Gophers Basketball – Page 92 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Jim Dutcher Upbeat on Gophers

Posted on January 7, 2018January 7, 2018 by David Shama

It’s been a difficult couple of days for the Golden Gophers basketball program after losing two starters indefinitely, but Jim Dutcher is keeping an optimistic perspective for now. News came late last week that senior center Reggie Lynch is suspended from games and sophomore forward Amir Coffey is unable to play because of a shoulder injury.

If Coffey can play again after a short absence Dutcher believes Minnesota could pull off a fourth place final finish in the Big Ten. A return before long by Lynch, too, may result in third place, according to Dutcher who was the Gopher head coach from 1975-1986.

The Gophers struggled last night without Coffey and Lynch, losing to Indiana 75-71. The defeat left Minnesota with a 2-2 Big Ten record, with 14 more games remaining on the conference schedule. “They still got a lot to play for,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

Dutcher, though, acknowledges “all bets are off” if the Gophers must play without Lynch and Coffey for several weeks. Lynch is appealing a decision by the University of Minnesota to ban him from campus for more than two years for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy. Athletic director Mark Coyle announced a suspension of Lynch from playing in games on Friday. Although Lynch is practicing with the Gophers, it might be likely he will never play for Minnesota again. Even if the University reversed itself after appeal, Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino could decide Lynch doesn’t meet his standards for being on the team.

Pitino isn’t creating any specific timeline for the return of either Lynch or Coffey, whose shoulder injury apparently is significant enough to cause speculation he could be out for many weeks. Challenging, too, is the schedule ahead that has the Gophers playing five road games between now and February 4. During that period Minnesota plays twice at home and also has a neutral court game on January 20 in New York City against Ohio State.

Senior Bakary Konate replaced Lynch at center last night, while sophomore Michael Hurt had Coffey’s forward spot. Lynch was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season and entered the Indiana game with about three times more blocked shots than any other Gopher. Coffey, a Big Ten all-freshman last season, is Minnesota’s third leading scorer and perhaps the team’s most versatile and unselfish player.

Konate scored two points against Indiana in 27 minutes. He had four rebounds and blocked three shots. Hurt, in 31 minutes, took one shot and didn’t score. He had four rebounds, all of them in the first half.

Late last summer Minnesota lost its best bench player for the season. Promising sophomore forward-center Eric Curry is sidelined following knee surgery. Now with Lynch and Coffey out, the Gophers are without three of their top six players.

“They went from having a Big Ten championship as a goal, to (now) trying to qualify for the (NCAA) Tournament as a goal,” Dutcher said. “They’re not going to win the Big Ten championship.”

Worth Noting

Dutcher believes Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan will finish one, two and three in the final Big Ten standings. MSU is not only the league favorite but could win the school’s first national championship since 2000.

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to promote the old Minneapolis Lakers jerseys, and the team wore them in a game last week at Target Center against the Timberwolves. The popular MPLS jerseys prompted a telephone call to Bob Stein, the Timberwolves first president, to ask if franchise ownership and management considered naming the team Minneapolis instead of Minnesota back in the late 1980s. Stein didn’t recall serious discussion about using the city’s name, noting the franchise wanted to represent the larger Minnesota market despite the history of the state’s first NBA team being named Minneapolis.

Regarding the choice of Timberwolves as the nickname, Stein said a naming contest open to the public generated many suggestions including the Minnesota Mosquitoes. Others that drew amusement from the team’s front office were:

Minnesota Taxes$; Minnesota Fats; Minnesota Uff Da’s; Minnesota Loona-Ticks; and Minnesota Yumpin’ Yacks.

Timberwolves was a fan favorite but Stein said the organization’s inner circle “winked” on the final tabulation of voting by the public. The outcome, he suggested, was not unlike some “alleged political elections.”

SI.com’s famous NFL writer Peter King, writing last Thursday, predicted the Vikings will win Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis with a 27-23 victory over the Patriots.

SI.com announced its NFL individual award winners last week including Coach of the Year. Sean McVay from the Rams won the award, while the Vikings’ Mike Zimmer was runner-up finishing 25 points behind in voting.

Patrick Mader, the Northfield-based author who wrote the book Minnesota Gold detailing the lives of many Minnesota Olympians, emailed this historical note to Sports Headliners: “In the late 1940s, a young, energetic, and politically ambitious American city mayor was on an Olympic Committee bidding to host the 1952 Summer Games which ended being runner-up to Helsinki, Finland. The mayor was Hubert Humphrey and the runner-up city (tied) was Minneapolis.”

Next month’s Winter Olympics will be in South Korea. Mader predicted Jessie Diggins, a graduate of Stillwater High School who is from Afton, has “a good chance” to win the first Olympic medal in cross-country skiing ever by an American woman. A 2014 Olympian who has an outstanding World Cup record, the 26-year-old is expected to be named to the 2018 Olympic team later this month.

