NCAA – Page 134 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Glen Taylor Unsure about Signing “Big 3”

Posted on March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 by David Shama

The Timberwolves, led by a roster of players 27 years old and younger, could make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Even casual NBA fans recognize the talent on the roster and the possibility of the team contending for championships within a few years. Part of the uncertainty, though, is whether owner Glen Taylor can keep the best players on the roster long term by signing them to richer contracts in the coming years.

Among the team’s starting players only power forward Gorgui Dieng, 27, is contractually committed to the Wolves beyond the 2018-2019 season, according to figures from Basketballreference.com. Dieng’s deal, agreed to last fall, goes through the 2020-2021 season when he is paid $17,287,640, per the website. Point guard Ricky Rubio, 26, is an unrestricted free agent after the 2019 season when he will earn $14,800,000.

The often referred to “Big 3” of the Wolves are small forward Andrew Wiggins, 22, center Karl-Anthony Towns, 21, and shooting guard Zach LaVine who turns 22 today and is sidelined after ACL surgery last month. All are working for rookie contracts and will be in line for much bigger compensation in coming years. Wiggins and LaVine are reportedly restricted free agents after next season. Towns reaches that status in 2019.

Taylor is hopeful he will be able to keep the “Big 3,” while knowing he will also have salary obligations to another dozen or so players. “I am not sure,” he told Sports Headliners earlier this week. “Is it a concern I have? It is. Do we have a full answer? No. Are we laying out some scenarios? Yes.

“But we’ve signed ‘G’ (Dieng) and we’ve signed Ricky (new deal in 2014). We need some other good guys to come off the bench. In the end, you have to figure out what’s your priority.”

Dieng and Rubio are the top paid players on the roster with $65,148,783 and $42,600,000 multiyear deals, according to Basketballreference.com. Neither of those players is considered a superstar but Wiggins, Towns and LaVine have potential to earn that description.

Glen Taylor (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves).

Taylor has asked the Wolves’ front office to crunch numbers to provide various options in shaping future payrolls. Part of the consideration will be the size of the salary cap allowed by the NBA for its teams, and what Taylor is willing to expend, including a possible willingness to pay a penalty (“luxury tax”) for exceeding the league’s cap.

Taylor has often lost money operating the team but said the large number of rookie contracts on his payroll (including first and second season guards Kris Dunn and Tyus Jones) will allow the franchise to turn a profit of a few million dollars this season, regardless of whether the Wolves make the playoffs.

As of today, the Wolves have 19 games remaining during the regular schedule. Their record right now isn’t good enough to qualify for the playoffs and Taylor said it will be “very difficult” to earn one of the eight postseason spots in the Western Conference. Minnesota is 2.5 games back of the eighth place Nuggets.

“I want the guys to work towards it,” Taylor said. “I don’t want them to give up at all because I just think that’s part of the learning lesson here, that we’re going to play some tough teams this week and we gotta come out and battle every one and try to win…some of these upsets.

“It’s difficult (to accept) when you can see how close we are (in the standings), and it’s difficult when you see how we lost so many of those games early in the season that we could of and should have won.”

Taylor likes the performance of first-year coach Tom Thibodeau. The two speak frequently, usually by phone. “We talk a lot about basketball. I am impressed that whatever (past) play I talk about during the game, he really knows exactly what play I am talking about.”

Taylor said Thibodeau has a five-year contract that includes incentives for the team making the playoffs.

Worth Noting

The Wolves drafted LaVine and Towns but made a 2014 trade for Wiggins who was acquired for power forward Kevin Love—Minnesota’s most popular player when he played in Minneapolis. Love, an NBA All-Star, helped the Cavs win the NBA title last June. Wiggins has scored 20 points or more in 42 games this season and ranks with the NBA’s high potential players. Would Taylor trade Wiggins today to reacquire the 28-year-old Love?

“No, I would not because I just think he (Wiggins) has even a lot more upside (than he has shown),” Taylor said. “I think Wiggins has a lot to learn yet. Just from experience, he will improve and become even better.

“Then I think he is (also) an end of the game type of guy if he can learn from experiences how to use his (skills to help) everybody on the team.”

The late Flip Saunders, who three years ago was the Wolves’ basketball boss, scouted and liked Wiggins before acquiring him. “He just saw in him kind of what we are actually seeing,” Taylor said. “A person with all kinds of talent, he could just do things that a lot of other people won’t be able to do. …“

Taylor said Thibodeau has talked to him about Wiggins. “Thibs really likes him. He wants him to play better defense. If he is going to be critical of Wiggs it’s generally in the area of defense.

“He’s saying that he’s got a lot to learn. Yes, he makes mistakes but…it isn’t because he is selfish. He (Wiggins) doesn’t anticipate certain things developing soon enough. He (Thibodeau) says experienced guys anticipate. They see movement by the opposition and they sort of know where their players are…”

Rubio will meet the public at the Twin Cities Auto Show on Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Lexus display in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The St. Paul Saints will provide giveaways to the first 1,000 auto show guests that day.

Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen will be at the Hyundai display March 15 from 6 to 7 p.m., and Vikings wide receiver Laquon Treadwell will appear at the same location March 18 from 6 to 7 p.m. Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau and assistant Scott Stevens will be at the Toyota display from 4 to 6 p.m. March 17.

NBC televises the Wild and Blackhawks as its game of the week on Sunday from Chicago. Minnesota and Chicago have the two best records in the NHL’s Western Conference. One point separates the Stanley Cup contenders, with the NHL regular season schedule ending early next month. The Wild has won its last four games in Chicago but the Blackhawks have a two-game winning streak in the season series that ends Sunday.

Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk leads the NHL in wins and save percentage. Chicago wing Patrick Kane is tied for second with four other players for most points in the league.

The Star Tribune announced Eden Prairie High School forward and Gopher recruit Casey Mittelstadt as its prep hockey Player of the Year on Tuesday. Since 1985 only two players from the Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools have won the award—Southwest’s Tom Chorske in 1985 and Johnson’s Tom Pogreba in 1996.

Minnesota natives Mitch McLain and Michael Bitzer are first team All-WCHA selections as announced by the Edina-based league office yesterday. Bowling Green’s McLain, a forward from Baxter, Minnesota, is joined on the team by Bemidji State goalie Bitzer who is from Moorhead, Minnesota, and is a Hobey Baker candidate.

High school football coaches have until Monday to submit information to the Minnesota Football Coaches Association regarding their class of 2018 college prospects. The MFCA is sponsoring a recruiting combine for prep players to gather data about them on April 29 at the Braemar Dome in Edina, and the organization is also coordinating a recruiting fair May 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park where high school coaches can meet with college coaches to discuss prospects. For details click the MFCA ad on this page and visit the organization’s website.

An online Monday article from the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported Nevada sports books lost $8.25 million in January, according to figures from the state’s gaming control board. Much of the revenue was lost on football including the college national championship game won by underdog Clemson over Alabama, and NFL playoff games where the public beat the spread. The loss was historically unusual and the newspaper noted: “The house doesn’t always win on football.”

Gregg Wong, the former Pioneer Press sportswriter, will again work as an official scorer for the Twins, sharing the scorer responsibilities this season with Minnesota sports author Stew Thornley and Rochester-based physician Kyle Traynor.

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U RPI Keeps Tourney Target Alive

Posted on February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 by David Shama

It’s been a productive several days for the Gophers basketball team including last night’s double overtime win over Iowa at Williams Arena.

Minnesota had lost five consecutive Big Ten games and had an overall record of 15-7 and league record of 3-6 going into last Saturday’s game at Illinois. It was near panic time for the Gophers to change their momentum in the next three games.

Done—almost. The Gophers defeated Illinois by nine points, won a thriller over Iowa, 101-89, and now pack their gym gear for Saturday’s game at Rutgers, 13-12 overall and 2-10 in the Big Ten.

Minnesota went into last night’s game ranked No. 25 nationally in the NCAA.com Ratings Percentage Index (RPI)—rankings that have much to do with determining who moves on to postseason tournaments. The Gophers have some quality wins, and the opportunity to earn more with seven Big Ten games remaining on the schedule, plus a chance to maintain or even improve a top 25 RPI ranking that for awhile now has had NCAA Tournament predictors keeping Minnesota in the mix. Hard to say what the final results will be but a possibility could be wins over Rutgers, Indiana, Penn State and Nebraska, and losses to Michigan, Maryland and Wisconsin. Such a path would result in a 9-9 Big Ten record, 21-10 overall.

Results as referenced above will keep the team’s RPI in good shape and should deliver an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. If so, it will be a first for Minnesota coach Richard Pitino who is in his fourth season with the Gophers and was 2-16 in the Big Ten last year.

After the season ends the Gophers may look back on the Iowa win as a key to their success–close call that it was. Minnesota was ahead 56-43 with 11:52 remaining in the second half. About three minutes later three consecutive turnovers against Iowa’s half-court trapping defense had triggered a 57-56 Hawkeyes’ lead.

Fatigue, though, hit the Hawkeyes as they tried to finish off the Gophers. Iowa freshman Jordan Bohannon couldn’t keep up with Gophers junior guard Nate Mason in the second overtime. Mason got key baskets as Minnesota outscored the Hawkeyes 17-5.

It was an emotional night for the Gophers and their fans. Pitino doesn’t like to do it, but he was waving his arms late in the game to engage the crowd. The student section saved its infamous “We Hate Iowa!” yell for second half dramatics, and at times Williams Arena rocked like its famous days a decade or two ago.

