Seattle Sports: In the Morning

Huskies beat LSU 73-65, after being behind 14 points at halftime. The best thing about the game was a terrific performance from Quincy Pondexter, who tells Bob Condotta a pep talk from family members at Christmas will change his season: "I think I've got all the bad games out of my system. I got a chance to go home for Christmas and that really opened my eyes, so I feel I'm done with that little childish phase I was going through. I was deferring a lot, waiting for the ball to come to me. I need to score. That's the big thing right now. We have a lot of pieces to the puzzle on this team, but for us to win, I need to score, so I'm putting the burden on myself as a person and a player to come out and be aggressive and lead our team to victories."

Sonics beat the Timberwolves 109-90 despite losing Kevin Durant and Chris Wilcox to injury. X-rays showed there's no break in the finger that was troubling Durant. Wilcox will have an MRI on his knee today.

Shane Monahan tells Dave Fish of ESPN that steroid use was common in the Mariner clubhouse in the late 90s, and that amphetamine use was even more rampant: "Almost everybody takes greenies. I was in the locker room for two years with the Mariners, and I'll be honest with you: The only person that I didn't see take greenies was Dan Wilson. He was a big Christian guy, big moral guy. He just didn't believe in the stuff."

Both Raul Ibanez and Jamie Moyer deny Monahan's allegations, report the Times' Geoff Baker and Larry Stone. Moyer: "If he's throwing people under the bus, that's his choice, but it disappoints me."

Gonzaga lost to Tennessee at Key Arena.

Is this Holmgren's last year? Frank Hughes of TNT suggests that Holmgren might want to try being a GM again, and that San Francisco would be the logical choice.

Roosevelt High product Marcus Williams got released by the Spurs only two days after they'd signed him from the NBDL. Williams played just two minutes.

Jeff Green replaced the struggling Damien Wilkins in the Sonics starting lineup last night, writes TNT's Eric D. Williams.

Rick Neuheisel is the new UCLA coach. Bob Condotta on the overall impact of the hire: "Hard to imagine a time when the lineup of coaches in the Pac-10 has been more interesting --- Pete Carroll, Dennis Erickson, Neuheisel, Mike Bellotti and Tyrone Willingham have all coached teams to BCS bowls (all but Willingham on that list have won one) and then throw in Jeff Tedford, Mike Riley and promising newcomer Jim Harbaugh, and it's hard to imagine a time when it's seemed more interesting top to bottom."

Walter Jones may not play today, which makes me fear for the health of Hasselbeck.

A day after Jim Leyritz killed a woman while driving drunk (according to cops and witnesses) Warren Moon was arrested for a DUI.

Can you guess who Mike Holmgren is talking about? "[This player] should be up there for rookie of the year, I think. Now, he's a little short, squatty guy that no one thinks about, but he's a good football player and has played very well. He's been great for us." It's Brandon Mebane, subject of a profile by the Times' Jose Miguel Romero.