Cavaliers fire John Lucas
CLEVELAND, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- John Lucas was fired Monday as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, ending his two-year tenure with the club.
Under the 49-year-old Lucas, Cleveland was just 8-34 this season, the worst record in the league. Cleveland appears headed for its fourth straight 50-loss season.
Assistant Coach Keith Smart will take over for the remainder of the season, but fellow assistant Jerry Eaves was dismissed with Lucas.
In 2001-02, the Cavaliers went 29-53 and finished seventh in the Central Division. The team traded point guard Andre Miller in the offseason and infused the lineup with young players like Darius Miles, draft picks Dajuan Wagner and Carlos Boozer, and rookie Smush Parker.
The Cavaliers have battled injuries this season. Wagner missed the first month of the season with a bladder infection, Miles was sidelined three weeks with patellar tendinitis, and Bimbo Coles has been out since early December with a quadriceps contusion.
Recently, Tyrone Hill, one of the few Cavs to provide an inside presence, went down with a right hand contusion.
With the changes, Cleveland has shown little progress as the season has gone along, and has dropped seven of its last eight games.
As a head coach, Lucas never has lasted more than two years at any of his three stops. He guided San Antonio to a 94-49 mark in 1992-94 before taking over in Philadelphia, where he was 42-122 from 1994-96.
Lucas had one year left on his contract.
Smart, 38, joined the Cavaliers in 2000 as an assistant coach and Director of Player Development. He does have head coaching experience, having guided the Fort Wayne Fury in the CBA for three seasons.
Smart, who is best known for hitting the decisive shot in the 1987 NCAA Championship Game against Syracuse, played briefly for the San Antonio Spurs in 1988-89.
Venus Williams advances, Hewitt out
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Venus Williams knocked off Daniela Hantuchova for the second straight year at the Australian Open and advanced to the semifinals Tuesday.
The second-seeded Williams fired six aces and 29 winners en route to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the seventh-seeded Slovakian.
Later Tuesday, Agassi will try to extend his winning streak at Melbourne Park to 19 matches when he battles 12th seed Sebastien Grosjean of France.
A four-time Grand Slam titleist, Williams reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the second time.
A former world No. 1, she moved a step closer to a showdown with younger sister Serena, who tops the WTA rankings and beat Venus at the last three Grand Slam finals.
Williams awaits the winner of Tuesday's other quarterfinal between No. 5 Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.
Agassi and Grosjean have split four previous meetings and will contest a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the second time.
A seven-time Grand Slam winner, Agassi seemed to be coasting to victory in his 2001 French Open quarterfinal against Grosjean. But after then-President Clinton took his seat to watch the match, the Las Vegas native collapsed as Grosjean secured a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 triumph.
Agassi is looking to reach his 23rd career Grand Slam semifinal and is trying to become just the fourth man to capture as many as four Australian Open crowns, joining Roy Emerson (1961, 1963-67), Jack Crawford (1931-33, 1935) and Ken Rosewall (1953, 1955, 1971-72).
A semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2001, Grosjean rallied Sunday for a 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Spain's Felix Mantilla. That marked the 24-year-old Marseille native's first win in four career five-set matches at the Australian Open.
The Agassi-Grosjean victor will face the winner of Tuesday's other quarterfinal between fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and Wayne Ferreira of South Africa.
The only unseeded man among the final eight, the 31-year-old Ferreira advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the third time. He knocked off John McEnroe to reach the semifinals in 1992 and was trailing Marat Safin, 5-2, last year when Ferreira retired.
Top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt Monday suffered a shocking 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 upset loss Monday to Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco.
Hewitt's loss came at the first Grand Slam event of the year. He has never advanced beyond the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The world No. 1 has captured titles at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, and reached the last eight at the French Open. However, in his home major, Hewitt has reached the fourth round just twice in seven appearances, falling to Magnus Norman of Sweden in 2000.
El Aynaoui's quarterfinal opponent will be No. 9 Andy Roddick. The 20-year-old American rallied to beat No. 25 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 6-7 (4-7), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.
