About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2018)
4B Sunday, November 11,2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS NFL Falcons at Browns, 1 p.mFOX MARK TENALLYI Associated Press Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) fakes a handoff to running back Ito Smith (25) during a against the Washington Redskins on Nov. 4 in Landover, Md. Back on course Flying again after 1-4 start, Falcons and QB Matt Ryan set to take on Browns AUSTIN STEELE I The Times Cherokee Bluff’s Bosko Norman dribbles the ball during a scrimmage against Johnson at Cherokee Bluff High School on Thursday, Nov. 8, in Flowery Branch. NFL Saints place WR Dez Bryant on IR, promote Kirkwood Dez Bryant’s season is over before it had even begun. The New Orleans Saints placed the newly acquired Bryant on injured reserve Sat urday, promoting receiver Keith Kirkwood from the practice squad to the active roster before Sunday’s game at Cincinnati. Bryant was injured during his second practice with New Orleans on Friday. A person familiar with the situation says Bryant has a torn Achilles ten don. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because the Saints have not announced details of the veteran receiver’s injury. The 30-year-old Bryant became a free agent in April after eight seasons with Dallas. He’d been looking for a new team until signing with New Orleans on Wednesday. The 6-foot-3 Kirkwood is a 24-year-old undrafted rookie out of Temple. NBA AP Source: Jimmy Butler going to 76ers from Minnesota in trade Jimmy Butler has his wish: He’s out of Minnesota. And just like that, Philadel phia has a new Big Three — one that could make serious noise in the Eastern Conference. A person with knowledge of the situation said Saturday that Butler is being traded to the 76ers in a package that will send Dario Saric and Robert Covington to the Timberwolves. The person spoke to The Asso ciated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been announced by either team and was still pend ing NBA approval, which is not expected until Monday. Justin Patton will also be sent to Philadelphia, and Jer- ryd Bayless and a 2022 second- round pick are also going to Minnesota, the person said. The Athletic first reported the agreement. Philadelphia’s “Process” led it to the second round of the playoffs last season behind two of the game’s youngest, bright est stars in big man Joel Embiid and point guard Ben Simmons. Butler, an elite wing and out standing defender, will join them in a quest to rule the East ern Conference now that LeB- ron James has left that league to join the Los Angeles Lakers following eight straight trips to the NBA Finals with Miami and Cleveland. The first order of business will be making the trade offi cial, something that could come in time to get Butler in uni form for a game at Miami on Monday. Associated Press Associated Press CLEVELAND - Qui etly, steadily and with little fanfare, the Atlanta Falcons have gotten off the ground. They’re flying again — under the radar. Despite numerous injuries at vital posi tions, the Falcons have shaken off a 1-4 start and carry a three-game winning streak into today’s matchup with the Browns (2-6-1). Cleveland has changed coaches, dropped four in a row and is trying not to let another season spiral completely out of control. The Falcons (4-4) are coming off their best performance this sea son, a well-rounded 38-14 thrashing of the Wash ington Redskins that has pushed them back into contention in the wild card race. Atlanta coach Dan Quinn said the key to the team’s turnaround has been persistence. “The main thing for us was the message to be real consistent, to stay the course,” Quinn said this week. “Although we got knocked down, defensively especially from the communica tion standpoint, we had to work hard to increase on that. There might be some new voices lead ing the way. We just tried to stay consistent with the guys. Make sure that we knew what we were doing was right and we had to do what we did better.” Nobody’s doing it bet ter than Falcons quar terback Matt Ryan, who is playing like he did as the league’s MVP in 2016. Ryan has thrown 19 touchdown passes, only three interceptions, and is completing 71 percent of his passes. The 33-year- old leads the NFL with 335.6 yards passing per game, and he recently went 213 attempts between interceptions. Matty Ice is on fire. “He really is playing well. He is executing very well,” said Browns interim coach and defen sive coordinator Gregg Williams. “You can see the comfort zone that he has with (Falcons offen sive coordinator) Steve (Sarkisian) in Year 2. That usually is the way that it is in our league.” Last week, Ryan passed for 350 yards and four touchdowns, one to star receiver Julio Jones, who ended a 12-game scoreless drought and fin ished with seven catches for 121 yards. Cleveland’s defense will get another stiff test one week after dealing with Kansas City’s high flying aerial circus. Pat rick Mahomes and the Chiefs scored 34 in three quarters before coast ing through the final 15 minutes. Williams knows Ryan’s capabilities after facing him twice a