College basketball
KU COACH, PLAYER WILL MEET: Kansas coach Bill Self will meet with Jeff Graves and his family on Monday to talk about the senior center's suspension for "irresponsible behavior."
Self issued the suspension on Friday after Graves, who was averaging about four points and four rebounds, missed practice. He has been chronically late to practice and team meetings.
The suspension is not related in any way to legal difficulties.
"We'll sit down and we'll get a game plan together and if he can live by the game plan, then that's great," Self said Saturday following the fifth-ranked Jayhawks' 77-67 victory over Oregon. "If he can't, we'll move on."
Asked if Monday will be a pivotal day for the 6-foot-9 Graves, Self said, "Every day after Monday will be pivotal."
Graves has spent plenty of time in the doghouse since transferring to Kansas two years ago. He was overweight and out of shape at the beginning of practice in 2002 and then-coach Roy Williams was so disgusted he refused to list him on the roster.
But he lost weight and played well last season, particularly after 6-foot-9 Wayne Simien went out with a dislocated shoulder. In the national championship game against Syracuse, he had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
"All he's got to do is do what he's supposed to do," Self said. "It's not complicated at all. Just be where you're supposed to be and be responsible and good things will happen to you. And in turn, good things will happen to us."
Graves would be a severe loss. His heft and experience inside are sorely needed as the Jayhawks try to complement Simien.
Pro basketball
LAFRENTZ OUT: Boston Celtics forward Raef LaFrentz, bothered by a sore knee all season, was placed on the injured list Saturday.
The club made the move before playing the Cleveland Cavaliers. This will be LaFrentz's second stint on the injured list this season.
LaFrentz, acquired in an offseason trade with Dallas, scored nine points in 18 minutes Friday night in Boston's win over Toronto. He is averaging 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game.
The club activated center Kendrick Perkins, who had been sidelined with tendinitis in his right knee.
THOMAS SIDELINED: Knicks forward Kurt Thomas sat out Saturday night against the Denver Nuggets because of a sore knee, allowing Antonio McDyess to make his first start for New York against the team that traded him.
Thomas has tendinitis and swelling in his left knee. He listed himself as day-to-day.
"The last couple games of the road trip I was feeling I couldn't jump. I don't want to be out there if it will hurt the team," Thomas said. "I don't expect to be out long, though."
Thomas sat out because of injury for only the fifth time since coming to the Knicks for the 1998-99 season.
Pro football
FIEDLER SHOULD START: Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler and defensive tackle Tim Bowens are expected to start Monday night against Philadelphia because coach Dave Wannstedt says they are recovering well from injuries.
During the Dolphins' loss at New England on Dec. 7, Fiedler aggravated a knee injury that sidelined him for four games this season. Bowens missed the game with a calf strain.
The Dolphins also signed defensive end Tony Brown to a two-year contract Saturday.
Brown spent the first 14 weeks of the season on Carolina's practice squad and will fill the roster spot that opened when Rob Burnett was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury Friday.
Burnett will miss the rest of the season and will require arthroscopic surgery after his knee swelled during Thursday's practice.
Horse racing
JOCKEY LEAVES HOSPITAL: Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone was released from a hospital Saturday after suffering severe bruises to her upper chest and right shoulder in a spill at Hollywood Park.
There were no fractures of her vertebrae or ribs, Dr. Steven Schwartz, an orthopedist at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, added in a prepared statement issued by Hollywood Park.
It was unclear how long the 40-year-old jockey would be sidelined.
In the statement, Krone described her status as "day to day" until she gets a more complete diagnosis. She planned to see her personal orthopedic surgeon early next week.
Krone was thrown to the ground Friday during a 7 1/2-furlong claiming race for 3-year-olds and up when her horse, Clover Situation, collided with Skidoo.
Skidoo, ridden by David Nuesch, had fractured his right foreleg midway down the backstretch and fallen directly into the path of Krone.
Nuesch escaped serious injury. Skidoo, a 4-year-old colt, was euthanized and Clover Situation wasn't injured.
Krone has 3,704 career wins and has been among the leading riders in Southern California since ending a 3 1/2-year retirement in November 2002. She was inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 2000 and is the only woman to ride winners of a Triple Crown race and a Breeders' Cup race.
Winter sports
CROSS-COUNTRY: At Davos, Switzerland, Olympic champion Andrus Veerpalu of Estonia and Valentina Schevschenko of Ukraine won cross-country ski races Saturday for the second World Cup victories of their careers.
Kris Freeman of the United States was fifth in the 15-kilometer classical style men's race.
Veerpalu finished in 38 minutes, 13.8 seconds, beating Russia's Nikolai Pankratov by 2.5 seconds, with Sweden's Anders Soedergren third. Germany's Rene Sommerfeldt was fourth and took the lead in the overall standings.
BIATHLON: At Hochfilzen, Austria, led by World Cup leader Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Norway won a 30-kilometer biathlon relay Saturday for its first team victory this season.
The Norwegians finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes, 52.5 seconds. Belarus was 2:23.2 behind and France was third. Bjoerndalen missed only one target and was joined on the team by Stian Eckhoff, Lars Berger and Halvard Hanevold.