On the women's side, top-seeded Serena Williams converted 5-of-7 break-point chances and rolled to a 6-4, 6-1 fourth-round victory over No. 18 Eleni Daniilidou of Greece.
Hewitt, 21, was trying to become the first native to win the Australian Open title since Mark Edmondson in 1976. He lost for just the second time in five career meetings with El Aynaoui, who reached the Australian quarterfinals for the second time. He also advanced to the round of eight in 2000.
No. 25 Meghann Shaughnessy rallied for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 20 Elena Bovina of Russia.
Also, No. 4 Kim Clijsters of Belgium continued to rampage through the field, coasting to a 6-3, 6-1 rout of No. 19 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa.
Clijsters has dropped just 10 games in her four matches at Melbourne Park and next will face No. 8 Anastasia Myskina. The Russian rallied past No. 10 Chanda Rubin, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Bowling Green forward out for season
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Junior forward Josh Almanson of Bowling Green has undergone surgery on his left ankle and will miss the remainder of the season.
Almanson, the team's most experienced player and top returning scorer from last season, will apply for a medical hardship.
Almanson, 6-8, was hobbled by a stress fracture in the ankle the entire season, and missed six games in November and December. He attempted to return three weeks ago, but usually was limited to action in one half per game.
He was averaging 6.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in six games of action.
Almanson, a native of Bowling Green, Ohio, was a member of the All-Freshman team of the Mid-America Conference in 2001.
The loss of Almanson leaves the Falcons with just seven scholarship players. Included in that group are two freshmen, Ron Lewis and Raheem Moss, and another first-year player, sophomore transfer John Reimold.
Sophomore Germain Fitch underwent knee surgery on Jan. 6 to repair a torn ACL and also will apply for a medical hardship. He played in just two games this season, and averaged 6.5 points. Both were listed as starters in the preseason.
This marks the third time in six seasons under Dan Dakich that the Falcons have had their top returning scorer miss a season because of an injury. Anthony Stacey missed the 1997-98 season, and Tony Reid missed the majority of the 1998-99 season.
Bowling Green is 9-5 overall and leads the MAC West Division with a 5-1 record.
VCU women's coach to resign
RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Virginia Commonwealth women's basketball coach David Glass announced his resignation effective at the end of the season Monday.
He will be replaced by assistant Beth Cunningham.
Glass has guided the Rams to an 89-95 record in his six-plus seasons at Virginia Commonwealth, including a 6-8 mark this season. He started his coaching career at Missouri-Kansas City in 1993, where he compiled a 27-54 record in three seasons.
"I believe that the time is right for me to step aside and let someone else lead this program," Glass said. "I did as much as I could for this program and this university. I went to school here and started my coaching career here and this place holds a special place in my heart."
Cunningham, a two-time All-American at Notre Dame, played three professional seasons in the ABL and WNBA before becoming an assistant at VCU last season, when the Rams went 14-14.
Cunningham won a gold medal with the U.S. national team at the 1997 World University Games.
White Sox sign RHP Gordon to one-year deal
CHICAGO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The Chicago White Sox filled the void Monday by signing veteran reliever Tom Gordon to a one-year contract.
Gordon reportedly was seeking a pact worth $1.5 million.
The 35-year-old righthander was 1-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 34 appearances for the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros in 2002. The oft-injured veteran missed most of the first half of the season with a muscle tear in his pitching shoulder.
With Chicago, he will set up closer Billy Koch. Antonio Osuna, who filled that role capably, was traded Wednesday to New York in a three-team deal that landed them a desperately needed starter.
Over a 14-year career, Gordon is 106-101 with 98 saves in 525 games. He returns to the American League, where he led the circuit with 46 saves for the Boston Red Sox in 1998.
Richardson joins Slam Dunk competitiomn
NEW YORK, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Jason Richardson of Golden State headlines this year's field for the Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest to be held on All-Star Saturday in Atlanta.
Last February in Philadelphia, Richardson won the Slam Dunk Contest hours after earning MVP honors in the Rookie Challenge.
This year, he will play for the Sophomores in the Rookie Challenge and try to defend his dunk title against 2001 champion Desmond Mason and first-timers Richard Jefferson and Amare Stoudemire.
