Lynx – Page 4 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Will Lynx Reach Out to Maya Moore?

Posted on March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 by David Shama

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column with newsmakers Maya Moore, Gabe Kalscheur, Kirk Cousins, Sid Hartman and others.

It might just be that the Minnesota Lynx are formulating a compensation offer to entice Maya Moore back to the roster. Moore, known as the greatest winner in the history of women’s basketball, took a sabbatical last season to focus on criminal justice reform and expectations are she will miss the upcoming 2020 season, too. But a new agreement between the WNBA and the players association may have the Lynx front office thinking about a new contract offer to their missing superstar.

In January an eight-year Collective Bargaining Agreement was announced that raises pay 53 percent. Average WNBA salaries will reach six figures for the first time, with salaries for top players tripling and stars able to potentially earn more than $500,000.

In Moore’s first WNBA years of 2011 and 2012 she reportedly earned about $45,000 with the Lynx. Spotrac.com lists her most recent salary with Minnesota at $117,000. With the new CBA agreement players can earn a maximum salary of $215,000 but with other approved WNBA benefits the total can potentially exceed $500,000.

Moore turns 31 in June and while no one doubts her dedication to helping others, she may view the increased compensation as tempting and consider a return to the court with her playing days beginning to dwindle. Another factor perhaps influencing Moore’s thinking about a return to Minnesota is that a judge overturned the conviction Monday of a Missouri man whose case she has been championing.

Moore, who helped the Lynx win four WNBA titles, has been a major contributor to championship NCAA and Olympic teams. The Lynx begin the regular season May 15 at Chicago.

Gulp! This marketplace feasts on Vikings news and the next 12 months will have fans “gorging.” NFL free agency starts next week and the salary cap challenged Vikings will make additions and subtractions to their roster (including prominent names). The NFL Draft in April will be must-see TV viewing for the Purple faithful with most fans hoping the team’s No. 25 selection in the first round will be for a cornerback or offensive lineman. Also in the months ahead will be the drama surrounding GM Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer, both operating on one-year contracts.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins’ contract ends after next season and media speculation this week has him potentially ending up with the 49ers in 2021. If so, might Teddy Bridgewater return to Purple land? Now with the Saints, Bridgewater becomes a free agent later this month and could sign a one-year deal with a new club.

University of Minnesota men’s basketball had a 16-game average of 10,232 announced attendance for home games this season. That is the lowest since the program had an average of 8,395 during the 1970-1971 season.

The Gophers, playing their seventh season under head coach Richard Pitino, had one sellout at Williams Arena, with an announced attendance of 14,625 against Iowa.

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg talking about the deep Big Ten with many quality teams and the conference tournament that starts tonight with the Minnesota-Northwestern game: “Be as good a tournament as there is.”

Minnesota defeated the Wildcats twice during the regular season, 77-68 in Minneapolis and 83-57 in Evanston.

Gophers sophomore guard Gabe Kalscheur, known for his three-point shooting, has expanded his offensive style late in the season by driving more to the basket, and has scored 40 points in his last two games. “Nobody works harder than Gabe,” said Pitino.

Sid Hartman’s 100th birthday is Sunday, March 15 and his longtime radio home, WCCO, will be celebrating with programming from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. that day.

The Meet Mikko Koivu event scheduled for yesterday at Fan HQ’s Ridgedale Center store was postponed to a later date because of NHL policy regarding the Coronavirus. No date has been announced yet for an appearance by the Minnesota Wild veteran.

No. 2 nationally ranked Minnesota State and No. 12 Bemidji host WCHA playoff games starting Friday. Both Minnesota programs are 2020 Frozen Four contenders for the NCAA title. They host Michigan Tech and Bowling Green (Ohio) respectively this weekend.

Bowling Green is coached by Ty Eigner, brother of St. Thomas Academy boys’ hockey coach Trent Eigner. Before going to Bemidji the Falcons were scheduled yesterday to practice at the Academy and today at Braemar Arena.

There might not be a more frequent supporter of various Gopher sports than retired U athletic director Joel Maturi who attends as many events as possible.

Look for NCAA wrestling attendance records to be broken when the NCAA Championships are held at US Bank Stadium March 19-21.

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Downtown Safety Concerns Wolves Owner

Posted on October 16, 2019October 16, 2019 by David Shama

A week from Sunday night the NBA Timberwolves open their home regular season schedule at Target Center against the Miami Heat. Many of the Wolves’ customers will be concerned about safety in downtown Minneapolis for that game and the 40 other home dates to follow.

Patrons of city-owned Target Center and many other places downtown are alarmed by the shootings, beatings, harassment and other abhorrent behavior by thugs who roam downtown streets, say and do what they want, and threaten the well-being of defenseless men, women and children.

The environment in a once great downtown and admired city has changed with a population of troublemakers who brazenly do everything from panhandling to stealing to inflicting physical harm and property damage. A downtown proprietor told Sports Headliners about his building being spray painted with graffiti and his entrance doors frequently being urinated upon. Another person confirmed she and her workers are funneled off the street into a protected place to ensure their safe arrival.

