The Chat House

Sports News

Welcome to another edition of The Chat House where Post columnist Michael Wilbon was online Monday, April 9, at 1:15 p.m. ET to take your questions and comments about the latest sports news and his recent columns.

The transcript follows.

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Falls Church, Va.: Michael --

What is your over/under on the number of Nats losses this year? I know it is early, but 100 seems very, very optimistic. 105-110 would be a better bet. Should rebuilding really require this level of embarrassment?

Michael Wilbon: It's a long, long season and you never know when young players are going to start to get the hang of being in the Major Leagues...Last year, the Pirates came around late and went .500 or something close to it over the last 55 games or so...The Nats could lose 55 games the first half of the season, then start to put it together and over the last 40-45 games...Still, 90 looks like a lock...and probably 90-95...

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D.C.: Hey Wilbon need an unbiased opinion from you....can the Wizards take any positives from this season that turned into total disaster?

Michael Wilbon: Great question: And the answer is yes, absolutely. If Andre Blatche and Songiala and Jarvis Hayes get meaningful time in playoff games, they ought to come back next season prepared to give the Wizards the kind of bench they'll need. Same goes for Stevenson, who will be a playoff neophyte. And the best news about the injuries is they shouldn't be career-altering injuries. Both Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas ought to be ready to go by mid-summer...I think I'm going to write about this issue this week. This month will be a downer, for sure, because while the Wizards have held their own against the Cavs and Nets in two recent games, they didn't win them and it's hard to see how they're going to be competitive in the playoffs. I can't think of a single team in the NBA that could win a series without its two best players. Would Dallas beat Golden State without Dirk and Josh Howard? I don't know. Maybe.

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Milwaukee, Wisc.: Mike, what's your take on what transpired at Augusta yesterday?

Michael Wilbon: Zack Johnson played fabulously and Tiger Woods didn't have it. Tiger was close to having it. But after having that eagle on No. 13, Tiger had chances to birdie 14 and 16...good opportunities...chances he often buries. And he couldn't do it. But Johnson could. How about his putt on, I think it was, 16 and his chip on 18? Great, great theater. I loved it. This notion that Tiger has to win every time out or something is wrong, is stupid. I hated the first three days of The Masters, though, because the weather turned it into a U.S. Open. One U.S. Open is enough...The Masters is about great shots, unlikely and even impossible shots (Tiger two years ago with that chip that hung on the lip before dropping)...We got some of that stuff yesterday, but not the first three days...

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Washington D.C.: Do you think the NBA season should be shortened to around 60 games?

Michael Wilbon: I'd love that...but it'll never happen. The owners won't give up the 22 games of gate and TV revenue. And the players aren't going to scale back their salaries to make it possible for the owners to cut the season...It would make for a fast-paced, don't-hold-back regular season. This drags on far too long, as does the NHL season. And the playoffs should be best-of-five the first round for sure...maybe the second round, too. And I'm a pro basketball addict and I feel that way.

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Washington, D.C.: I know a lot of people were rooting for Tiger this weekend, but isn't that like rooting for Goliath over David? Can't it be equally interesting seeing an unknown guy hold up under pressure and fend off arguably the greatest golfer ever?

Michael Wilbon: I do find it equally interesting...and I WAS rooting for Tiger. I think dominance can be fascinating and so can a guy having the round of his life. I love them both. That's why I said earlier I hate it when anybody acts as if Tiger not winning is some sort of tragedy or huge surprise. It isn't and shouldn't be treated as such.

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Columbia, Md.: Shouldn't K-State release a kid in Michael Beasley's situation from a signed letter of intent? It should be viewed like a contract -- the terms and conditions of the original "deal" have fundamentally changed with Huggins's departure.

Michael Wilbon: Yes, Kansas State should release all those kids and any justification for not doing so is garbage. If I was the parent of one of those kids I'd walk into the director of athletics office with my lawyer...

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Orlando: Mike -- What will you remember most about the two-year run Florida has had in college basketball? Will the players' success (or non-success) in the NBA affect their college legacy?

Michael Wilbon: Great question. No, their NBA success won't affect what they did at Florida. Strangely enough, if they have mega-NBA careers, that might obscure a little bit what they did as Gators. But there are plenty of examples to look at. Christian Laettner didn't have any impact in the NBA, even though he played 14 seasons or something close to that. It doesn't change the perception of what he did at Duke. Same for Bobby Hurley. Juan Dixon and Steve Blake may never win a title in the NBA, but they're forever Maryland's first title team and platinum figures around here.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I just wanted to say thank you for saying that Coach Eddie Robinson would be on the college football Mount Rushmore with Paterno, Bryant, and Bowden. He was a great coach.

Michael Wilbon: Thank you, and he would certainly be on my Mt. Rushmore. He was an incredible coach and a unique man. I can't imagine anybody coaching big-time college football at the same place for 56 years...

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Washington, D.C.: Do you think Lebron will ever get that "killer instinct" that great players such as Kobe and Jordan have?

