Golden Gophers – Page 407 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Ex-Coach Predicts 7th Place Finish for U

Posted on January 4, 2012January 4, 2012 by David Shama

Jim Dutcher predicts the Gophers will finish seventh in the Big Ten and likely will play in a post-season tournament, but he said 0-2 Minnesota needs to win its next two conference games starting tonight against Iowa at Williams Arena.

Dutcher, the former Gophers coach whose team 30 years ago won the Big Ten, is a passionate follower of college basketball and watches many games on TV. “Minnesota is not a Big Ten (title) contender but can get into a post-season tourney (NCAA or NIT),” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

He believes a 9-9 conference record is possible for the Gophers, and that would give Minnesota a 21-10 overall record before the Big Ten Tournament. He said the Gophers might finish their conference schedule with a 6-3 home record and 3-6 on the road.

After opening conference road losses to Illinois and Michigan, the Gophers are home for games against Iowa and then Purdue on Sunday. “You gotta win your home games,” Dutcher said. “Go at least 6-3 at home and 3-6 on the road.”

The Gophers played better at Illinois and Michigan than Dutcher expected. Minnesota lost to the Illini, 81-72 in double overtime, and 61-56 to the Wolverines. “I was more impressed (with Minnesota) after the two losses than I was before,” Dutcher said. “One game (Illinois) they should have won and one (Michigan) they could have won.”

Obvious in both games was the Gophers don’t know who their clutch player is, and also Minnesota struggles to make outside shots, including three pointers. But Minnesota has athleticism, depth and plays with effort.

That could be enough to keep the Gophers just ahead ofIllinois in the final conference standings, a program Dutcher describes as “always a work in progress.” He thinks the Illini will finish eighth in the conference followed by Northwestern, Iowa, Nebraska and PennState.

Purdue has “marginal” talent” but Dutcher has been impressed enough with the Boilermakers to think they will finish sixth in the Big Ten. His top five teams are: Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. The Buckeyes could be a Final Four team, and the Spartans and Hoosiers might also make deep tournament runs, according to the former Gophers coach.

Neither the Badgers nor Wolverines have consistent inside scoring threats and that will be problematic. “Wisconsin (also) can’t play from behind (in a game) and get to the free throw line,” Dutcher said.

The Badgers’ deliberate offensive style and tenacious defense could be enough to push Wisconsin just ahead of a more talented Indiana team in the final standings, according to Dutcher.

Love Blossoms, Trade Rival Fades

It’s never too late to say thank you. How about tonight when the Grizzlies play the Timberwolves at TargetCenter?

In the hours following the 2008 NBA draft, Wolves executive Kevin McHale made a multi-player trade with the Grizzlies that brought power forward Kevin Love to Minnesota. The cornerstones of that trade were Love and shooting guard O.J. Mayo.

Love has become an NBA All-Star while Mayo doesn’t even start for Memphis. A league source told Sports Headliners McHale wanted to draft Love but instead the organization chose Mayo with the No. 3 pick in the draft. But Love, who was the No. 5 pick, soon became a Timberwolf when McHale and team owner Glen Taylor worked out a deal that involved eight players.

At the top of McHale’s things-to-like list back in 2008 was Love’s skill in rebounding. Love led the league in rebounding last season at 15.2 per game. In five games this season he’s second in NBA rebounding, again at 15.2.

Now in his fourth season, Love is maturing into one of the NBA’s best offensive forwards. He’s averaging a career high 25.4 points per game, making 47 percent of his field goals including 44 percent of three point attempts. He not only shoots with accuracy, but is the team’s best inside scorer.

Love’s passing is timely and accurate. At 6-10 he’s the best of the team’s big men passers and other than point guard Ricky Rubio, nobody on the Wolves is more unselfish.

During the off-season Love reshaped his body and reflected on his leadership skills. He’s become both the franchise’s definitive leader and best player, now even drawing comparisons to Kevin Garnett, the former Wolves All-Star forward who will be a certain Hall of Famer.

Love may or may not one day make the Hall of Fame, but you have to like his odds much better than Mayo’s who during the last three seasons has seen his scoring averages decline from 18.5 to 17.5 to 11.3. This season he’s averaging 8.6 points in five games.

McHale is no longer working for the Wolves and is coaching the Rockets, but he will be remembered tonight.

Worth Noting

Speculation is the National Collegiate Hockey Conference will announce former USOC CEO Jim Scherr as its first commissioner today at a news conference. The conference begins play in 2013-14 and consists of eight teams—Colorado College, Denver, Miami (Ohio), Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State, UMD and Western Michigan.

Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery’s wife Margaret was a Minnesota prep basketball star who later played and coached at Notre Dame. She grew up in St. Paul as Margaret Nowlin and met McCaffery when he was an assistant coach for the men’s team.

Michigan has opened a $20 million-plus basketball practice facility, leaving the Gophers and Northwestern as the only Big Ten schools without such a building. Minnesota is trying to raise funds for a $15 million facility.

The defending champion Mavericks have made personnel changes since last year including allowing point guard J.J. Barea to join the Wolves. Dallas is off to a slow start (2-4) and it doesn’t surprise Barea.

“No question. I knew they were going to have a tough time,” Barea told Sports Headliners. “It’s going to be a long year for them. They’ll win some games because they got enough talent and they like to compete and they like to win. …”

Derrick Williams, the Wolves 20-year-old rookie forward, said the difference between the Pac-12 where he played for Arizona and the NBA is a player needs to use his basketball intelligence in the pros or “get left behind.”