season while he was defensive coor dinator in New Orleans. Back then, Williams could take chances and blitz a young Ryan. Those tricks don’t work as well on a savvy veteran. “I look at it as an older quarterback — you start to get into the double digit years, plus years and stuff — the influence of whoever is coordinat ing him and whoever is coaching him, he is having some say in some things and doing some really, really good things,” Williams said. “He is very accurate. Our work is going to be cut out for us.” BROWNS DOWN Cleveland’s task of stopping Ryan, Jones and Co. got harder when start ing linebacker Christian Kirksey and cornerback E.J. Gaines were lost to season-ending injuries. The Browns should have rookie cornerback Denzel Ward and safety/ corner Damarious Ran dall back from injuries. Randall may draw the assignment of cover ing Jones, who presents problems with his size and speed. NEW RUNNING BACK TANDEM With Devonta Free man on injured reserve for at least six more weeks, Atlanta’s distribu tion of carries has been unexpectedly balanced. Tevin Coleman is start ing, but rookie Ito Smith’s role is expanding. Proof came in last week’s win when Coleman had 13 carries for 88 yards, and Smith added 10 for 60 yards and a touchdown. BLUFF ■ Continued from 1B gotten better and better each day.” Once strangers, Wood’s assortment of players — three seniors, eight juniors and two sophomores — have developed a blossom ing chemistry on-and-off the court. It’s a ripe group that appears more than ready to tackle its inaugural bas ketball season that begins against Lanier Christian Academy on Tuesday. “That’s all part of the pro cess, is getting a bunch of personalities together and getting to know one another, developing those relation ships and trying to mesh it together,” said Wood, in Year No. 25 of his coaching career. “But it’s all a really fun process to try to bring all that together as well. ” Wood seems to have that procedure down pat. The Bears’ first coach said their focus this summer has been on the fundamen tals while implementing a blueprint of what he envi sions for the team’s identity: An up-tempo, hustle-driven brand of basketball that helped Gainesville High — Wood’s former team — storm into the boys Class 6A title game last season. Wood led Gainesville High to a 114-33 record over the last five seasons. He also has five state semifinal appear ances to his name, two each with the North Hall boys and Johnson girls in previous stops. Varsity experience may be lacking on the team, but Wood has been pleased with the progress made over the summer and during the team’s first official two weeks of practice. “ (Coach Wood) just knows the game of basketball very well, and he just knows how to teach the game, teaches us where to be,” said Weaver, who brings a com bined two years of junior varsity and varsity experi ence to Cherokee Bluff. He gives us very specific roles. ...Everyday, we just get bet ter with that. But he’s not just a good coach, he has a great personality.” On top of building chem istry, it’s an opportunity for players like Weaver and Neville to see their roles and minutes increase as starters. The majority of Neville’s production came off the bench in his previous two seasons with the Red Elephants at Gainesville High. But the 6-foot-2 Nev ille’s resume in travel ball clearly shows his potential to be a viable contributor for the Bears this season. With his North Georgia Elite AAU team, Neville averages 23.2 points and 2.3 assists per game while making 55 per cent of his shots. Neville’s mother, Sonja, teaches at Cherokee Bluff and is also the director of basketball operations for the team. “It’s a lot different from my role last year, but it’s cool having to learn to be more of a leader instead of just a role player,” he said. “It’s just cool to be a bigger part of the team and try to help us win more.” Experiencing a baptism by fire against some stout competition certainly adds to that growth as well. The Bears inhabit a top-heavy Region 7-3A that includes three programs ranked inside the top-10 in some preseason polls — reigning Class 3A champion Greater Atlanta Christian at No. 1, No. 6 Dawson County and No. 8 East Hall. “When you play competi tion like that, it’s just going to make you better,” Wood said. But for now, we’re just focused on us and trying to get better each day. “I think the kids are excited to play someone in a different color jersey.” While Neville under stands success doesn’t come overnight, he still feels they have the team to turn heads in Year 1. “(Being a new program), we’d like to use that as an advantage,” he said. “We have a chance to come out and punch them in the mouth early, and show them what we got because we have been working hard to get to this moment. ” TENNIS Czechs lead defending champ US 2-0 in Fed Cup final Associated Press PRAGUE — Barbora Strycova and Kat erina Siniakova won their singles for the Czech Republic to take a commanding 2-0 over the defending champion United States in the Fed Cup final on Saturday. Strycova rallied from a set down to defeat Sofia Kenin 6-7 (5), 6-1,6-4. Siniakova stretched