Author: David Shama

The Timberwolves won their first game of the season Wednesday night after losing five straight. Only one loss was by more than eight points. With 10 new players who weren’t even on the roster last season, the franchise’s marketing campaign has been telling us to “See What They Can Do.”  Here are early impressions of both the team and several individuals.

The Wolves could have a couple more wins if they had shot more free throws or been better defensively.  Before Wednesday night’s 108-103 win over Sacramento, the Wolves had shot 92 free throws, while their opponents attempted 202.  Against the Kings, the Wolves had eight more free throw attempts than Sacramento.

A characteristic of the Wolves so far is that they don’t consistently stop other teams with their defense, including in the fourth quarter.  Matching basket for basket won’t produce wins without some key defensive plays.  The right players on the floor and fewer defensive lapses will help.

The development of rookie forward Corey Brewer, an energy guy with exceptional defensive skills, and the return of injured guard Randy Foye boosts the likelihood of the Wolves winning with some frequency.  When Brewer and center Theo Ratliff (he’s been an early season NBA leader in blocked shots) are in the lineup, the Wolves have two exceptional defenders, one who can guard on the perimeter, the other in charge of internal security.

Foye potentially solves two problems.  As a rookie last year, he was exceptional in the fourth quarter, scoring 48 percent of his points for the season during the final period and overtime.  The Wolves need a third reliable fourth quarter scoring alternative to join forward/center Al Jefferson and guard Rashad McCants. The return of Foye means he starts at point guard, replacing Marko Jaric and Sebastian Telfair, neither of whom has played like an NBA starter early in the season.

McCants, now in his third season, is producing  like an emerging star, averaging 18.6 points per game and making more than 50 percent of his field goals, including three pointers.  McCants, who had a career high 33 points Wednesday night, needs to sharpen up on defense and avoid unnecessary fouls that lessen his playing time.

Before the season it seemed a possibility that Foye, not a natural point guard, might play a lot of minutes at shooting guard, his more natural position, but the play of McCants has muted that notion.  At least for now.

With McCants, 23, either putting up jump shots near or far, or creatively driving to the basket, and with Jefferson, 22, tossing in six footers near the basket, the Wolves have developed an effective one-two scoring formula in early games.   Jefferson, 6-10, 265, is not only effective near the basket because of his size, he has extraordinary footwork.

The Wolves look organized offensively, defensively and in their collective heads.  Coach Randy Wittman has the team playing with energy, an absolute must for a young group trying to figure out who they are and how to play with one another.

The Wolves play Washington at home tonight (Friday) and New Orleans is at Target Center tomorrow night.

Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster looks at basketball’s early signing period (now through November 21) and advocates two signing periods for college football.  He has made that suggestion before his Big Ten Conference colleagues and believes an early signing period will relieve pressure on football recruits, just like it does in basketball. Brewster said it might make sense to have an early signing period in May when high school juniors could make commitments, and not have to wait until the following February as they do now.

What about Gopher recruiting for next year?  Brewster told Sports Headliners that he’s convinced his 2008 recruiting class will be impressive.  It will include some junior college players, but primarily high school athletes.

Regarding next season, Brewster predicts continued parity in the conference.  Going into tomorrow’s final games, every team in the Big Ten has at least one conference loss.  Asked about who might be the best teams, Brewster singled out with some hesitation Ohio State, Illinois and Michigan.

“I think we’re going to make a big jump,” he said.  “I think we’ll be tremendously improved.”

The Gophers, based on their depth chart for last weekend’s game at Iowa, will return eight starters on offense and eight on defense.  Tomorrow against Wisconsin at the Metrodome the roster will list 16 seniors who hope to avoid making history.  If the Gophers lose their 11^th game, it will be a school record.

Wisconsin has won 10 of the last 12 games against the Gophers.  Minnesota won in Minneapolis in 2003 but hasn’t defeated the Badgers in Madison since 1994.

Wisconsin, by the way, has a 25-1 record in Madison since the start of the 2004 season, the nation’s best home record.  The Badgers are working on 14 straight wins, the third longest home winning streak in school history.

At 10 p.m. tonight the Gophers will hold a pep rally at Williams Arena.  Admission to the Border Battle Pep Fest is free.  Much of the crowd is expected to come from fans who attended the men’s hockey game or women’s basketball game on campus.  Brewster and the team will be in attendance.

Congratulations to Dave and Linda Mona on the birth of their first grandchild, Camden Mona, a boy, born on Sunday to son Kirk and wife Chelsey.  Dave is the color commentator for Gopher football games on WCCO Radio. The Minnesota football staff sent flowers with a note asking for first recruitment rights.

A broadcast industry source said when local TV stations buy tickets to help sellout the Vikings home games, they pay face value.  NFL revenue sharing policy among teams doesn’t allow for discounting the tickets.  The inventory for local commercials on Vikings home telecasts is about 15 ads, perhaps worth $200,000 or more to a local station.  Rather than face a TV blackout because a game isn’t sold-out, stations can be willing to help buy remaining tickets.

