|  | | It's a crying shame that Alvin Gentry's Clippers are 12-22. |
Alvin Gentry believes he'll remain the Clippers' coach and oversee a dramatic turnaround. Surprised by such talk? Perhaps more amazing is that Gentry will be allowed to go down with his ship if L.A. doesn't escape rought waters, writes Marc Stein in his weekly report.Chat wrap: Senior NBA writer Marc SteinValley's new favorite Suns | Discord in Dallas?
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| Miles |
During his recent post-game shouting match with coach John Lucas, Darius Miles spit out two words Cleveland obviously didn't want to hear from the player it acquired in exchange for Andre Miller: "Trade" and "me." The belief now, though, is that Miles' frustration had a lot more to do with the booing he received that night in the Cavs' 24-point home loss to Indiana than problems with Luke. As one of the league's most popular players, Miles hadn't been booed before and clearly didn't take it well. It was the most embarrassing night of Miles' young career, but a few folks close to the 21-year-old believe the episode will actually prove to be a turning point in his season. It was the strongest message yet to Miles that he can't merely dunk the ball or tap his fists to his head to impress people any more. He's going to have to play well and his team has to win more, two things Cleveland hasn't seen much of lately ... Click for more on George Karl's Olympic coaching tip for Larry Brown, Ray Allen's biggest fear, Kwame Brown's work-in-progress and the Knicks' first-place dream.
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| STAT OF THE WEEK |
4 That's how many players, a mere four, can claim a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Memphis' Jason Williams. No lie: JThrill is averaging 3.34 assists to every giveaway, right behind a guy from Utah named Stockton (3.38).
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| STAT OF THE WEAK | 100 That's how many losses the East suddenly has in head-to-head games against Western Conference foes. After an unexpectedly strong start against the West -- 17-2 in home games for the East -- the West has amassed a more standard edge of 100-79. Chicago, Toronto and Cleveland are proving especially punchless, at a combined 7-29 against the West.
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| SPEAK OF THE WEEK |
 "We shoot our asses off."
—L.A. Clippers coach Alvin Gentry, explaining what has been happening at his team's extended practices and shootarounds. The extra shooting, though, hasn't made a difference during games. Perimeter woes, without the injured Eric Piatkowski and Marko Jaric, represent one of the many factors that have the Clips mired in a 1-6 slump -- 0-5 since Lamar Odom returned from an 11-month injury absence.
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Marc Stein, the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com, writes "The Stein Line" every Monday during the season. To e-mail him, click here.
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| STEIN SIDELINES |
SLAMS AND DUNKS
 Among league executives, the Blazers are known not as much for their combustibility as their willingness to make trades. Suddenly and unexpectedly, though, Atlanta is widely considered the team Most Likely To Wheel (And Deal) before the deadline. The Hawks have lost four straight games, without cracking 90 points, since Terry Stotts' debut victory over San Antonio and have a not-so-friendly homestand starting Monday against New Jersey, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans. Question is, would anyone be interested in Theo Ratliff? He's big and believed to be available, but Ratliff also has $21-plus million left on his contract after this season and a history of hip trouble that's disconcerting at the very least, if not quite approaching Bo Jackson's.
More Slams and Dunks
MAILBAG
 My question pertains to the current status of Michael Jordan's relationship with the Wizards. As I understand it, the rules essentially state a player cannot be a part of the front office and also be a player as well. This was why Jordan had to "officially" step down from his management role. But it seems widely acknowledged by sportswriters and executives of other franchises that Jordan is still calling the shots on personnel decisions. To me, the Wizards are basically being allowed to circumvent the rules. Why is this? Shouldn't the league make some effort to assure this isn't happening, even if MJ isn't a part of management by title?
If the league could prove some sort of misconduct, it would. But if Jordan is merely being consulted for a final yea or nay on deals, which is essentially what has been written, that's not a lot different than star players in other cities being consulted on moves. The Kings run big changes past Chris Webber and the Mavericks do the same with Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash to get their input. Lots of teams do this. The Wiz wouldn't have traded for Jerry Stackhouse without running it past Michael first. But it's not like MJ goes from practice straight to the front office to crunch salary-cap numbers or to work the phones in search of trade options -- and I don't remember any other team execs complaining that Michael is more involved than he should be. From his playing post, Jordan is simply an advisor, telling Wes Unseld or Abe Pollin that the Wiz should go after Larry Hughes or Charles Oakley. Of course, since they want MJ to come back as team president next season, the Wiz aren't going to do things he wouldn't endorse.
More Mailbag responses
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