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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
PAGE 7
THE DAILY DEBATE
Will the women's basketball team make it to the Big Dance?
Griffin Hughes
@GriffinJHughes
"YES"
It's unbelievably difficult to say at this point in the season, with the Jayhawks sitting at 4-9 in the Big 12 and .500 overall, that they even have the slightest shot at the Big Dance this year.
However, this is one of the most interesting cases in Kansas women's basketball history.
Normally, you see a team at 500 and nine losses in conference and it looks like the farthest they can go is the NIT
But Kansas isn't a normal team, and this is not a normal situation. The Big 12 is by far the best conference in the country, and considering four of those losses are to No. 3 Baylor and former No. 3 Texas, it's hard to say this isn't a good team even with their record.
The Jayhawks also boast wins over tournament-bound Iowa State and a then No. 10 California team. That particular win was by 23 points, and they held the supposedly potent Cal offense to 39 points, the fewest any team has scored against Kansas this year.
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Kansas also has wins against
Georgetown and Temple in their nonconference schedule
schedule. The toughest game is Oklahoma in Norman, who has already defeated Kansas by 12 earlier this year.
But wins against TCU, Oklahoma State and Kansas State are certainly not beyond the pale, especially as senior leaders Chelsea Gardner, Natalie Knight and Asia Boyd begin to realize their college careers are about to come to an end.
The reality of the situation is Kansas is playing close games since students returned from winter break on Jan. 19. After that break, the Jayhawks went on a winning streak, beating
"ULTIMATELY, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE FOR KANSAS, WHICH HAS PLAYED ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT SCHEDULES IN ALL OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL."
Texas Tech, West Virginia and Iowa State.
There are very few bad losses on the schedule. They lost a close one to West Virginia (15-10) in Morgantown. And they went down to TCU (14-10) at home, by 17.
If those are your worst losses, and they're conference losses to opponents over 500, the committee has a history of overlooking those losses if the wins exist. And that's exactly what needs to happen for Bonnie Henrickson's squad.
They will have to win out in the remainder of their
Ultimately, it's all about the strength of schedule for Kansas, which has played one of the most difficult schedules in all of college basketball. Its quality wins over Iowa State and Cal overshadow their losses to TCU and West Virginia, and a strong showing in the end of the season will surely be enough to force the committee's hand.
Edited by Miranda Davis
"NO"
Nick Couzin
@Ncouz
W while coach Bonnie Henrickson has done a
phenomenal job in her time at Kansas, with the way the second half of their season has gone, I don't see the Jayhawks making the tournament come March.
Kansas had a promising start to the season that included a huge 62-39 nonconference victory against No.10 California on Dec.5.
But then the Big 12 confer-
winning four of their next five with their only loss coming in Waco by nine points.
Ever since the Jayhawks dug themselves in a hole by losing their next three games to Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Texas, this puts their current win/loss total at a .500 record of 13-13.
That's when the Jayhawks started to make a short-lived case for the Big Dance.
That record likely won't cut it for an invite to March Madness. Kansas' home record is 11-5 and they have a couple of good wins and close losses to good teams, but those are the only advantages the Jayhawks
"A.500 RECORD OF 13-13 RIGHT JUST ISN'T ENOUGH TO MAKE A GOOD CASE TO THE SELECTION COMMITTEE."
ence play came around and the table started to turn in the wrong direction for this Kansas team. The Jayhawks lost their first five games in the conference season. All but two of those games, Kansas State and Baylor, were double-digit losses for Kansas.
have to fall back on. That just doesn't cut it.
Besides the Jayhawk "Big 3" of seniors Gardner, Boyd and Knight. this team is very young and has a lot of promise for future post-season success. This team has the best freshman point guard in the nation right now with Lauren Aldridge who can run this offense like no one else can.
Then Hendrickson and her squad started to go on a run
What's even more upsetting is preseason All Big 12 scoring and rebounding leader Chelsea Gardner along with Natalie Knight and Asia Boyd won't see postseason play in their final year of running up and down the Allen Fieldhouse floor.
This young team also consists of two other freshmen, Tereill Bradley and Chayla Cheadle, as well as sophomores Jada Brown, who has been in the starting lineup as of late, and Caelynn Manning-Ellis, who has been a great scorer off the bench who has given Chelsea Gardner some much-needed rest.
With just three girls on this team averaging in double-digit scoring (16.3 ppg for Gardner, 12.0 ppg for Knight, and 10.2 for Boyd) and those three being the lone three senior veterans on the team.
The layhawks needed more help this season and the only way they make the NCAA tournament is by winning the Big 12 tournament. A .500 record of 13-13 right just isn't enough to make a good case to the selection committee.
Westbrook has 41, West edges East in All-Star Game
- Edited by Miranda Davis
BRIAN MAHONEY
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Mixing Broadway and basketball, this NBA All-Star Game was a West Side Story.
Russell Westbrook scored 41 points, one shy of the All-Star record, and the Western Conference beat the East 163-158 on Sunday night in the highest-scoring All-Star Game ever.