After the game Mason was asked if this win—important even if the Gophers were playing Rutgers—was at least a little more satisfying coming against border rival Iowa. “Yeah, for sure,” he answered.

Worth Noting

Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey has two sons, Connor and Patrick, playing for Iowa City West High School. That team plays at Cretin Derham-Hall and against Gophers recruit Daniel Orturu Saturday, February 18.

There is talk of an appreciation roast for Dick Jonckowski in the spring to be sponsored by the Minute Men. Jonckowski, the Shakopee-based speaker and emcee, is in his final season as public address announcer for Gophers basketball but will continue with U baseball games. He will be recognized by the Gophers at halftime of the Michigan basketball game February 19.

Ray Christensen, who died a couple of days ago at age 92, was known to sports fans as the radio voice of Gophers football and basketball for decades but he had varied interests including classical music. He preferred to work without a partner on basketball broadcasts and announced those games alone. He was a humble gentleman in an industry known for egos.

Better than Ground Hog Day to prompt optimism about spring arriving soon is that the Twins first exhibition game is two weeks from tomorrow in Fort Myers against the Rays. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training February 14, with the full squad coming in February 18.

Tallest player on the 40-man roster is 6-7 Michael Tonkin and the heaviest is 6-5, 290-pound Kennys Vargas. The oldest Twin is 35-year-old Ervin Santana, born December 12, 1982, while the youngest is 21-year-old Fernando Romero who was born December 24, 1995.

The Twins have announced another Hall of Fame class without Halsey Hall being included. His storytelling and baseball knowledge delighted Twins radio and TV audiences in the early years of the franchise. An obstacle is many Twins Hall of Fame voters aren’t familiar with Hall who died almost 40 years ago but is deserving of enshrinement. Fans who want to see Hall honored can send an email to Twins@twinsbaseball.com

Timberwolves second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns, who has the potential to be the best player in franchise history, has double-doubles in 31 of his last 34 games. Andrew Wiggins, the Wolves third-year forward and another potential superstar, has scored 20-plus points in 11 consecutive games.

The Minnesota Wild, with the best record in the Western Conference, has become a popular mid-season pick to win the 2017 Stanley Cup but that is a lot different outlook than before the season. For example, a June 18 article on Bleacherreport.com had the Wild’s odds of winning the cup at 30/1.

Coach John Anderson’s Minnesota baseball team begins its season February 17-19 at UC Irvine, then opens the home schedule February 24-26 against Seattle in the first- ever Gopher games in U.S. Bank Stadium. Tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster and at the stadium for 13 Gopher games to be played in the new facility through March 12.

Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School in southern Minnesota soon breaks ground on a major upgrade to its football and softball facilities, and will be adding a new track. The project will include synthetic field turf for the football and softball fields, plus lights, scoreboard and concession upgrades. JWP has an enrollment of 199 in grades 9-12 and might be the smallest school in the state to install field turf.

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Jerry Kill Back in State Recruiting

Posted on January 30, 2017January 30, 2017 by David Shama

Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill, now the offensive coordinator at Rutgers, has been recruiting in Minnesota for the Scarlet Knights but so far doesn’t have a commitment as National Signing Day approaches on Wednesday. College football recruiting authority Ryan Burns told Sports Headliners that Kill “called on” Crosby-Ironton tight end Noah Gindorff, and crossed paths with new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck last week at Hopkins High School.

Fleck and Kill are recruiting Hopkins defensive end Boye Mafe. Burns, who is a publisher of the popular Gopherillustrated.com website, said “he’s heard some interesting things about how that went down” when the two coaches were at Hopkins. Burns, who wasn’t at Hopkins when the coaches were there, didn’t provide more details.

It’s no secret Kill is upset about things that have been said and done at the University of Minnesota including the dismissal of Tracy Claeys as Gophers coach a few weeks ago, after leading Minnesota to a 9-4 record including an upset win over Washington State at the Holiday Bowl. Media reports have Kill saying he won’t be coming back to the Gopher campus where he helped resurrect the football program until his health forced him to resign in 2015. Claeys, Kill’s close friend and former defensive coordinator, was made Kill’s successor but lasted only one full season before being fired by new Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle. “He is a very emotional guy,” Burns said about Kill.

Burns believes Kill is “trying to get his foot in the door” on players the Gophers want, probing to see how successful he can be with Minnesota high school players. Few Power Five football programs aggressively recruit the state and Kill may see opportunity here because of that, and also his popularity with the public and relationships with high school coaches.

“He probably will be a little bit effective but…he’s got to land some of these kids that Minnesota (also) wants, for him to justify being out here,” Burns said. “As of today he hasn’t been able to do that.”

Both Kill and Fleck are just getting started in their new roles. Kill was hired by New Jersey-based Rutgers several days before Christmas. Fleck left Western Michigan where he was head coach to take over the Minnesota program in early January.

