Posted January 30, 2009    

• Kobe Bryant

• Kevin Love

• James Laurinaitis

• Delmon Young

• Mikko Koivu

Wolves Face ‘Cream of Conference’ Tonight 

During the 82 game NBA regular season there are ho-hum dates and yawners.  Then there are a few like tonight’s Lakers-Wolves date at Target Center that deserve preferred anticipation.   

The Wolves, who are playing their best basketball in years, will test themselves against a Lakers team that is No. 2 in NBA.com’s power rankings.  Wolves’ assistant coach Jerry Sichting didn’t minimize the game’s importance during an interview with Sports Headliners early in the week. 

“That will be a good measuring stick,” he said.  “They’re the cream of our conference.  That’s for sure.  Not only are they good but they’re tall and we’re not the biggest team in the league.  It’s almost a double whammy when we play them.  They’ve got great players and they’re really big.  Al (Jefferson), and (Kevin) Love, they’ll be giving up three and four and five inches to the guys that they’re matched up against. Those guys like to throw over the top and play volleyball on the glass against us.  We’re really going to have to be physical and we’re gonna have to play our best game of the year probably to beat them.”  

The Lakers, with the Western Conference’s best record at 35-9, have more length than any team in the league, plus all-world guard Kobe Bryant.  And not just length, but quality players with exceptional basketball skills and athleticism.  Andrew Bynum, only 21, is a 7-footer with long arms who has taken over at center with Pau Gasol, another 7-footer, moving to power forward.  Bynum is averaging 13.9 points and 8.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.  Gasol’s numbers: 17.3, 9.0 and 0.9. 

Bynum probably has as much potential for improvement as any player in the league and he’s already a handful.  He scored a career high 42 points earlier this month against the Clippers. “He’s a monster,” Love said.  “He’s what, only 21? ... He’s just scratching the surface right now.” 

Off the Lakers bench come two 6-10 players, Lamar Odom and Vladimir Radmanovic.  The versatile Odom can play both power forward and small forward.  

The Wolves’ January record is a flashy 10-3, yet all but two of the wins have come against teams with under .500 records.  Sichting, though, said the Wolves have newfound confidence.  Instead of experiencing a bad period of play in a game and thinking all was lost, now the team has proven it can even come from behind and win. 

“They’re starting to believe that they can play with good teams,” he said.  “We haven’t beat a lot of teams with winning records. …That’s the next step we have to take.  We’re beating mediocre teams.  We’re beating some teams that aren’t very good. ….” 

A win tonight against the Lakers will leave no one doubting the reputation of the team the Wolves defeated.  And if that weren’t enough, the Wolves are at Boston on Sunday to face the defending NBA champions who are 38-9 and have won nine straight.  Can you say Measuring Stick II?

 

  "Not only are they good but they're tall and we're not the biggest team in the league.  It's almost a double whammy when we play them."
Jerry Sichting on the Lakers 
 

Al Jefferson

Worth Noting 

The Wolves lost on the road to the Lakers in December, 98-86, the only game between the two teams so far this season.  The Wolves have lost five straight to Los Angeles dating back to the 2006-2007 season. 

As of yesterday morning there were about 1,600 tickets remaining for the game. 

Wolves’ rookie forward Kevin Love played in Los Angeles for UCLA so his name is well-known in the Southern California market.  He was asked about whether his performance in tonight’s game is more important than usual.  “Yeah, a little bit,” he said. “I want people to hear that I did well against the Lakers, the Clippers or a place like Portland (near his home town).  It is important but in the end it’s just another game.  We just want to get that W.” 

Despite having the highest scoring average (22.7) among NBA players averaging a double-double in points and rebounds, Wolves’ center Al Jefferson wasn't named to the Western Conference All-Star team.  That doesn’t mean, though, that a lot of people don’t think the 24-year-old low post scoring whiz isn’t deserving.  On Tuesday night, hosts Ahmad Rashad, Gary Payton and Chris Webber were advocating Jefferson’s selection.  During an interview on NBA TV they also coaxed him to say, “I am most definitely an all-star.” 

The Big Ten Conference will have 22 former players and seven coaches with league connections in Sunday’s Super Bowl, according to a conference news release.  The Big Ten and ACC are tied for the lead among all conferences with 22 players on the two Super Bowl squads, Pittsburgh and Arizona.  The Gophers have more former players on the Pittsburgh roster than any other Big Ten school, strong safety Tyrone Carter, running back Gary Russell and tight end Matt Spaeth. 

Stubhub.com listed Super Bowl tickets this week for under $2,000.00 and also a luxury suite for 16 at $127,888.00. 

Linebacker James Laurinaitis, the former Wayzata linebacker who played four seasons for Ohio State, earned All-America recognition for the third time during his senior season, becoming only the sixth Big Ten player to ever accomplish that and the first since 1930 . 

Local author Ross Bernstein is working on another “code” book, this one on the unwritten rules of football that will be a sequel to his baseball and hockey books.  He’s consulting with a Canadian company, too, on a documentary film that draws on material from his hockey book. 

Another book project is with former St. Louis Cardinals offensive lineman Conrad Dobler.  Bernstein said Dobler has a friendship with golfer Phil Mickelson who is paying for the college education of Dobler’s children.  More on Bernstein at www.bernsteinbooks.com

 

 "I want people to hear that I did well against the Lakers, the Clippers or a place like Portland (near his home town)."
Kevin Love

Matt Spaeth



 

Extra Innings   

Twins 23-year-old left fielder Delmon Young, 6-3, 200 pounds, hit only 10       home runs in his first season with the team last year.  “If he learns to pull the ball he’ll hit a whole bunch of home runs,” former Twin Tony Oliva told Sports Headliners. 

Former Minneapolis newspaper man Bob Fowler, who died recently, once wrote a book with Oliva.  Now 70, Oliva said he receives inquiries for doing another book about his life and baseball career.

FOX Sports North and 29 WFTC will televise five Twins spring training games.  FOX will start with a noon telecast of the Twins against Florida on Saturday, March 14 .  FOX’s other two telecasts are a 6 p.m. Thursday, March 26 game against Cincinnati and a Monday, March 30 game versus Tampa Bay beginning at noon.  WFTC will televise the Yankees game on Sunday, March 15 and the St. Louis game on Sunday, March 29.  Both games start at noon. All times are Central Standard.

Mikko Koivu is the top selling Wild “sweater” both locally and nationally, followed by Brent Burns, Derek Boogard and Cal Clutterbuck, per an e-mail from an NHL source. 

The Wild’s Hockey Lodge at the Xcel Energy Center and store at the Mall of America is selling a blue Minnesota Fighting Saints sweater. In the coming weeks Saints merchandise will include hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, pennants and knit hats. 

Wild left wing Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored two goals and added an assist in Tuesday’s win over Toronto, the first game for both teams following last Sunday’s All-Star game.  Last year Bouchard scored three goals and 21 points after the All-Star break in setting a career-high of 63 points on 13 goals and 50 assists.  This season Bouchard has 10 goals, 16 assists and 26 points. 

Tonight the Wild plays its first of three games this season at Edmonton. Goalie Niklas Backstrom is 10-0-0 with a 1.58 goals against average and .935 save percentage in 12 career games against Edmonton.  Minnesota is 10-7-6 all-time at Edmonton and was 1-2-1 last season.  

 

Mikko Koivu

Derek Boogaard