SALT LAKE CITY -- Eddie Jordan just announced the both Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels are out for tonight's game against the Jazz. Butler strained his left hamstring in overtime of last night's 126-120 loss to the Lakers, and Daniels aggravated the left wrist that he first sprained earlier this month.

Daniels first sprained the wrist when he got his thumb caught in the jersey of a Milwaukee Bucks opponent on March 11. He had an MRI and X-ray done on the wrist back then, but didn't miss any time. He played with it heavily taped and winced every time he touched the ball.

Last night he got the thumb caught in the jersey of the Lakers' Vladimir Radmanovic, left the game in the first quarter and didn't return. Daniels said his hand hurt so bad he came close to throwing up. He said his wrist isn't broken, but he can't further injure it by playing. He hopes to play Wednesday night in the Wizards' return to Verizon Center against the Bucks.

Andray Blatche will start in place of Butler and Roger Mason Jr. will start in place of Daniels. Blatche averages 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds when he starts at forward. For the season he is averaging 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Mason is averaging 8.7 points and 1.6 assists this season. He has started eight games in place of Daniels this season when the veteran missed time with knee and ankle injuries. As a starter Mason averages 17.6 points and 3.1 assists.

-- Mike Jones

As Gilbert Arenas continues to work his way back from that Nov. 21 knee surgery, he is seeking divine intervention and he has put his faith on display in the form of a new tattoo.

Agent Zero, who already has an extensive collection of tats, now has a cross with beams of light shining from it inked on his left knee. Arenas, who wanted to play this past Sunday but didn't receive clearance from team doctors, said he got the new tattoo last week in Orlando while he and the Wizards were on a three-day, two-game Florida trip that included games against the Magic and Heat.

"Gotta get the Lord to bless me," a smiling Arenas said sitting in front of his locker as he rubbed the tattoo.

Arenas said he is feeling "pretty good," but that his knee doesn't feel any different than it did on Sunday when the team's medical staff advised him to give it another week of rest and rehab before trying to play in a game.

- Mike Jones

NBA makes European tour official

The NBA officially announced what had been reported weeks ago by the Associated Press that the Wizards will take part in this fall's NBA Europe Live 2008 tour presented by EA Sports.

The Wizards, Hornets, Nets and Heat are the four teams selected for this year's tour. It will be the third consecutive year the league has played preseason games overseas.

The Wizards will play the Hornets twice: In Berlin on Oct. 14 and in Barcelona on Oct. 17.

Wizards coach Eddie Jordan and Gilbert Arenas talked about playing overseas this fall. Excerpts follow:

Jordan:
"We are very excited about the opportunity to play the New Orleans Hornets in the preseason, and in the 2008 2009 season. We think it's going to be a great experience for our team and our franchise on the floor, as well as off the floor. We're really looking forward to bringing really exciting basketball to the preseason to Berlin and to Barcelona."

Arenas:
"I think it's going to be a great opportunity, you know, for two young upcoming teams in the NBA to go out of the country to Berlin and Barcelona to show off their skills and their talent.

"When you're growing up, you never think you'll experience something like this, you know, playing out of the country on an NBA team and I think it's going to be great for both teams and both franchises."

Q: There's been a lot of talk about international expansion, European expansion. Given the cultural and travel problems that would involve, what would a player's take on that prospect be?

Jordan: "You know, that's actually the only problem that the players are concerned with, you know, traveling. We hate traveling from East to West, and that's six or seven hours.

"So we can't imagine flying ten, 12, 13 hours to go play a basketball game. That's something they are going to have to show to us that, hey, the first team that actually happens, we'll see what happens. But until then, that's our biggest concern, that time flight that we'll be taking."

Q. Hypothetically, in a couple of years time, if you were traded to a team in London or Berlin or coming out of college, if you were drafted to a team in Rome or Madrid, what would your response be having to make your living over in Europe?

Arenas: "You know, it depends what kind of hindsight you have. You have to have hindsight, where you're going to a city where they are going to have a new team where you become a mega-superstar over there. I look at it like soccer, those are the countries with the biggest fans.

"So you have going over there and embrace the life and embrace the team you're playing for."

-- Mike Jones

PORTLAND -- In the last few months and weeks, you could talk to Gilbert Arenas and get the feeling that he was conflicted. To return, or not to return. That was the question. He admitted it. At times, you got the feel that he really would rather stall for time and then wait until next season.

But after Sunday, when he was finally ready to come back but the team doctor to wait another week, you could tell he REALLY wanted to come back. He sat in front of his locker room, face contorted, angrily pulling on his street clothes. He then stormed from the locker room. He drove home and cooled off, changed into proper bench-wearing attire and came back to cheer his teammates to a win over Detroit.

