Author: David Shama

Among decisions the Wolves need to make in the off-season is whether to remain committed to Sebastian Telfair at point guard and Randy Foye at shooting guard.  Awhile back you could have advertised them as the team’s future backcourt but neither player has earned our confidence.

Telfair, 23, has been coming off the bench lately with 36-year-old Kevin Ollie starting games at point guard.  Ollie was among the last to earn a roster spot in the fall, beating out Blake Ahern for a job.  It’s been obvious throughout the season that the Wolves sometimes preferred Ollie, a .400 percent shooter, to Telfair for his ability to run the offense.

Telfair averages 9.8 points per game, making .383 percent of his field goals.  His average of 4.5 assists ranks him 33rd among players in the 30 team NBA.  The five-year veteran apparently isn’t making enough progress for the Wolves to justify giving him more than about 27.8 minutes per game, or provide two previous teams reason to regret his departure.  Telfair is averaging 3.9 assists and making .389 percent of his field goals during his NBA career.

Foye’s three year NBA resume includes too much missed time because of injuries including the 2007-2008 season when he played in only 39 games.  Now a late season hip injury has caused him to miss the last eight games.

Whether playing point guard or shooting guard, Foye, like Telfair, shows no great basketball IQ with his playmaking or creativity, nor is either player a defensive stopper.  On a roster desperate for talent, the role of No.2 star after center Al Jefferson was presented to Foye this season, but he hasn’t earned that label.  He’s taken plenty of shots and averaged 16.3 points per game but he’s made only .407 percent of his field goals.

We’ve known for awhile that Foye, 25 isn’t going to be Brandon Roy, the almost superstar who the Wolves once drafted only to trade to Portland for Foye.  On a team searching for better guard play, the hope had been the disparity between the two wouldn’t be so wide.

The Wolves, who have exceptional front court players in Jefferson and Mr. Double-Double Kevin Love, will need better guards to make a push for .500 basketball and the playoffs during coming years.  This may require a changing of the guard.

Fisch described the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson as the best running back in the league and includes the defense among the NFL’s top five.

ESPN The Magazine’s April 6 issue includes the Gophers among seven potential surprise teams next fall who represent the BCS conferences.  The teams, including the Gophers in the Big Ten, “may bolt up the standings more than any league rival.”

The magazine predicted the surprise team in the Big East will be Syracuse, the Gophers’ opening opponent on September 5 at the Carrier Dome.

Former assistant Gophers basketball coach Jimmy Williams works in Houston with ex-NBA player and coach John Lucas where the two help develop young players.

Don’t be surprised if Tubby Smith’s incoming group of recruits this fall looks different than previously announced.  Neither seniors-to-be Travis Busch and Kevin Payton will return to the Gophers, opening up two scholarships for next season.

Fans voted the 1966 International Falls team and Roseau’s Neal Broten as the greatest team and player in Minnesota high school hockey history.  The 26-0 Broncos won their third straight state title in 1966.  Broten led Roseau to three consecutive state tournaments in the 1970s before winning the Hobey Baker award with the Gophers.  More at Fan Zone on the Minnesota Wild’s Website, www.wild.com.

The results of the NHL Draft Drawing can be watched on VERSUS starting at 7 p.m. CDT tomorrow night.  The drawing determines the first 14 selections for the June NHL Entry Draft.

Xcel Energy Center is the site of tomorrow night’s episode of “Project Xtreme” on DIY Network, airing at 9 p.m. local time. The show, which profiles interesting and demanding jobs that require extreme precision, uses tomorrow night’s segment to report on the conversion process from the Coldplay concert to a Wild hockey game last November. The episode will also be available online at www.diynetwork.com.  Here’s a preview: https://www.xcelenergycenter.com/videoplayer.jsp?IS_PLAY=Y&MM_FILE_ID=110.

Despite Francisco Liriano’s lack of major league experience and history of arm trouble, Twins president Dave St. Peter didn’t express surprise about the Sporting News Magazine’s prediction that the 25-year-old left hander will win the 2009 Cy Young award.

That’s a gutsy call since Liriano has yet to pitch a full season in the majors and never won more than 12 games.  Liriano had a phenomenal rookie season in 2006 and at times was even better than teammate Johan Santana who won the Cy Young award that year.  But before season’s end Liriano injured his elbow and off season surgery for ligament replacement kept him out of baseball in 2007.  Then the 2008 comeback season was characterized by early season frustration, a sentence to the minor leagues and a late season return during which he had a 1.23 ERA in August.

In the Twins opener on Monday Liriano gave up four runs on four hits in seven        innings as part of a 6-1 loss to Seattle.  Although he was the losing pitcher, St. Peter approved of his no walks, three strikeout performance and said the Sporting News prediction is “wonderful recognition for Francisco.”

What are the expectations for Liriano? “We think that he has a chance to be one of the best pitchers in the game,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “Certainly a guy who has the stuff.  I think he’s worked very closely with (pitching coach) Rick Anderson to become a better pitcher.  We’re very optimistic. ..  Again, it starts with his health.  I think that’s the thing we’re most excited about is that he’s healthy.  We think he’s 100 percent.  We expect that he’s going to have a big season.”

The surgery has compromised Liriano’s ability to throw consistently in the mid-90s and wisdom dictates he no longer pitch with the violent motion that produced a nasty slider.  But if he’s less a wonder child now, he has become more of a thinker.  “He still has the ability if he needs to throw those devastating sliders,” St. Peter said.  “I think he’s much more of a balanced pitcher in terms of fast ball, change up, slider.  …He’s  learned a lot since his big league debut.  I think he has a chance overall to have a very, very long successful career by just frankly being more balanced and not being so reliant on the slider.”

St. Peter praised Liriano for passing up a chance to play for his native Dominican Republic in this spring’s World Baseball Classic, making a commitment to the Twins a priority. “Francisco is a good man,” St. Peter said.  “He certainly is somebody that we believe we can count on.  We think he has the maturity to do that. …”