RICHARD PITINO – Page 27 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Stadium Construction May Finish Early

Posted on March 11, 2016March 17, 2016 by David Shama

A notes-focused column on U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings, Gophers, Twins and more.

Sports Headliners has learned construction of U.S. Bank Stadium might be completed early. Mortenson Construction has been scheduled to finish the new Minneapolis facility by late July but could complete the project in June.

About 1,200 workers are at the stadium each day and an early completion will be impressive if it happens. Although it won’t be a public event, a June gathering to recognize stadium workers is already scheduled.

Events the public can attend for a first look at the $1 billion-plus covered stadium are expected to be announced soon, but the first concert is booked. Tickets go on sale soon to see country singer Luke Bryan Friday, August 19.

A source said a second concert at the stadium that weekend will be announced. Acoustics in the 1,750,000 square foot facility will be exceptional for a large building.

Although the date hasn’t been publicized, it looks like the Vikings’ first game in the stadium will be a preseason game the weekend of August 26-28. After that weekend, a second home preseason game will be played. Dates and opponents haven’t been announced for the Vikings’ preseason schedule of home and away games.

Philadelphia-based Aramark will run food and beverage operations in the stadium for not only major events like concerts and Vikings games, but also small room gatherings in the year-round facility. As with Target Field, local restaurants will sell food partnering with Aramark.

The stadium’s Purple Club is the one location with direct access to outdoors. Patrons can walk outside to a deck with an elevated view looking east toward downtown green space and the historic Minneapolis Armory.

It wouldn’t be surprising if 2016 is Adrian Peterson’s last season with the Vikings. The All-Pro running back turns 31 later this month. His age and expensive contract could make him expendable if quarterback Teddy Bridgewater emerges as the offense’s igniter. Last April a source told Sports Headliners the Vikings and Cowboys had trade talks about sending Peterson back to his native Texas. He and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are acquainted.

Ryan Burns, publisher of Scout’s GopherDigest.com, said Eden Prairie’s Carter Coughlin is the most likely Gopher freshman to make an impact next fall. The Gophers need help with pass rushing, and also on special teams. Burns predicted spot duty for Coughlin at defensive end where he could be used like pass rushing specialist Julian Huff in 2015.

“I could see a scenario where he and Julian Huff, on third down and long, try and get after the passer,” Burns said. “Carter also will bring speed and physical talent on special teams.”

Burns said Coughlin’s athleticism is impressive. “You just can’t teach what Carter has with his athletic ability,” Burns said. “That’s something Minnesota needs right away, to try and get after the passer because their pass rush the last couple years has just been abysmal. They know that.

“Carter is the one guy that is going to have his redshirt burned. If he is healthy, he is going to play a lot like Julian Huff did last year.”

Byung Ho Park, the 29-year-old South Korean Twins rookie, leads the team with two home runs and six RBI in 16 at bats during his first major league spring training. He is hitting .313. During the last two years in Japan he hit .303 and .343, with 52 and 53 home runs, and 124 and 146 RBI.

The Tigers reportedly gave ex-Twin Mike Pelfrey a two-year $16 million contract—and that’s a head scratcher. Pelfrey, 32, was 6-11 with a 4.26 ERA for the Twins last season. His career stats include a 61-81 record and 4.52 ERA.

Birthdays: Twins legend Kirby Puckett, who died in 2006, would be 56 next Monday. Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine turned 21 yesterday.

The Las Vegas-based Reviewjournal.com posted a story Monday quoting broadcaster Dick Vitale as saying controversial Louisville coach Rick Pitino isn’t going to fill the UNLV opening. There have been rumors Pitino will accept the Rebels’ coaching job, and a report even had his son Richard Pitino, the Gophers coach, joining him as an assistant. Vitale said Rick Pitino loves Louisville too much to leave the Cardinals.

The Wild had a rare loss to the Oilers last night, 2-1 at Xcel Energy. Minnesota is 2-1 this season in games with Edmonton, and is 21-4-1 in the last 26 games against the Oilers. The Wild plays at Montreal tomorrow night and has won there only twice in franchise history.

The Gophers Eric Schierhorn is a nominee for the Mike Richter Award honoring the top goaltender in college hockey. Schierhorn has started all 33 games this season and has a 18-15-0 record with a .905 save percentage, and a goals against average of 2.71. His total wins lead the Big Ten and he ranks first among NCAA freshmen. He is tied for first among freshmen with three shutouts.

Gophers coach Don Lucia told Sports Headliners Schierhorn reminds him a “little bit” of Adam Wilcox who was Minnesota’s top goalie the previous three seasons. Wilcox was among the best goalies in the Big Ten.

“Both very athletic,” Lucia said. “Adam stepped right in (as a freshman) and pretty much played every game. Eric has started every game his freshman year, which is not easy. Almost every game he has played, he has given us an opportunity to win games. We’re still working with him to quiet his game down at times, and not chase pucks.”

The Gophers play Wisconsin tonight and tomorrow evening at Mariucci Arena in their last games before the Big Ten Tournament next week.

The defending national champion Gopher women’s hockey team plays Princeton tomorrow starting at 4 p.m. in Ridder Arena. The NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game will determine whether Minnesota or the Tigers advance to next week’s Frozen Four in Durham, New Hampshire.

Minnesota’s five seniors—Hannah Brandt, Brook Garzone, Amanda Kessel, Amanda Leveille, and Milica McMillen—comprise the program’s most successful class ever. Their teams have an overall record of 145-9-6, a .925 winning percentage from 2012-13 to 2015-16. The Gophers have outscored opponents 770-179 during the four seasons.

