Author: David Shama

In Gophers basketball news, coach Tubby Smith said his team will need to play “50 percent” better in its next game, and the University will retire the jerseys of two more former players later this season.

After the Gophers defeated Siena (76-69) on Monday night at Williams Arena, Smith criticized his team’s lack of consistency in a season that is just beginning.  The Gophers, 2-0 in regular season games and 2-0 in exhibitions this month, will be on the road for the first time when they play tomorrow night against Western Kentucky in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan.

The tournament includes schools with basketball pedigrees such as North Carolina and West Virginia.  If the Gophers and North Carolina win tomorrow, the two schools will play each other Friday.

“It’s going to be a good test for us,” said Gophers forward Trevor Mbakwe.  “We’re gonna be on a neutral site.  We’re not gonna have the (home) crowd so we’re gonna have to rally around each other to win those games.”

Smith was critical of his team’s effort on Monday night.  “We can’t look by anybody,” he said.

Guard Chuck Mencel and forward Dick Garmaker will have their jerseys retired at halftime of Gophers’ Big Ten games on January 26 and February 6.  Mencel was a four-year starter for the Gophers from 1951-55.  He and Garmaker played together during the 1953-54 and 1954-1955 seasons when the Gophers finished third and second in the Big Ten.

Mencel averaged 18 points or better twice during his career while Garmaker had averages of 21.6 and 24.2.  Both players were twice first team All-Big Ten and were All-Americans in 1955.  Mencel was the Chicago Tribune’s 1955 Big Ten Most Valuable Player.

The retired jerseys of other Gophers as displayed in Williams Arena are: Jim Brewer, Kevin McHale, Lou Hudson, Mychal Thompson, Whitey Skoog and Trent Tucker. The Gophers don’t actually discontinue use of a player’s jersey number.  For example, Mbakwe wears the same jersey number as Tucker, No. 32.

Smith described freshman guard Austin Hollins as his best conditioned player.  He said the son of former NBA player Lionel Hollins “plays his heart out.”

Minnesota’s election earlier this month delivered one certainty for the Vkings and their stadium campaign.  Their message will be heard by a lot of new legislators and a new governor.  How that translates into success or failure in gaining legislation to build a new stadium is anyone’s guess.

Stadium sources won’t predict whether the new Republican majorities in the House and Senate will positively affect the push for a stadium that has been going on for more than 10 years.  Although election results aren’t official until certified by the State Canvassing Board on November 23, it appears the Republicans will have a 72-62 majority in the House, 37-30 in the Senate.  It’s expected there will be 60 new legislators.  Both Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer expressed support for a stadium during their campaigns, and whoever emerges from the recount as governor could be a Vikings ally.

The Vikings stadium lease expires at Mall of America Field after the 2011 season and rumors connect the franchise to a Los Angeles relocation but the stadium campaign remains unsettled in Southern California, too.  https://www.losangelesfootballstadium.com/news.html

The clearest sports winner from the new Republican legislative power might be Canterbury Park and its racino efforts.  Canterbury has long advocated adding slot machines, a model that has boosted horseracing in other states, but particularly Democrats have been opposed to supportive legislation here.

The Lakers are in town on Friday night to play the Timberwolves and it was 50 years ago that the franchise relocated from Minneapolis to Los Angeles.  Although now one of the most popular sports franchises in the country, the Lakers of 1960 weren’t a big deal in Los Angeles.  In a November 5, 1960 story Don Page of the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Bigger crowds have watched knitting tournaments than have viewed the Lakers so far.”