NCAA – Page 58 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Expert(?) Bracket Advice Offered Here

Posted on March 13, 2022March 13, 2022 by David Shama

It’s almost un-American not to fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket. So stand up for your country and get busy tonight or tomorrow morning. Become the basketball savant in the office pool, or with other friends afflicted with “March Madness.”

Nobody asked but here are suggestions for filling out your bracket:

Think about who your bracket rivals are and their biases. If, for example, they are focused on Big Ten teams, go in another direction. If teams appear relatively similar, select differently than you anticipate others will do. You can only win by having more success than they do, but don’t get crazy about upsets in making picks.

Look for teams that are elite at doing something—shooting, defense, forcing turnovers, rebounding etc. Dig a bit deep with research and see what teams do special things. It might be three-point shooting proficiency, or a defense that guards beyond the arc like nobody else in the country.

Does a team have a stud closer? Pardon the baseball analogy, but a Kirby Puckett type who says, “Jump on my back. I’m driving the bus tonight.” A Mr. Clutch who wants the basketball in the last minutes and delivers.

Doesn’t matter if a team checks a lot of boxes for success but is without its key players. March illness and injuries can crush your Cinderella team, dark horse or tourney lock to win the NCAA title. Do your homework.

This advice isn’t for the birds. Image credit: Jim Carter.

Forget spending much time guessing about what teams can become Cinderella and go deep into the tournament. But identifying dark horses is a smart move because those teams are much more likely to advance beyond the first weekend.

A team seeded No. 7 or lower has made the Elite Eight in nine of the last 10 tournaments. Andy Wittry, writing on NCAA.com last week, pointed that out, and also reminded that in the 2021 tournament two dark horses from the Pac-12, No. 11 UCLA and No. 12 Oregon State, surprised by advancing to the Elite Eight. The Bruins even made the Final Four. (A mention of 2022 potential upstarts offered later in the column.)

Strength of schedule matters a lot to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee in seeding the teams. It’s a factor worth looking at for fans and their brackets, but not a “crystal ball” except for predicting Final Four teams. Finalists are almost always high seeds and champions come from the elite basketball conferences including the ACC, Big-12, Big East and SEC.

It also matters if a team has a coach with NCAA Tournament experience. Great coaches make a difference at tournament time with scouting, preparation, game plans and in-game adjustments. Those responsibilities come in a pressure cooker environment and success can be more likely if this isn’t a coach’s “first dance.”

Gonzaga, from the not so competitive West Coast Conference, will try to become an NCAA champion outlier. The Zags, with freshman All-American Chet Holmgren from Minnehaha Academy, have been No. 1 in the AP poll of late. They will have a lot of fans rooting for them—from Spokane to Minneapolis.

Superb coach in Mark Few and lots of talent, but I don’t believe in junior All-American Drew Timme as the Zags’ closer. Holmgren, despite his inexperience, might emerge as the key guy. Call me a “homer” but I am predicting the Zags to pick off their first national title ever.

Duke could win the grand prize in Coach K’s last dance but the Blue Devils will have to step up their game. They are an inexperienced bunch with immense talent and the skill-sets to stop varied offenses. Paolo Banchero is a big time scorer. Mike Krzyzewski is closing out his coaching career and the master teacher might have his team saving its best basketball for early April and the national championship game.

The Big Ten likes to thump its chest every year but no team from the conference has won the national championship since Michigan State in 2000. It won’t happen this year because of too many flaws in the league’s best teams.

The Big Ten club likely to make headlines? Maybe Ohio State. The Buckeyes have fallen out of favor (here’s a dark horse) but they have a special talent in E.J. Widdell, an emerging star in freshman Malaki Branham, solid role players and a top coach in Chris Holtmann. Other March Madness upstarts to consider include Alabama with its weird results of elite wins and ugly losses, ACC Tournament champion Virginia Tech (over Duke), and those three-point sharp shooters from South Dakota State.

Baylor won the NCAA title last year and the Bears remain successful, talented and coached by Scott Drew, one of the best in the business. But no team has repeated as NCAA champs since Florida in 2007.

UCLA could be a trendy pick to make the Final Four again but I don’t see it. The Bruins aren’t overly talented, just experienced and solid in multiple ways. They found tourney magic last year but doubtful they can find such a path in 2022.

A dark horse for the title? Consider the Arkansas Razorbacks and coach Eric Musselman—the ultimate competitor and motivator. If Ukraine had 100 Mussy’s they would send Putin’s thugs back to Moscow by mid-week. His Hogs are 25-8 and winners five times in their last eight games.

And finally there is this: the underdog Loyola Ramblers are back in the tournament with 102-year-old icon Sister Jean praying for them. Have faith in your bracket, now that you have expert advice.

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NBA Oracle Likes Wolves in Playoffs

Posted on March 8, 2022March 15, 2023 by David Shama

The Timberwolves could not only make the playoffs with more than 45 regular season wins, but be a spoiler in the postseason. That’s the view of a former NBA scout who still follows the Wolves and other teams in the league.