Downtown business leaders, and the police, want more cops hired in the city, maybe even 400 additional law enforcement officers. The City Council, though, hasn’t approved additional hires and many skeptics don’t think it will. Critics say the Council just thinks differently. “They’re on another plane,” a former city official said.

Downtown businesses provide huge revenues to the city via commercial property taxes, and contributing significantly too are the customers who generate sales tax revenues. Without those monies the City Council would have a much different Minneapolis budget to work with. “They (the Council) are killing the Golden Goose,” the source quoted above said.

Glen Taylor has owned the Timberwolves for about 25 years and he has seen the deterioration of downtown. “The safety of our fans downtown at night is of the utmost importance for us,” he told Sports Headliners. “Not to have the proper law enforcement people out there to at least discourage any bad things to happen is just the wrong way to go. I hope the City Council will get in line and help support this idea (of) getting more law enforcement downtown for not only us but for all the events down there.”

Taylor is knowledgeable about his customer base, including families with young children. They may think twice about attending a Wolves game. Perception is enough to frighten fans, even if they haven’t been traumatized by past experiences. Taylor said, “…It just keeps them from coming downtown because they’re frightened that it (an incident) might happen to them.”

Worth Noting

Taylor’s other team, the WNBA Lynx, is done with its season and made the playoffs for a ninth consecutive year. He said the club again was financially profitable, although not as much as in the past when the Lynx had deep playoff runs.

All-Pro forward Maya Moore took a sabbatical and didn’t play last season. What about next year? “I don’t have any knowledge of what her decision is going to be,” Taylor said.

Golden Gophers redshirt junior forward Eric Curry, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week, will have surgery next week, per an announcement this morning from basketball coach Richard Pitino.

In a couple of “mop-up” situations, including in the fourth quarter last Saturday night when the Golden Gophers had a 34-7 lead over Nebraska, coach P.J. Fleck has not used freshmen backup quarterbacks Jacob Clark and Cole Kramer. By doing so Fleck preserves the option of being able to use either, or both, for up to four games and still preserve their redshirt status if they have to replace starter Tanner Morgan because of injury or illness.

Morgan ranks No. 4 nationally in passing efficiency, while running back Rodney Smith is ninth in rushing yards per game (112.5) and 14th in all-purpose yards (134.33). Minnesota ranks 10th in the country in fewest penalties at 4.50 per game, and No. 12 in time of possession, 33:33.

Fleck said on his KFAN Radio show Tuesday that Gophers offensive tackle Daniel Faalele, who missed last Saturday’s game against Nebraska, was back at practice. He also said quarterback Zack Annexstad, last year’s early season starter, was not wearing a protective boot at practice, and possibly could play before year’s end. He had foot surgery in August.

Twin Cities native Amanda DeKanick, a graduate of Irondale High School, is the first female full-time athletic trainer in Vikings history.

If coach Mike Mahlen’s Verndale team defeats Rothsay Wednesday night, he becomes the first Minnesota prep football coach to achieve 400 career wins. Mahlen, 399-123-3, is in his 51st season at Verndale (about 150 miles northwest of Minneapolis) where he has spent his entire head coaching career. He can become the 18th active high school football coach in the country with 400 or more career wins. The national all-time high school career wins leader is John McKissick from Summerville High School (South Carolina), with a career record of 621-156-13.

Yom Kippur was last week and Minneapolis attorney Marshall Tanick authored an article for the October 4 American Jewish World regarding Jewish athletes who chose not to play on the sacred holiday. Tanick recalled that Dodgers’ superstar pitcher Sandy Koufax sat out the October 6 opening World Series game in 1965 against the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium. In 1967 Gophers All-American defensive end Bob Stein chose not to play when his team’s game against Illinois came on a Yom Kippur Saturday.

Quoting Wild owner Craig Leipold via email: “The NHL scheduler in NY was hard on the Wild this year by starting the season with 4 of 5 games on the road. Tough way to start the year.”

Birthday wishes to classy Fred Hoiberg, the former Timberwolves player and executive, who turned 47 on Tuesday. Hoiberg, now head men’s basketball coach at Nebraska, has twice had open-heart surgery and worn a pacemaker for years.

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Wolves Owner Praises Wiggins Effort

Posted on September 19, 2019September 19, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Thursday notes column with a focus on Minnesota’s professional basketball franchises.

For many observers the Minnesota Timberwolves player to watch in preseason and beyond this fall will be enigmatic 24-year-old forward-guard Andrew Wiggins. The franchise opens training camp October 1, and in this town the five-year veteran’s name is synonymous with unfulfilled potential.

So flashy his nicknames have included Junior Jordan, Wiggins can prompt gasps from spectators because of his athleticism. He has a career scoring average of 19.4 and that is exceptional by NBA standards. The rest of his stat line, though, is pretty blah and his numbers in categories like assists (2.2 per game) and rebounding (4.3) hint at Wiggins not being a player who makes teammates more productive. His many critics see a high potential player who lacks the focus and intensity to be a star on both offense and defense.

