"It was barely two months ago that the Washington Wizards had five point guards, and now Randy Foye is essentially the last man standing.

This is not the way the Newark native wanted it, and this isn't the way anyone with the most depraved imagination thought it would end up.

But Gilbert Arenas is done for the season, perhaps forever in D.C., a victim of infantile behavior and hubris. Javaris Crittenton, a pending free agent, has likely played his last game in Washington. Mike James is a 33-year-old backup who has been typecast as nothing more than an emergency player.

And Earl Boykins, at 5-5, is still merely an explosive novelty.

That leaves Foye, the guy Flip Saunders yells at more than any other guy on the team.

Probably because the coach believes he has no other choice, if they want to salvage anything out of a very stressful season.

"Randy's proven to be an effective player in this league - in spots," the Washington coach said Friday night, before the Wizards beat the Nets, 81-79, on a last-second Boykins shot. "And it continues. What we're trying to do is get him to be more consistent. Randy's more of a scorer than a set-up type guy. So he's trying to adjust and learn how to do both."

Foye's fans - and Izod Center was filled with dozens of them Friday - would say he's doing pretty well.

Going into the game against the Nets, in which he had six points on 3-of-7 shooting, Foye had averaged 15.5 points and 4.7 assists as a starter, and had become the NBA's second-best free-throw shooter (.933).

And four years into his career, he has arguably the best mentor of his life, Wizards assistant Sam Cassell.

"If you watch me coming off the pick and roll shooting the ball, you can see Sam's influence. I'm getting much better at that," Foye said after his pregame workout with Cassell, which included roughly 200 shots. "This is a great opportunity for me, even after everything that has happened to the team. And it's always good when a team relies on your contribution.""