Minnesota figures to be a lower seed but could win its opening series. “I don’t think there are a lot of teams that want to see them in the playoffs,” the authority said while speaking anonymously.

With a 37-29 record, the Wolves have 16 games remaining in the regular season before the schedule ends April 10. The team is 8-2 in its last 10 games and making a bid for the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Minnesota is a vastly improved team over last season when the record was 23-49.

The ex-scout believes the unpredictable but gifted D’Angelo Russell is the key to how successful the Wolves will play this spring. “When (Russell is) under control and playing steady…they’re tough to beat,” he said.

The Wolves’ point guard excels at playmaking, but he can be too prone to poor decisions and turnovers. His skillset tempts him to be too creative.

Center Karl-Anthony Towns and shooting guard Anthony Edwards are the other two players who make up the team’s big three. Towns is “out of his funk” and playing at a high level, while Edwards can some day be a top 10 NBA talent, per the source.

He raved about coach Chris Finch, who took over the team in February of 2021, and has the Wolves playing some of their best basketball in the new millennium. “He’s a communicator,” the authority said while talking about how Finch has the players understanding what is expected of them.

Neither Russell nor Edwards played last night but the Wolves still crushed the Trail Blazers at Target Center, 124-81. Towns, coming off his Western Conference Player of the Week honor, had 27 points and 13 rebounds. As of yesterday morning he was the only player in the NBA averaging 20-plus points per game, shooting 50% or better on field goal attempts and 40% or better from three point range.

The crowd of 16,035 continued the trend of large and noisy fan turnouts. Finch described the new atmosphere at Target Center as “awesome” and said his team can continue to connect with fans by playing at a high level.

“…I think it’s a team that a lot of people like to watch play,” Finch said after the game. “We play hard, we share the ball. It’s pretty exciting. Even our mistakes are interesting. It feels like we got something growing here, and we’ve just got to keep building on it. It’s our responsibility to keep giving ‘em performances that they can cheer on.”

Worth Noting

With the Wild losing eight of its last 10 games, the local NHL club is prompting speculation it could be among the most likely franchises to make a trade prior to the league trade deadline of March 21.

Doug Risebrough, the Wild’s former GM, is a consultant for the Rangers team that plays Minnesota tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

Anonymous hockey authority talking about the Big Ten champion Gophers who start postseason play Saturday at home against Penn State: “They have a legitimate chance to win it all (NCAA title). They have that kind of depth.”

Two spring practices open to the public to watch the football Gophers will be at 4 p.m. April 5 and 11 a.m. April 16. Admission is free, with locations announced soon.

The annual spring game is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 30 at Huntington Bank Stadium.

An outcome of spring practice that could be telling for the fall is the physical condition of running backs Mo Ibrahim, Trey Potts and Bryce Williams. All had their 2021 playing time severely reduced by injuries.

Ibrahim, a 2021 preseason All-American candidate and recovering from Achilles surgery, will receive extra focus from fans even though he isn’t expected to participate in scrimmages. It could be that his quickness and speed is compromised. “Even if he’s 90 percent of what he was, that’s still a pretty good college running back,” said Minnesota authority Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated.

It might be that the now Division I St. Thomas athletics program, in need of upgraded athletic facilities including its own hockey arena, will turn to the former Ford plant area in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood. Land acquisition and development, arena construction and other facilities could come with a $100 million cost, per a source. Remember, though, the school’s roster of benefactors is deep and wealthy.

Alabama coach Nick Saban, perhaps the GOAT, has been added to the list of speakers for the Minnesota Football Coaches Association’s Clinic. Saban will speak to attendees via Zoom starting at 1 p.m. April 1. In-person speakers will include Gopher coach P.J. Fleck. Link

Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry will receive a happy birthday call later this month from Dick Jonckowski, the former Gophers’ basketball public address announcer and Shakopee-based event speaker. The two met years ago in Minneapolis and annually exchange birthday greetings, with Barry’s birthday March 28 and Jonckowski’s October 22. Barry turns 78 this year, Jonckowski, 79.

Barry, BTW, is one of the most under appreciated superstars in NBA history. He would fit seamlessly into today’s game, including blowing a fuse in the scoreboard with three-point conversions.

Jonckowski will be doing public address duties again for both the girls’ and boys’ basketball state tournaments in March. This year will be a return to years ago when all the boys’ games are played at Williams Arena. “I am glad I get to work in Williams Arena. That’s good,” Jonckowski said.

Tom Hoge from Fargo, who has three top 10 finishes on this season’s PGA Tour and has won about $3.2 million, is a name to watch at The Players Championship this week and the Masters next month. He is expected to be a headliner at this summer’s 3M Open in Blaine.

Front Office sports reported yesterday because of the delay in spring training baseball, communities in Arizona and Florida are missing out on about $1.3 billion in economic activity.

Very sorry to learn Mark Davy passed away recently. A superb fundraiser, Davy’s varied career included assistant athletic director at the University of Minnesota and director of the M Club. He had a close relationship with the late Pinky McNamara, the former Gopher football player who is among the University’s most generous donors ever.

