Defense

We're at the point where any San Diego Chargers victory can be summarized in two words. This goes back to Nov. 19, when between updates I saw a 24-7 San Diego deficit against Denver turn into a 35-27 Chargers victory and I text-messaged a friend to ask what happened. My buddy's reply: "LT happened." Flash-forward to Sunday, when the Chargers had to deal with a strong Oakland Raiders defensive effort, a shaky performance by quarterback Philip Rivers and a 14-7 Raiders lead in the fourth quarter.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) delivered a full-throated defense of gun ownership Friday, telling a National Rifle Assn. audience that firearms are central to achieving the American Dream. The dream, Rubio said, is not just a measure of financial prosperity but the ability to raise a family in a home that is stable, safe and secure. That, in turn, rests on the ability to possess a firearm for self-protection, the lawmaker said. “The safety of our families is not something people should hope government can provide,” Rubio told delegates to the NRA's annual convention, held this year in Indianapolis.

For what it's worth, the Clippers have held their last four opponents below 100 points. They are 3-1 in those four games, having lost to the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers, 88-82. But there are signs of the Clippers making strides on defense. “You could see it coming, our defense,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “We have absolutely lost our pace offensively, and so it's nice that our defense is helping us win games right now.” The Clippers are no longer giving up over 100 points per game like they were earlier this season.

Anthony who? The armchair speculation about UCLA's defense this spring has centered on how the Bruins will replace Anthony Barr, the All-American linebacker who is expected to be a top-10 pick in the NFL draft. The Bruins have devised two answers to fill that void: scheme adjustments and Myles Jack. Jack was named to the Freshman All-American team by the Sporting News last season, and was the Pac-12's defensive and offensive freshman of the year after a late season run at running back.

Re "Dysfunction at the jails," Editorial, July 11 The Times fails to acknowledge the summation presented by your chief witness at the county's new jails commission, Sheriff's Capt. Michael Bornman. Bornman was asked what needed to be done to improve the jails. He said repeatedly that the department had already fixed problem after problem. His list of improvements at the jails was so long he had to write them down. As he went through his list, he said (and this is a quote often repeated in his summation)

Re "Go native," Letters, Jan. 26 The cries for the obliteration of lawns in L.A. continue. The anti-lawn activists look at lawns while we use lawns. A green lawn can be walked upon and sat upon, and children and pets can play on it. It is an easy-to-maintain, utilitarian surface that is aesthetically restful. Native gardens, touted as water-friendly replacements, require the normal garden tasks of purchasing and installing plants, grooming, weeding and, yes, watering. A look around my hometown reveals native gardens that have been abandoned by owners, probably due to maintenance issues.

Nineteen games into the season and the Clippers are talking about their defense. Or in this case, their lack of defense. They gave up 107 points in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, seemingly with ease. The Clippers didn't close out on three-point shooters. They didn't rotate on defense. They gave up layups and dunks. Simply put, the Clippers were just poor on defense. “I think we should have it,” Blake Griffin said of defending properly. “I've said it over and over, but defense is one of those things that you can really control a lot just by your intensity and being down and ready.

The emphasis Lakers Coach Mike Brown stressed on defense comes in many shapes and forms. There are DVDs. Brown wowed the Lakers' front office with these during his job interview so much that he quickly became the favored candidate. He then distributed them to all his players before the lockout so they'd get a head-start on learning and executing his defensive concepts. There are terms. The main one Brown reiterates involves "shrinking the floor," which entails closing off baseline drives.

It's hard to hear the details of Ethan Couch's crimes without flinching. Last June, the 16-year-old Texan plowed his father's pickup truck into a group of Good Samaritans helping a disabled vehicle on a narrow residential street in a Ft. Worth suburb. He killed four, including a mother and daughter, and permanently maimed two of his seven teenage passengers, one of whom landed on his head, and is permanently paralyzed. But it's even more painful to hear about the punishment handed down Thursday by Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd, who sentenced Couch to 10 years' probation after he pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter, according to the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram , and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury.

