THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2010


KLMNO COLLEGE BASKETBALL Terps win, but there’s work to do


Williams posts seventh straight double-double


BY LIZ CLARKE TheMarylandmen’s basketball


team capped a successful day for Terrapins athletics Wednesday evening, following the football


MARYLAND N. FLORIDA 85 62


team’s afternoon triumph in the MilitaryBowlwithan85-62victo- ry over North Florida at Comcast Center. But with NCAA champion


Duke looming on Jan. 9, Coach Gary Williams’s team remains a work in progress, with as nearly as many questions as moving partsheadinginto theheart of the ACC schedule. On the positive side,Maryland


(9-4, 0-1) shot 53 percent while holding North Florida (4-8) to 35 percent.


Sophomore Jordan Williams


registered his 11th double-double of the season (a team-high 17 points, 11 rebounds) and his sev- enth consecutive, matching Joe Smith’s streak toward the end of


the 1995 season. Also managing double figures:


SeanMosley (15), who put forth a spirited effort on offense and de- fense alike; Cliff Tucker, who got all 14 of his points in the second half; freshman Terrell Stoglin, who showed an uncanny flair for shooting off balance in piling up 13;andAdrianBowie,whohad10. At the same time, Gary Wil-


liams conceded he has yet to figure out which combination of players performs best together. That’s not surprising, given that the Terps lost their three leading scorers from last season and add- ed six newcomers. “We’re still in the process of


seeing what combinations work best for us,” Williams said. “It’s a challenge to get the right people on the court at the right time. But I like challenges.” Free throw shooting remains a weakness. While Bowie is near perfect (above 90 percent from the stripe), it matters little unless he gets to the line more. Jordan Williams will invariably get more attempts,andhewas1 for 10, with the crowd of 13,894 erupting in cheers when he finally hit on his 10th attempt. “It’s a little embarrassing,” Jor-


dan Williams said of the cheers, grateful that the crowd “had his back” yet wishinghehadn’t strug- gled so. “It’s real frustrating for me. [I’ll] just keep working on it.”


In addition, the Terps have yet


to developanimposing perimeter game, getting50of their 85 points in the paint. And they’re not de- fending three-point shots partic- ularly well, allowing North Flori- da to hit 7 of 18 from beyond the arc.


And, at least Wednesday, the


squad seemed too content to let Jordan Williams do the bulk of the rebounding, accounting for 11 of the Terps’ total. Freshman Pe’Shon Howard


started at point guard for a sec- ond consecutive game yet played fewer minutes (19) than reserves Stoglin and Cliff Tucker, who were on court for 22 and 24 minutes, respectively, as Coach Williams searched for a hot hand in a game of scoring runs. Maryland struggled to sepa-


rate itself from the Ospreys in the early going, with the lead chang- ing hands seven times in the first 10 minutes. Stoglin hit back-to-back shots


to cap a 10-0Maryland run, mak- ing it 39-23, with just over three minutes to play in the half. And the Terps took a 43-31 lead to the break. But after surging ahead by 16


early in thesecondhalf,Maryland let North Florida back in the gamein a careless stretchmarked by dodgy shooting and four turn- overs in four minutes. “He was real frustrated,” Sto-


glin said of the head coach. “We were slacking. He wanted us to keep the intensity up.” Tucker andMosley brought the


Terps back, helped by turnovers on three Osprey possessions. Maryland went on a 14-0 run, taking a 60-40 lead. And thoughMosley was called


for a fourth foul with more than 10 minutes to play, Coach Wil- liams kept him in for much of the time that remained because of his singular intensity. “We needed what he was giv-


ing,” Williams said. “Not the points, but the aggressiveness.” The Ospreys went on another


surge, paring the Terps’ 22-point lead to 10,beforeMaryland closed the game strong. The Terps have just one more non-conference tune-up at Com- cast Center, Tuesday against Col- gate, before opening ACC play in earnest with their visit to Duke. Terrapins note: Freshman for-


ward Ashton Pankey has re- turned home to undergo season- ending leg surgery. A 6-9 power forward, Pankey played three minutes in the season opener against SeattleonNov. 8.The goal of the surgery is to correct a stress fracture in his left leg that side- lined him his senior year at St. Anthony (N.J.) High School and limited his availability for the Terps this season. clarkel@washpost.com


PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL


On Redskins’ revamped line, the makeover may not be over


Team trying to put right pieces in place


for Shanahan’s offense BY BARRY SVRLUGA


This Sunday at FedEx Field,


Will Montgomery will be the starting right guard for the Washington Redskins, a posi- tion hewonby beating out veter- an ArtisHicks. “I don’t think you’ve ever won


the job,”Montgomery said. Against the New York Giants,


the guard oppositeMontgomery will be Kory Lichtensteiger, a center by trade who had never started an NFL game prior to this year. Does his experience in starting for 13 straight weeks at guard mean he thinks he has a future at the position? “I have no idea,” Lichten-


steiger said. “I’mnot going to try to predict that sort of thing.” Headed into their final game


of the season, the Redskins have very few certainties on offense. But what the Redskins do know: Coach Mike Shanahan’s offense relies heavily on a zone-blocking scheme that is best run by small- er, more mobile linemen, partic- ularly in the running game. What they need to find out: Are Montgomery and Lichtensteiger two pieces that might already be in place? And regardless of who plays quarterback in 2011, can this line keep that player up- right? “I think you’re always work-


ing to get better, but I’m really pleasedwithwherewe’reat right now,” Shanahan said. “Guys are working.Guysare getting a good feel of where we’re at. It’s not perfect by no means, but much improved as the year’s gone on.” Before quarterback Donovan


McNabb was benched for the final three games in favor of backup Rex Grossman, the line’s play was a source of consterna- tion. Was McNabb’s perfor- mance, substandard when com- pared to the rest of his career, due to the fact that the line couldn’t hold up? After allowing just one sack against Jackson- ville last week, Washington has given up 44 sacks this season; only Chicago and Carolina have surrendered more. “It’s come along, butwe’re not


where we want to be,” center Casey Rabach said. “Longway to go. Hopefully a great offseason, we’ll get it there.” But there are no assurances


that the entire line will be back. Left tackle Trent Williams, the fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft — who on Wednesday de- scribed his rookie season as “av- erage”—will return. Right tack- le Jammal Brown — whose health and performance have improved in the second half of the season — could be a free agent. Rabach is due $3 million in salary in2011. AfterShanahan replaced four of the five starters from 2009, more change could be in the offing. It’s possible, though, the


Redskins Insider Excerpts from washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider


Portis sayshewants toremainaRedskin InjuredRedskins running


backClintonPortis said Wednesday thatnot onlywould he like to returnto the teamfor the 2011 season—whichwouldbe his 10thintheNFLandeighthin Washington—but thathe still has the skills to be a top-flight back inthe league. “I knowI got goodfootball left


inme,”Portis said. “I think being fresh,having beenreally inthe last two yearsnothaving a lot of contact, I think the two injuries— going outwitha concussion, and thenthe torngroin—was really fluke injuries. Idon’t think that’s awear andtear, like, ‘Oh,his body brokedown.’ I think thatwas just fluke injuries.” Portishasplayedinonly 13


JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST


GuardKory Lichtensteiger, picked by Denver in the fourth round of the 2008 draft, had not started anNFLgame before this season.


change might not involve the guards. Lichtensteiger, 25, isn’t here by accident. After playing center at Bowling Green, he was taken by Denver in the fourth round of the 2008 draft. The coach with the Broncos back then: Mike Shanahan. The sys- tem Lichtensteiger ran in col- lege: zone-blocking. “I was watching tape when I


got toDenver,andIwaslike, ‘Oh, this is pretty much what I did in college,’ ” Lichtensteiger said. “And obviously with Mike here, it’s a version of the same offense. It fitsmy skills pretty well.” It might fit his size pretty well,


too. Derrick Dockery, who had Lichtensteiger’s job to open the season, began the year having played in all 112 games of his NFL career. But at 6 feet 6, 325 pounds, he is built more for a traditional,


blocking scheme. In the zone system, guards frequently get out on the run and are asked not only to take on defensive line- men, but to release through the line and take out linebackers. Lichtensteiger, who Shanahan called a “fighter,” is 6-2, 292 pounds — and better suited for the system. “I consider myself a bit of an


overachiever,” Lichtensteiger said. “I don’t have the biggest frame. I’m not the prototypical offensive guard in the NFL, so I’mgoing to try probably harder thanmost people will, andwhen I climb to the second level, I’m going to try to cut somebody’s legs out from under them. I’m going to try to hurt somebody. That’s what I do.” Montgomery, 27, also has the


ability to play center, as he did when Rabach injured his knee Nov. 21 at Tennessee. But it was the following week againstMin- nesotawhenShanahan officially turned toMontgomery at guard. Hicks, a 6-4, 318-pound nine- year veteran who was still bat- tling thigh and groin injuries, was ineffective. Montgomery went in and has started the four games since. Shanahan said Montgomery had “one of the best games that


