NBA
High school basketball star Kobe Bryant decided to pass on college basketball and enter the NBA draft. Page 3.
SPORTS IVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 1996
SECTION B
Jayhawk baseball is all right
After getting a closer look at the Kansas baseball team on Sunday, I still think it has the potential to make the NCAA tournament.
Right now, the Jayhawks' only opponent is pride. By losing four of its five games with Kansas State, the fate of Kansas' postseason hopes rests on other teams.
This team has shown flashes of brilliance against ranked teams like Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State
Now they need losses by Nebraska and Iowa State to ensure a spot in the Big Eight Conference tournament in Oklahoma City. That will happen for sure.
and Arkansas, but
struggled with
weaker opponents like the
Cyclones and
Wildcats. How far
Kansas gets in its postseason quest
will all depend on which team shows up in Oklahoma City.
But in the meantime, there are a few non-conference games for the Javahwks to
SPORTS EDITOR
beef up on, including home matches tonight against Emporia State and tomorrow versus Cameron. I plan to attend tonight's game as a fan, so please join me and give Kansas some much-needed support.
- Seven points for a touchdown and extra point. Three points for a field goal. Sounds like a typical football game, right?
Wrong. The rules to Saturday's Blue-White game also included giving the offense one point for each first down and the defense a nyriad of points for feats ranging from a punt situation to a missed field goal.
Welcome to spring football — Glen Mason style. I think one reason why Memorial Stadium was so sparsely filled was because of the strange way the game is scored. After driving down the field for a touchdown, the Jayhawk offense was crushed by the defense, 63-25 in a game which lasted just two quarters.
I think Mason should scrap his current system, divide his team in half and play a real two-quarter game. While I had lots of fun attempting to keep up with the scoring from the press box, it isn't really an exciting game at all.
Hawks baseball season might end
The wave of ignorance that inhabits Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne has now spread to his colleagues in the athletic department. Kate McEwen, the women's basketball player who was assaulted by Lawrence Phillips last fall, had her scholarship taken away last week by Nebraska coach Angela Beck.
McEwen had two years of eligibility remaining and still has an academic scholarship at the school, but what Beck did was unfair. Beck said she wasn't making enough progress after two seasons.
It must have been tough for McEwen to play last year, considering the media circus she endured and the slap on the wrist Phillips got after the incident.
McEwen should have been rewarded for staying around last season. Instead, she got the dream of playing college basketball taken away along with her dignity and pride.
Perhaps McEwen, who is from Topeka, can walk on at Kansas or Kansas State next season. It appears she won't be missed up in "Husker country."
An anonymous caller has been telling me that the Kansas basketball team will sign Wichita South High School forward Darrin Williams to its final scholarship for the 1966-97 season. Williams, the younger brother of current Jayhawk B.J. Williams, was contacted by one of our sports-writers and asked about it.
Williams said he'd love to play here if the school was interested. I don't think they will be, though. Williams is 20 or 25 pounds lighter than his brother was as a high school senior.
I don't think he is the answer to the Jayhawks' need for size at the post position. Look for Kansas to save its scholarship for what appears to be an impressive junior class from California.
Case closed.
Kansas hopes for the final seed in Big Eight tourney
By Dan Geiston Kansas sportswriter
It is now a waiting game for the Kansas baseball team.
The Jayhawks have concluded their Big Eight Conference games and do not control their own destiny for making the Big Eight tournament in Oklahoma City.
Kansas needed to win just one of its three games with Kansas State last weekend to qualify for the tournament, but instead they were swept by the Wildcats.
Missouri, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State have qualified for the tournament. Six of the seven conference teams make the tournament, which is May 16-19. Kansas is still in fifth place, but sixth place Nebraska has three conference games left and seventh place Iowa State has left.
Nebraska would have to sweep their three-game series with Iowa State to make the tournament, so it appears Kansas should get at least the sixth and final seed.
Kansas 21-25 overall, 11-17 in the Big Eight, is still plagued by poor pitching that has dogged the team all year. The staff, with a couple of exceptions, is still as bad as it was
"It was extremely disappointing. It's a helpless feeling; it really is. We didn't take care of it ourselves, and now we've got to wait and see."
Bobby Randall Kansas baseball coach
at the beginning of the season.
