Coach: Relying On Jump Shots Is 'Fool's Gold'

Interim coach Ed Tapscott continues to emphasize to his players that they can't become overly reliant on jump shots. It's a message he has relentlessly repeated, with mixed results, since taking over for Eddie Jordan on Nov. 24.

According to 82Games.com, a Web site that tracks statistical trends, 66 percent of the team's attempts are jump shots, 29 percent are close to the rim, 3 percent are dunks and 1 percent are tip-ins.

Tapscott said he feels the same way whether the team's outside shots are going in or not.

"Even if they are going in I do because there's gold and there's fool's gold," Tapscott said. "You've got to stay balanced. The key is can we establish more of a grind-it-out game early so that later on, when we have to shoot some jump shots, they're a little bit easier and they're in the flow of what we're doing?"

A reliance on outside shooting can also contribute to the kinds of scoring droughts the Wizards have battled all season long.

"Either we hit a flat spot early in the game or we're playing along and have one late," Tapscott said. "But there's always a flat spot for us where the flow leaves us. That's something we have to get fixed."

· NO CHANCES: Center Andray Blatche has recently taken to wearing protective braces over both ankles. Blatche rolled his left ankle in a loss at Boston on Jan. 2 and had to leave that game, but has not missed a game the last two seasons.