Defense is USC's bread and butter, its faithful standby. If shots aren't falling, if calls go against them, if the hardwood cracks in two and a chasm appears, suspending play indefinitely -- it's cool, no worries, don't sweat it. The Trojans can still rely on their rock-solid defense, which is built on players being aggressive, knowing if they get beat, a teammate has their back. But against Washington State on Thursday, that defense, which was ranked first nationally in scoring defense (54.7)

Maybe they needed a symbolic moment, a single inglorious representation of their greatest failing. The Dodgers are playing lousy defense. OK, maybe even a tad worse than that. Only one team in all of baseball - the Nationals - has committed more errors than their 23 in 21 games. “We have to make plays we're supposed to make if we're going to get where we want to go,” said Manager Don Mattingly. For a team with deep playoff ambitions, the kind of defense the Dodgers have been playing early this season is somewhat startling.

The Dodgers didn't make any errors behind Zack Greinke in their 5-2 victory Wednesday over the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. This was significant, considering how the Dodgers have played defense in the first three-plus weeks of the regular season. They have been one of the worst defensive teams in baseball. They entered the day with 22 errors, the second-most among the 30 teams in the majors. Their fielding percentage of .974 was third-worst. “We have to get better,” Hanley Ramirez said.

Takeover target Allergan Inc., the company that makes Botox, has adopted a "poison pill" defense intended to delay a buyout by Canadian company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and activist investor Bill Ackman. The Irvine company's "stockholder rights plan" allows existing shareholders to buy Allergan stock at a steep discount if any single investor acquires more than 10% of its shares. That would drive down the value of the major investors' shares, making it unlikely that anyone would acquire that much stock.

Orange County prosecutors have ended their quest to use recorded conversations between the suspect in the Seal Beach mass killing and a jailhouse informant, which they had hoped could put the man on death row. Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Gundy told the court Tuesday he would concede a defense motion arguing that tapes of Scott Dekraai and informant Fernando Perez were obtained in violation of Dekraai's 6th Amendment rights. The recordings spurred a wide-ranging defense investigation into the use of jailhouse informants in Orange County.

Joakim Noah will join Michael Jordan as the only Chicago Bulls players to win the NBA's defensive player of the year award, the Associated Press reported. The official announcement of the award is expected to come from the Bulls at a 2 p.m. PDT news conference. Jordan won the honor in 1988. The award comes for Noah after a season in which he emerged as an offensive force after primarily being known for his defense and rebounding. However, even as he has become an offensive focal point for the Bulls, Noah remains their defensive anchor, averaging 1.5 blocked shots a game and creating havoc by rotating onto smaller players in pick-and-roll situations.

Saku Koivu saw his retiring teammate, friend and Finnish countryman Teemu Selanne skate around the arena bathed in cheers last week in the Ducks' final regular-season home game. Moved, of course, Koivu quickly set aside the moment that's so close to home. Because there are still games to win. Koivu, 39, could be just as close to retirement as Selanne, but the 18-year NHL veteran center hasn't officially announced his intentions. "Very private guy, very unselfish - been like that a long time," Koivu's linemate Andrew Cogliano said.

As stumbling blocks go, it wasn't exactly Mt. Everest. Los Angeles Crenshaw's football team continued its pursuit of history Friday night with an easier-than-expected 44-7 victory over archrival Dorsey in a Coliseum League game played at Crenshaw. The top-ranked Cougars are bidding to become the first L.A. City Section team to secure an invitation to a CIF state championship bowl game, and they unveiled a championship-caliber defense against the Dons. Crenshaw forced two turnovers, pestered a quarterback into throwing away the ball in the end zone for a safety and held Dorsey to 18 total yards.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department, under pressure from Congress to reexamine the way it handles sexual assault cases, announced Tuesday a comprehensive review of the entire military justice system. "It's been over 30 years since the military code of justice was reviewed. It's simply time," said Lt. Col. J. Todd Breasseale, a Pentagon spokesman. "Sexual assault will certainly be part of the compendium of issues that will be looked at, but it's by no means the sole issue. " Members of Congress and women's groups have been strongly critical of how the military handles sexual assault cases, particularly the authority that military officers have to overturn the convictions of those under their command.