Gophers Basketball – Page 137 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Pitino to Boost Garden Party in New York

Posted on March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 by David Shama

Richard Pitino is returning to his “roots” next week.

The Gophers 31-year-old head coach will bring his team to New York City and Madison Square Garden to play in the NIT semifinals on Tuesday night. Minnesota defeated Southern Mississippi 81-73 last evening at Williams Arena for its third win in the NIT Tournament. The Pitino family connections to New York are part of the anticipation the first year coach is feeling about going to Gotham.

Rick Pitino, the legendary Louisville coach, was born in New York. When Richard was a grade schooler his dad was head coach for the New York Knicks. Later when Richard was a teenager his dad’s Celtics teams played against the Knicks in New York. As his father’s assistant coach at Louisville, Richard and the Cardinals made memories playing in Madison Square Garden as part of the Big East Tournament.

Rick and his wife Joanne still have an apartment in New York, and one of their sons, Ryan, is a financial professional in the city.

Even when Richard’s dad wasn’t employed in New York the city was still part of the Pitino calendar. “Growing up we always would go to New York for the summers,” Richard said. “My uncle Bill, who we lost in 9-11, was like a second father to me. We would spend time together as a family.

“My roots are really there. I know my mother is excited because she just wants to get back to New York. Any excuse she can get, she’s going there.

“My brother lives there downtown. I’ve got aunts. I’ve got uncles. So it’s exciting for me.

“I’ve been part of some great teams as an assistant coach in the Garden. We’re going to play in New York next year (in the Preseason NIT) but there is something about earning a spot to get to the Garden that is pretty special.”

NIT organizers and the New York media have to be pleased with the Gophers earning their way to Manhattan. Selling tickets to the semifinals and finals is always a challenge. The NIT made hometown team St. John’s one of the tournament’s four No. 1 seeds but the Red Storm was eliminated in its first game. The Pitino storyline is a boost for tournament interest including the for sure comparisons that will be made between Richard and his father.

The Garden party will be a little more fun, too, if young Richard coaches against well-travelled Larry Brown in the NIT finals on Thursday night. Brown’s SMU team, a No. 1 seed like the Gophers, must defeat California this evening to earn a trip to New York. Brown, 73, is the only coach who has won both an NCAA Tournament title and NBA championship.

Tuesday night (ESPN2) the Gophers will play the winner of this evening’s game between Florida State and Louisiana Tech. Clemson will meet the winner of tonight’s SMU-Cal game in the other semifinal next Tuesday in New York.

If California and the Gophers meet in Madison Square Garden, Minnesota will see ex-Gopher guard Justin Cobbs who now plays for the Bears. That will stir a bit of interest in Dinkytown but last night Pitino wasn’t talking about Brown or Cobbs. He said the Gophers want to win the NIT championship as part of building his program, and the opportunity to do that in New York has him excited.

“There’s no better place in all of college basketball than to play in Madison Square Garden,” he said.

Worth Noting

Gophers redshirt freshman forward Charles Buggs, who probably surprised even himself with 13 points in 19 minutes against Iowa on February 25, has scored a total of nine in seven games since then. For the season Buggs, who is still learning his court assignments, has scored 27 points in 13 games.

Minnesota senior guard Malik Smith, who made eight of 12 three pointers against Nebraska in January and four of seven versus Wisconsin in February, has converted two of 28 since February 16.

The Gophers men’s and women’s basketball teams have been participating in the NIT and WNIT tournaments. Although the names are similar, the National Invitation Tournament is owned by the NCAA while the Women’s National Invitation Tournament is produced by Triple Crown Sports. NIT games are televised but there is no live TV coverage of the WNIT.

Former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher, who still lives in Minnesota, will attend tomorrow night’s San Diego State-Arizona NCAA Sweet 16 game in Anaheim. Dutcher’s son, Brian Dutcher, is San Diego State’s top assistant and will succeed Steve Fisher as head coach when Fisher retires.

Brian Dutcher and Fisher have been coaching at San Diego State for 15 seasons. Last fall the Aztecs signed four players who probably comprise the best recruiting class in school history and they will be eligible next fall.

ESPN.com reported last Saturday there were no perfect NCAA men’s basketball brackets from the more than 11 million submitted by fans for the ESPN Tournament Challenge. Last Saturday and Sunday was the first of three tournament weekends.

