As Washington Wizards players left the basketball court at the College of Charleston after completing their first practice of the preseason today, third-year forward Kwame Brown sat with new coach Eddie Jordan at a table near the sideline. Their brief, private conversation ended with Jordan extending his fist and Brown doing the same until the two gently pounded knuckles.

This is how it has been the past few months, Jordan reaching out to the confidence-shaken young forward and Brown reciprocating. For Jordan, that's his style. For Brown, it's a fresh approach. Will it make a difference?

That's up to the 21-year-old Brown.

"I have to come in prepared and ready and be solid, be ready to wash the taste of the first two years out of my mouth and just be a natural basketball player," Brown said.

Brown, whose already buff 6-foot-11 frame is more chiseled than ever, has mastered saying the right things, using his charm to endear goodwill in even the most fervent doubters. With Jordan, though, only Brown's actions will tell the tale.

"We'll see who retains and applies, who will learn the offense, learn the defensive philosophy and who will apply it on the floor, who has accelerated growth, who has normal growth and who has growing pains," Jordan firmly said. "We're not singling out Kwame."