What exactly was going through Gil's head after hearing the news? How upset was he really? What calmed him down and made him come back to watch the rest of the game?

The Agent tells us himself in his latest blog, which he uploaded today.

It's all there. From the conversation with the doctor, to thoughts of suicide -- I'm not making it up -- to therapeutic music. And then, in typical unpredictable Gilbert fashion, he totally changes directions and starts talking about basketball, birthday parties and the playoffs.

This week's blog is a must-read! Only Agent Zero!

-- Mike Jones

After leaving Verizon Center about an hour and 15 minutes before the game, because he didn't bring any clothes and visibly upset because team doctors didn't clear him to make his comeback today, Gilbert Arenas returned to the arena by the start of the second quarter and sat on the bench.

Agent Zero was wearing blue jeans, a white button-up and a tan sportscoat. A few minutes after returning, he went on with ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters.

"Even though I wasn't playing, it's still about the team. I still had to come back and support them," Arenas told Salters.

On what happened tonight that kept him from playing:
"I said I was 90 percent and that 10 percent with the docs kept me from playing. I thought we had an understanding that this would be the day I made my comeback, but I guess they want to wait another week and see how things are."

On how his knee feels:
"It feels fine. I can't let the fear of getting a hurt again get the best of me, which was what was hampering me the last few weeks. And today I was ready to play, but they went out there with a fishing pole and yanked me back."

-- Mike Jones

Gilbert Arenas will have to wait a bit longer before making his comeback from a Nov. 21 knee surgery after team doctors refused to clear him for tonight's game.

"He's close. We believe he's close," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "But it's not going to be tonight. It's a combination. He's willing to test his whole body in an NBA game and the doctor says he's not ready. And it's good for all parties to wait and see once another week has gone by to see where he is."

Arenas had gone through the team's full shootaround and was eager to return tonight against the Pistons. He met with the team's medical staff before the game and that's when doctors decided he wasn't ready to play. Arenas was visibly upset in the locker room before the game. He got dressed, gathered his belongings and left the arena because he said he didn't bring clothes that would meet the NBA's dress code for sitting on the bench.

Arenas paused before he left the locker room and said "Y'all don't have to write anymore. I'm not coming back this year." Then he left Verizon Center.

When asked about Arenas' claim, Jordan said the guard hasn't been scratched for the season.

"There's always a chance," Jordan said. "We're not discounting that prediction. There's always a chance."

-- Mike Jones

Inside the visitors' locker room before last night's game in Miami, many of the Wizards along with their coaches intently watched the final portion of the UConn-San Diego, which the No. 13 Tereros won 70-69 in overtime over the No. 4 Huskies.

The upset greatly pained UConn product Caron Butler. He trudged out of the side room in which the game was watched, shoulders drooped, brow furrowed.

"Well, bad thing is, I gotta take it out on somebody," said Butler, who went on to score 25 points on 9-for-11 shooting against the team that drafted him 10th overall out of UConn in 2002.

Minutes after the loss, rookie Nick Young started rubbing in the Huskies' defeat. Grinning, Young sauntered over to the trainers table that Butler was stretched out on, and rained down taunts.

"Man! What happened to UConn?" Young laughed. "That [messed] up my whole bracket. Man!"

Young went on before Butler threatened to inflict pain upon the rookie, who then backed off and conceded that he was just glad to have some company since his alma mater, No. 6 USC, had gotten upset by No. 11 Kansas State the previous night.

No sooner had Young backed off that Gilbert Arenas – whose Arizona Wildcats fell to West Virginia on Thursday -- bounded into the locker room and said "What happened to UConn?"

"Not talking about it, I said," Butler growled while other teammates suppressed laughter.

Arenas continued: "Hey, it's alright. We can all go fishing now. Arizona, UConn and USC, we can all go fishing together now. Seabass fishing."

Butler was not amused.

-- Mike Jones

Wizards shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson further expounded upon the beef he and LeBron James have going on, which seemed to have started last Thursday when the two started yapping at each other just before tip-off and escalated to Stevenson telling reporters that LeBron was "overrated."

Stevenson said James said something to Drew Gooden about the Wizards guard back before Cleveland traded Gooden to Chicago. And Gooden -- Stevenson's best friend, who is also in a $20,000 beard-growing contest with D-Steve -- passed the message on.

"He said something about me as a player and a person," Stevenson said last night. "I don't understand, we're all in the same profession. There's no need to talk bad about anybody."