The Gophers recruited Seymour, Wisconsin shooting guard Sandy Cohen before he committed to Marquette. With Buzz Williams leaving the Golden Eagles to coach at Virginia Tech, could the high school senior now have interest in the Gophers?

A name to follow during the May NFL Draft is Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. What if the Vikings chose outside linebacker Khalil Mack from Buffalo, or Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan with their No. 8 pick in the first round? In the second round they might select Garoppolo who threw 53 touchdown passes and averaged 360.7 yards per game passing last season.

The Vikings may not find a 2014 quarterback-ready prospect in the draft even if Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater is available. The re-signing of veteran Matt Cassel gives the Vikings some time to develop a Garoppolo, Bridgewater—or (gasp) Christian Ponder.

It’s okay to have modest expectations about the Vikings owning a top 10 draft pick. Gil Brandt’s 2013 All-Rookie team had just three players who were top 10 draft choices, Ziggy Ansah, Eric Fisher and Barkevious Mingo. The All-Rookie quarterback was Mike Glennon, a third round selection by the Falcons.

The Wild are selling season tickets for 2014-2015 including half season and 11-game packages. Purchasers who make a deposit by April 13 receive playoff ticket priority for this spring.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill, 53, said he’s been attending football coaching clinics since he was 21. The opportunity to learn, network and build relationships has contributed to his success that includes head coaching stops at Emporia State, Northern Illinois, Saginaw Valley State and Southern Illinois.

Kill will speak at the MFCA’s Minnesota Clinic on Friday night at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. The Gophers sponsor the clinic with the MFCA. Kill praised the work of MFCA organizers and how they continue to improve the clinic. “Our clinic is tremendous,” he said.

Condolences to family and friends of former Gopher football player Wally Pribyl who died on Monday. Wally, originally from Heron Lake, Minnesota, lettered for the Gophers in 1968 and 1969, and for many years owned a business in South Dakota.

Twins president Dave St. Peter said starting pitcher Phil Hughes, who signed with Minnesota during the offseason, has been as “advertised” during spring training. Hughes has struck out 10 batters in 13.2 innings with a 3.95 ERA.

Dave Mona, WCCO Radio Sports Huddle co-host, will speak on Friday to the Minnesota Men’s Breakfast group in Naples, Florida. Speakers earlier this year have included Matt Birk, Kill and St. Peter.

Mancini’s Sports Hall of Fame will honor the following new members on May 12: Brian Brunette, Ken Mauer, Jr., Barry Persby, Stacy Robinson, Jeff Sauer, Bob and Tim Tschida. Those enshrined have their names displayed on a hall of fame plaque at the St. Paul restaurant.

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The Big Chill: Twins Early Schedule

Posted on March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 by David Shama

The Twins are scheduled to open their 2014 schedule a week from today in Chicago against the White Sox, and in news reports the weather could share headline space with the baseball as the teams work their way through a three-game series.

The frost line was being measured in feet—not inches—last week at the White Sox’s home field. Projected Chicago temperatures for this week are mostly in the 30s and 40s, according to Myforecast.com. Next Monday the forecast is for a high of 63 degrees under cloudy skies.

The Twins and White Sox aren’t scheduled a week from tomorrow but on April 2 they have a night game when the temperatures will likely be in the mid-40s to low-50s. Then the series concludes with a day game and the forecasted high is 45 degrees.

The Twins then head to Cleveland for a three-game weekend series including a Friday night game. The weekend forecast predicts the teams will be playing in temps mostly in the 40s, again according to Myforecast.com.

The Twins’ home opener is during the day on Monday, April 7 and the club will play outdoors at Target Field through Thursday, April 12. During that period the Twins have three night games scheduled.

Admittedly, this is an extremely cold spring in many northern U.S. cities, but it’s difficult to understand why teams like the Twins have to play the opening weeks of the season in cold locations including their own stadiums. There are four American League cities that typically have warm weather during the first weeks of April—Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Oakland. Two other AL cities, Toronto and St. Petersburg, have stadiums with roofs. Four others—Baltimore, Kansas City, New York and Seattle—are more likely to have warmer temps in early April than Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Minneapolis.