I’ve seen against” Dallas’s defen- sive line. “IknowI have a job this week,


and I’mgoing to try to keep it till next week,” Montgomery said. “That’s the way I look at it.” Coming out of Virginia Tech


in 2006,Montgomery was actu- ally hoping he would go undraft- ed, because then he could pick his team. The Centreville native had his eye on Atlanta and Den- ver. Both ran the zone-blocking scheme. Instead, he was drafted in the seventh round by Caroli- na.He started fourgamesfor the Panthers as a rookie, but was cut prior to 2007. “I think I’mjust a good fit for


straight-ahead


this offensive system in general,” he said. “I feel like I’mfast, and I can get outandrun a little bit. So I like to be in the type of offense where you’re running a lot.” Rabach, who spent all of


training camp working with Dockery to his left and Hicks to his right, said Lichtensteiger andMontgomeryhavefit in well. “I think those guys that have


been castoffs of a lot of other teams, they just worked hard and found a spot,” Rabach said. Williams, though, is supposed


to be the line’s anchor, and Sha- nahan made him the first offen- sive lineman selected in this year’s draft in part because of his exceptional footwork. This month, Shanahan said one posi- tive development this year is that “Trent Williams is learning to be a pro.” That didn’t necessarily come


naturally. “You have to be self-motivat-


ed,” Williams said Wednesday. “Nobody’s going to walk you along. The next guy wants your job, and the coaches are going to play whoever’s better. No excus- es.”


That was the message Dock-


ery and Hicks found out this year. Now, Montgomery and Lichtensteiger realize the same thing:Theymay be startersnow, but between now and the begin- ning of next season, anything could change. svrlugab@washpost.com


games thepast two seasons. During that time,hehas carried the ball 178 times for 721 yards, a 4.1-yardaverageper carry.He reiteratedthatwhilehe believes he canovercome the injuries, the time away fromfootballhas given himsomeperspective. “I think there’s a time youtake


stuff for granted, andthere’s a time youcome to the realization that every game isprecious,”


NFLNOTEBOOK League fines Vikings’ Favre $50,000


FROM NEWS SERVICES AND STAFF REPORTS


The NFL fined Minnesota Vi-


kings quarterback Brett Favre $50,000 for failing to cooperate “in a forthcoming manner” with its investigationintoanallegation that he sent inappropriate elec- tronicmessages and photographs toa formerNewYorkJets employ- ee when both were with the team in the 2008 season. The league’s investigation did


not establish that Favre violated theNFL’spersonal conductpolicy, accordingtoanannouncementby theNFL releasedWednesday. NFL Commissioner Roger


Goodell had separate meetings with the former Jets employee, JennSterger,andFavreduringthe investigation. “On the basis of the evidence


currently available to him, Com- missioner Goodell could not con- clude that Favre violated league policies relating to workplace conduct,” the NFL’s written state- ment said. “The forensic analysis couldnot establishthatFavre sent the objectionable photographs to Sterger. The review found no evi- dence to contradict the state- ments of both Favre and Sterger that theynevermet inperson,nor was thereanythingtosuggest that Sterger engaged in any inappro- priate conduct. “However, Commissioner


Goodell also determined that Favre was not candid in several respects during the investigation, resulting in a longer review and additional negative public atten- tion for Favre, Sterger, and the NFL. The commissioner notified


MILES KENNEDY/ASSOCIATED PRESS


Favre that he has been fined $50,000 for his failure to cooper- ate with the investigation in a forthcoming manner. Commis- sionerGoodell statedtoFavrethat if he had found a violation of the league’s workplace conduct poli- cies, he would have imposed a substantially higher level of disci- pline.” SinceFavrewasnot suspended,


he remains eligible toplaySunday in theVikings’ season finale. Sterger’s attorney, Joseph Con-


way, saidinawrittenstatement to multiple media outlets that he and Sterger were “extremely dis- appointed” by the NFL’s punish- ment of Favre, calling it insuffi- cient.