The Oklahoma City speeder had a record 27 points by halftime and closed out the scoring with two free throws, falling one point shy of Wilt Chamberlain's 42 points in the 1962 game. He was voted the game's MVP at Madison Square Garden.
KATHY WILLIENS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The NBA's return to New York showed off everything about the Big Apple, and by the time Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" played after the game, it was clear Westbrook was king of the hill.
West Team's Russell Westbrook, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, dunks during the first half of the All-Star game Sunday in New York.
"It's amazing. It's a blessing to be here in New York City," Westbrook said during the MVP ceremony.
with a little more than four minutes remaining.
James Harden added 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the West, which built a 20-point lead in the first half and then pulled away after it was tied at 148
The combined 321 points surpassed the 318 scored last season, and the 48 three-pointers smashed last year's record of 30.
LeBron James finished with 30 points, but couldn't lead the East to the victory in his favorite NBA arena.
"Don't get no better, man. You play in the Garden in front of these fans," James said.
Harden's three-pointer snapped the final tie with 4:02 to play and Chris Paul followed with consecutive baskets. Westbrook's fifth three-pointer put it away at 158-149 with 2:22 to go.
"We just talk about having fun all game long and then at a certain point in the fourth quarter it's time to win," Paul said.
Atlanta's Kyle Korver made seven three-pointers and scored 21 points for the East, while Washington's John Wall had 19.
But right from the start, the players were sharing the stage. Christina Aguilera appeared from behind a giant big apple, and belted out some New York-inspired numbers to start the show, joined by the Rockettes.
Entertainment's elite were all over the arena, with players hobnobbing with Jay-Z and Floyd Mayweather near their courtside seats at halftime. But the biggest roar came for a star from another sport — politics.
President Bill Clinton, who
had a big night of his own at Madison Square Garden when he was nominated here during the 1992 Democratic National Convention, got a pair of loud ovations when he was shown during Queen Latifah's performance of the national anthem.
Players were quizzed during comedic skits on New York talk and terms, and fughed-daboudit, Pau Gasol had no idea what a stoop was. (Stephen Curry came close, comparing it to a porch — really it's the steps and landing leading to a building's entrance).
Pau won the jump ball against little brother Marc to begin the first All-Star Game featuring two sibling starters,
"It's amazing. It's a blessing to be here in New York City."
RUSSELL WESTBROOK Oklahoma City Thunder
but for a while it looked as if that would be the East's only win of the night.
The West shot out to a 20-point lead, but the East chipped away and cut it to 83-82 before pop star Ariana Grande's halftime performance.
It was New York's first time hosting the weekend since 1998 and a rare journey to the north for the NBA, which has preferred to stage the festivities in the warmth of the South and West.
Even some of the NBA's most fashionable had to choose bundling up over dressing up, a concession to the frigid temperatures they faced during the weekend. But next year might be worse, when the game heads north of the border to Toronto.
Carmelo Anthony struggled to 14 points on 6-of-20 shooting for the East in what may have been his final game of the season. The Knicks star has been battling a sore knee for much of the season and may opt for surgery with the team owning the NBA's worst record.
But even the Knicks' misery couldn't dampen the spirits for this basketball-rich city. Players on the floor were surrounded by some of New York's hoops royalty, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving. There was even time to celebrate the Knicks: Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Phil Jackson, Earl Monroe and Bernard King were honored during a break in the action.
Tim Duncan had one basket in his 15th All-Star Game, second only to Abdul-Jabbar's 18. Duncan's first was here in 1998, as was Kobe Bryant's.
Kansas lawmaker wants to legalize fantasy leagues
NICHOLAS CLAYTON Associated Press
Associated Press
The legislation submitted by Republican Rep. Brett Hildabrand of Shawnee differs with a decision by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, the state's gambling regulator, which said in August that private fantasy sports leagues meet the criteria of a lottery and are therefore illegal.
TOPEKA — Fantasy sports leagues would be legal in Kansas even though the state's gambling commission thinks otherwise under a bill proposed by a state lawmaker who would classify them as a game of skill rather than a lottery.
Under the Kansas Constitution, only the state is allowed to administer lotteries.
In fantasy sports leagues, players compete against one another by making up teams out of a pool of real athletes and tracking how well they play in their games. Each player is awarded a score based on the performance of their assortment of athletes, and leagues often award cash prizes to the best teams derived from entry fees.
Hildabrand said he was "shocked" by the commission's move because fantasy sports leagues are so popular. An estimated 40 million players participated in leagues over the last NFL season, and Hildabrand speculated that a number of state legislators were among them, possibly breaking state law without knowing it.
"We don't want to be making
criminals out of the average citizen of Kansas," Hildabrand said.
The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission did not respond to requests for comment, but following the backlash over the decision in August it said on its website that to its knowledge, "no agency at the state or local level is ramping up efforts to go after (fantasy sports league) participants."
A representative of the state attorney general's office declined to comment on the legal dispute or if any charges could be brought against participants.
Five states consider fantasy sports leagues illegal. Bills before the legislatures of three of them — Iowa, Montana and Washington — would legalize private leagues.
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