Wizards Notebook
Hughes Is Optimistic About Staying Put
Larry Hughes expects to return to Washington next season but says he will look at his options on the free agent market.
(Jonathan Ernst - Reuters)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Wizards guard Larry Hughes, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, can't help but think about his future with the team. Hughes has said all season that he enjoys playing for Coach Eddie Jordan and playing alongside point guard Gilbert Arenas. Asked about his chances of staying in Washington, Hughes said, "I think they're good."
President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld and owner Abe Pollin both have said that they don't intend to let Hughes go -- especially after the seventh-year guard had the best season of his career. Hughes averaged career highs of 22 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.89 steals. He also was named to the NBA's defensive first team last week and may have made his first career all-star appearance if he hadn't been forced to miss 20 games because of a broken right thumb. "Everybody is talking good and everything sounds good, but you never know," Hughes said. "Anything can happen, as far as people changing their minds or whatever. I just really want to get things started and see how things pan out and go from there. I'm going to explore all my options, with what I want to do with these years I have left."
Dampier Watch
Jordan had one question for the media before the game: "Is Erick Dampier playing tonight?" Jordan was referring to Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, who missed his second consecutive game because of a bruised right thigh last night. O'Neal has been disappointed with his production in the postseason, comparing his performance to Dampier, the Dallas Mavericks center.
Confident Wade
Heat guard Dwyane Wade has carried the team in the absence of O'Neal. He said the motivation is simple: "You don't want to let the big fella down. You want to give your all for him."
Wade is averaging 26.7 points, 9.0 assists and 6.6 rebounds in the postseason and was asked if he felt unstoppable. "Not necessarily unstoppable," Wade said. "I feel confident in our scheme, I feel confident in our team and I feel confident in my ability, and whether that's unstoppable or not, I'm just a confident player and I think in this league, you've got to be that or get eaten alive."
Peeler Not Retiring
Wizards guard Anthony Peeler, in his 14th NBA season, has been hampered by right knee tendinitis, but he said he had no intention of retiring when the season ends.
"I'm probably going to play three more years, hopefully. I'll just go from year to year," Peeler said. "I don't want to put a timetable on it, but 15 or 16 [years] would be nice. We'll have to see what happens."
Peeler has received limited minutes in the playoffs but hasn't complained.
"It was fun no matter what," Peeler said. "I wasn't used to my minutes or whatever. I was used to coming in at different times for 12 years. Not knowing, that's what really flared it up. But I'm cool."
