Gophers Basketball – Page 165 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Final Four Likely for New Stadium

Posted on May 18, 2012May 21, 2012 by David Shama

With approval for a new Vikings stadium now finally in place, media speculation has started about attracting a Super Bowl to Minneapolis but it might be even easier to bring the NCAA’s Final Four to town.

“I’ll be amazed if we don’t get it (a Final Four),” Bill Lester told Sports Headliners. He is executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission and was part of the group that helped bring Final Fours to the Metrodome in 1992 and 2001.

The Gophers have been the college host for past Final Fours. “We know how to put it on,” said Joel Maturi, Gophers athletic director. “This is a great city (to visit).”

Lester said the Final Four sites are determined through 2016 but beyond then Minneapolis could be in the mix with a bid. “They (the NCAA) like competing cities,” he said.

The NCAA chooses only Final Four sites that are state-of-the-art domed stadiums. The new Vikings stadium will have either a fixed or retractable roof, and Lester said the seating configuration for the Final Four will be about 74,000.

A Super Bowl was held at the Metrodome in 1992. Although the NFL is known to reward new facilities with a Super Bowl, the league has most often selected warm weather cities as the site for games and sometimes in older stadiums. Earlier this year Indianapolis with a new stadium was the Super Bowl site, and Lester believes there’s definitely a possibility Minneapolis could host another Super Bowl within the next 10 years.

Maturi said the Big Ten Conference will be open to considering the new Vikings stadium for the league’s championship football game. That game is committed to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the next four years, and Detroit has expressed interest in hosting the game at Ford Field, according to Maturi.

There’s been quiet talk about establishing an annual college football bowl game (“City of Lakes Bowl?”) in Minneapolis. Maturi acknowledged it could be a difficult sell to convince teams the city is a desirable destination in December but said this is an attractive area with lots to do.

Maturi believes a nonconference basketball game involving the Gophers and a national power might one day be booked for the new Vikings stadium. “I think it’s a natural,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Lester said he’s already hearing from potential users of the new stadium that is projected to open in 2016. Contacts range from inline skating organizers to amateur baseball teams looking for a protective environment. Such contacts are providing input on the design of the new stadium.

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Saunders Not Sure about College Coaching

Posted on May 16, 2012May 17, 2012 by David Shama

Flip Saunders, let go earlier this year by the Wizards, remains interested in coaching again. He’s had NBA head coaching jobs since 1995 with the Timberwolves, Pistons and Wizards, directing four teams to the conference finals in the last eight years.

Saunders, 57, told Sports Headliners the “right situation, right ownership” could put him back in the NBA. He fondly remembers working for Glen Taylor, using the Timberwolves boss as the kind of owner experience he values.

What about college basketball for Saunders who lives with his family in the Minneapolis area? “I don’t know. My name is always brought up at Minnesota just because I am here,” Saunders said.

“Do I think I would be a good college coach? Yeah, I say that because when I talk to (Michigan State coach) Tom Izzo, Izzo always tells me you’d be unbelievable in college because he sees when (and how) I talk to players, and be able to recruit players and do those type of things.

“Partly coaching, too is a lot (about) having knowledge. When you’ve been an NBA coach and you’ve coached and you’re at 1,500 or 2,000 games, you’ve been through just about every situation.

“Again, it would have to be the right situation (college). You just don’t jump in as far as anywhere. I think right now I am more geared to being a pro coach.”

Saunders played for the Gophers and was later an assistant coach on Minnesota’s 1982 Big Ten championship team. He was also an assistant at Tulsa and coached junior college basketball in Minnesota. Speculation about him coaching the Gophers occurs when rumors start about Minnesota coach Tubby Smith being targeted for other college jobs.

When asked about the Wolves, Saunders believes the franchise’s priority should be to acquire or develop a guard who is a “flat-out shooter.” He also said there’s probably not such a “game changer” on the free agent market this summer and the Wolves may instead need to develop two-year veteran Wesley Johnson, a player who averaged six points per game and made .389 percent of his field goal attempts last season.