Waiting on Wiggins to consistently perform at a high level seems like part of the franchise DNA. This season he gets a fresh start with new instructors, a revised coaching staff led by Ryan Saunders in his first full season as head coach. Directing from the top is Gersson Rosas, the new president of basketball operations.

How Wiggins prepared for this season may provide a clue as to things could go in the coming months. Team owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners he likes the approach of Wiggins who he rewarded with a five-year contract in 2017 that reportedly approaches $150 million. He said Wiggins has invested more effort this offseason than in at least a couple of years.

“Everything has really been positive,” Taylor said. “He’s stayed around (Minneapolis and) worked. Done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s working on the things that we thought were important.

“If he has a tough year (in 2020), or a good year…he has put in the effort. That was the first big step. If he didn’t put in the effort we would really be concerned. Now we’ve gotta see, does that effort translate into results?”

When Rosas was hired last spring many Wolves fans assumed general manager Scott Layden would move on. Layden had been hired by Tom Thibodeau in 2016 when he took over as president of basketball operations and head coach. Speculation was Layden might leave, or be asked to exit, months after Thibodeau’s firing in January of this year.

After hiring Rosas, Taylor told him that Layden was under contract and to decide about his future. Rosas said he had worked with Layden in the past and respected him. “He said, ‘I got no reason to push him out. If he finds another job, if he wants to do something else he thinks would be better, I am okay with that, too.’ “

Layden remains with the Wolves with responsibilities that include evaluating personnel.

The Wolves will train in Taylor’s hometown of Mankato for the first time since 2014. Taylor’s wife Becky will prepare a lasagna dinner and the two will host a team party at their home for players and staff.

Although most media who cover the NBA don’t predict a spot in the playoffs for the Wolves, Taylor is upbeat because of new leadership with Rosas and Saunders, and promising young players like rookie guard Jarrett Culver joining Karl-Anthony Towns, one of the league’s premier centers.

Taylor was elated over the 2019 regular season performance of his other basketball franchise, the WNBA Lynx. Despite a roster reshuffle after losing star players following the 2018 season, the team made the playoffs.

The Lynx are four-time WNBA champions, with the last title coming in 2017. During the past offseason, coach and front office decision maker Cheryl Reeve asked Taylor how to approach the 2019 season, with options that included rebuilding. Taylor had seen Reeve’s past skills to acquire talent and coach the team to high performances. He didn’t want a rebuild.

Taylor told her: “…Cheryl, I got you (to do things). I’d just as soon go for it (not rebuild). I am betting on you. Let’s go for it, and we’ll help.”

Taylor got involved with “recruiting” players to Minneapolis but he downplays the importance of what he did. He told players the Lynx has a culture that distinguishes the franchise from other WNBA organizations. “So you know I did the pitch,” Taylor recalled. “It helped her but I am not implying anybody came because of me.”

It was announced yesterday that Reeve was voted by her peers WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year for her work as the Lynx’s general manager.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen led the team in receptions and receiving yards against Green Bay last Sunday, with five catches for 75 yards. He holds the franchise record for most receptions against the Packers, coming up with 12 in two different games.

Thielen, a Minnesota native, was asked if his focus or intent is different in the rivalry games against the Packers. “No, no, not at all,” he told Sports Headliners. “It’s the National Football League. If your emotions aren’t the same for every game, you got a problem. You only have 16 games. You gotta bring it every week.”

Thielen has 212 receptions since 2007, tied for fourth most in the NFL.

The Vikings, 1-1 after their loss to the Packers, play the Oakland Raiders Sunday in Minneapolis. The two franchises met in Super Bowl XI, with the Raiders winning 32-14, and giving the Vikings one of their four Super Bowl losses. Ten individuals associated with that Raiders team, including owner Al Davis and coach John Madden, have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Defending WCHA regular season and playoff champion Minnesota State is the favorite to repeat as league champions in the 10 member conference, receiving nine first-place votes in the eighth annual Mankato Free Press WCHA Preseason Coaches’ Poll and all 10 votes in the WCHA Preseason Media Poll.

Minnesota Twins Luis Arraez and Mitch Garver appear at the Fan HQ Ridgedale store on September 21 and 22 respectively. The Minnesota Wild’s Zach Parise is scheduled there September 30. Details on celebrity appearances at Fanhqstore.com.

The 3-0 football Gophers, who are one of five Big Ten teams with byes this weekend, rank No. 13 in the country in average of time possession at 34:36. Wisconsin is No. 1 at 37:13.

CollegeAD.com reported that through Sunday tickets sold on Vivid averaged $611 for next Saturday’s Georgia-Notre Dame game in Athens. That’s the most expensive college ticket this season, CollegeAd said on Wednesday. By contrast the average for the Wisconsin-Michigan game coming up in Ann Arbor is $184.

September birthdays: Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino turned 37 Monday, and former University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler will be 63 next Monday.

Prep football coaching milestones: Jay Loven, Upsala/Swanville Area, and Tim Kirk, Mountain Lake Area, won their 100th career games last Friday. Loven’s career record is 100-55 in 16 seasons as a head coach at Upsala/Swanville. Kirk is now 100-71 in 17 seasons as a head coach at Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin and Mountain Lake Area.

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