When the Twins go to spring training it will be interesting to see if Brian Dozier is finally moved out of the leadoff spot in the batting order. The team’s power hitting second baseman has led the club in home runs (76) the last two seasons but has batted leadoff because Minnesota didn’t have anyone more suited for the spot that requires foot speed and consistency at the plate. With center fielder Byron Buxton hitting around .300 for part of last season and showing extraordinary speed, it appears the fourth-year Twin could be the new leadoff man, with Dozier moving down to third or fourth in the batting order.

Carl Pohlad, the deceased Twins owner who passed away in early January of 2009, would be pleased his farm system developed most of the franchise’s promising core of position players that includes Buxton, Dozier, third baseman Miguel Sano, left fielder Eddie Rosario, right fielder Max Kepler and shortstop Jorge Polanco.

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Nanne: Zach Parise Timing to Come Fast

Posted on January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 by David Shama

A Thursday notes column:

Zach Parise made his season debut with the Wild Tuesday night after being sidelined following back surgery. How long will it take for the star forward to have his timing return to normal?

“Within 10 days he should be perfect,” Minnesota hockey authority Lou Nanne told Sports Headliners.

What contributions does Nanne see ahead for the Wild’s 33-year-old wing? “Well, I think that you’re going to see a guy that never stops working. He’s a leader on the team. He’s a guy that can score some goals and he should be a good addition to the lineup.”

Parise had back surgery on October 24 and played solidly on Tuesday night in his debut game. He is expected to play again tonight when Minnesota hosts the Sabres.

Parise scored 42 points in 69 games last season including six power goals and four game winners.

The Wild has been disappointing this season, lacking consistency and goal scoring. Minnesota might struggle to make the playoffs even though owner Craig Leipold said before the season that anything short of winning the Stanley Cup will be disappointing.

What kind of pressure does that put on individuals and the organization? “I don’t know what it does,” Nanne said. “It says he’s got high expectations.”

The Wild defeated the Sabres 5-4 November 22 in Buffalo—the only previous game this season between the two teams. Wild assistant coach Bob Woods was an assistant with the Sabres last season.

In January of 2015 the Wild shutout the Sabres 7-0, the largest margin of victory in franchise history.

The Gophers were able to defeat Illinois 77-67 last night because All-Big Ten point guard Nate Mason played after being sidelined for awhile with a sprained ankle. ESPN basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla told Sports Headliners the Gophers being without Mason is like the powerhouse Ohio State football team not having quarterback J.T. Barrett. Both are that kind of catalyst for their teams, Fraschilla said. Mason and forward Jordan Murphy scored team highs of 17 points last night.

Fraschilla believes it’s likely Duke freshman point guard Trevon Duvall will declare for the NBA Draft after this season, opening the way for Apple Valley senior Tre Jones to become a starter for the Blue Devils next fall.

Minnesota native Brian Dutcher is in his first season as San Diego State head basketball coach. Injuries have been a problem, although the Aztecs beat top 25 ranked Gonzaga in San Diego and defeated Georgia on a neutral court.

The Aztecs are 2-1 in Mountain West Conference games and 10-4 overall, while former Timberwolves assistant coach Eric Musselman has Nevada off to an even better start. Nevada is 2-0 in Mountain West games and 14-3 overall.

Gopher Deputy Athletics Director John Cunningham told Sports Headliners the $166 million University of Minnesota Athletes Village will be ready for use by mid-January. Approximately $105 million of the project is secured with fundraising ongoing. The construction cost is also being financed through bonds.

Bill Robertson, the men’s WCHA commissioner based in Bloomington, is excited about his league as the New Year begins including the Minnesota State team ranked No. 7 in the country in the latest USCHO poll. “I think they have a legitimate shot to end up in St. Paul (playing for the national title).”

Robertson is also enthusiastic about Bemidji State senior goalie Michael Bitzer, who has already played over 1,000 minutes and looks like a candidate for college awards recognizing both the player and goalie of the year. “He continues to do marvelous things,” Robertson said. “In my mind he will be a Hobey Baker contender as well as a Mike Richter contender this year, both awards.”

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve recently signed a multiyear contract extension and also assumed the general manager’s title and role with the local WNBA franchise. Reeve speaks to the CORES lunch group January 11 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Lunch reservations must be made by January 8. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Players and others associated with the 1968, 1969 and 1970 Big Ten champion Gopher baseball teams will be recognized May 12 at Siebert Field when Minnesota plays Michigan State.

Jerry Kindall was an assistant coach to Dick Siebert on those teams. Kindall, a former Minnesota Twin before going into coaching, passed away late last month. The St. Paul native was also an assistant basketball coach for the Gophers and went on to become head baseball coach at Arizona where he won national titles.

