2C
#•0
SPORTS/Olt Ctarlint
Thursday, January 12, 2006
PanOiers aim 10 atone for Nouember flop
Continued from page 1C
and move on,” said receiver
Steve Smith, who, with a
team-record 14 catches Tex'
169 yards, was the only
Panther to have a good game
against the Bears the hrst
time
“TTiat’s what you get paid
for - to make plays; not to
gripe and complain about
n
Smith
what you get.
You just have
to make do
with what you
have ”
What the
Panthers did
n’t have in the
first meeting
was a running
geune ~
The
Bears, who had the No. 2-
ranked defense in the NFL
this seeison, held the
Panthers to a paltry 55 rush
ing yards.
The good thing for the
Panthers this weekend is
that they are coming off one
of their best overall rushing
p)erformance8 of the season.
Against the Giants, Carolina
had 223 yards on the ground,
led by DeShaun Foster’s 151
yards on 27 carries. Goings
provided a spark off the
bench, gaining 63 yards on 12
carries. Foster and Goings
currently rank Noe. 1 and 2
among rushers after the first
weekend of playoff games.
“The off^isive line was real
ly pumped up to get the run
ning game going,” right tackle
Jordan Gross said. “We know
that will be important against
Chicago. We have to establish
the running game in the play-
oflfe, if you want to be success
ful.”
The Panthers know that
won’t be easy, consid^ing the
Bears boast two players on
this year’s NFL All-Pro team -
linebackers Brian Urlacher
and Lance Briggs. Uiiacher
also was named the league’s
defensive player of the year.
Will another strong and con
sistent running game help the
Panthers against Chicago this
week?
“Absolutely,” Panthers head
coach John Fox said. “Well, we
hope.”
No offense, but Carolina defense figures on intense game
Continued from page 1C
“Fun ‘N Gun” offense at
Florida.
Now, instead of facing a
familiar quarterback, the
Carolina defense is at some
what of a disadvantage as it
prepares for Grossman.
Facing ex-Carolina team
mate Muhsin Muhammad
for the second time this sea
son might be the least of the
Panthers’ worries.
“It’s two different (quarter
back) styles,” Carolina, safety
Mike Minter said, “and that
makes it tough. Witli Orton,
they ran the ball more. But
with Grossman, he’s a gun
slinger He’ll take more
chances. Hell put it up.
“We’ve played quarterbacks
and teams like that before,
but the playoffs are a whole
different thing. Well really
have to be ready”
One positive omen is that
the Panthers are coming off
their best defensive perfor
mance of the season. Hiey
shut down 1,800-yard rusher
Tiki Barber, finstrated sec
ond-year quarterback Eli
Manning, and shut out the
New York Giants 23-0 last
Sunday in the first round of
the playoffs. That game
marked the first time in two
decades that the Giants had
been held scoreless in the
postseason, and the Panthers
hope to build on that momen
tum.
“These are the challenges
you live for,” Panthers comer-
back Ken Lucas said of facing
a passing quarterback like
Grossman in the playoffs.
“We know we’ve got the abili
ty We showed that (last
Sunday). Now, it’s just a mat
ter of putting together anoth
er strong performance.”
If they wish for additional
inspiration, the Panthers
need not look any further
than the other sideline,
toward their defensive coun
terpart.
Led by this year’s defensive
player of the year, linebacker
Brian Urlacher, (Hiicago had
the No. 2-ranked defense in
the NFL.
However, ear
lier this year,
Carolina
defensive
tackle
Brentson
Buckner said
the Bears’
defense was
the best he’s
refused.
“I stick by my word,”
Buckner said in the locker
room at Giants Stadium. ‘Tve
seen a lot of football, and I
haven’t seen a defense in the
NFL that’s more impressive
than that defense.
“T^t puts jx^sure on us
to match their int^isity as a
defense. You can’t allow their
{^ense to put a whole lot of
points up, because it’s going
to be hard for your offense to
move. So whatever kind of
intensity they come out with,
we’ve got to be the same way
We’ve got to take what we
had (last Sunday) and raise it
a notch or two.”
Buckner
ever seen
Given a chance to back
down fiom his statement
once he found out the
Panthers would be facing the
Bears again, Buckner
Golden Bulls vault into Division n elite
Continued from page 1C
reboiuids and four assists in
the rematch.
“They got us in Cali and I'
had a bad game and 1 know
to be considered one of the
best players in the (confer
ence), you have to play
against the best teams,”
Fulton said. “Tbni^t I want
ed to prove that I’m one of the
best teams in the CIAA.”
“John has settled down a
little bit. He was trying to
carry the whole team on his
shoulders and that didn’t
work for him the first semes
ter. He’s begun to settle down
a little bit and started to let
things come to him in a nat
ural fashion.”
Smith excelled at the
basics, connecting on 56.4
percent of its shots, including
a torrid 60.7 percent in the
second half, and turning the
ball over just 12 times
against 22 assists.
Smith stunned Union with
a swarming defense that cre
ated 10 first-half turnovers
and set the game’s tone.
