Gophers Basketball – Page 38 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Stuck in Long-Term Mediocrity

Posted on December 19, 2021December 20, 2021 by David Shama

The Vikings enter tomorrow night’s game at Chicago with a 6-7 record. That flirtation with a .500 record is indicative of what the club has experienced for 16 seasons dating back to 2005 when the Wilf family purchased the franchise.

During that stretch the Vikings’ regular season record (including this year) is 139 wins, 128 losses and 2 ties. Throw in a 3-6 playoff record and the result is 142-134-2. The last three seasons (including 2021) the regular season totals are 23 wins, 22 losses.

The Vikings have been good enough to keep their fan base engaged, with the more exuberant followers dreaming of a Super Bowl appearance (hasn’t happened since 1977). The team had a season-for-the-ages when Brett Favre dropped into town in 2009. The 2019 season with a 13-3 record and postseason “Minneapolis Miracle” was special, too.

There have been a couple of seasons perhaps worthy of fans pulling paper bags over their collective heads at home games. Included on the short list is a 3-13 disaster in 2011. But there have been a lot of years where the final record was 9-7, 8-8, 7-9, 8-7-1 and Maalox-inducing-2021 (12 of 13 games decided by one possession, eight points or fewer).

Since 2005 the Vikings have won four division titles, with the most recent in 2017. They missed the playoffs last season after going 7-9 during the regular season. Their postseason success is shabby compared with NFC rivals. Twelve of the conference’s 16 teams have played in at least one Super Bowl dating back to 2005. The Vikings, Cowboys, Lions and Washington have not.

The NFL is America’s game and it capture’s public focus like few other things in our culture. Out here on the prairie Minnesotans want to be cool, too, and so it’s a tossup on Sundays whether church activities or the local NFL crew are more important. The Vikings have been competitive enough to play in dramatic games and they also stoke Purple passion with entertaining talents like Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook.

Many Vikings fans have a love-hate relationship with their team. Despite the mediocre on-field results for years, the fans aren’t apathetic about their favorites and that’s good news for the financial bottom line—and the Wilfs who bought the franchise for a reported $600 million. This year in its valuation of NFL franchises, Forbes estimated the worth is $3.35 billion. With inflation run amuck, that number could jump more than in the past when Forbes reports again in 2022.

The up-and-down Vikings get ready for the Bears Monday night and a showdown game that will weigh heavily on making the playoffs. At 6-7, with four games remaining, what’s all but certain is the final record will be around .500.

Surprise? Hardly.

Worth Noting

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck talking on BTN Wednesday about promising defensive linemen recruits Trey Bixby, Anthony Smith and Hayden Schwartz: “Hopefully some of them can play and contribute as a freshman (2022).”

Kristen Hoskins, the electric kick returner and receiver from Alexandria, Minnesota, is another player from the 2022 Gopher recruiting class who drew attention on National Signing Day last Wednesday. He wasn’t highly recruited but 247Sports analyst Allen Trieu sees similarity with former Penn State star KJ Hamler. “I think he (Hoskins) is a steal,” Trieu said on BTN.

There are 21 former Gophers in the College Football Hall of Fame and the next one could be Greg Eslinger. A two-time All-American in 2004 and 2005, he won the Outland Trophy given to college football’s best interior lineman and the Dave Rimington Trophy as college football’s best center.

Eslinger’s college head coach, Glen Mason, recruited the North Dakota native as a fullback but converted Eslinger to center and started him as a true freshman. “He should already be in (the Hall of Fame),” Mason said in an email. “Crime!”

Crime No. 2? It’s an injustice Halsey Hall isn’t a member of the Twins Hall of Fame. Part of the Twins’ original broadcast crew starting in 1961, Hall is the most entertaining on-air personality the club ever had. Not even close!

Minnesota ticket sales are outpacing West Virginia’s for the December 28 Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, per bowl CEO Mike Nealy. There might be 7,500 Gophers fans attending the game played at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ baseball stadium (capacity around 30,000 for football). Neal, who said the median ticket price is about $70, predicted attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 for the game, with up to two million TV viewers watching on ESPN.