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Fran Fraschilla: U Point Guards Critical

Posted on January 2, 2018January 2, 2018 by David Shama

It might be anyone’s guess whether Nate Mason’s injured left ankle allows him to play Wednesday night against Illinois but ESPN basketball authority Fran Fraschilla is clear about the senior point guard’s importance to the Gophers.

Mason hurt his ankle December 23 and didn’t dress for last Saturday’s game with Harvard. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said recently he didn’t know about Mason’s availability for Illinois.

The Gophers, 1-1 in Big Ten competition so far, have both Illinois and Indiana (Saturday) at home before playing four of their five following games on the road. Without Mason, the likelihood of two wins this week diminishes and could be difficult.

“If he’s not the best point guard in the Big Ten, it’s a very short list and he’s on it,” Fraschilla told Sports Headliners by telephone Sunday. “To have him return as quickly and healthy as possible is critical.”

Without Mason, freshman Isaiah Washington started at point guard against Harvard. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Washington hustled for a team-leading 13 rebounds and was effective defensively, but he had only two assists and made just four of 17 field goal attempts.

Washington’s shooting (34 percent made field goals) and decision making with the basketball have frequently been disappointing through the first 15 games of the season. There have been high expectations about Washington after he became one of the nation’s most acclaimed point guards while playing at St. Raymond’s in New York City.

Fraschilla watched the former state of New York Mr. Basketball in AAU basketball even before he arrived in Minneapolis. Fraschilla said it’s typical of a talented freshman to be struggling early on in his career. “Just trying to do too much and not yet understanding that he has to value the ball and shot selection a little bit more than he did on the AAU circuit—and that will come.”

Isaiah Washington (photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications)

But if Mason can’t play tomorrow night (or is sidelined longer), the Gophers have to hope Washington matures fast. In Mason’s absence, Pitino is likely to continue using Washington as his starting point guard. Even when Mason returns, Washington is all but certain to potentially be the highest impact player off the bench. Minnesota’s lack of depth is the team’s biggest weakness.

“He (Washington) now needs to understand that every possession in the Big Ten is going to be critical,” Fraschilla said. “One play can make or break your season. One great decision, or bad decision, can affect whether you help your team get to the NCAA Tournament. Hopefully that was the lesson coming out of nonconference play for him.”

The depth issue gives Fraschilla pause about Minnesota’s success this winter but he likes the skills of several players including the shot-blocking of both center Reggie Lynch and power forward Jordan Murphy. Murphy also has 15 consecutive double-doubles in points and rebounds this season.

By Saturday night he could have the most NCAA consecutive games of double-doubles to start a season since Tim Duncan in 1996-1997. ”I became a really big fan of his early in the year when he got off to such a great start,” said Fraschilla who thinks Murphy can be named a first-team All-Big Ten player this year.

The Gophers were 7-0 and ranked in the top 15 nationally when Fraschilla was the ESPN analyst doing their game with Miami. Since losing to the Hurricanes, Minnesota has dropped out of the top 25 rankings and hasn’t looked like the same team that had impressive early wins against Providence and Alabama.

Minnesota’s other starting guard Dupree McBrayer was injured and missed the Miami game. That forced Washington into the starting lineup alongside Mason. Washington scored 14 points but made some mistakes, including five turnovers, that contributed to the loss. Bench players totaled two rebounds, no points and no assists against No. 10 ranked Miami.

Depth was a concern even before the season because sophomore forward Eric Curry is out until next fall following ACL surgery on his left knee. The 6-9 Curry showed during his freshman season while averaging over five points and five rebounds that he was going to be an impact player coming off the bench and Minnesota’s best sub.

Prior to the Miami game there was talk the Gophers might challenge Michigan State for the Big Ten title and Minnesota looked like the league’s No. 2 team. Fraschilla thinks the Gophers still can finish high in the conference standings and earn their way into the NCAA Tournament. “I would say right now they still have a chance in my mind to be the third best team (after Michigan State and Purdue) in the conference,” he said.

Whether Minnesota can equal or better last season’s 11-7 Big Ten record will have much to do with Mason’s injured ankle. Fraschilla refers to Mason, who was all-Big Ten last season, as the team’s “catalyst.”

“You can’t ask a team that doesn’t have the depth that the Gophers have, and are trying to break in a talented but erratic freshman point guard, to play without their team leader for very long,” Fraschilla said.

Shorn Morris, the Big Ten Network analyst who was at Williams Arena for the Harvard game, also sees Minnesota as the league’s third best team behind Michigan State and Purdue. The upcoming games with Illinois (0-2, 10-5) and Indiana (1-1, 8-6) will tell more about the Gophers but he’s not ready to label them must-win opportunities.

“I think it’s really important (to win those games), especially when let’s not forget they’re already 1-1,” Morris told Sports Headliners last weekend. “They dropped a road game at Nebraska. You want to make sure you take care of the two…home games here.”

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