Stevenson got the best of James in last Thursday, when he frustrated him with lockdown defense that resulted in 9-for-22 shooting by King James, who finished with 25 points.

James responded to the "overrated" claim earlier this week by describing him commenting on Stevenson as Jay-Z stooping to respond to trash talk from Soulja Boy, likening Stevenson trash-talking him to Soulja Boy.

A member of the Orlando media asked Stevenson if he would rather face the Magic or James and the Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, and Stevenson seized the opportunity to exchange another jab with LeBron.

"I'd say Cleveland. LeBron James? Boo! I hope we play Cleveland because I'm have Soulja Boy's there sitting in courtside seats wearing a DeShawn Stevenson jersey. Maybe [James] can have Jay-Z there since LeBron's all in his [shorts] anyway. Tell him to be his own man."

Then Stevenson added one last parting shot: "And tell LeBron to cut that beard off and stop copying me."

He then collected his belongings and sauntered out of the lockerroom singing Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat"

Ah, the drama. Here's to hoping the Wizards grab the fifth spot and Cleveland stays in the fourth spot!

-- Mike Jones

In the locker room before tonight's game, Gilbert Arenas gave another update on his comeback from a Nov. 21 knee surgery. He said that he expects to be back "way before the playoffs" and "hopefully within this week, maybe that West Coast road trip."

What exactly "within this week" means is a bit perplexing. Arenas -- who had an MRI on his surgically repaired left knee and got a clean bill of health but said yesterday he would probably wait another week before considering returning -- has already ruled himself out of Friday's game in Miami, so the earliest he could return if it is indeed “within this week” would be Sunday night's home game against Detroit. And the Wizards then begin a five-game, seven-day road trip Tuesday night in Seattle.

Agent Zero remains confident in his team's chances this postseason, even ranking them among the favorites.

"We're not scared of any team." he said. "There's not a team that actually frightens us out there. When you have three guys that score 20, we're more frightening because no one has actually seen us as a whole group yet. Everyone has seen a scouting report of our team, but if you have a scouting report it's a report from last year, or the beginning of the season. . . . We're kinda a favorite going in if you look at it in that aspect, no one knows what we do yet."

A member of the Orlando media asked Arenas about his cautious approach and admitted fear of hurting his value this summer when he opts out should he suffer yet another injury this spring.

Agent Zero was kind enough to elaborate.

"What would y'all do? Let's be honest. Sit there! I guarantee, you'd be scared to walk outside. I know when my contract was up [in 2004] and I signed here, and I had to drive to meet Ernie [Grunfeld]. I stopped at greens, reds, yellows. Wanted to make sure nothing happen 'til I got my contract signed. I went the speed limit that day. Didn't hit no freeways, no nothin'."

In other Wizards news . . . Coach Eddie Jordan said his players responded well to last night's 1 a.m. curfew, but that he'll allow them to have some fun in Miami when they arive tonight, following the flight from Orlando.

"Curfew, I think they liked it," Jordan said. "I think they understand that we care, that we're doing everything that we can to make this a business approach. Tonight when we get to Miami, they can have some fun and then Thursday night they'll have another curfew. But I think they like it, they understand it. Players always want discipline and they know that we're all in this together to perform as well as we can."

-- Mike Jones

Just got off the phone with Agent Zero, and he said he's not going to play tomorrow in Orlando. Gilbert had an MRI done on his knee yesterday, and on Saturday said that if the results came back negative, that there was a chance he could play against the Magic. Last night he spoke with reporters before the game against the Hawks and said he planned to test out his knee full-speed last night and in practice today.

But Wizards coach Eddie Jordan canceled practice today, and Arenas hoped to hit the floor at Verizon Center anyway, but couldn't because he said workers were putting down the floor for the NCAA tournament.

"I'll just have to wait to see how it is in Orlando," he said. He plans on taking part in shootaround tomorrow morning, but that's it. Gil also said that it's highly unlikely that he'll consider playing in Miami on Friday.

"I'll probably wait another week."

Arenas, who first tore a meniscus in his knee last April and had season-ending knee surgery, then played the first eight games of this season before having to have another knee surgery in November, said the results from the MRI were encouraging, but remains cautious.

"Yeah, it was [encouraging], but at the end of the day, that's what they said last time, 'You're healed. You can't hurt it again. Go all out.'"

Gilbert, who as you know plans to opt out at the end of this season, said he still wants to come back and play this season, but is wrestling with himself over whether its worth it.

