Author: David Shama

Check out the rosters of the NBA’s top teams in the Western Conference and look at the foreign players making an impact.  San Antonio, NBA champion in 2005, is built around Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Tony Parker (France) and Manu Ginobili (Argentina).  Dallas, the hottest team in the NBA, is led by Dirk Nowitzki (Germany). His former teammate Steve Nash (Canada) has won two consecutive league MVP awards playing for Phoenix where the supporting cast includes foreign talent like Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) and Boris Diaw (France). Utah, among the league’s surprise teams, counts Andrei Kirilenko (Russia) and Mehmet Okur (Turkey) among its elite players.

The Timberwolves have never had a superb foreign player and currently have a roster of only American talent except for Marko Jaric (Serbia).  Fred Hoiberg, Wolves assistant general manager, noted the impact of European talent in a recent interview.  “What you get is very fundamental players,” he said. 

Hoiberg will soon be visiting Italy and Spain to look at pro players in those countries.  He will be scouting players with the possibility one or more may be drafted by the Timberwolves this year or in the future.  He will also be scouting college players as his “primary focus” becomes helping the Wolves add future talent. 

That means for awhile at least Hoiberg, who played 10 seasons in the NBA before becoming assistant general manager last April, spends less time on non-basketball work.  He has become a prominent face of the franchise, attending corporate golf outings, speaking at breakfasts and luncheons, and appearing regularly on WCCO Radio.   

Asked if he is filling a role that used to be played more by vice president Kevin McHale whose popularity has declined, Hoiberg suggested posing the question to McHale.  “I know my responsibility is to get out and talk to the public,” he said. 

It’s a role Hoiberg is comfortable with and he comes equipped with a resume as a popular player here.  He has a pleasant personality and conveys a Midwestern sincerity associated with places like Minnesota and Iowa where he played high school basketball.  He literally has movie star looks, too.  Heywood Workman, a former teammate with the Indiana Pacers, called him “Harrison,” likening him to movie star Harrison Ford.

The Gopher hockey team, No. 1 in the nation and working on a school record 22 consecutive wins, will see its streak end soon, according to coach Don Lucia.  The Gophers are in first place in the WCHA with an 11-0-3 record, 19-0-3 overall, despite working their way through injuries.

Lucia said on WCCO Radio Sunday night the Gophers are looking at a difficult schedule the next several weeks including games against Wisconsin in Madison this weekend. “I think the big thing right now is we can’t have any more injuries. …We want to try and get as many points as we can. … Obviously we have put ourselves in great position for home ice and probably in the top three in the league. … The next four weeks with Wisconsin, Denver, North Dakota and going up to Alaska before the week off is going to be a critical stretch and we’re going to lose some games in there.  We know that.  If we can just continue to get points every weekend we’ll be in good shape.” 

The Gophers were able to win 5-1 over Minnesota State Mankato on Friday, overcoming injury and the absence of five players who were in Sweden for the World Junior Championship.  Those players returned for Sunday’s 1-0 win, following a 20 hour or so flight.   

With a young team that includes freshmen playing key roles, it will be interesting to see how the Gophers perform from now through February 3 when they will play their last game against Alaska Anchorage before having the next weekend off.  The Gophers host Denver, now in second place in the WCHA, on January 19 and 20.   

The team’s two leaders in goals scored are freshmen, Kyle Okposo with 15 goals and Jay Barriball with 12. Defenseman Erik Johnson, the No. 1 draft choice in the NHL draft last year, is also part of the heralded freshmen group.  Any freshman who can score more than 10 goals in the WCHA is having an exceptional season.

The Gophers have been ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams 45 of the last 46 weeks. Minnesota has been ranked No. 1 for nine weeks this season.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners via e-mail the Twins have sold about 2,000 new season tickets for 2007, already exceeding the number of new season tickets sold for the 2006 season.  He predicts the Twins will sell over 10,000 season tickets, perhaps an increase of 2,500 over 2006.  He expects a season ticket renewal rate of over 90% .  St. Peter attributes increased interest to the team’s on-field performance and new ball park scheduled to open in 2010.  (Season tickets are tickets purchased for the entire season, or partial season ticket packages combined together to count for season tickets). 

TwinsFest will be January 26-28 at the Metrodome and “50 current, former and future players” will attend to meet the public, according to the Twins Web site. Although subject to change, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are among the players scheduled. TwinsFest will be the first opportunity for fans to purchase single game tickets. Tickets to the event can be purchased via the Twins web site. TwinsFest generates revenues for the Twins Community Fund. 

A New York Times article predicts that former Twin Doug Mientkiewicz, recently signed to a one year contract with the Yankees, will play first base, allowing slugger Jason Giambi to become a designated hitter.  Mientkiewicz, who played for the Red Sox, Mets and Royals since leaving the Twins, won a Gold Glove in 2001 with Minnesota.  The Yankees are excited about what he can bring defensively to the team. 

Coach Mo Forte, a former Gopher player and assistant coach whose Arkansas at Pine Bluff team competed against Tarvaris Jackson when Jackson was in college, thinks the Vikings future quarterback is “going to be good.”  He described Jackson as a “tremendous athlete” who will benefit from more game experience, film work and coaching.

Sporting News speculates that if Southern California football coach Pete Carroll, a former Viking assistant coach, leaves for the NFL his replacement could be Jacksonville head coach Jack Del Rio, the former Southern Cal and Viking player.