—MarkMaske l SEAHAWKS:Coach PeteCar-


roll saidthe teamismoving ahead with plans to start quarterback Charlie Whitehurst against St. Louis in a clash for the NFCWest title Sunday night. Carroll said quarterback Matt


Hasselbeckis rehabbingtomakea return from a strained hip area, but that it would be “against the odds.” l JAGUARS: Quarterback Da-


vid Garrard will miss the season finale at Houston because of a finger injury. Garrard will have surgeryonthemiddle fingerofhis


Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, right, with Michael Vick (7), was fined by the NFLfor failing to cooperate “in a forthcoming manner.”


right hand Thursday. Trent Ed- wards is likely tostart inGarrard’s place. The Jaguars also likely will be


without star running back Mau- rice Jones-Drew, who missed his fourth consecutive practice Wednesday because of an injured right knee. l JETS: Rex Ryan is unsure


whether Mark Sanchez will play inNewYork’s regular season fina- le against the Bills. The Jets coach said he was


leaning toward playing Sanchez “some,” but might not make a decision on the sore-shouldered quarterbackuntilbeforethegame Sunday atNewMeadowlands Sta- dium.The Jets (10-5)have already clinched a playoff berth. l EAGLES: Coach Andy Reid


said he hasn’t decided if Michael Vick’s leg bruise will keep the quarterback out of Sunday’s regu- lar season finale against the Dal- las Cowboys.Vick suffered a quad contusion on the first play of the Eagles’ 24-14 loss to theMinneso- taVikings on Tuesday night. l COWBOYS: Backup quarter-


back StephenMcGee ranthe first- team offense for the first time in his two-year career as Jon Kitna (strained abdominal muscle) watched from the sideline in street clothes.


Portis said. “Youdon’thave forever, andthe last fewyears showyouthat.” He saidthedecisionabout


whetherhe remains aRedskinis uptoCoachMike Shanahan, GeneralManagerBruceAllenand ownerDaniel Snyder.Portis is due tomake$8.3millionin2011. “I think that’s out ofmy


control,”Portis said. “That’supto the front office. If theywant to keepme, of course they got first option. If theywant to letme go, thenI’mokaywithit. I understandthe business side of this, andyouknow, if it’s it, I think it’ll be a bittersweetmoment.But I think life got to go on.”


SafetyMooreheadedtoIR TheRedskinswillplace free


safetyKareemMoore onseason- ending injuredreserve, Shanahan said, opening a roster spot for anotherplayerwhomthey can keeparoundduring the offseason, formerNewOrleanspractice squadplayerReggie Jones. Moore, a third-yearpro,will


have surgery onhis right knee Monday, Shanahansaid. Jones, 24,hadbeencut from


the Saints’practice squadtwice this season.The 6-foot, 193-


poundcornerbackwent undraftedout ofPortlandState. TheRedskins also signed


cornerbackDougDutch, the DeMathaHighproductwho spentpart of last yearwith Washington’spractice squad.


CBRogersmissespractice CornerbackCarlosRogers


(calf ) sat outpractice but outside linebackerBrianOrakpo (groin) didparticipate, Shanahansaid. “That’sday byday,” Shanahan


saidofRogers’s calf. “Everybody elsepracticedtoday andshould be able to go.” InadditiontoRogers and


Orakpo, twoRedskinswere limitedinpractice:wide receiver BrandonBanks (knee) andsafety MachoHarris (hip), according to thedaily injury report. GiantsCoachTomCoughlin,


meanwhile, toldreporters that NewYorkwouldlikely bewithout its leadingwide receiver,Hakeem Nicks (brokentoe) for Sunday’s game. . . . Place kickerGrahamGanohas


beennamedtheNFCspecial teamsplayer of theweek forhis performance intheRedskins’ overtime victory inJacksonville. —Barry Svrluga and JasonReid


EZ SU


D3


JONATHAN ERNST FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


Maryland's Jordan Williams can't get a handle on the ball during the second half of the Terrapins’ victory at Comcast Center.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48