"That's what I keep trying to run through in my mind," he said. "If we weren't in the playoffs, it wouldn't even be a discussion. But we have a chance of being pretty good in the playoffs, so it's tough."

-- Mike Jones

I'm LIVE from Verizon Center, pinch-hitting for Young Mike Jones and I just got my back from the Wizards locker room and my first Gilbert Arenas Group Interview Injury Situation.

This guy is all over the place.
Arenas underwent an MRI on his left knee earlier today and both he and coach Eddie Jordan said the results were positive. Arenas has been told to "ramp up" his work in practice but that when -- or if -- he returns this season, he'll have to play an "assists game."

While setting a record for saying, "At the end of the day" during a press conference, Arenas said ...

*On whether he'll play at all the rest of the season: "I don't know. I'm hoping. I do want to play."

*On whether he would play Wednesday at Orlando: "I don't know to be honest. They want me to ramp it up to see. One [doctor] said give it a 12-day ramp up just to see."

*On whether a 12-day ramp up, happens, that would rule him out for this week: "At the end of the day, they told me to come back and stay away going to the hole and be careful."

*On his availability the rest of the year: "Every game is 50-50, depending on how I feel that night."

Translation: Arenas doesn't know when he'll return and the team doesn't know either.

-- Ryan O'Halloran

And yet another update on the Wizards' leading man -- even in injury -- Mr. Gilbert Arenas ...

Agent Zero said in the locker room before tonight's game that he is waiting on team clearance before he can return to game action, and that the Wizards' medical staff wants him to undergo an MRI before giving him the OK.

"It's up to them. Ask the Docs," said Arenas, who has missed all but eight games this season with a second knee surgery since he tore a meniscus in April 2007. "They want me to get one more MRI to make sure everything's OK in there. After I get my MRI, if everything's OK, we'll see if they clear me."

Arenas said he will likely have the MRI done on Tuesday, the day before Washington heads to Orlando for Wednesday's game against the Magic.

So, if he's cleared, does that mean he will play Wednesday?

"Maybe," a smiling Arenas said. "Maybe."

It's a different tune than what we've been hearing since Arenas was cleared to resume full-contact practice two weeks ago. Before the message was that it was up to Arenas as to when he returned.

The contradicting messages actually began Thursday night. In the locker room before watching his team take on the Cavaliers, Agent Zero told me he just wants to go through a full week of practice with no soreness, and when that happens he will return. This was consistent with what Arenas said after his first full-speed practice on March 3.

But later that night when interviewed during the game by TNT's Cheryl Miller, Arenas said on-camera that he had wanted to make his return that same night, but team doctors told him that the team needed him for the full remainder of the season and that he wasn't ready.

When asked about Arenas' statement Wizards coach Eddie Jordan laughed.

"What did he say?" Jordan asked before the news was repeated to him. "Well, alright. We'll see how it goes. I haven't had any updates on him, but that's for me to find out sooner, than later, and that's not for me to know right now. I'm concerned about this game right now."

So ... stay tuned ...

-- Mike Jones

A day after celebrating his 28th birthday with a team-high 19 points in 41 minutes and a post-game party on K Street, Caron Butler was in practice today and said he felt "great." He had a spring in his step and joked that he still hadn't slept yet after his party.

Even Wizards coach Eddie Jordan was all smiles following practice.

"Each win makes you feel good," Jordan grinned. "Each win it's a beautiful day. It's a beautiful morning, you feel great."

All of Jordan's players practiced -- including DeShawn Stevenson (sore knee), Antawn Jamison (strained back), Antonio Daniels (sprained thumb) and Gilbert Arenas (knee surgery). Arenas, however, was limited in some activities.

The Wizards hope to post their first three-game winning streak since Jan. 14 when they play host to the Los Angeles Clippers tomorrow night.

-- Mike Jones

Wow, so much to glean from Thursday night's 101-99 Wizards victory over Cleveland, and not enough deadline wiggle room or inches in the paper to get it all out. So here are a few more nuggets on the Wizards vs. the Cavs ...

Stevenson laughs last

The smack talk started before the game when a comment regarding DeShawn Stevenson was relayed from the Cavaliers locker room to the Wizards. It kept right on rolling as soon as the teams took the court for tip-off. LeBron James walked up to Stevenson and started jawing, and Stevenson jawed back. Stevenson was also a target of the Cavs' eccentric Damon Jones, who railed the Wizards' top lockdown defender/3-point specialist, from the bench and when he got into the game.

Stevenson responded by matching up with James and forcing him into seven turnovers -- canceling out his seven assists. He also recorded 13 points -- making four 3-pointers -- and five assists and three steals.