The 8-4 Gophers are about a four point favorite against the 6-6 Mountaineers.

Bob Peters photo courtesy of Bemidji State University

Condolences to family, friends and the many admirers of Bob Peters who passed away last week at age 84. The legendary Bemidji State hockey coach, who retired in 2001, won 13 small college national championships and ranks fifth in wins all-time among college hockey coaches, but more importantly he was a great mentor to his players.

Chris Justice knows how Peters impacted his life. Justice had a successful hockey career at Edina High School in the 1980s but initially decided not to attend college. A couple of years later, despite having experienced a car accident severely injuring his right arm, he asked Peters for an opportunity at Bemidji. Justice not only played for the Beavers but went on to become head hockey coach at Bemidji High School and remains a contributor to the sport in his adopted hometown.

The NHL’s Winter Classic series dates back to 2008 but the January 1, 2022 Minneapolis edition at Target Field will be the first one televised nationally in prime time starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. The day prior will offer a lineup of free activities for fans including hockey attractions and musical performances.

That was future new Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez in town for Friday night’s impressive win over the Lakers. The New York Post reported recently A-Rod sold his $6.3 million Miami house after his split with Jennifer Lopez.

Too bad retired Star Trib gossip columnist C.J. (Cheryl Johnson) isn’t around to chronicle A-Rod’s adventures.

Twins legend Tony Oliva is the latest guest on the “Behind the Game” program seen on over 25 cable markets and on YouTube. The show is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson.

The Minnesota-Green Bay men’s basketball game scheduled for a 7 p.m. start Wednesday will tip instead at 4 p.m. BTN will televise.

Gopher basketball alum J.B. Bickerstaff, now coaching the NBA Cavs, has his team a surprising seven games over .500 with the help of former Wolves Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

Comments Welcome

Vikings & NFL Finishes Parrot NBA

Posted on December 14, 2021March 15, 2023 by David Shama

This fall the NFL has made news with dramatic endings and must-see TV for four quarters. The Vikings are more than doing their part with 12 of their 13 games decided by one possession (eight points or fewer).

And in seven of the games the outcome could have, or was, decided on the final play.

With four games remaining on the schedule, the 6-7 Vikings might tie or break the NFL record for most one-possession games in a season. The 1994 Giants and 2015 Ravens hold the record with 14 each.

Dalvin Cook (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

NFL rosters are loaded with gifted playmakers including Viking wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, and running back Dalvin Cook. The league likely has never offered more extraordinary athletes including at the skill positions of quarterback, pass receiver and running back. NFL rules favor the offense (holding could probably be called on most plays) and teams stretch defenses until they break with sophisticated schemes and quick strike pass plays.

The NFL show seems like basketball on grass, remindful of the NBA and its blueprint for games decided in the closing minutes. That’s long been part of pro basketball’s formula for entertainment success, and now similar drama is present on the football field.

This season the NFL has 28 games decided by a game-winning score on the final play. That’s the most ever through Week 14.

There have been 39 games with a game-winning score in the final minute of regulation or in overtime. That’s the fourth-most at this point of a season all-time (tied with 2003).

Worth Noting

A Vikings executive, speaking anonymously after being asked for a scoop: “I don’t have anything.”

Earlier this fall sources believed the Vikings had interest in Lincoln Riley as their future head coach. At that time Riley may have been curious about his next move from head coach of Oklahoma. Since then he has taken over at USC.

The Big Ten Network’s football Signing Day coverage will be live from 1 to 4 p.m. Central Time Wednesday, with the show repeating that night.

