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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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THE DAILY DEBATE
Are the Atlanta Hawks a real title contender?
Sean Collins
@seanzie 3
"NO"
The Atlanta Hawks put together one of the most impressive
win streaks in recent NBA history beside the Miami Heat's 27-game win streak in 2012-13. The Hawks' 19-game win streak was snapped Monday night, losing to the
Eastern Conference semi-finals, it could be assumed that Kyle Korver would run off a screen if a three were needed. Unfortunately, you can bet LeBron James will be checking him. So, what do you do? Run Paul Milspoff a screen?
It's hard for me to picture the Hawks defeating the Chicago Bulls, Cavs, Washington Wizards or Toronto Raptors four times in a series. All those
"... THEY DON'T HAVE A "GO-TO" PLAYER FOR CLUTCH MOMENTS IN THE PLAYOFFS."
New Orleans Pelicans 115-100 Anthony Davis was too much to handle, with 29 points and 13 rebounds.
At 40-9, there is no denying that the Hawks are good — very good. However, this is not a team built to win a championship. They have a starting lineup that works well together, but have no single player that puts up the majority of the points.
The biggest issue for the Hawks is they don't have a "go to" player for clutch moments in the playoffs. Say, if they play the Cleveland Cavaliers in the
teams are strong defensively and have something the Hawks don't — a star. John Wall, DeMar DeRozan, Derrick Rose, LeBron James or Kyrie Irving can all score on their own when a basket is needed. The only player for the Hawks who can create their own outside shot is Jeff Teague, who only shoots 33 percent from behind the arc.
Another issue to note for the Hawks is that six of their nine losses have come on the road. And in the playoffs, teams have to win on the road in a noisy environment if they have
hopes for a championship. The Wizards, Bulls and Cavs all have shut down defenders.
Now, let's talk about the Cavs. In the past 28 games with LeBron playing, they are 23-5, including their current 11-game win streak. The Hawks couldn't defend the best player in the world, Lebron James, and Kyrie Irving. The Cavs are improving, and fast. When they reach full form, nobody in the Eastern Conference will stand a chance.
The Eastern Conference is already weak as it is. Both the seven and eight seeds have negative records. The eight seed and the one seed are 18.5 games apart, while the one seed and the eight seed in the Western Conference are 11.5 games apart. The Phoenix Suns are 28-22 as the eight seed; this would put them as the five seed in the East. The reigning champion San Antonio Spurs are the seven seed at 30-18, to put perspective on how good the West is compared with the East.
The Hawks went on an impressive hot streak, but do they have a real shot at the title? I don't see it. Don't expect them make it out of the East.
Edited by Mitch Raznick
Joey Anguiano
@joey anguiano
"YES"
Think about everything that's happened since Christmas. One thing that hasn't happened until Monday night was the Atlanta Hawks losing a basketball game. While their 19-game winning streak was ended by the New Orleans Pelicans in a rather decisive fashion, the Hawks are still very much the real deal.
The winning streak catapulted the Hawks from being one game out of first place to being seven games ahead of everyone else in the Eastern Conference. The team was playing with unmatched efficiency in the Eastern Conference, averaging 105 points, while holding opponents to just over 93 points per game. The Hawks streak was as fun as it was impressive. The team was hitting 40 percent of its three-point attempts for the duration of the streak.
The Hawks remaining schedule is incredibly difficult right before the All-Star break, including matchups with Washington, Golden State, Memphis and Minnesota. The Hawks will be lucky to escape those four matchups with three wins.
For the Hawks to maintain
their victorious ways, they're going to have to rebound better than they did Monday night against New Orleans. The Pelicans out-rebounded the Hawks by 20, which is the biggest rebounding deficit the Hawks have had all season long. Let's be honest, though; the Hawks won't be going up against Anthony Davis every night. They should be able to rebound better than they did Monday.
the ball effectively, as evidenced by the fact that they're leading the league in assists (19.8 per game), while having fewer turnovers than half the league (13.5 per game). Additionally, the Hawks have been shooting well. Their shooting percentage is fourth-best in the league behind the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Washington Wizards.
As previously stated, the
"THIS TEAM SHOWED THEY COULD HANDLE JUST ABOUT ANYBODY DURING THOSE 19 GAMES..."
Another reason why the Hawks are the real deal is the fact that the Eastern Conference is comically weak right now. The Hawks are pretty much guaranteed a playoff spot at this point in the season with 40 wins.