Last year the NBA labor dispute delayed training camps and shortened preparations for the season. Not a good thing for young players like Johnson. “You’re hoping Wesley Johnson improves,” Saunders said. “He shows signs. You gotta judge him where he’s going to be after he goes through a training camp with Rick (Adelman). ”

The Wolves missed the playoffs last season and stumbled badly in the closing months after Ricky Rubio was injured. Saunders said the team could improve in the near future but still not make the playoffs. “Who you going to jump over?” he asked and then listed several strong teams in the Western Conference. “They might get better—significantly—and they might be in the same spot they’re in, or maybe move up one or two spots.”

Saunders cautioned about expecting too fast a return to elite performance by Rubio who tore his ACL in the left knee. It’s even too soon to predict when the 21-year-old point guard will play again. Saunders is experienced with players who have severe injuries to their legs and shoulders. “What I usually say is that when a guy comes back and starts playing, you’re going to know how he is a year from that time,” Saunders said.

Last season was Kevin Love’s fourth in the NBA and the Wolves forward established himself among the league’s best players, even finishing sixth in the MVP voting. But Saunders won’t include Love among the league’s five best players yet. Saunders quickly listed Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, then said Dwight Howard is probably his fifth player among the five best.

“I am never going to put a guy in the top five if he’s not in the playoffs,” Saunders said. “I vote guys if their team wins. There has to be something said for winning. No matter what you have to do. What he’s doing (Love) is he’s putting up top five numbers. He’s putting up top 10 numbers. He’s one of the top players in the world.

“When you talk top five, that’s a pretty elite group right now. You’re talking guys that not only are they putting up numbers and that, but their teams are winning and usually winning pretty big.”

Saunders is working with the Celtics as an adviser during the playoffs. He’s reunited with Kevin Garnett who he coached 10 seasons in Minneapolis. He regards the 7-foot Garnett as probably the most versatile player in basketball history.

Because of his association with the Celtics, Saunders wouldn’t predict who will emerge as Eastern Conference champions but he picks the Lakers to win the Western Conference.

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Worth Noting

Posted on May 16, 2012May 16, 2012 by David Shama

Saunders coached the Wolves to the 2004 Western Conference Finals. He also coached the Pistons to three consecutive Eastern Conference Finals. He had an NBA worst 2-15 record when the Wizards fired him last January. “One thing the NBA will do is bring you humility,” he said.

There are no Gophers recruits or Minnesota natives among Rivals.com’s top 150 high school basketball seniors. Listed from Wisconsin and Iowa are No. 13 Sam Dekker, Sheboygan, Wisconsin (college choice: Wisconsin); No. 34 Marcus Paige, Marion, Iowa (North Carolina); No. 45 J.P. Tokoto, Menomonee, Wisconsin (North Carolina); No. 50 Adam Woodbury, Sioux City, Iowa (Iowa); No. 100 Mike Gesell, Sioux City, Iowa (Iowa); No. 118 Phillip Nolan, Milwaukee (Connecticut); and No. 135 Kale Abrahmson, West De Moines, Iowa (Northwestern).

The Gophers are ranked No. 25 in ESPN.com’s preseason top 25 for college basketball teams. Andy Katz predicts the Gophers can be a contender for a “top-four finish in the Big Ten.”

The Gophers play at Florida State on November 27 in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Big Ten looks like a basketball (not football) league in 2012-13. Katz has Indiana No. 1 in the country with No. 5 Michigan, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 9 Michigan State also in his top 10. Meanwhile Sports Illustrated’s online post-spring practice national top 10 lists only two Big Ten football teams, Wisconsin at No. 6 and Michigan State, No. 10.

Third baseman Danny Valencia, demoted by the Twins to Class AAA Rochester last week, is hitting .125 in 16 at bats for the Red Wings.

The Twins play only their fifth game of the season against a Central Division team when they meet the Tigers in Detroit tonight. The Twins, who lost a two-game series to the Indians on Monday and Tuesday, are playing back-to-back series against Central Division teams for the first time this season. Minnesota plays about 50 percent of its remaining 2012 games against division teams.

Vikings All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson talking about wanting to be the best: “It’s just the way I’m wired. I’ve been this way since I was young, since I started playing this game at age seven. I always wanted to be the best at whatever I did, whether it was sprints, lifting, whatever.”

The Tapemark Charity Pro-Am, known as the longest running charity golf event in the Upper Midwest, announced a new Women’s Pro-Am and Women’s Professional Championship earlier this year. The women’s golf will be June 5 and 10, while the annual men’s Pro-Am will take place June 8-10. www.tapemarkgolf.org

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