The three-guard lineup of
Jerome Givens, Prince
Parker and Maurice Hooper
is also playing better. Joyner
praised Givens’ work against
Union, (9 points, 6 assists)
especially in running the
offense and finding open
passing lanes.
“He’s learning the differ
ence between being a point
guard and being a general,”
Joyner said. “(Against Union)
I thought he was a general.
He had good recognition of
what they were trying to do
defensively and kept us
under control and he was cer
tainly a key factor.”
WDAY & SATURDAY
AMATEUR RACING
SUNDAY
Cavs’ Jones looking far and wide for shot
CRICKET ARENA
By Tom Withers
WFASSCX'iATtJ) rKi-:ss
CJLEVELAND - Cavaliers
guard Damon Jones has the
distinction of being the first
NBA player to sign an
endorsement contract with
Li-Ning, an athletic slioe and
sports appeirel company
fix)m Cliina.
Right now, he seems to
have misplaced his famed
jump shot somewhere equal
ly far, far away
Jones, who signed a four-
year, $16 million fi^ agent
deal with (!!3eveland this
summer to fix the team’s
woefiil outside shooting, has
fallen into a horrific slump at
the worst possible time for
the Cavs.
Tlie club will be witliout
guard Larry Hughes, its sec
ond-leading scorer and top
defender, for two months fol
lowing surgery on his finger.
Since replacing Hughes as a
starter three games ago,
Jones is just 3-for-18 on 3-
pointers _ his specialty
He scored 15 points - all on
3s - in a win over C^cago on
Dec. 22, but has since shot
19 percent (7-for-36) and is
only fi-fcx^l on 3s.
“Tm human, period,’* Jones
said. “I still feel the same
way about my shot, still feel
Pm the best shooter in the
world. Fm not going to pass
up a shot, because the day I
pass up a shot, it would
mean my confidence is gone.
And we all know that’ll
never happen I usually
come out on the other side
smelling like roses *
The bouquet inside
Quicken Loans Arena wasn’t
90 appealing on Saturday
when Jemes was booed at
home by Cavaliers fans
while missing his first five 3-
pointers durtng a win over
Milwaukee.
When he finally made his
first, Jones, who normally
celebrates making a long-
range basket with a three
fingered gesture with his
hands, instead placed them
over his ears to block out the
cheering.
“If you are going to boo,
then boo,’ Jones said follow
ing the game. “Don’t be fair-
weather. If you’re going to be
behind us when we win or
lose, then you have to be
behind us when a guy is
going through a tough
stretch. I’d rather not be
applauded anymore.*
On Monday, Jones toned
down his remarks a little.
“What I should have said
after the game was that I
didn’t mean everybody
becaiise everybody wasn’t
booing,* Jemes said. “It was
just a few himdred, eind if
that’s how it’s going to be,
then fine.*
Despite Jones’ streakiness,
first-year Cavs coach Mike
Brown has no plans to put
Jones on the bench. And, he’s
not going to put any hand
cuffs on Jones, who made 43
percent of his 3s last season
fca* Miami.
“I want him to continue
taking them,* Brown said.
“Either he will shoot his way
out, which I believe he will
because he is a shooter, or he
won’t. Anytime he’s open, he
has to let it go *
Jcoies plans to keep letting
‘em fly
“Tm not going to change
the kind of player I am,’ he
said. Tm a shooter, and Fm
going to shoot, make or
choose him as the company’s
spokesman and sign him to a
multiyear deal. The compa
ny, founded by renowned
gymnast Li Ning, signed a
marketing agreement with
the NBA last year, hoping to
tap into pro basketball’s
unmatched popularity in
Cfoina.
With 2,500 stores in every
province of C^foina, li-Ning
has a diance to challenge
Nike and Adidas at home.
But there are no immediate
plans for domestic sales of
Jones’ shoes, which are being
pushed with an ad campaign
slogan of “Anything Is
Possible” in the United
States.
Jones, who plans to visit
(Tiina tliis summer, was
asked if his shoe might out
sell teammate LeBron
James’ popular Nikes over
seas.
“Right now, it’s Yao,
LeBron and then myself.
But I’m going to shoot hi^,*
Jones said with a grin before
slowly saying, “Anything is
possible” in Clfoinese, a
phrase he practiced for six
days. “I might be No. 1 by
the end of the year.”
NEXT WEEKEND
JAN. 20-22
CHARLOTTE, NC
THE BAD BOYS
OF ARENACROSS
Josh Demuth
Shane Bess
Tommy Hofmaster
Josh Woods
FOR TICKETS CALL
TiCKETMASTER
(704) 522-6500
■5^
w
www.racearenacross.com
I am no longer
just an observer.
%
miss.
Jones' candor and bubbly
personality are part of what
led Li-Ning executives to
Vamer starts year off
with Par Busters win
Harc4d Vamer IH won the Par Busters G^ Groiq) New
Year’s Shootout at Renaissance Paik Golf C^ourse.
Vamer fierd a round of 67, six shots ahead of Donald
Littlejohn and Kevin Logan Robert “Greasy” Brown finished
at 75.
H^rbnl L. While
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