Once they get to the playoffs, they've shown they can string together wins and get hot, which sometimes is all it takes to determine a postseason champion. They're also following a philosophy proven to work by last season's champions, the San Antonio Spurs. Like the Spurs, the Hawks share
Eastern Conference is weak, so the team from the Western Conference should destroy whoever the Eastern Conference champion is in the NBA Finals, right? Wrong. During the 19-game winning streak, Atlanta also won 12 straight matchups against Western Conference foes, until they ran into New Orleans. This team showed they could handle just about anybody during those 19 games, and I think they have a real chance to hoist up the Larry O'Brien Trophy this summer.
Edited by Mitch Raznick
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BEATY FROM PAGE 2B
said of the Denzel Feaster signing. "He found a guy that had been playing quarterback his entire career, except for his last five games."
Quite possibly, Faster may have never played a down of Division 1 football as quarterback. Because of that, he slipped through the recruiting cracks.
But at a school like Kansas, a swift position change can maximize untapped abilities in a player like Feaster. It worked for Kerry Meier, Brandon McAnderson, and Toben Opurum, just to name a few.
"This guy has instincts? Beaty said of Feaster. "He will come downhill and he will knock the fire out of you. He puts his head on the ball. He doesn't even know what he's doing there yet."
Feaster will most likely play somewhere in the secondary. There, he will be joined by six other 2015 defensive backs, one from Georgia, one from Michigan, the rest from Texas
— just one of them, Marnez Ogletree, measuring in at sub-six-foot (5-foot-10).
"All of these corners that are coming in here, they have arms that are extremely long." Beaty said as he splayed his arms wide of his body towards opposite ends of the Anderson Family Football Complex. "We want them to be able to touch the walls as they stand in this room."
--that Chase reminds me, reminds me of Mike Evans. He has a lot of similar qualities in the way he's built, the way he moves at a young age."
"This guy (Denzel Feaster) has instincts. He will come downhill and he will knock the fire out of you."
DAVID BEATY
Kansas football coach
The theme of length recurred on the offensive side of the ball, highlighted by 6-foot-4 wide receiver Chase Harrell from Huffman, Texas.
"I've known him since he said a pup." Beaty said of Harrell. "Had a guy at Texas A&M
Although Kansas didn't sign a player ranked higher than three stars according to any recruiting database — not that that matters, according to CBS sports — the jayhawks stuck with what was right for the program and didn't deviate from the long-term plan.
"The thing I am most proud of is that our coaches did not let athletic ability get in the way of just taking a guy because he's that good." Beaty said. "He had to be good and he had to be a Kansas guy."
Even if he's from Texas like Feaster is.
"When we offered him the scholarship, he shed a tear," Beaty said of Feaster — Kansas his lone Power 5 offer.
And by all accounts on Wednesday, so does David Beaty.
Edited by Mackenzie Clark
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Baylor has 5 double-figure scorers to beat TCU 77-57
Associated Press
STEPHEN HAWKINS Associated Press
WACO, Texas — Kenny Chery had 13 points, starting the game with a three-pointer and a three-point play to put No. 19 Baylor ahead to stay in a 77-57 victory over TCU on Wednesday night.
The Bears (17-5, 5-4 Big 12), who had five players scoring in double plays, led throughout after scoring the game's first eight points.
TCU (14-8, 1-8) was within 45-39 with just over 15 minutes left before Royce O'Neale converted a three-point play and hit a three-pointer from the left wing after a pass from Chery. The Bears pushed in front 58-39 when Rico Gathers made a layup with 12:45 left.
Gathers finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Chery also had six assists and five rebounds.
Amric Fields had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting to lead TCU. Trey Zeigler and Kenrich Williams had 11 points each.
O'Neale scored 12 points, Taurean Prince 11 and Lester Medford 10.
After the pass to O'Neale for the three in Baylor's big second-half run, Chery had another assist when he crossed midcourt and passed ahead to Al Freeman. The freshman point guard took a stutter-step without traveling or putting the ball on the floor to get around defender Kyan Anderson for a layup. Freeman had a three-pointer for the next Baylor points.
The Bears have won 17 of their last 18 home games, the lone loss in that span by one point to No. 12 Kansas a month ago.
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TCU: Zeigler had his
fourth straight double-figure scoring game for the Horned Frogs, and 10th this season. ... Since becoming a Big 12 member, TCU is 0-8 against Baylor. ... The 14 points by Fields were a season high for the senior, well below the injury-plagued forward's career high of 26 he set as a freshman in December 2010.
Baylor: When the Bears won in overtime at TCU on Jan. 10, they shot 29.8 percent from the field — their worst ever in a win under 12th-year coach Scott Drew. This time, they shot 49 percent (26 of 53). ... Baylor is 31-4 against in-state teams since the start of the 2011-12 season.
UP NEXT
TCU is home Saturday against No.21 Oklahoma.
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