The Goal Line Club will hear from Gophers coach P.J. Fleck about his 2022 recruiting class at a Huntington Bank Stadium luncheon Wednesday. In the evening the club hosts a Happy Hour at the stadium featuring Minnesota recruiting authorities Ryan Burns and Luke Buer. https://www.goallineclub.org/

Minnesota Mr. Football winner Emmett Johnson from the Academy of Holy Angels had no power five offers until a few days ago but now is expected to sign a national letter of intent with Nebraska. In June the Gophers promised Zach Evans from Rockwall, Texas that he would be the only running back offered a scholarship for the class of 2022, per Burns.

Running back Max Grand, from Ellsworth, Wisconsin, will be a preferred walk-on in the class of 2022.

Arriving Friday at Target Field: A 53-foot trailer housing ice-making and ice-monitoring equipment to create an NHL-caliber skating surface for the January 1 Winter Classic between the Wild and Blues. It’s billed as the world’s largest mobile refrigeration unit.

Condolences to the family of Jack Lanza who died earlier this month at age 86. The Minneapolis-born and longtime Minnesota resident is a WWE Hall of Famer. The DeLaSalle High School alum briefly played football for the Gophers, and first wrestled using the name “Cowboy Jack Lanza.” Then he switched to the villainous role of “Blackjack Lanza” and later was a producer for the WWE. Despite his stage presence as the “world’s meanest wrestler,” Jack was a private and kind man.

Here is a trivia question that will stump just about everyone (no Google): Who was the first Northwoods League alum to make the majors? Answer at the bottom of the column.

New York Times best selling author and former University of Minnesota golfer Harvey Mackay is a COVID-19 “long hauler” but his health is improving. He will be in attendance at Minnesota’s December 28 Guaranteed Rate Bowl game against West Virginia in Phoenix (his second home, along with Minneapolis).

Britt Robson, the elite Timberwolves writer, resonated with many fans when he Tweeted this Monday about controversial D’Angelo Russell: “As an ex-DLo ‘hater,’ I get it’s hard to give him credit for elevating his team at both ends this year. But the game is dynamic—your mind is supposed to be changed if you watch honestly. If DLo reverts to his matador D+coach-killing indifference, I’ll start ripping him again.”

Former Wolves head coach and U alum Ryan Saunders attended the Gophers’ stunning basketball upset over Michigan Saturday night in Ann Arbor. Saunders’ next job could be either in the NBA or college.

The 8-1 Gophers (1-1 in the Big Ten) have three nonconference games before resuming league play at home against Illinois Sunday, January 2. If Minnesota wins the next two, the Illini game might be the first sellout of the season at Williams Arena.

Gabe Kalscheur, the former Gopher who transferred earlier this year to Iowa State, is the second leading scorer for the AP No. 11 ranked Cyclones, averaging 11.6 points while making .319 percent of his field goals (.245 of three pointers). The 10-0 Cyclones were 2-22 last season.

TJ Presthus, the promising freshman soccer player at Yale, is the son of Edina High School alum Tom Presthus who is a former MLS All-Star. Grandfather Paul Presthus captained the 1966-67 Gopher basketball team.

Shari Ballard, the new Minnesota United CEO who came out of retirement from Best Buy, joins a growing list of women leading MLS franchises.

The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll out today has undefeated Big Ten programs Iowa, Penn State and Michigan at the top, with the 1-1 Gophers ranked No. 14.

Trivia answer: Jeff Weaver, a former Dubuque Mud Puppy pitcher, became the first Northwoods League alum to make the majors when he started for the Tigers against the Twins on April 14, 1999.

Comments Welcome

Whew! Nobody Saw Gophers 7-0 Start

Posted on December 7, 2021December 7, 2021 by David Shama

The University of Minnesota men’s basketball team goes into tomorrow night’s Big Ten opener with a 7-0 record in nonconference games. Anyone who claims they predicted such a start to the season is messing with you.

Before the schedule began in early November the consensus media message was the Gophers would be among the worst teams in major college basketball. Not so far, though. As of Monday morning Minnesota was one of 12 unbeaten Division I teams.