That makes 10 AL cities—a clear majority—with more favorable spring weather than five others including Minneapolis.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners he expects Major League Baseball will look at future scheduling but also said, “Reality is teams have been playing northern outdoor baseball for 100 years.” The Twins have opened their schedules on the road in four of the last five years. “I think the Twins have been treated fairly,” he said.

St. Peter said probably all of baseball’s 30 teams would prefer to open their schedules on the road. By doing so a franchise has extra time to promote and sell tickets for the season opening home series.

Worth Noting

As the Twins finish their final days in spring training, St. Peter is hopeful for an improved roster including better starting pitching. After three consecutive 90-plus losing seasons, expectations are clear. “I fully expect us to be better in terms of wins,” he said.

The Twins announced this morning they have optioned right-handed pitchers Ryan Pressly and Michael Tonkin along with catcher Chris Herrmann to Triple-A Rochester. The Twins have also given right-handed pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release. He is now a free agent.

The club has 29 players in camp: 13 pitchers, 3 catchers (one non-roster), 7 infielders (one non-roster) and 6 outfielders (one non-roster).

Former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat—one of baseball’s best broadcast analysts ever—is 75 but will work games again this year for the MLB Network.

The Gopher baseball team’s home opener is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon against Saint John’s from the MIAC, according to Gophersports.com.

The initial Final Four predictions of CBS TV analysts Seth Davis, Doug Gottlieb and Clark Kellogg are holding up but not perfect after last weekend’s opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. All their teams advanced expect Wichita State. Davis and Kellogg both picked Florida, Michigan State, Wichita State and Wisconsin for the Final Four. Gottlieb’s choices were Arizona, Florida, Louisville and Michigan State.

The Gophers women’s basketball team defeated SMU in a second round WNIT game last night at Williams Arena. Minnesota plays next on Thursday night at South Dakota State, a program the Gophers are 1-4 against historically.

The Gophers men’s team, winners in their second round NIT game against Saint Mary’s yesterday, will play Southern Mississippi tomorrow night at Williams Arena. The Golden Eagles, who defeated Missouri on the road last night, have won eight of their last nine games. The team is 29-6 this season and excels defensively holding opponents to 62.8 points per game. The winner of Wednesday night’s game advances to the semifinals of the NIT in New York on April 1.

Former Gopher guard Chip Armelin plays 13.7 minutes per game for the Golden Eagles and averages 4.9 points per game. He is making 50 percent of his free throws.

Sophomore forward Joey King scored a career high 18 points to lead Minnesota yesterday. King had scored 14 points each of his two previous games—the first time in his career as a Gopher having three consecutive double figures games.

Former Gopher forward Joe Coleman transferred to Saint Mary’s last summer and will be eligible next season to play for the Gaels.

New York University is offering an April 4-6 course on how to negotiate in business that will be taught by former Timberwolves executive David Kahn. Kahn is a 1993 NYU law school graduate.

The Bolder Options youth mentoring organization, headed by former Gophers running back Darrell Thompson, will hold a 20^th anniversary celebration event in the DQ Room at TFC Bank Stadium on May 15. The keynote speaker will be Gophers football coach Jerry Kill. More at Trainingforlifedinner.com.

The Vikings Adrian Peterson turned 29 last week. If Peterson can play another six seasons averaging about 1,000 yards per season he will threaten Walter Payton’s place as the NFL’s No. 2 all-time leading rusher. Payton rushed for 16,726 yards and Peterson now has 10,115. Emmitt Smith is No. 1 at 18,355 yards.

I didn’t find my name today when I read the Star Tribune’s page A2 list of famous birthdays. (I am disappointed but not too surprised).

Cheers.

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Big Ten Teams in Final Four Picks

Posted on March 17, 2014March 17, 2014 by David Shama

Former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher agrees with CBS TV analysts who are predicting Michigan State will represent the Big Ten Conference in the Final Four next month in Arlington, Texas.

Dutcher, who led the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title, still passionately studies college basketball. He told Sports Headliners his choices for the Final Four are Louisville, Florida, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Last night CBS announced the NCAA Men’s Tournament field of 68 teams, and analysts Seth Davis, Doug Gottlieb and Clark Kellogg offered predictions including Final Four picks. Davis and Kellogg both like Florida, Michigan State, Wichita State and Wisconsin. Gottlieb’s choices are Arizona, Florida, Louisville and Michigan State.

