they'll be hard to trade even if MJ prefers to move them.

Michael Jordan has always been about taking on challenges. He has a huge one with the Wizards.

Don't count him out.