Last year, Richardson knocked off Mason, a forward with the Seattle SuperSonics, on the way to title. Jefferson is a second-year forward with New Jersey, while Stoudemire, a 20-year-old forward for the Phoenix Suns, is among the best of a talented rookie class this season.
The Slam Dunk Contest features $60,000 in prize money, with $25,000 going to the winner. Each participant is guaranteed at least $10,000.
All-Star Saturday also includes the shootout, hoop-it-up, and the skills challenge.
Rockies agree with Hernandez, Reed
DENVER, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- The Colorado Rockies Monday agreed to terms on one-year contracts with All-Star infielder Jose Hernandez and rightander Steve Reed.
Hernandez can play any infield position, but most likely will be used at third base as the Rockies allowed Todd Zeile to sign with the New York Yankees in December.
The 33-year-old Hernandez made $3.3 million last season, when he batted a career-high .288 with 24 home runs and 73 RBI in 155 games with the Milwaukee Brewers. He sat out most of the final week of the season as he had 188 strikeouts - one shy of Bobby Bonds major league record.
Hernandez had career highs of 25 homers and 78 RBI with the Brewers in 2001 and those numbers should improve at hitter-friendly Coors Field. In 1,173 career games, he has a .255 average with 133 homers and 467 RBI.
Reed made $500,000 last season, which he split between the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. In 64 appearances, he was 2-5 with one save and a 2.01 ERA.
Reed, who turns 37 on March 11, is 40-31 with 18 saves and a 3.52 ERA in 672 career games. He pitched with Colorado from 1993-97, going 25-18 with a 3.68 ERA, which is the best mark for any Rockie with at least 486 innings.
Hornets, Pack reach terms
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Veteran guard Robert Pack, a New Orleans native, Monday signed a second 10-day contract with the Hornets.
Pack, who turns 34 on Feb. 3, is an 11-year veteran and is playing with his sixth team. During his first 10-day stint with New Orleans, he appeared in four games and averaged 4.3 points and 3.0 assists per contest.
Pack, who is two games shy of 500 in his NBA career, has lifetime averages of 9.5 points and 4.9 assists per game. His best season came with Washington in 1995-96, when he averages 18.1 points and 7.8 assists in 31 games.
Bulls put Williams on IL
CHICAGO, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Jay Williams, the second overall pick in the draft, Monday was placed on the injured list with a left ankle sprain.
He will miss the Chicago Bulls' next five games.
The 6-2 point guard, who was put on the injured list prior to Monday's game with the Atlanta Hawks, is averaging 9.5 points per game, and is first among rookies with 5.3 assists per contest.
Williams has scored at least 10 points 17 times and has missed just two games. He became the first Bull in five years to record a triple-double, when he had 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists in a 100-93 win over New Jersey on Nov. 9.
Chicago (14-26), which opened the season with a victory at Boston but has not won away from the United Center since, activated guard Rick Brunson from the injured list to take Williams' roster spot.
Brunson has been out all season with right knee tendinitis. He has averaged 2.1 points and 1.9 assists in a career-high 59 games with Portland in 2001-02.
Thrashers put Dafoe on IL
ATLANTA, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Byron Dafoe Monday was placed on injured reserve with a groin strain.
Dafoe has struggled since signing with the team in November.
The move to IL is retroactive to Jan. 14, the day after he suffered the injury in the second period of a 7-4 victory over Philadelphia.
To take Dafoe's roster spot, Atlanta recalled center Dan Snyder from Chicago of the American Hockey League.
Dafoe was not offered a new contract by the Boston Bruins in the offseason after going 5-26-3 with four shutouts, a 2.21 GAA, and a .907 save percentage in 64 games last season, when the club finished first in the Eastern Conference.
Dafoe, 31, is 4-9-1 with a 4.15 goals-against average for Atlanta (14-26-2-4), which has allowed a league-high 168 goals.
In 394 career games, Dafoe is 166-157-55 with a 2.65 GAA and 26 shutouts.
Snyder was with Atlanta earlier in the season and had one goal and 13 penalty minutes in seven games. With Chicago, he had 11 goals and 12 assists in 35 games.
