Lindsay Whalen – Page 4 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Lynx’s Reeve May Draw NBA Interest

Posted on July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 by David Shama

The hiring of a female head coach in the NBA has gone from possible to likely in recent years.

In 2014 Becky Hammon became the first full-time paid assistant female coach in the league when she joined the Spurs staff. During the last few months there has been a trend in hiring females with the 76ers, Cavs, Celtics and Kings placing women on their staffs. There are now nine female assistants in the NBA.

Major League Baseball, the NBA, NFL and NHL have no female head coaches, but the NBA has been a pioneer in its hiring of women as assistants and referees. Is the league ready for its first female head coach?

“Well, I think as a league we’ve been about as flexible as any league, and so probably if it’s going to be done, it’s probably going to happen in the NBA,” said Glen Taylor who owns both the NBA Timberwolves and WNBA Lynx.

The NBA has long been known for its diversity and openness to change. NBA commissioner Adam Silver is an advocate for more females in his league. He wants about half “of new officials (referees) entering the league” to be women, per a May 9 story on Nba.com from the Associated Press. Speaking at an event in Washington, D.C., Silver also said: “There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.”

Taylor told Sports Headliners the first female to become a head coach in the NBA will face “a lot of pressure,” but he thinks it’s just a matter of when—not if—that a woman is leading a club in the league. That person might be promoted from an assistant’s position in the NBA, but certainly Cheryl’s Reeve’s resume could some day put her in the conversation for a head job in the league, or perhaps a No. 1 assistant’s role.

Reeve, 52, is both the Lynx’s general manager and head coach. She is also an assistant coach on the USA Women’s National team that will compete in the 2020 Olympic Games. Since becoming head coach of the Lynx in 2010, she has coached Minnesota to four WNBA titles. Taylor has consistently been impressed with her work. “I am a great fan of her,” he said.

Going into this season Reeve worked with a reshuffled roster including the absence of star players Lindsay Whalen (retired) and Maya Moore (sabbatical for 2019). Yet the Lynx has surprised followers by being a competitive team. Although on a losing streak recently, the club has a 10-10 record is and only 3.5 games out of first place in the WNBA Western Conference.

“I just gotta admire her, how she has changed her defensive strategy and offensive strategy to fit the new players,” Taylor said last week. “It’s been just terrific.”

Worth Noting

The Twins, who hold a two game lead in the American League Central Division over Cleveland, will see the Indians in Minneapolis for a four-game series starting August 8. Prior to that series the Twins will compete against three teams playing less than .500 baseball (White Sox, 45-54; Marlins, 38-62; Royals, 39-64), plus the National League East Division leading Braves, 60-43. The Indians, though, will have a more difficult schedule facing three of four opponents who are at or above .500, including the AL West Division leading Astros, 66-38.

The Twins and Indians will also play two series in September, one in Minneapolis and the other in Cleveland. This season the Twins are 5-4 against the Indians.

Aaron Hicks, the Yankees outfielder who the Twins gave up on and traded to New York, beat Minnesota with a two-run home run on Tuesday night and is hitting .329 in his last 19 games. In that stretch he has seven home runs, 16 RBI and 16 runs scored.

The Twins, who lost two out of three to the Yankees this week in their series at Target Field, attracted a sellout crowd last night of 40,127. It was the club’s eighth sellout of the season.

The Vikings, valued at $2.4 billion, rank No. 35 on the Forbes list released this week of the 50 most valuable sports franchises in the world. The NFL Cowboys ranked No. 1 at $5 billion, with MLB’s Yankees second at $4.6 billion.

Sports Illustrated ranks Golden Gophers senior wide receiver Tyler Johnson No. 62 among its top 100 college football players going into the 2019 season.

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No Forgetting Herb Brooks Friendship

Posted on January 27, 2019January 27, 2019 by David Shama

Random thoughts and notes one day after a vacation in southern California.

The Golden Gophers team that won the NCAA Hockey title in 1979 was honored last night at 3M Arena at Mariucci when Minnesota and Wisconsin played their second game in as many nights in Minneapolis. The Gophers won the school’s third men’s hockey national title on March 23, 1979 in Detroit with a 4-3 victory over North Dakota.

Unfortunately, legendary coach Herb Brooks, who died in 2003 at age 66, wasn’t there to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this special team. Brooks won three national championships in a six year period, with the last in 1979.

Brooks would orchestrate the “Miracle on Ice” for the U.S. a year later in 1980. That Olympic team stunned the world with its upset victory over the Soviet Union. Shortly after the Winter Olympics, I asked Brooks to speak at a banquet for a non-profit organization. He refused to accept a payment for his speech, despite his celebrity status that allowed him to earn large speaker’s fees in corporate America.

