ABCDE D SPORTS saturday, august 21, 2010 PROBASKETBALL


Off-court education John Wall attends rookie transition program. D3


COLLEGEFOOTBALL


Head of the huddle U-Md. coaches want Jamarr Robinson to take charge as QB. D2


COLLEGEFOOTBALL


Cavs’ good timing U-Va.’s wideouts are making progress in new offense. D2.


SWIMMING


Sutton, Hoff reach worlds Field for berths in 400 freestyle is sorted out on tense night. D3


Halladay is army of one asNats fall in Philly


Marquis gives best performance of the year in 1-0 loss on the road


BY GENEWANG


philadelphia—For a team that had won three times in 11 games entering Friday, facing a pitcher the caliber of Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay — on the road no less—wasn’t exactly an inviting option for theWashingtonNationals. It’s not a scenario even a division leader would script, much less a club likeWash- ington buried in last place in theNLEast. Yet that’s exactly the circumstance in


JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Washington’s 3-4 look in coordinator JimHaslett’s defense features a nose tackle. Above,Ma'akeKemoeatu takes on two Buffalo linemen in the preseason opener. Redskins’ defense still a work in progress greater challenge for unit than preseason opener BY RICKMAESE Throughout his rookie season, Bri-


anOrakpo always said the right thing. Regardless of the week or the circum- stances, anyone who asked was told howsatisfiedOrakpowaswith his role inthedefense. But the change that swept through


Redskins Park in the offseason didn’t missOrakpo.He revealed thatmoving tolinebackerandplayingsomuchpass coverage in Greg Blache’s defense wasn’t always ideal. “Obviously, I’m[a defensive] end. I


was aD-end out of college and all I did was rush the passer. Coming to a new scheme, I’mgonna dowhat the coach- esask,but Iwantedtorushthepassera little bit more,” said Orakpo, who had 11 sacks in 2009, almost all from the defensive endspot. He’s still a linebacker this season,


Redskins vs. Ravens When: 7 p.m. Where: FedEx Field. TV: WRC-4, Comcast SportsNet, WDCW (Channel 50).


but he’ll be rushing the quarterback a lot more — perhaps as much as three timesmore than a year ago, according to JimHaslett,Washington’s defensive coordinator. The change inOrakpo’sduties illus-


trates howcoacheswant the new-look 3-4 scheme to operate; in short, more aggressively, providingmore pressure andcreatingmore turnovers. The team’s first-string defense will


get a welcome challenge Saturday night, when the Baltimore Ravens travel down Interstate 95 to visit the Redskins.TheRavensbring a formida-


redskins continued on D6 Matchup against the Ravens should be


Looking back with the Z-man: So little time, so many memories


T


here is no pregame rally planned, no “Return of the King” headlines.Not even a


buzz cut hung in effigy. To commemorate the Jim Zorn era


inWashington, the former coach of the Redskins will simply walk through the FedEx Field tunnel Saturday night with his newteam, the Baltimore Ravens, and prepare for a preseason game against his former employers in the same quarterbacks-coach role he had before Daniel Snyder knighted him as the man to replace St. Joe. But there are questions, deep,


secrets, we now need answered. The back-to-back fake field goals


that fizzled: The most bizarre play call ever on “Monday Night Football,” whereby a punter with no offensive linemen— because they were all split left— was supposed to find a


Win propelsMystics closer to East’s top seed


away fromregular season title BY KATIE CARRERA


As she drove to the basket with less


than 13 seconds remaining in regulation, LindseyHarding tookthepathof greatest resistance toward the basket through a cluttered mass of outstretched arms and blue New York Liberty jerseys. The play wasn’t meant for her, but somewhere in the muck, Harding found just enough space to emerge above themass of bodies for a layup that gave the Washington Mystics a precarious one-point lead with 8.8 seconds left. In the furious final seconds, New


Washington edges Liberty, 75-74, tomove one victory


York’s Janel McCarville missed a shot fromthecornerandasLibertyveteranTaj McWilliams-Franklin grabbed at the re- bound,MateeAjavonrippedtheball from her grasp. New York point guard Leilani Mitchell scrambled to gain possession and took one final shot that rolled across the rimas time expired to seal a 75-74win for theMystics. “I just kept looking at the clock think-


ing, please let them miss. Just please miss,” saidWashingtonCoach Julie Plank who began jumping up and down beside the scorers’ table as the clock ran out. “I would always want to have our defense out on the floor at the end of a game like this. Thiswas a greatwin for us.” The victory, which snapped New


York’s 10-game winning streak, creates a three-way tie for first place intheEastern Conference between theMystics, Liberty and Indiana Fever all with records of


Some


21-12. But becauseWashington holds the tiebreak of a better head-to-head record against both teams, it is theNo. 1 teamin the East heading into the final day of the WNBAregular season on Sunday. If the Mystics defeat Atlanta on Sun-


day it will clinch the Eastern Conference title andthe topseedintheplayoffs along with home-court advantage. Should Washingtonlose totheDream(19-14) and both Indiana andNewYorkwin their last contests, the combinationwoulddropthe Mystics to third place. “We control everything,”Hardingsaid.


“That’s beenthe goal since the beginning. We want to finish first or second and get that home-court advantage. We play so well at home, it’s the biggest boost for all of us. Tonight the crowd was great and it helped us all to get through.”


mystics continued on D2 JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST MIKE WISE


receiver downfield after the Giants had called a timeout and had sniffed something fishy on the first fake field goal try. Would you do it again? “I probably wouldn’t have done


that after they called timeout,” Zorn said by telephone Thursday night after Ravens practice. “I probably would have kicked the field goal. “Now, having said that, trying that


wise continued on D6


which theNationals found themselves at the halfway point of their current six- game road trip. To complicate matters further, Washington starter Jason Mar- quis had been little more than batting practice fodder for the opposition this season. On paper, there really was noth- ing appealing on the Nationals’ end in what figured to be a mismatch. Marquis would have none of it. He


flouted convention by keeping pace with Halladay, the 2003 American League Cy Young winner with Toronto, and turned in the kind of performance theNationals had envisioned when they signed him to a lucrative free agent contract. Even in a 1-0 loss before 45,093, the


Nationals exited Citizens Bank Park with at least a measure of optimism because, at long last,Marquis resembled the pitch- er who won 15 games last season with Colorado. Theright-handerwentfive innings for


his longest outing of the season.He gave up one run on four hits with four walks and a strikeout. While his control was far from masterful, Marquis did enough to keep his name in the conversation for preserving his starting spot when the Nationals expect to call up several pitch- ers in the coming weeks, including Jor- dan Zimmermann. “It’s a step in the right direction,” said


Marquis, who had allowed at least five earned runs in four of his five previous starts. “I’ve been working hard to get back where I need to be. I was sick and tired of embarrassingmyself out there.” Marquis made his third start since


being recalled to the majors after three and a half months on the disabled list.He had bone chips removed from his right


nationals continued on D5


If Crystal Langhorne, left, Marissa Coleman and the Mystics beat the Atlanta Dream in the regular season finale on Sunday, Washington will capture its first Eastern Conference regular season title and the East’s top seed in the playoffs. “We control everything,” Mystics point guard LindseyHarding said. “That’s been the goal since the beginning.”


EZ SU


momentS arrive


–AT– at100mph.


Tonight@6:30pm Sunday@ 1:00pm


WHERE’STHEGAME? PRESSCHANNELGUIDEONYOURTVREMOTE


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