Sean Sittnick and Yunus Masood are the latest guests on the “Behind the Game” program seen on local cable markets and YouTube. Sittnick is a Minnesota United soccer executive, while Masood is a cricket advocate who wants to see the sport grow on all levels in Minnesota. The show is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson. Link

Comments Welcome

Badger Hoop Titles Spotlight U Failures

Posted on March 6, 2022March 6, 2022 by David Shama

Another Big Ten Conference basketball season ends today with familiar outcomes for Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Badgers are again men’s Big Ten champions and the Golden Gophers have yet another finish near the bottom of the conference standings.

UW has shared or won outright six league titles this millennium. UM hasn’t come close to winning the Big Ten, and in only three seasons have the Gophers posted a winning conference record.

The Badgers have won league championships in two of the last three years. Minnesota has finished 13th and 11th in the 14-team Big Ten the past two seasons, and on this final Sunday hopes to avoid a last place tie with Nebraska.

Wait. The story gets worse.

Since 2000 Wisconsin has been to three NCAA Final Fours and one national title game. The Badgers have earned their way into the NCAA Tournament every year except 2018. The Gophers have been to the Big Dance five times in 22 years, with two wins.

Only a Gopher fan with no expectations could be satisfied with the disparity between the boys from Dinkytown and Minnesota’s rivals to the East.

What UW has achieved in basketball during the last 20-plus years is more than admirable. It’s remarkable. What the coaches and administrators in charge of Gopher hoops have done is embarrassing.

Two states with such similar histories, culture, populations and demographics. We’re also talking two land grant universities with similar resources for their basketball programs—but with such dissimilar results.

The 2000 Badgers went to the school’s first Final Four in almost 60 years. UW had undergone a turnaround with Dick Bennett, a proven coach who the Badgers found in nearby Green Bay—a guy who had turned the mid-major Phoenix into a power. In 1999 the Gophers had taken the riskier path by hiring a hot name among the mid-major programs—inexperienced Dan Monson from Gonzaga.

When the U said goodbye to Monson eight seasons later, Kentucky was okay bidding farewell to Tubby Smith. Gopher fans found out what Kentuckians already knew: Smith was most successful with the storied Wildcat program in the early years, following the glory run of coach Rick Pitino. Kentucky was in decline when Smith departed from Lexington to take over the Gophers.

While the U opted for a big name in Smith, Bo Ryan was the next home run choice to lead the Badgers. His coaching background included UW-Platteville where all he did was win four Division III national championships. From 2001-2015 Ryan’s Badgers won four Big Ten titles and played in two Final Fours.

True to form, the Gophers got the wrong coach and the wrong Pitino in 2013 after Smith was fired. They signed up Rick’s son Richard, then 30 years old, and without a resume to qualify him as a head Big Ten coach.

When Ryan retired in December of 2015, the decision makers in Madison remained true to their formula of hiring home state coaches who are superb teachers, using a system that fits the personnel, and understanding their recruiting base. Greg Gard, Ryan’s assistant and a Wisconsin native, has led the Badgers to two conference titles in seven seasons and had three other teams that finished no worse than fourth in the standings.

Gard should be national coach of the year for what he and his players have accomplished this season. Nobody saw this year’s success coming. The Big Ten title was supposed to be won by Michigan, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State or Ohio State. Those programs might have more talent but the Badgers are the definition of a team.

They play together in all phases of the game and execute fundamentals like they were at a coaching clinic. There is the trademark stingy defense, including the willingness to sacrifice “life and limb” to clog driving lanes. They move the basketball on offense and have efficient shot selection. They’re physically and mentally tough, and that pays off in various ways including rebounding.

Bennett, Ryan and Gard teams have all played this way. They have built success with players willing to buy in, and many of them are Minnesotans. This year the Badgers have three starters from the Twin Cities area, center Steven Crowl, guard Brad Davison and forward Tyler Wahl. Two years ago the 2020 Big Ten champion Badgers had five Minnesotans on the roster including key contributor Nate Reuvers from Lakeville North.

The parade to Madison started years ago and has turned out successfully for many Gopher state players including guard Jordan Taylor and forward Jon Leuer who were stars on Wisconsin NCAA Tournament teams. Truth is while the Gophers wanted some players who made the Badgers a Big Ten power, often the home boys were shown minimal interest. While the U was landing an Isaiah Washington, UW was signing up a Brad Davison.

Badger players know they will be taught how to play the game and how to win. Their teammates are mostly from Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, with maybe a player or two from places like Ohio or South Dakota. Not a roster with glitzy prep recruits, but team oriented guys with more focus on winning the Big Ten than having a pro career. Despite all their Big Ten and national success, the Badgers haven’t had an NBA draft choice since 2015.

Maybe Ben Johnson, finishing up his fist season as Minnesota’s head coach, will row the program in a different direction. Finally the U has a Gopher alum and native son leading the program. Already he has shown a commitment to Minnesota prep players in his recruiting. The Big Ten record this winter of 4-11 heading into tonight’s final regular season game at Northwestern is dismal but the coaching and effort by the players has kept Minnesota competitive in many games.

But the future is speculation. As of today, the results of this millennium speak loudly in Madison and Minneapolis.

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