Stevenson had given his I-can't-feel-my-face gesture after 3-pointers a rest in recent weeks, but he broke it out again after his first trey. But he switched his celebration on the last three 3-pointers to mock Jones, holding the last three fingers of one hand above the open palm of the other -- as if serving a trey up on a tray -- and then reaching back and smacking his butt as he glared at Jones and ran down the court.

Stevenson also drew a rare charge call on James out of the referees with less than a minute left to play.

When asked what all the smack talk was about he shrugged it off saying, "Man, we said so much stuff out there, it's hard to remember."

Fans rise up

The Wizards fans, normally rather quiet and not always aware of what's going on, came out in force last night, numbering 20,173 -- the Wizards' 18th sellout of the season. And they went to work on James, booing the NBA's leading scorer nearly every time he touched the ball in the first half.

During a timeout with five minutes left in the second quarter, a fan sitting behind press row heckled James as he walked to the bench, screaming "LeBron! Three-of-10? Three-of-10? C'Mon, that all you got?" James chuckled and said "It's early, it's early." The fans continued to pester King James throughout the game, calling him a bum and reminding him how badly he sucked. Funny; 25 points and seven rebounds is considered sucking, but hey, at least the Wizards fans were into the game for a change.

Game balls

First half: Caron Butler. Tough Juice returned from a 16-game layoff because of that labral tear in his left hip and hit his team's first two shots of the game. He finished the first quarter with a team-high nine points and scored the first points of the second and third quarters. After the game, Butler admitted feeling some fatigue in the second half. But the game ended with the ball in his hands as he pulled down the rebound on James' missed 3-pointer at the horn. And he said his hip still felt great despite recording a team-high 41 minutes. Happy 28th Birthday, Caron!

Second half: Antonio Daniels. A.D. badly injured his left thumb Tuesday when he got it caught in an opposing player's jersey. He played anyway, but considering he had nearly an inch of tape around his thumb and wrist and the fact that every time he caught the ball, or got bumped, he winced badly, Daniels injury could be more serious than he's letting on. He took only four shots in the game, and went to his right a lot. But he stepped up when it counted, making six of seven foul shots in the final 2:31 of the game, which was decided by just two points.

By the numbers

17
Cavaliers turnovers, which the Wizards converted into 23 points. It helped offset the Wizards' struggles on the offensive glass. They had only seven offensive rebounds and got out-rebounded 51-36 for the game.

Soundbites

"Golly, I can't even tell you. I can't even tell you."
-- Daniels on how uncomfortable his thumb was.

"I'm always comfortable at the line. And I wanted to be there at the end of the game. I wanted the ball at the end of the game to knock the free throws down."
-- Daniels on his six fourth-quarter foul shots.

"We're having a good time. We're shutting K Street down tonight. We'll have a good time out there, then we'll get back up and get back to the drawing board."
-- Caron Butler on celebrating his 28th birthday after the game.

"We're just waiting on Gilbert. Just hoping he comes back, next week or the next week. But we're gonna hold it down 'til he does."
-- Butler on the Wizards getting back to full force.

"The world was watching, it's your birthday, you know you have a lot of things ruling in your favor, so you knew it was gonna be an exceptional night."
-- Butler on coming back on his birthday on a nationally-televised game.

-- Mike Jones

Photo by Joseph Silverman / The Washington Times

Just caught up with Gilbert real quick inside the Wizards locker room and Agent Zero said his surgically-repaired left knee is feeling pretty good today. He said he has yet to set a date for his return, wanting instead to go a whole week without pain before he takes the court in a game. As you may remember, he practiced all last week, but held himself out of Monday's session because of soreness in the knee. He said he felt good in yesterday's practice and that his knee felt "a little" sore today. He said he'll continue to be patient, hoping for improvement, but that if April arrives and the on-again-off-again soreness is still there, he'll just go ahead and play.

In eight games this season, Arenas averaged 22.4 points and 5.9 assists. But chronic pain in his knee -- in which he suffered a torn meniscus in April of 2007 -- forced him to have a second surgery in November. He has missed the last 55 games for the 31-32 Wizards.

-- Mike Jones

It's official, Caron Butler -- after missing 16 straight games and 19 since Jan. 27 with a small labral tear in his hip -- will start tonight. Eddie Jordan said that Butler has looked explosive and sharp in each practice session and shootaround since he resumed activity this week. Pregame Butler was on the court taking some more work and was near automatic as he worked his way around the arch about a foot inside 3-point range.

Jordan said he has no set plan as to how many minutes Butler will log, and that he and Butler will just have to see how the three-time All-Star, who is averaging 21.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists, is feeling.