Brooks was a friend for decades, always available to meet or talk, and most often offering the most comprehensive of answers to questions. He was one of those individuals (we all have them) who you never stop missing.

Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle was the latest local sports newsmaker to be interviewed on “Behind the Game,” the Twin Cities cable TV program co-hosted by Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. No one received more praise from Coyle during the program than first-year women’s basketball coach Lindsay Whalen. “I am not sure I have met a more competitive person,” he said.

Coyle hired Whalen last spring despite the former Gopher Final Four guard having no previous coaching experience. During the program he talked about how Hall of Fame Connecticut coach Geno Aureimma endorsed a potential Whalen hire on the telephone.

Whalen’s team cruised through the nonconference schedule but has been struggling in league games (13-6 overall, 2-6 Big Ten). Still, the Whalen mystique as a Minnesota native and former star for both the Gophers and Lynx sustains her popularity with fans and media.

All that adoration over the years never has inflated Whalen’s ego. On “Behind the Game” Coyle described his coach as “low ego, high output.”

In addition to cable, the Coyle interview can also be viewed on YouTube.

Men’s college basketball authority Jay Bilas, writing last week for Espn.com, ranked Iowa No. 24 and Minnesota No. 57 in his national listing of the top 68 teams. The Hawkeyes and Gophers play late today at Williams Arena.

In his article Bilas describes former Apple Valley star point guard Tre Jones, now a freshman at Duke, as a “next level defender.”

It’s a rewarding time for Mike Max who has been named sports director at WCCO TV, succeeding Mark Rosen. Hard work has characterized Max’s 33-year media career covering Minnesota sports. He exercises everyday and has missed only a half day of work all these years.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association will induct Max into its Hall of Fame on March 30.

On WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” program this morning Max introduced the local weather forecast by quipping, “It’s colder than a Sid Hartman handshake.”

It was a contrast (understatement) returning to Minneapolis after vacationing in the Palm Springs-Palm Desert area with all blue skies and temps in the 70s. From personal experience and research of warm climate temperatures, my opinion is that part of the country has the best January weather in the continental United States.

During the first several days of our trip we did encounter cloudy and rainy weather in Carlsbad, California (about 35 minutes north of San Diego). Then when we drove Highway 74 through the mountains to Palm Desert, we got the surprise of our vacation.

Descending from about 3,000 feet on narrow, twisting, two-lane highway, we found ourselves surrounded by dense clouds. Visibility was about 30 feet in front of the car. There were no taillights to follow from a vehicle ahead on this harrowing drive down into the Palm Desert basin. All I could see to guide our way were the yellow lines dividing the road. A mental lapse here or there and we could have collided with another vehicle, or driven off the cliff.

We survived and went on to enjoy our time in the Coachella Valley including attending the Desert Classic in La Quinta. The PGA tournament has known many names through the years including the Bob Hope Desert Classic. This year the tournament celebrated 60 years while featuring southern California native and legend Phil Mickelson.

“Lefty” is a personal favorite, which of course hardly makes me unique. Ironically, he shot an opening day 60 on the Classic’s 60th birthday. He led the tournament going into the final day on January 20, but lost by a couple of strokes.

The tournament has a celebrity-filled history that includes famous names from both Hollywood and Washington, D.C. Presidents Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush all played as amateurs in the 1995 tournament. Arnold Palmer won more Desert Classics than any other golfer, with his last championship coming in 1973.

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Mike Zimmer Still Confident about Kicker

Posted on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by David Shama

Enjoy a Tuesday notes column focusing on the Vikings.

Mike Zimmer is working with his fourth kicker in five seasons as Vikings head coach. There have been enough ups and downs to write a book about those experiences, with the latest tribulation coming Sunday night when Dan Bailey missed on two of three field goals.

“I still have a lot of confidence in this kid. I believe in him,” Zimmer told KFXN-FM after the game. “I watch him every single day. It was big for him to go out there and get that last one.”

Bailey’s 37-yard third quarter field goal against the Packers put the Vikings ahead 17-14 in a vital game they went on to win 24-17. The subject of field goals in a Packers game is a touchy one after Minnesota rookie Daniel Carlson missed three in the opening game for both teams in September.

That game ended in a 29-29 tie that doesn’t do much for the Vikings’ postseason ambitions. At 6-4-1 Minnesota is pursuing an NFC North Division title, or a wild card entry, to make the playoffs. Tight games in the fourth quarter could mean Bailey’s leg will be the difference in winning during the five remaining games on the regular season schedule and qualifying for the playoffs.