Louisville is the defending national champion and Dutcher predicts a repeat by the Cardinals. “They’re probably playing better than anyone in the country,” Dutcher said. “They’re so tough-minded.”

Dutcher suggested that fans figuring out predicted tournament winners pay attention to not just the records of teams but also how they are playing right now. Teams who are among the most likely to continue late season momentum in the tournament, according to Dutcher, include Baylor, Louisville, Michigan State and UCLA. The Spartans, a preseason choice to be national champs, faltered this winter because of injuries but yesterday defeated Michigan to win the Big Ten Tournament. “We all knew they were a good team,” Dutcher said. “They’re a threat to win it all.”

Syracuse is another team to respect when trying to make sense of March Madness. The Orange were rolling with a No. 1 ranking and undefeated season before stumbling in recent weeks and finishing with a 27-5 record. But Dutcher pointed out the Orange not only have one of the tournament’s premiere players in forward C.J. Fair, they also have a troublesome zone defense. He said teams who don’t play the Orange on a regular basis can have “fits” trying to score against the zone.

When predicting upsets it’s hard to argue with paying attention to games involving No. 5 and No. 12 seeds. In tourney history 12 seeds have pulled off some surprises. A few years ago Dutcher gave a friend three upset predictions using the 12 beats 5 formula and all were accurate.

This week Dutcher believes No. 10 seeds Stanford and Arizona State will defeat No. 7 seeds New Mexico and Texas. Iowa and Tennessee have a play-in game on Wednesday night and the winner will be a No. 11 seed who Dutcher said “can beat” No. 6 seed Massachusetts.

Dutcher has sentimental favorites in the tournament including Wisconsin. He’s known Badgers coach Bo Ryan for a long time and wants to see him finally have a Final Four team. Ryan’s Badgers have never finished lower than fourth in the Big Ten standings but haven’t made deep tournament runs. “I’d like to see it on his resume (the Final Four),” Dutcher said.

A Michigan alum and former assistant coach in Ann Arbor, Dutcher is also pulling for Michigan in the tournament. He admires Michigan coach John Beilein. “He is a quality guy,” Dutcher said.

Worth Noting

Coach Richard Pitino’s Gophers are in the 32-team NIT field and have an opening game tomorrow night at Williams Arena against High Point. “I think the Gophers will play good (in the NIT),” Dutcher said. “They have a new coach (this season) and are trying to make an impression.

“I don’t think the fans will buy into it (the NIT) too much. Coaches have referred to it as the ‘Not Interested Tournament.’ ”

Not only is the NIT not a strong gate attraction but Minnesota’s home attendance has been declining for decades. For the 2013-14 season the Gophers averaged 12,329 for 18 home games, ranking 10^th in the 12-team Big Ten. Williams Arena capacity is 14,625. Only Northwestern at 6,719 and Penn State, 6,500, averaged fewer fans per home game.

The Gophers are a No. 1 seed in the NIT along with Florida State, St. John’s and SMU.

Senior guard Austin Hollins will play in his 137^th game as a Gopher when Minnesota meets High Point. Last week he broke Rodney Williams’ school record for most games at 134.

The Gophers went to the NIT Finals in 2012 but never hosted a game. They won four consecutive games before losing to Stanford in the championship game in New York.

College basketball fan Steve Nestor e-mailed that former Gophers athletic director McKinley Boston, now AD at New Mexico State, has seen his Lobos make the NCAA Tournament four of the last five years including in 2014. The Aggies have seven international players on their roster including Canadian brothers Sim and Tanveer Bhullar. They are large lads at 7-foot-5 and 7-foot-3, and weighing 360 and 335 pounds respectively.

Wally Pribyl, who played football for the Gophers in the late 1960s, is struggling in his fight with cancer. He is hospitalized in South Dakota and reached out last week to former teammates via e-mail. “I can’t express in words how much I appreciate the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” he wrote.

Former Vikings running backs Dave Osborn and Oscar Reed have birthdays this month on March 18 and 24. Twin Cities sports marketing authority Bill Robertson‘s birthday is March 21.

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