-- Mike Jones

Caron Butler went through another strong practice yesterday and afterwards both Wizards coach Eddie Jordan and Butler said that the two-time All-Star will probably play tomorrow night when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town.

Butler, who has missed 16 straight games and 19 since Jan. 27 with a small labral tear in his left hip socket, said that after not practicing since Feb. 18 that he feels ready to go. Butler, who after practice beat rookie Oleksiy Pecherov in a game of Around-the-World, said that he hasn't felt any symptoms of the injury in about "five or six days" and that his confidence is high.

Excerpts from interviews after todays practice follow:

Jordan on Butler
"Caron looked good today. He did everything everyone else did, and we'll see how he looks tomorrow. I really think he's probable, which is an upgrade. If he's ready to go, he's fair game and [LeBron James] would be the matchup for him."

Butler on Butler
"Went through a full practice again, felt pretty good. I went through the shootaround before the game yesterday, felt no symptoms, just a little tightness in the groin area. After today's practice, after beating up on Pech a little bit, went in the back, got a little treatment and still feel good. If I wake up tomorrow and feel the same way, I'll definitely be on the court."

On if he has the confidence to attack a guarded rim during a game
"I will. I will flush it. I will go up and attack. But we'll just see how I feel tomorrow morning. Hopefully I feel the same way I do right now."

On not changing his style because of the hip injury
"If I'm injured or whatever the case may be, I've played with injuries. I've played three weeks after having my knee scoped and I was still out there, dunking and running around crazy. That's just my style of play. I'm gonna be tough, hard nosed, that's what the fans come to see. That's my style and my niche and how I got my name in this league."

Notes -- Gilbert Arenas was back in practice after missing Monday's session with soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee. ... Pecherov also practiced after sitting out last night's game with a sprained left foot. Antawn Jamison (back strain), Antonio Daniels (sprained thumb) and DeShawn Stevenson (sore knee) didn't practice yesterday. ...

Jamison, Daniels, Stevenson and Pecherov all are probable for tomorrow night's game. Still no timetable for return to game action Arenas, or center Etan Thomas, who hasn't missed a practice since resuming full-contact work last week.

The Wizards and Caron Butler got another sign of encouragement today when the All-Star forward felt good enough a day after practicing for the first time in three weeks to take part in this morning's shootaround.

"He's feeling better, and that's a good sign," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said before tonight's game. "He's just not ready to play tonight. We're going to practice tomorrow, see how everyone's feeling and hopefully be ready Thursday."

Jordan was asked how much hope he actually had these days and laughed before replying.

"I'm just trying to give you guys something to hold onto. I keep saying, 'No comment, no comment.' But, he is practicing, so I can talk about him, and it looks like he's making progress."

Rookie Oleksiy Pecherov will not play tonight. He rolled his ankle and was walking around with only a sock on his left foot at the end of yesterday's practice. He is listed as day-to-day.

-- Mike Jones

Caron Butler took part in his first full-speed practice in three weeks and said his left hip, which has a small labral tear in it, felt good. Because he had nearly a full squad for the first time in almost a month, Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan didn't spend much time on drills, but instead ran a full five-on-five scrimmage. He said he was surprised at how well Butler -- who has missed the 19 games, including the last 16 with the injury -- looked. But the team will continue to proceed cautiously. The Wizards are flying in from Los Angeles a specialist, who has worked with some of the USC basketball players who have had similar injuries, to evaluate Butler. He will run Butler through a series of tests tonight and help give the player and organization a better feel for his condition and progress.

Butler, who wore a brace on his groin and hip area for support, later spoke and here was his take on his first practice back:

"I felt real good, gonna see how the body responds tomorrow. But I was able to move around with no pain. And at the end, probably the last five minutes of practice, decided to pull me off to get a little ice, because of compensation I had a little tightness in my groin area. So, I just pulled off."

On how much contact he took:
"I played live. We got right into it, I scrimmaged. I got a lot of contact, got to cut, got a lot of contact. Felt great."

On his main concern -- outside of injury -- coming into practice:
"Just a basketball rhythm in general after you talk about getting past the pain. Just getting a rhythm and getting your legs under you. And It seems to be all there. I was excited to get back on the court, do some explosive things."

On if he was surprised by how well it went:
"Yeah, I was. I just went out there, and he put me right in the fire. He said, 'Go, play your game and do you out there. And I felt pretty good. I had a nice rhythm and I felt pretty good. My teammates were looking for me because they wanted me to get a feel for everything, but overall I felt pretty good until the last five minutes. I felt a little tight."