Michael Wilbon: I love the hoops questions today. You guys are all over it. This is a question being asked in NBA circles. In fact, it's being asked in NBA locker rooms. And nobody knows the answer. At 22 years old, I think LeBron deserves the benefit of the doubt. I don't know that it's killer-instinct as much as it is he is still learning how to control the end of games. Where would he have learned? High school? Nope. That doesn't transfer. LeBron seems too undecided on whether he should be the scorer or playmaker. The great closers of the modern era -- Jordan, Magic, Bird, Thomas, Stockton, etc. -- learned how to do that in college, in the pressure cooker of the NCAA Tournament. LeBron, without that experience, is learning now, on the job. And it's hard. Cleveland has lost seven its last 12 after winning 8 straight. Yesterday, LeBron missed two foul shots with 30 or so seconds left that would have gotten the Cavs within two of Detroit and at the very least left the Cavs with a chance to win. Without those free throws, Cleveland was dead on the spot.

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Reston, Va.: What is your take on the Don Imus flap?

Michael Wilbon: I thought we'd get to this: I don't care whether Don Imus apologizes, or whether he's fired. Freedom of speech allows him to say whatever he wants to say. But I've got freedom of speech, as well, and I prefer to have the right to rip his face off in print and on TV for saying, repeatedly, the racially offensive stuff he says over and over and over and over. He compares blacks and Hispanics to apes all the time. ALL THE TIME. It's not rare, it's not an exception. It's not a one-time deal. ALL THE TIME. He and the people in his studio act as if all Blacks are pimps and whores and all have gold teeth and are illiterate...I'm glad I'm guaranteed the right to come right back at a bigot of this level and say whatever I want to say...And I'm happy to go toe-to-toe. Happy to.

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Washington, D.C.: On a scale of 1-10, had LeBron gone to college, even for just two years at a major program like Duke or UCLA, how much better would his game be?

Michael Wilbon: I think he'd be much, much, much better. I don't know if he'll ever be the artist that Magic and Bird were, or play with the controlled rage of Jordan...But his teams have gone south in each of his four seasons in Cleveland...And the Cavs are doing the same thing now.

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Washington, D.C.: Wilbon, do you see Phil Mickelson bouncing back from his disastrous finish at last years Open at Winged Foot? He looked terrible at this year's Masters.

Michael Wilbon: I know Phil sneers when anybody suggests that last year's implosion at the U.S. Open has sapped his confidence, even now nearly a year later. I love Phil and I root for him, but I don't believe for one second that he is playing with the same confidence and swagger.

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Washington, D.C.: Mike- Given your proximity/access to NBA GMs and Coaches, what are your thoughts on Roy Hibbert's prospects in the NBA and the likelihood of declaring for the draft this year?

Thanks

Michael Wilbon: I take Hibbert at his word, that he will come back for his senior year. All the people I've talked to -- without exception -- think he should come back and that if he does, and if he continues to grow as he did from sophomore to junior year, he'll be a top-five draft pick...Depending on what team he winds up with, what coaches and what guards, he might be a player who can contribute. Instant impact? Hard to see. But the scouts love his hands, his passing instincts, the fact that he has a 15-foot jumper we rarely see...He needs to be on a half-court team that has smart guards...I can't imagine he'll leave Georgetown now, but I haven't talked to the kid...I don't know what he's thinking, but I trust what he's saying...

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D.C.: Come next NBA season, do you expect Gilbert to come back with the same ole' Gilbertology, or do you expect a more focused and determined team player?

Michael Wilbon: I think Gilbert is focused when he's on the court. But I think he's an eccentric guy, which I absolutely like. There have been great eccentric players in team sports. Dennis Rodman? I think the Wizards need a rough-neck big man who can catch the ball in the low post and throw it in four or five times a game and deliver a well-timed elbow to somebody's gut...Gilbert and Caron and Antawn would be so much more effective if the Wizards had that player.

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Washington, D.C. : Hi Mike,

You and Barkley have had the opportunity to write a book (together) in the past. Do you see yourself writing a book at some point that conveys either your life experiences or your take on American society as viewed through the eyes of sport?

Thanks!

Michael Wilbon: Maybe. If some publisher determines there is interest in such a book. It would be hard work. I won't rule it out, but it won't happen anytime in the next four years, having just signed on to do all this basketball for ABC and ESPN in addition to writing my column for The Post and doing "Redskins Report" and "Full Court Press" for WRC-TV and George Michael.

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Washington, D.C.: Hey Mike, Thanks for taking my question.

Is the chat house something that the WP requires you to do or do you do it to interact with the fans?

Michael Wilbon: Tony and I started chatting awhile ago. Tony says it was 1999 or 2000. It was probably '98 or '99. It was rather novel at the time and Tony and I enjoyed the interaction. I don't remember who suggested it. But we were happy to do it. Tony's big-time now, Mr. Monday Night, so he doesn't have time for Post readers (I'm kidding)...I still love doing it. Nobody makes me or even asks to to at this point. It's become a tradition like no other (I hate that The Masters uses that so often)...and I guess I'll keep doing it until you guys tell me to go away...Okay everybody, we'll chat next Monday at which point we should know the fate of the Wizards (6th or 7th or headed toward 8th, which I don't believe)...Have a good week.

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