Young Will Get Another Shot as Wizards Starter

Jordan Likes Mason in Reserve Role

Wizards guard Nick Young was excited about making his first NBA start against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night. The rookie first-round pick from Southern Cal loved hearing his name and school called over the public address system and he was thrilled to be on the court for tip-off.

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And then, not even four minutes into the game, Young picked up two fouls and headed right back on the bench.

Young finished with a modest seven points on 3-of-6 shooting as the Wizards won, 92-79, but Coach Eddie Jordan said the talented rookie will get another shot at starting tomorrow night when the Wizards (13-10) host the Chicago Bulls (8-13).

"I was excited and it brought back some old memories, but then I got some early fouls so I have to learn from that," said Young, who is averaging 7.2 points on 43.9 percent shooting. "I'm looking forward to getting another chance to go out and there and show what I can do."

When Jordan learned last Friday that Antonio Daniels was expected to miss two to four weeks with a right knee injury, he weighed his options and elected to start Young over veteran Roger Mason Jr., who has been one of the team's most solid performers during a four-game winning streak.

Jordan's feeling was that while Mason is fully capable of starting, he is also settled into a role as an off-the-bench scorer, so Jordan didn't want to take Mason out of that comfort level.

The philosophy seems to have merit: Mason came off the bench to replace Young in the first quarter Saturday night and promptly made his first two shots en route to scoring 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting in just under 36 minutes.

"I want to give Nick another chance and see if he can stay out of foul trouble and defend properly," Jordan said. "And then Mason comes off and he's in a position where we know that he can be successful. That's not to say that he can't be successful as a starter, but it's just that we want to go with what we know is a given right now."

Before Saturday's game, Jordan said he considered several lineups, including one that would have made Mason a back-court starter next to DeShawn Stevenson and one that would have shifted Caron Butler from small forward to shooting guard and made Darius Songaila a starter at forward next to Antawn Jamison.

For Young, the main difference between coming off the bench and starting will be figuring out when to defer to veteran teammates such as Butler, Jamison and Stevenson and when to find his own offense.

As a reserve, Young typically looked to drive to the basket or take a jump shot almost as soon as he removed his warmup shirt and checked into the game.

"As starter, I know he's trying to run some sets and trying to run the offense, but there were times when I said: 'Nick, you gotta come off that screen and be aggressive' -- you don't usually have to tell Nick Young that," Jordan said. "So, he's out there trying to blend that role between being a starter and he's out there with two other scorers, so he's figuring it out. We'll give him another chance [tomorrow night] and maybe another chance after that and see how it goes."

Wizards Notes: After Butler and Jamison went sent home because of illness and Andray Blatche was excused for personal reasons, the Wizards practiced with six players yesterday.

At the end of the hour-and-a-half long workout, Jordan chose five players and had them defend assistant coaches Mike O'Koren, Phil Hubbard, Randy Ayers, Dave Hopla and Wes Unseld Jr. for two possessions.

On the second possession, O'Koren, who last played in the NBA in 1987, drove and passed out to an open Hubbard, who last played in 1989, and Hubbard made a long jump shot over the outstretched arm of Brendan Haywood.

O'Koren and Hubbard celebrated with a high-five as a laughing Jordan whistled an end to practice. When he heard about what happened, injured guard Gilbert Arenas poked his head into the gym and let his teammates have it.

"How do ya'll lose to the coaches?" Arenas yelled. "They can't move!"