"A lot of these guys still don't believe in themselves," Kansas coach Bobby Randall said. "They can't bring what they're doing in the bullpen into the game. We're still walking way too many batters, and that is always going to hurt us. We haven't made the progress I think we should've and don't know why."
The pitching staff has issued 272 walks in 399 innings this year. In Saturday's 14-9 loss to K-State, they issued 12 walks. They have a 7.53 earned run average. Normally reliable
Kansas reliever Josh Wingerd said the team was disappointed with their performance in crucial games.
relier Casey Barrett lost two games last week and saw his ERA balloon to 4.02.
"We didn't play to the kind of abilities we have," Wingerd said. "Except for Josh (Belovsky) and Mario (Opipari) we struggled in every facet of the game. Pitching, defense, everything. We can't play like that in the tournament."
But overall team inconsistency has plagued the team all year. There have been stretches where the team has looked like it can defeat the best teams in the nations, let alone the conference. But more often than not, including the recent five-game series with the Wildcats, the Jayhawks looked like a team that is waiting for somebody to step up, be it offensively or on the mound, but nobody has.
"It was extremely disappointing," Randall said. "It's a helpless feeling; it really is. We didn't take care of it ourselves, and now we've got to wait and see. But I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about Emporia State."
Starting with tonight's game with Emporia State at 7 in Hogland-Maupin Stadium, the Jayhawks will conclude their season with eight non-conference games.
Randall said Kansas' goal with these games is to try to get its record above .500.
Chris Williams (2-0, 8.10 earned run average) starts for Kansas tonight.
"I'm making my plans for the Big Eight tourney, and the rest of us are too." Wingerd said.
Big Eight Baseball
BIG EIGHT STANDINGS
Overall
34-12 Missouri
Conf.
17-5
29-28 Oklahoma, Stata
14-9
27-21 Oklahoma
12-10
27-18 Kansas St.
11-11
21-25 Kansas
11-17
16-26 Iowa State
7-12
20-25 Nebraska
7-15
KEY GAMES
May 11-12 Nebraska at Iowa State Doubleheader
May 16-19 Big Eight Tournament at Oklahoma City, Okla.
May 23-27 NCAA Regional Tournaments
May 31-
June 8 College World Series at Omaha, Neb.
Andy Rohrback/KANSAN
"We still have the talent to win this thing. All we have to do is play up to our capabilities, and we have a shot."
Where's the ice?
A shot, that is, only if they get in.
Matt Flickner / KANSAN
Kansas center Derek Moscato skates away from a Northwest Missouri State player during the Collegiate Inline Hockey Association Great Plains Regional Playoffs Saturday at All-American Sports Mall in Kansas City, Mo. NMSU defeated the fajhwaks and went on to win the tournament
Rowers wait to see if they're in Regatta
Team brings home three silver medals from Midwest meet
By Evan Blackwell Kansan sportswriter
Allison Adams can only sit back and wait.
Adams, the senior co-captain of the Kansas women's rowing team, doesn't know if her boat will be invited to the Champion International Collegiate Regatta on May 12 in Worcester, Mass.
After the Midwest Rowing Championships last weekend in Madison, Wis., the only Kansas boat to qualify for the Worcester regatta was the varsity lightweight eight boat. Adams' boat, the varsity open four, now hopes to get in through the back door.
"We had to petition to get in."
Adams said. "We're waiting to hear."
The races in Worcester might end the season for the Jayhawks, depending on how many rowers
decide to go to the Collegiate National Rowing Championships on June 8 in Cincinnati.
"We'll have to talk about it as a team and see how many people want to go," Adams said. "Since it's in June, some people won't be around."
However many boats get invited to Worcester, the Jayhawks may have gained some momentum in Madison by bringing home three silver medals, in the varsity lightweight four and eight and the novice lightweight eight.
Kansas women's rowing coach Rob Catloth said the results were strong, considering this was the first year the Jayhawks had competed at the Midwest Championships as a varsity program.
"We made a good showing for our first year as a varsity program," Catloth said. "I was really proud of these women."
Adams, who had been to the Midwest Championships for three years as a member of the Kansas crew team, said the experience of com-
See ROWING, Page 2.