On a timetable for his return:
"The thing is, we don't wanna put a timetable on it. Just see how my body feels and we'll go off that. Because, probably a couple weeks ago, I had a great practice and the next day I felt horrible. So, we'll just see how it is tomorrow and go off of that."

-- Mike Jones

Caron Butler took part in his first full-speed practice in three weeks and said his left hip, which has a small labral tear in it, felt good. Because he had nearly a full squad for the first time in almost a month, coach Eddie Jordan didn't spend much time on drills, but instead ran a full five-on-five scrimmage. He said he was surprised at how well Butler -- who has missed the past 19 games, including the last 16 with the injury -- looked. But the team will continue to proceed cautiously.

The Wizards are flying in from Los Angeles a specialist who has worked with some USC basketball players who have had similar injuries to evaluate Butler. He will run Butler through a series of tests tonight and help give the player and organization a better feel for his condition and progress.

Butler, who wore a brace on his groin and hip area for support, later gave his take on his first practice back:

"I felt real good, gonna see how the body responds tomorrow. But I was able to move around with no pain. And at the end, probably the last five minutes of practice, decided to pull me off to get a little ice, because of compensation I had a little tightness in my groin area. So, I just pulled off.

On how much contact he took:
"I played live. We got right into it, I scrimmaged. I got a lot of contact, got to cut, got a lot of contact. Felt great."

On his main concern -- outside of injury -- coming into practice:
"Just a basketball rhythm in general after you talk about getting past the pain. Just getting a rhythm and getting your legs under you. And it seems to be all there. I was excited to get back on the court, do some explosive things."

On if he was surprised by how well it went:
"Yeah, I was. I just went out there, and he put me right in the fire. He said, 'Go, play your game ... and I felt pretty good. I had a nice rhythm, and I felt pretty good. My teammates were looking for me because they wanted me to get a feel for everything, but overall I felt pretty good until the last five minutes. I felt a little tight."

On a timetable for his return:
"The thing is, we don't wanna put a timetable on it. Just see how my body feels and we'll go off that. Because, probably a couple weeks ago, I had a great practice and the next day I felt horrible. So, we'll just see how it is tomorrow and go off of that."

When practice was opened to the media today at Verizon Center, Caron Butler was on the floor and the chest of his grey T-shirt was mildly darkened with sweat, which is a welcome sign that Tough Juice is taking steps toward a return.

Butler didn't practice, but did shoot around. He said his body is feeling "great" and that he is feeling better, but still hasn't set a timetable for his return. He's not traveling with the team to Toronto for tomorrow night's game, but instead will remain in the District and work out, "try to get my legs under him as much as I can and then hopefully practice Monday."

But don't expect him to play Tuesday.

"I've still got to get some practices under my belt, and respond to the practices well and get some type of basketball rhythm back," Butler said.

Butler said he's "very confident" that he will return this season.

- Mike Jones

Center Etan Thomas, who is working his way back from an October heart surgery that repaired a leaky aortic valve, took part in five-on-five contact drills in Tuesday's practice, said he felt better a day after practicing than he did the day after his first attempt on Feb. 18. After the initial practice, Thomas said his heart felt fine, but he took a shot to the chest, which caused soreness in his sternum. The 6-foot-10, 260-pound seventh-year man hadn't practiced since. But decided to give it another go Tuesday. He said last night that he was encouraged after Tuesday's practice and that he continues to make small steps of progress. He added that he still must be patient, however. Thomas has switched to a different chest shield than the one he wore on Feb. 18. He said the new guard is less bulky than the first, but that it has a harder protective shell, and hopefully will allow him to handle contact better. Thomas did say, however, that during the practice, he was more careful not to put himself in situations that would open him up to additional punishing blows.

-- Mike Jones

After taking part in his first full-speed practice in nearly four months, Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was encouraged at the progress he's made and on the state of his conditioning. Coach Eddie Jordan said it was good to have Agent Zero back on the court, and while it remains uncertain as to when he'll be back in game-shape, his impact was felt immediately.

Excerpts from their interviews follow:

"Gilspeak"

On his first practice:

"It felt good. Surprising about my wind. I wasn't as tired as I thought it was gonna be. But I was just excited to get out there and play with the guys again.

On how his knee felt:

"It's fine so far. We'll see how it acts tomorrow after a day of rest. So we'll see how it feels tomorrow."

Eddie had said that while practice was full speed, Gilbert's teammates did go quite full force at him.

