Wizards' laid-back Young learning when to turn on the juice

Nick Young is awfully soft spoken for having such an explosive game. Words take their time making their way out of the mouth of the Washington Wizards' second-year guard. It must be a Southern California thing emanating from the Los Angeles native.

Hearing Young talk in an NBA locker room almost seems out of place. Slap a pair of extra long Dickies shorts on him, some Vans on his feet and a short-sleeve button-down shirt buttoned up to the collar and you can picture him going back back to Cali Cali as just another surf-and-sun loving guy.

But in a league full of taped, jacked, ripped, locked-in, tuned-up warriors? What is Young doing here?

Well, Young is 6-foot-6, 200 pounds -- the same exact height and weight that Michael Jordan was when he entered the league. And that explosiveness? Those quick hops and polished offensive moves? The ability to shoot it midrange or from three? That whole package is what Gilbert Arenas calls Young's "Kobe skill set."

Any time a player evokes MJ and the Mamba, he could listen to Raffi and dress like a woman and there'd still be a place for him in the NBA.

Young's production has been a little herky jerky lately. He started off the season by scoring at least 10 points in eight straight games. Then it was five out of six under 10. Then three in a row above. Then 10 out of 11 back below, including just two points in nine minutes in consecutive games against Philadelphia and Indiana. Again he bounced back, breaking double digits in seven of the next 11 -- including a stretch in which he scored 103 points on 43-for-60 shooting (71.7 percent). Then seven straight games in single digits. Then six straight games back above 10, including four nights of 20-plus. Then five under. Two over. Four out of five under. And finally, three straight over.

That's Young's season to date in a big paragraph. This is Young's season in his words:

"It's been a lot of ups and downs. Some games I play a lot. Some games I don't. Sometimes I score a lot, sometimes I don't. I'm just trying to stay focused through it all."

And this is his season in statistics: 21.6 minutes a game, 10.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 43. 8 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from three, 83.7 percent from the foul line, two head coaches and a dismal 16-51 record for the Wizards, the worst in the East.

His mentor on the team, Arenas, is from North Hollywood, Calif., but while Arenas might share the same lust-for-life West Coast attitude as Young, his work ethic is decidedly East Coast.

Young has taken to Arenas, studying the zeal he puts into his everyday routine. "Somebody like that can get my confidence up," Young said. Arenas says he's just returning the favor that Marc Jackson bestowed upon him in his first season with Golden State.

While Arenas coaches him on the ins and outs of the league, Young has had two actual coaches already in less than two seasons. Eddie Jordan, an offensive-minded maestro, was fired after the Wizards started the season 1-10. Director of Player Development Ed Tapscott was named as the replacement.

The adjustment has made the scoring-oriented Young shift his priorities.

"We practice more defense," Young said. "You got to play a lot of defense to stay out there. It's more old school ... It's been kind of hard."

Washington won its last game against Sacramento, just barely. With Washington up by three and less than 10 seconds left in the game, Young made a poor defensive decision, helping out on a driving Beno Udrih instead of staying home on his man, Francisco Garcia, on the perimeter.

Garcia got a wide-open look to tie the game, but he stepped on the 3-point line as he let it go and the Wizards held on.

After the game, Tapscott talked about the play and said, "I was looking for the guy that got sucked in on the drive. I was saying something to him that I can't repeat."

That's the kind of talk that you usually hear in an NBA locker room. As soon as Young starts to learn the language of the league, his future success should come as easy as his California-cool demeanor.