This remarkable start to the 2021-2022 season under new head coach Ben Johnson is totally unexpected. Johnson, the former Gopher and Minneapolis native, had no head coaching experience when he took over and assembled his staff. To critics the hire had the credibility of drawing names out of a hat, but results so far have been eye-opening.

Johnson’s assistants include Dave Thorson, his high school coach at DeLaSalle and a gifted instructor of defense. They inherited two returning players from the 2020-2021 roster. In the summer Isaiah Ihnen, one of the returnees, suffered a knee injury sidelining him for the season.

The new players, mostly transfers from mid-level college basketball programs, were hardly head-turners that sent ticket buyers scurrying to the box office. Some bios looked okay but there were doubts even the best of the newcomers could play with success in the Big Ten.

What’s evident now is Johnson recruited not just for basketball skill, but attitude. His players are all in on buying what the coaches tell them and playing for each other. Togetherness is one of the most over used words in team sports but these Gophers are unselfish and united.

“We need to be a team of all teams,” Johnson said earlier in the fall. “We need to lead the league in high-fives and butt slaps.”

The Gophers not only play together, they play within their skill sets and schemes. The collective basketball IQ is evident. After last weekend Minnesota was tied for seventh in the country with Duke for fewest turnovers at 68. The Gophers ranked No. 12 in fewest fouls with 92.

No one is saying the Gophers have defeated a who’s-who of college hoops opponents through seven games but they have wins against name-brand schools including 6-2 Mississippi State (in Starkville) and 6-3 Princeton (neutral court). The Gophers have won three games by a total of 10 points and another (Princeton) by seven in double overtime.

That shows resolve, something Johnson knew before the season he needed from his new team. “We’ve gotta be the toughest team, especially this year. We don’t have a lot of room for error. Our mental toughness, our physical toughness has got to be on point.”

The Gophers haven’t backed down from big moments in their seven games. Forward Jamison Battle, the team’s leading scorer at 17.9, has often put an end to another team’s scoring run by hitting a three-pointer. Point guard Peyton Willis, 17.4 points per game, has also been a steadying force and a much improved player from when he was at Minnesota a couple of years ago before transferring. Others have contributed in the clutch, too, like guard Luke Loewe who had a game-winning basket in Pittsburgh last week.

The arrival of 13 new players with different backgrounds, skill sets and personalities makes Johnson’s crew among the most transitional in the college basketball world. It’s evident Johnson and staff excel at player development, game preparation and in-game adjustments. Their start to the season deserves high-fives. No new Gophers coach has won his first seven games since Jim Dutcher in 1975.

Richard Pitino, Johnson’s predecessor, is 5-4 coaching at New Mexico with a 15 point loss to Towson. Pitino’s predecessor, Tubby Smith, is 4-4 at Highpoint with a 35 point loss to Northwestern. Dan Monson, who led Minnesota before Smith, is 2-6 at Long Beach State.

There are challenges ahead for the Gophers including better opposition game-after-game in the Big Ten. Many conference teams are talented and all do a thorough job of scouting opponents. Part of the task, too, for Minnesota will be staying healthy. The team lacks depth, mostly counting on a couple of subs to mix in with the starters.

Losing streaks are no doubt coming, but the feel-good start to the season should prompt some walk-up ticket sales for tomorrow night’s game against Michigan State at Williams Arena. The No. 19 ranked 7-2 Spartans are a perennial Big Ten bully.

The Spartans won’t fear the Gophers but they best respect them.

Friends Fret about Jerry Kill’s Health

Jerry Kill is a head coach again for the first time since 2015, a year that saw him resign during mid-season from the Golden Gophers because of health issues. Taking on the responsibility of leading the New Mexico State Aggies has coach’s many friends in Minnesota worried.

It’s not just that the Aggies are annual bottom feeders (one bowl game since 1960) and that winning in Las Cruces is a challenge for the ages. It’s the stark reality that leading a college football program 365 days per year is a mental and physical marathon for anyone, especially a beloved 60-year-old warrior known coast-to-coast for his battles with epilepsy, cancer and exhaustion.