Here's Gilbert's take on that:

[Laughs] "I was going hard at them! You know, it's just one of those practices where they're trying to get ready for [Orlando] tomorrow and I'm trying to get my wind and get back the rhythm I once had. So, both sides were give and take. Nobody set a hard screen on me, and [rookie] Nick [Young] is always gonna try to take me one-on-one, but we've been playing one-on-one every day, so that was the easy part."

On gaining confidence on his knee and not letting a fear of another injury hold him back:

"Little by little, the more you play, the more you interact on the floor, the more you watch. Just to go out there and do the things you're used to doing. I made a move on Nick and was like, 'OK.' You know, just get your confidence back little by little."

On the next step:

"It's step by step. Today's one practice, just try to get enough practices under my belt before I step on that floor.

On whether he's set a new return date:

"No. Truthfully, I don't think I'm gonna make it back before Caron [Butler]. I really don't know. It's not, my knee feels good now, I go out and play tomorrow. It's not one of those deals."

No return date has been set for Butler, but Arenas said his teammate's hip might feel good, allowing him to just step back on the court, but it will take more than that for himself to return.

On if today's practice was more rigorous than his solo training:

"No, not really. There was a point I was doing a lot more, and I was mad I wasn't on the floor, because I was doing more off the floor than the team was. So today was easier, but it was nine other players on the floor, it wasn't just me."

"Eddiespeak"

"Gil had a good first practice ... Caution is a relative term. He's ready for full contact. So it's sort of up to the coaching staff and myself to construct practice to limiting some contact. ...

"We had a limit of no pick and roll screens on Gil, sort of blind screens that you can't see. But everything else was pretty normal. ... He's probably going to have to have a lot of good practices. It's going to be a longer process. ... But I thought he handed well. ...

"What was good was, Gil brings energy. His passing was phenomenal. Some easy baskets we got because some of that was the defense always gears towards Gil, leaving other people open. But the way he found people with his passes was just phenomenal. His team got a lot of easy practices and not just to Antawn [Jamison], but to [Oleksiy Pecherov], to [Dominic McGuire], to some of the younger guys. It was just to everybody."

-- Mike Jones

CHICAGO -- It had the feel of mission impossible.

There were the Wizards, already without Gilbert Arenas (who still appears a ways off from making his second comeback from knee surgery this season) and Caron Butler (whose day-to-day status because of a hip injury has now lasted almost a month) AND DeShawn Stevenson -- the hero of Monday's buzzer-beating stunner over New Orleans, who got ejected with 59 seconds left in the first half at Chicago for dropping consecutive F-bombs when questioning a non-call.

Oh, and they were down 52-34.

What team can climb out of a hole like that without its top two scorers and it's starting shooting guard?

The Wizards did it thanks greatly to their previously nameless faces, who are now starting to build rather solid reps for themselves.

Roger Mason Jr. entered this season with a career average of 4.7 points a game, but has steadily gained confidence and proved his worth when called upon during the Wizards' injury-plagued season. In eight games this season as a starter while filling in for Antonio Daniels, who had missed time with knee and ankle injuries, Mason averaged 17.6 points.

With Daniels back on the floor, Mason has returned to being the team's sixth or seventh option off the bench. But with Stevenson forced to watch the second half from the locker room, Mason heard his number called again.

He answered scoring all 17 of his points in the second half. Eight of them were among the Wizards' first 12 points.

The Quiet Assassin, as Eddie Jordan has begun to describe Mason, is playing on a one-year, $770,610 contract, and if he keeps up like this, he'll find himself inking a handsome deal this summer.

Darius Songaila had started only one game this season and is averaging 5.1 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.8 minutes a night. Who would've thought he would have stepped into the starting lineup and posted 14 points and four assists? Songaila, playing in his second season with Washington, had scored a season-high 19 points in a one-point loss to Cleveland eight days ago. He said lately he has stepped up his conditioning work and it looks like it's paying off.

And Andray Blatche also stepped up last night. The third-year big man had been solid in his first handful of games as a starter for Butler, averaging 16.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. His production has dropped after the All-Star break and Jordan decided -- beginning last night -- to go with a veteran in Songaila as his starter at forward.

That lit a fire inside of Blatche, who tried to be as diplomatic as possible and hide his disappointment after the game. But that frustration proved to be a good thing as Blatche channeled it for 17 points and 10 rebounds against Chicago.

The Wizards can't replace Gil and Caron, but contributions like those Mason, Songaila and Blatche turned in last night were huge and crucial as the Wizards fight to hold onto -- and possibly improve upon -- that sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. Hopefully they can keep it up.

- Mike Jones