Oakland Raiders coach and Bloomington native Lane Kiffin, 32, was mentioned as a candidate for the Gopher head coaching position before Brewster was hired.  If Kiffin had been hired by the Gophers, the Big Ten Conference would have listed the youngest threesome of head coaches in memory.  Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald is 32 and Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema is 37.  Kiffin, who was an assistant coach at Southern Cal prior to becoming Oakland’s coach earlier this year, brings a Raiders team that is 2-7 to town for Sunday’s game with the Vikings.  The Raiders were 2-14 last season.

The Vikings offense is leading the NFL in rushing yards with an average of 172.3 yards per game, while the Raiders defense is 29th in the league against the run, giving up an average of 144.2 yards per game.

With one punt of 50-plus yards, Chris Kluwe of the Vikings can break the team’s all-time single season record of over 50 yard kicks.  Kluwe and Mitch Berger share the record now at 22.

Although he has been a part-time starter, former Viking Daunte Culpepper leads Oakland in passing yards with 817, ranking 30^th in the NFL.  Culpepper has started four games and played in five, throwing four touchdowns and four interceptions.  He’s expected to start on Sunday.

The last time the Raiders and Vikings played was 2003 in Oakland.  The Raiders won 28-18 and Culpepper threw for 396 yards and a touchdown, completing 27 of 49 passes. He also rushed for 42 yards and one touchdown.

David Gilreath, a freshman from New Hope, set a Wisconsin record for kickoff return yards this season, 756.  He averaged 22.9 yards per kickoff return and 11.2 yards per punt return, both big improvements for the Badgers over 2006 averages of 15 and 6.6.

In addition to Gilreath, the Badgers have five other Minnesotans on their roster including starting center Marcus Coleman of Plymouth.  Reserves are wide receiver Isaac Anderson of Minneapolis, defensive lineman Brandon Hoey of Shoreview, defensive back Kim Royston of Minneapolis and linebacker Blake Sorenson of Eden Prairie.

The Gophers announced the signings yesterday of basketball recruits Devron Bostick, Paul Carter, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III to National Letters of Intent. They will be eligible to compete during the 2008-09 season for coach Tubby Smith.

Bostick, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Southwestern Illinois College, averaged 19.5 points per game as a freshman for SWIC. He led the team to a 24-8 record and was named the Player of the Year in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference. He was also a second team junior college All-American. The Racine, Wisconsin native has also been named a 2007-2008 preseason All-American. Bostick will have two years of eligibility at Minnesota.

Carter, the son of former NBA player Ron Carter, is a 6-7 freshman forward from Missouri State-West Plains College. He scored 28 points and had 14 rebounds in the Grizzlies’ 83-75 season-opening win over Labette Community College.  His coach, Brian Ostermann, has said Carter could be one of the best junior college players in the country by February.  Carter will have three years of eligibility at Minnesota.

Iverson, a 6-10 forward/center from Yankton, South Dakota, was named first team all-state following his junior season. He averaged 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the Bucks who won the South Dakota AA Consolation Championship. He spent the summer playing for the South Dakota Heat AAU team and led the Heat to a 30-8 overall record, including the championship of the prestigious Hoosier Shootout AAU Tournament in Indianapolis. Iverson was named MVP of the Hoosier Shootout after scoring 28 points and having 16 rebounds in the title game.

Sampson, the son of former Houston Rockets and University of Virginia star Ralph Sampson, attends Northview High School in Duluth, Georgia.  As a junior, Sampson averaged 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks per game. The 6-11 forward spent the summer playing for the Georgia Stars, one of the top AAU programs in the country.  He’s considered a late developing prep star.

MIAC men’s and women’s conference hockey games begin tonight.  In a pre-season coaches poll the men’s teams are ranked as follows:  Bethel, St. Thomas, Gustavus, Saint John’s and St. Olaf (same number of votes), Augsburg, Saint Mary’s, Hamline and Concordia.  Here’s the pre-season coaches poll results for the women’s teams: Gustavus, St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Hamline, Saint Mary’s, Concordia, Bethel, Augsburg, Saint Benedict and St. Catherine.

A pioneering event in female ice sports in Minnesota, the 15^th annual All-American Girls and Women’s Hockey Tournament started yesterday and continues through Sunday at the Schwan Super Rink at the National Sports Center in Blaine. Seventy-four youth and women’s teams, including 23 from out-of-state, had registered earlier this month to participate in the tournament, the largest and one of the oldest female-only hockey tournaments in North America. Registered teams are from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Manitoba and Ontario. Spectator admission prices are $20 for an adult all-tournament pass and $15 for a youth and senior all-tournament pass. Daily passes are $8 for adults and $6 for students and seniors. Children under 10 are admitted free.