Kill made an enduring number of friends while coaching at Minnesota from 2011-2015. Among those is Jim Carter, captain of the 1969 Gophers and a straight talking guy just like the new coach in Las Cruces.

Carter expressed concerns about his friend in an interview with Sports Headliners. “My hope is that it doesn’t kill him. …I think he knows that there is risk in it (coaching), and I think that’s what he feels he wants and needs to do. I am very sure that (wife) Rebecca supports him in it and I am sure his daughters (Krystal and Tasha) support him in it.”

Kill is on new meds for his epilepsy since he was at Minnesota. In an early November interview on WCCO Radio’s “The Huddle,” Kill wished he felt this well during his last couple of years at Minnesota.

“I’m in great shape,” Kill said. “I’m running every day. I’m doing all the things I should have been doing when I was at the University of Minnesota.”

Carter didn’t disclose all he knows about his friend’s health. However, his understanding is that Kill worked without an epilepsy incident the last two years at TCU where his assignments included interim head coach this fall.

It’s understandable if Kill doesn’t want to be communicative about every detail in his life. “I know him pretty well,” Carter said. “I consider him a good friend. I think he trusts me but when I ask him how he is doing, it’s usually, ‘Oh, I am doing great, or I am doing fine.’ And I am not sure that’s always been true.”

Since leaving Minnesota Kill has tried administrative work at Southern Illinois and Kansas State. He has been an assistant coach at Rutgers where he suffered a well publicized seizure. A football lifer, he can’t step away from leading young men in the sport he loves.

“People say health is the most important thing. Well, some things get in your system and you just have to do them, and I think that’s the case with him,” Carter said.

The Aggies were 2-10 this past season, including 56 and 40 point losses to SEC teams. As fate would have it, the Aggies come to Minneapolis on September 1 for a game scheduled awhile ago. The Gophers will be three or four touchdown favorites going into that opening game of the season for them (Aggies open August 27 at home against Nevada). “He’s taking on a real project (with the Aggies), and I don’t think there’s any chance in hell of them being able to compete when they get up here to play Minnesota,” Carter said.

Yet the pressure will be on Minnesota. The Gophers will be criticized if they don’t dominate. The game decisions of Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck will be scrutinized by critics. Keep it close and the verdict by them will be Kill out coached Fleck. Blow out game? What else can you expect with the Aggies having such inferior personnel?

What’s for certain is the match up of both teams and coaches will draw interest not previously anticipated. The game could be played in front of a sellout crowd at Huntington Bank Stadium with many fans aware of Kill’s critical comments about Fleck in February of 2019. In a satellite radio interview Kill criticized Fleck’s ego and suggested the Minnesota coach is more about himself than the players.

Kill built a winner at Minnesota, just as he had done in previous coaching stops including Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois. Carter predicts (health allowing) Kill will succeed in Las Cruces, making the Aggies a competitive team fans will be proud to support.

It appears Kill may take on the New Mexico State project without any of the familiar staff from when he was at Minnesota including defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys, who is now out of coaching. Nate Dreiling, a former Southeast Missouri inside linebackers coach, will be Kill’s defensive coordinator.

“It surprises me, frankly, because I loved that (Gopher) staff,” Carter said. “I loved the guys. But it doesn’t sound like any of them are going (to Las Cruces).’’

Minnesota was not a competitive program when Kill took over, with the Gophers finishing 3-9 in 2010. It was a rugged beginning including the second game of the Kill era in 2011 when he collapsed on the sidelines from a seizure during an unexpected home loss to (yes) New Mexico State.

But Kill and his staff improved the talent on the roster and were accomplished at player development. By 2015, coming off the program’s first New Year’s Day bowl game since 1962, the Gophers were drawing the largest crowds in TCF Bank Stadium history.

You can bet a lot of the fandom from 2015 will be back on campus September 1, 2022.

Comments Welcome