Bailey has made 75 percent of his field goals since joining the Vikings and all but one of his extra points. In seven previous seasons with the Cowboys he converted on 88.2 percent of his field goals.

Meanwhile, Carlson, who was cut and replaced by Bailey after the Green Bay opener, is seven of eight on field goals and a perfect eight for eight on extra points after playing in five games for the Raiders.

Former Viking Pete Bercich talking to Sports Headliners before Sunday night’s game about defensive end Everson Griffen, who rejoined the team in late October: “I think he’s working his way back. I think with defensive ends a lot of it is timing. Being out as long as he was, it’s going to take him a little bit, and conditionally, (being in the best shape). I think he’s dong all right.”

Griffen missed five games earlier this season. In six games he has 11 tackles and 3.5 sacks, with totals of 7 and 2.5 since rejoining the team for the New Orleans game October 28.

Griffen was a Pro Bowler last season for the third straight year but because of his missed time this fall the Vikings did not include him among players spotlighted to the media on Sunday encouraging Pro Bowl voting. The eight players who are being promoted for promoting and playing in the 2019 Pro Bowl are quarterback Kirk Cousins, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, defensive end Danielle Hunter, defensive tackle Linval Joseph, tight end Kyle Rudolph, safety Harrison Smith, wide receiver Adam Thielen, and cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

In Pro Bowl voting totals released last week by the NFL, Smith was the top vote getter among free safeties. Hunter was second among defensive ends.

Although the Vikings offensive line had one of its better games against the Packers Sunday night, the unit remains among the lower rated groups by NFL authorities. A Vikings source, who didn’t want his name in print, said the club is well aware of the line’s limitations.

His view is the Vikings will have to change some personnel among starters to improve. The club wanted to prioritize offensive linemen in the most recent NFL draft but their options were limited when other teams were better positioned to make selections.

The source said his team got an athletic tackle in rookie Brian O’Neill who was taken on the second round. He said O’Neill needs to become stronger and while he won’t become a perennial All-Pro he can be a solid lineman. Earlier this season Pro Football Focus rated him the third best rookie offensive lineman in the NFL.

After Sunday’s game the Vikings ranked 30th in NFL rushing with 85.3 yards per game. That is an indictment of the offensive line and the source stressed even in today’s pass-happy NFL having an effective running game is important to creating a balanced offense.

Blake Cashman and other Minnesota natives who play for the Gophers were recognized on the field during the Vikings game at U.S. Bank Stadium for their team’s upset win Saturday against Wisconsin. The players displayed Paul Bunyan’s Axe in front of an appreciative crowd. Cashman simulated rowing a boat, an acknowledgment of coach P.J. Fleck’s well-known mantra.

David Raih, the Packers wide receivers coach and an Edina native, is a classic work your way up from the bottom success story. In 2008 he quit a lucrative sales job to accept an unpaid internship in the football department at UCLA, per a 2016 ESPN story. The 38-year-old Raih attended St. Thomas Academy before being a reserve quarterback at Iowa from 1999-2003.

Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs turns 25 on Thursday, and defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson will have his 28th birthday on the same day.

Despite speculation Mike Grant, 61, said yesterday he isn’t planning to retire as Eden Prairie’s 11-time state champion football coach. With humor, Grant mentioned he gets along well with the EP athletic director. (For those who don’t know he is both the head football coach and AD at the school).

The Eagles lost last Friday in the 6A title game to Lakeville North. It was the second time in 2018 the Panthers have defeated EP and Grant praised Lakeville as the better team.

Eagles senior quarterback Cole Kramer, who plays for the Gophers next year, is the only 6A QB ever to start in three consecutive state title games.

Tonight there will be a dedication ceremony to rename the Hutchinson High School gymnasium for Lindsay Whalen. The legendary Hutch native, now in her first season as Gophers women’s basketball coach, will direct Minnesota against Syracuse on Thursday night at Williams Arena. Both teams are in the Associated Press top 25 with Syracuse No. 12 and Minnesota No. 20.

Whalen speaks to the Capital Club on December 20 at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul. Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton talks to the group on December 12 in downtown St. Paul at the 317 on Rice Park Event Center. The networking group features prominent speakers, many of them from athletics. More information about the Capital Club is available at Capitalclubmn.com, or from Patrick Klinger, patrickklinger@klingercompany.com.

Janel McCarville, Whalen’s Final Four teammate during playing days with the Gophers, has been playing professionally this year in Sweden.

The Wild play Arizona tonight at home, and fans will continue to evaluate coach Bruce Boudreau’s decision to split up top pair defensemen Matt Dumba and Ryan Suter.

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