Atlanta gains 2-1 series edge
Hawks survive fourth-quarter drought to nail down victory in Eastern Conference series
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Steve Smith scored 26 points, including a critical three-point shot with 1:31 remaining, and the Atlanta Hawks took command of their Eastern Conference series with Indiana, beating the Pacers 90-83 last night.
Atlanta, which now has a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five series, is trying to advance to the second round for only the second time in eight years.
Christian Laettner, appearing in his first NBA playoff series, added 24 points, and Mookie Blaylock tied a playoff record with eight steals, including two in the closing seconds.
Atlanta went nearly four minutes without scoring until Laetner put the Hawks ahead for good, backing in against three defenders and putting in a shot that made it 81-80 with 3:06 remaining.
Then, after Indiana missed two straight three-pointers, Smith fired in a shot from at least five feet behind the three-point stripe as the 24-second clock expired to push Atlanta's lead to 84-80.
Haywood Workman hit a three-point shot for Indiana with 57 seconds to go, but that was the last basket for the Pacers, who eliminated Atlanta from the playoffs the last two years and went on to reach the Eastern Conference finals both times.
Indiana had a chance to take the lead with 12 seconds left, but Mark Jackson missed a jumper.
After Smith made one of two free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining to put Atlanta up 85-83, Blaylock
Derrick McKey and Rik Smits scored 13 points apiece for Indiana, while Dale Davis and Workman had 12 apiece and Fierce 10. The poor showing by Smits, who averaged 24 points in the first two games of the series, was especially crucial as he failed to take advantage of his five-inch, 30-pound advantage over Laetner.
stole a pass from Indiana's Ricky Pierce and was fouled. Blaylock made two free throws for an 87-83 lead, then stole Indiana's inbounds pass and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin.
Smith, meanwhile, has stepped up in the series and finally appears to be living up to the potential that made him the fifth player selected in the 1991 draft. He is averaging 26 points per game in the series.
Pierce started in place of Reggie Miller, who underwent eye surgery before the playoffs. With Miller watching from the bench in a suit and sunglasses, the Pacers searched for a go-to shooter but never found him.
Along with his eight steals, Blaylock had 16 points and seven assists. The stained ties a playoff record shared by five players, including Tim Hardaway, who did it twice while playing for Golden State.
Laetner, a natural power forward forced to play center for the Hawks, played with the emotion he showed during his college career at Duke. He made 10 of 11 free throws and even outbounded the larger Smits. 8-5.
Notes: The last time Atlanta led 2-1 in the playoffs was 1988. The Hawks went on to beat Milwaukee 3-2 in that series ... The Pacers' nine free throws and 13 attempts at the line were the least ever against the Hawks in a playoff game ... The small crowd was padded by hundreds of Pacers fans who flew down from Indiana and were decked out in blue and gold.
BRIEF
The only disappointment for the Hawks was the attendance. The announced crowd of 11,290 was more than 5,000 below capacity at the Omni and appeared to be even smaller than that.
Sources indicate that players'union favors a luxury tax
Little progress yesterday in baseball negotiations
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Baseball players gave owners some informal ideas yesterday for a labor contract, but they didn't appear to be the basis for progress in the negotiations.
The players did not make a formal response to the proposal the owners gave them March 21. However, the ideas they discussed yesterday are far from the groups' last offer.
In management's last proposal, teams asked for a luxury tax of 40
According to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the players talked about having a luxury tax in 1998 and 1999, the middle two years of a six-year plan.
percent on the amounts of payrolls over $46 million in 1998, with the threshold rising 7 percent a year to about $5.3 million in 2001.
The players talked about a 30 percent tax on the amount of payrolls above $64 million, with the number fixed for both years.
Players said they were comfortable letting the owners adopt revenue sharing for 1996 and 1997 in the form approved by owners last month.
For the final four years, players made their own revenue sharing proposal, with the top-revenue sharing teams giving up a smaller percentage of revenue than owners want.
Randy Levine, the owners' negotiator, and Gene Orza, the union's second-ranking official, both declined to comment on the talks in New York other than to confirm they took place.
It was not clear when the union will make its next formal proposal. If the sides remain far apart, some owners are in favor of going back to federal court and asking U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor for permission to declare an impasse in bargaining and impose their own labor terms.
---