the advantage by dispatching Alison Riske 6-3, 7-6 (2) to the delight of more than 14,000 fans at Prague’s 02 Arena. “It couldn’t be better,” Siniakova said. “But it’s not finished yet and we need to be ready for tomorrow. We need to stay focused and I believe that we will win. ” The Czechs are one win away from their sixth title in eight years. U.S. captain captain Kathy Rinaldi gave credit to the Czech players but said, “I really think we could have been up 2-0, too. “ It was just a day of missed opportunities in my opinion. Anything can happen in the Fed Cup and tomorrow’s another day.” To win, the 18-time champion U.S. would have to become the first team to come back from 2-0 down in the final. In today’s reverse singles, Kenin will go against Siniakova, and Riske will meet Strycova. In doubles, the last match of the final, Riske and Danielle Collins are sched uled to meet No. l-ranked pair Barbora Krejcikova and Siniakova on the indoor hard-court. Siniakova broke Riske for 6-5 in the second set but the 63rd -ranked American forced a tiebreaker. The Czech dominated it, converting the second match point when Riske sent a backhand wide. “I was just enjoying the moment and PETR DAVID JOSEK I Associated Press Barbora Strycova reacts after scoring a point against Sofia Kenin during their match of the Fed Cup Final between Czech Republic and the United States on Saturday, Nov. 10, in Prague, Czech Republic. trying to play my game,” Siniakova said. “I was enjoying the atmosphere and every thing. It was amazing for me.” “We can only be aggressive and go after it tomorrow,” Riske said. Riske is the only player on the U.S. team who has previously played in the Fed Cup. The Williams sisters, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys all withdrew. RACE ■ Continued from 1B including this year — a week after a different No. 4 Ford was found to be illegal following a victory. This track was critical in Harvick’s run to his first title four years ago when he had to win, and did, at Phoe nix to advance to the championship round. A win isn’t required today, and Harvick needs only to avoid any on-track issues to secure his ticket at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Only a quiet Sunday drive is not Harvick’s style. He arrived in Phoenix without his crew chief and car chief, both suspended for the final two races of the season. The berth he’d earned into the final four by winning last week at Texas had been stripped away as punishment by NASCAR. His team has been branded a cheat. The situation is less than ideal, and Harvick is disin terested in discussing the penalty or the plight of his race team. He’s instead letting his performance speak for itself. He went out and won the pole. Then he was fastest in both of Saturday’s practices. It’s quite clear Harvick came to Arizona with every intention of rolling over the competition on his way to Homestead. The penalty is old news to him and he’s not looking back. “I show up and do the best that I can,” Harvick said. “The best thing that shows up are results on the race track. I drive and try to do the best that I can and we go from there.” He’s one of seven drivers rac ing today for three remaining spots in the finale. Only Joey Logano is locked in — and it is no coincidence he’s the most relaxed playoff driver right now — and all three of Harvick’s teammates are vying for slots. The penalty issued Wednesday against Harvick not only cost him his automatic berth to Homestead but the points deduction left him only three points above the cutline. Lurking right behind him is teammate Kurt Busch, who recognized the opportunity Harvick’s penalty opened for the last driver to win the Cup title in a Ford. “This week with the pen alty, it’s like we won two stages without even firing up the engine on our car,” said Busch, champion in 2004 in the first year of NASCAR’s playoff system. “Now we’re equal and the job now is to get stage one, stage two and to see how things pan out for the end of the race.” Harvick NASCAR XFINITY SERIES Bell to race for another national championship Crashes in consecutive weeks had backed Chris topher Bell into a corner that jeopardized his strong rookie season in the Xfinity Series. But Bell thrives in must- win moments, and Saturday at ISM Raceway outside of Phoenix was another example of the young driver delivering when everything was on the line. Bell won — the only result that would have advanced him into the championship round — and will now race for a second NASCAR national championship. Bell won the Truck Series title last year, moved to the Xfinity Series this season in a Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing, and his victory Sat urday was a series-high sev enth of the season. Had he not won, though, two weeks of bad luck would have wiped out his season. “The pressure was on and I am just one of those guys who does really well in those situations,” Bell said. “Everything is on the line and I am just thankful I pulled through for my team. These guys are the ones who build the race cars that are going to win, whether I am driving them or not.” Associated Press