Known as an elite recruiter, Fleck has reshuffled the 2017 Gopher class that will be announced on Wednesday. While some players who had originally given verbal commitments to Claeys remain, most of the recruits now are student-athletes who Fleck and staff have convinced to become Gophers. Recruiting authorities like Burns have been impressed and they place Minnesota’s 2017 class much higher in national rankings than when Claeys and his staff were in charge.

Burns was asked about 2017 recruits and who he would “bet his life” will be the biggest impact player as a Gopher. “The easy answer is Blaise but I don’t want to take that one. There are a lot of kids that I like in this class. I would say Ken Handy-Holly.”

Blaise Andries, the offensive tackle from Marshall, Minnesota, is one of the prize recruits in Minnesota’s 2017 class but Burns has a high regard for Handy-Holly too, the four-star safety from Alabama. “My hope for him is that he can be a player like (former Gopher) Damarius Travis. A guy that is the leader of a defense, can get everyone lined up.”

Burns thinks Holly could play as a freshman, like Antoine Winfield, Jr. did last year. Winfield played early in the season on special teams, then became an impressive starter at safety for the Gophers.

Worth Noting

The Signing Day Social for Gophers football fans at TCF Bank Stadium Wednesday night is sold out. Over 800 attendees are expected at the Goal Line Club sponsored event where Fleck will talk about his first recruiting class at Minnesota. The social begins at 5 p.m. and KFAN’s Dan Barreiro will broadcast his show from the stadium.

A former Big Ten assistant coach who has followed Minnesota high school basketball for decades didn’t want his name in print but told Sports Headliners Jericho Sims is the best prep player from the state he’s ever seen including Kevin McHale and Tyus Jones. The 6-8 Sims is a senior at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis and the son of former Gopher Charles Sims. Sims has signed to play next fall for Texas and head coach Shaka Smart. The ex-Big Ten coach said Sims will be an immediate force in the Big 12, predicting he will play power forward in college while praising his varied offensive skills and his physique. “He’s built like a marble statue,” the source said.

I was in Williams Arena on October 15, 1971 when first-year Gophers coach Bill Musselman led his first official team practice. The Gophers were at least 15 minutes late taking the floor for practice, and I later learned that Musselman was giving the team a hyper-passionate pep talk about the season ahead including challenging Big Ten title favorite Ohio State. It was 45 years ago last week the famous Minnesota-Ohio State brawl took place at Williams Arena. Few people know Musselman was targeting the Buckeyes months before the game.

The St. Thomas and Bethel men’s basketball teams are tied for first place in the MIAC standings with 10-3 records. They play each other tonight at the Tommies’ Schoenecker Arena. Coach John Tauer’s Tommies are defending MIAC champions.

The Twins, expected to be down in their season tickets total this year, are able to offer more prime seating locations because of the decline. A source with the club told Sports Headliners the total season tickets in 2017 is projected at 11,000 to 12,000 after being about 13,000 last year.

Speedy Byron Buxton, the long-hyped Twins prospect and the big league club’s fastest player, stole only 10 bases last season in 92 games and 298 at bats. The center fielder hit .225, struck out 118 times and walked just 23 times. Buxton, though, has stolen 125 bases in 301 minor league games.

Twins super fan Kirk Detlefsen holds his annual Ticket Draft at Target Field on Wednesday. The event is an opportunity for people Detlefsen knows to share in the season tickets he buys each year. The gathering isn’t open to the public but in advance Detlefsen welcomes inquiries (612-701-7244). Twins authorities Derek Falvey, Dave St. Peter and Dan Gladden will speak to attendees, plus Town Hall Ball Parks of Minnesota author Todd Mueller will personalize complimentary copies of his book.

A sports awards industry source said Theo Epstein’s relationship with Jostens years ago was likely a major factor in the Minneapolis-based company being named the designer for the Cubs 2016 World Series rings. Epstein, the Cubs general manager, was the Red Sox’s baseball boss when Boston won the World Series in 2004 and Jostens produced that team’s rings. Look for Jostens to also make a Cubs World Series fan ring.

Dave Stead, executive director of the Minnesota State High School League, told Sports Headliners his organization projects distributing about $1 million to MSHL schools that participated in state tournaments during the 2016-2017 school year. The distribution amounts are determined by a formula to reimburse schools for expenses. Stead said 12 of the 36 state tournaments sponsored by the MSHL, including the Prep Bowl, are profitable.

Minnesota North Stars caps for $39.99 each are on sale at the Minnesota Wild’s hockey-themed restaurant in Terminal 2 of the MSP airport.

Ross Bernstein, the locally-based author of sports books who is also a motivational speaker for businesses, was in Scotland last month where he found time to visit but not play the famed St. Andrew’s Golf Course.

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