The Vikings promotion of Rick Spielman to general manager didn’t prompt a late afternoon headline yesterday on ESPN.com.

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway talking about teammate and defensive end Jared Allen who set a new franchise single season record for sacks with 22: “It comes back to what makes him great is his ability to play hard every snap. …”

Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin commenting about the quarterback competition between Christian Ponder and Joe Webb: “It will be tough to keep Webb off the field, but Ponder did some great things for us this year. It’s a good scenario to have two quality quarterbacks like that. That’s not my job, though. I will show up and do whatever they ask me to do.”

Kyle Rudolph, the Vikings rookie tight end, considers himself fortunate to have played one season having Jim Kleinsasser—the 13-year veteran tight end who retired on Sunday—as his mentor. Rudolph has referred to Kleinsasser as dad.

The MIAC is one of only three Division III conferences to have seven schools in the first 2011-12 Division III Learfield Sports Director’s Cup Standings of the season. The MIAC schools are St. Thomas, St. Olaf, Concordia, Saint Benedict, Carleton, Bethel and Hamline.

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Gophers Roses Sweet, 50 Years Later

Posted on December 29, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

How could I let the memory pass without writing about it?

On Sunday it will be 50 years since the Golden Gophers last played in the Rose Bowl. Back then I was a sophomore at Washburn High in Minneapolis. But on January 1, 1962 I was one of 98,214 fans who watched the Gophers kick butt in a 21-3 win over UCLA.

My family followed the Gophers with passion and arguments often were part of the dinner time conversation at our house. Family opinions differed about head coach Murray Warmath and the personnel on his roster. But we all shared one expectation: the U football program should be among the best in the country.

My dad was a young man when Bronko Nagurski became a national football legend playing for the Gophers. Soon after Nagurski’s playing days ended, coach Bernie Bierman arrived on campus and began reeling off national titles. Before he was through coaching in 1950, Bierman’s teams were credited with five national championships.

At Minnesota you expected to chase Big Ten and national titles. By 1960 the Gophers produced another national championship and a first ever trip to the Rose Bowl. Back then the national champion was named before the bowl games, and a good thing it was for the Gophers. We sat at home and watched in disbelief as Washington upset Minnesota 17-7 in the 1961 Rose Bowl.

I was furious and so was Warmath and the returning players. The Gophers, if the opportunity was there, wanted redemption in another Rose Bowl. The path to Pasadena opened in the fall of 1961 when Big Ten champion Ohio State saw its academic administration (I am not making this up) turn down the Rose Bowl invitation.

The Gophers had finished second in the Big Ten race in 1961 and were happy to head west with probably Warmath’s best team ever. The coach’s teams from 1960-1962 were all national powers and compiled a 22-6-1 record, but the 1961 team was the best balanced offensively and defensively.

Sandy Stephens was a senior All-American quarterback and Bobby Bell was a junior All-American tackle who the following season would win the Outland Trophy. The Gophers had a second tackle, similar to Bell, who was capable of stopping a defense almost by himself, sophomore Carl Eller who would be an All-American in 1963.

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Memorable Train Ride to Pasadena

Posted on December 29, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

I loved those Gophers teams of the early 1960s and when my Uncle John booked a train ride for the two of us to California for the 1962 Rose Bowl I couldn’t wait to hear the conductor yell, “All aboard!” It was a memorable ride through the Rocky Mountains with our first stop in San Francisco. Then it was on to Los Angeles where I read and tried to absorb all I could in anticipation of the game.

In the nights before the Rose Bowl I remember listening to the Lakers on the radio, and also seeing a TV special about Elgin Baylor whose basketball acrobatics had started when the team was in Minneapolis. I reveled in being close to the Lakers again while fighting off the disappointment of the great franchise having relocated from Minneapolis to southern California.

But whatever sorrow I carried gave way to the magical day of January 1, 1962. It was a Rose Bowl scene like you’ve seen so many times over the years on television. Blue sky, steady sunshine and that majestic stadium with 100,000 seats and the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.

I was ready for revenge and so were the Gophers. The final score had Minnesota winning by 18 points but that didn’t indicate the difference between the Gophers and Bruins on this day. The Gophers dominated second half ball possession and other stats for the game. Minnesota had 21 first downs, UCLA eight. The Gophers gained 397 total yards, the Bruins 107.

Stephens was the game’s MVP and is now a member of the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. He scored two of Minnesota’s touchdowns, led the team in rushing yards and completed seven of 11 timely passes.

It was a day for the ages if you were from Minnesota. Not even keys locked inside the rental car could put a dark cloud over my Rose Bowl day experience.

The train ride back home was a blur but one thought dominated my mind. These Gophers, who had finished 6-1 in the Big Ten and 8-2 overall, could beat anybody in the country including 1961 national champion Alabama. The Gophers had lost the opening game in 1961 to Missouri, 6-0, and Wisconsin beat Minnesota 23-21. Nine points stood between the Gophers and another national championship.

Both the final Associated Press and UPI polls ranked Minnesota No. 6 in the nation. It’s the highest ranking the Gophers have had since the national championship season of 1960. Now even the most passionate of fans wouldn’t dare utter a whisper about another national title, but many of us hope for another Rose Bowl.

While generations of Minnesotans have been born and died without another glorious Gophers journey to Pasadena, I can be grateful for the trip and the triumph of 50 years ago.

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