Four of the five finalists for the 2016 Mr. Basketball Award have made college commitments: Brock Bertram, Buffalo; Johnny Beeninga, Minnesota State Moorhead; Amir Coffey, Minnesota; and Michael Hurt, Minnesota. Steffon Mitchell hasn’t made a college commitment. The award winner will be announced after this week’s state tournament.

Mr Basketball finalists 2016

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Wins Perk Up Joey King & Gophers

Posted on February 26, 2016February 26, 2016 by David Shama

Joey King appreciates supportive Gophers fans but pays minimal attention to critics.

The Gophers’ senior forward is focusing on his last three regular season games during a career that has seen both praise and criticism of him and his teammates. As the only native Minnesotan playing significant minutes, King may receive more mean-spirited comments on social media and elsewhere than his teammates. It sometimes seems like the hometown crazies will pounce first and with more venom on local athletes.

“I do my best to avoid them (the critics),” King told Sports Headliners. “Throughout my career I’ve had so much respect for people that have stuck with us through our ups and our downs. Those are the people that I celebrate success with. …”

Perhaps no time during King’s career was the celebration more special than earlier this month when the Gophers (with a 0-13 Big Ten record) stunned the college basketball world by upsetting top-10 ranked Maryland. After the game King and teammates celebrated with Gophers fans who stormed the court at Williams Arena.

“The people that are left in the arena after our games are (among) the people that love us,” King said. “They just understand that this locker room has got a lot of character, and even though we have lost a few games here and there, we’ve continued to fight. Now we’re starting to reap some of the benefits from that. We’re starting to win some games. We’re starting to feel good about ourselves.”

The Gophers have won two straight after following up the Maryland win with a victory over Rutgers last Tuesday night. King, the team’s only senior, was a major contributor in both games. The 6-9 forward from Eagan had six rebounds and 15 points including key free throws in the Maryland game. He matched that point total against Rutgers and also had seven rebounds.

“Starting to get my shot back,” King said. “That feels good. Went through a little bit of a slump earlier this year.”

King, who played his freshman season at Drake in Des Moines, is having the best season of his college career for points and rebounds—averaging 11.6 points and 3.7 rebounds. His free throw percentage of .888 is a college best, too.

In three seasons playing for the Gophers King has shown relentless effort. Whether diving for loose balls, or playing to near exhaustion, King has been an exceptional competitor.

With only three regular season games remaining including at Illinois on Sunday, he hopes to improve his skills. The other night he talked about learning new ways to get off his shots, and how he has become more adept at jumping into passing lanes on defense to steal the ball.

As a sophomore two seasons ago King played on a Gophers’ team that didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament but did win the NIT. Last season’s club, a preseason favorite to finish in the Big Ten’s first division, stumbled to a 6-12 Big Ten record and didn’t participate in postseason play.

With a 2-13 Big Ten record and 8-19 overall, this year has been a major disappointment. Minnesota hopes to close with more wins and then add to the total in the Big Ten Tournament but the Gophers don’t figure to be in any postseason tournaments. Instead, they’re trying to finish strong and build momentum for spring workouts and next season.

How does King feel about being on a team that has won only two conference games? “I don’t really think about that anymore,” he said. “I’ve erased it.

“Now that we’ve got two in a row I am not going to dwell on the past. We’re really not going to let anyone get in our heads in regards to that.

“We’re not going to be completely fired up that we have two wins in a row. We obviously have three big ones left and we want to try and win out. …I am just looking forward to trying to steal a road win at Illinois.”

Gophers Basketball Notes

At home in January the Gophers lost in overtime to Illinois, 76-71. “I thought we had that game won and we gave it away at the foul line,” said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino. “Did a couple of silly things at the end.”

Freshman forward Jordan Murphy is emerging as a team leader. “I am really trying to make my voice heard and stuff like that,” he said. “I am just really trying to get our guys going. Just let them know I am here with them. I am supporting them.”

Murphy is tied with Michigan State’s Matt Costello for third in rebounding among Big Ten players. They are averaging 8.1 rebounds per game in combined Big Ten and nonconference games. Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and Iowa’s Adam Woodbury are averaging 8.5 and 8.3 respectively, so it’s possible Murphy could finish first among Big Ten players.

Gophers freshmen next season will include Hopkins High School guard Amir Coffey. “He’ll be one of the best freshmen in the league,” Rivals.com Gophers basketball writer Ryan James told Sports Headliners.

James said Coffey, 6-6, could average eight to 10 points, four to five rebounds and three assists playing 20 minutes or more during his first season with the Gophers. He also praised Coffey, the son of former Gophers center Richard Coffey, for his defensive skills including shot blocking.

Apple Valley High School junior guard Gary Trent Jr. is one of the most coveted players nationally in the high school class of 2017. Although the Gophers were the second school to offer a scholarship (Texas Tech was first), James doubts Trent will ultimately choose Minnesota. “He’ll probably go to (one of) those big-name programs, I would assume,” James said.

Trent’s teammate, sophomore guard Tre Jones, is another player that interests Minnesota but the competition is stiff including from Duke where older brother Tyus attended school. “A lot of people think it’s Duke (as Jones’ college choice)) because there’s obviously been interest there but he‘s never said anything like that,” James said.

Ex-Gophers coach Tubby Smith is in his third season at Texas Tech, and although he and his staff continue to recruit the state of Minnesota for prep players, they have no commitments yet. James said Shakopee High School senior forward Steffon Mitchell has received lots of attention from Tech but James has no indication Mitchell will become the first Minnesotan to join Smith in Lubbock.

Gophers basketball attendance for home games is on the decline. With one remaining regular season game, Minnesota is averaging 10,175 for 17 games—11th lowest in the 14-team Big Ten. The Gophers haven’t sold out a single game in 14,625 seat Williams Arena and have reported only one crowd of more than 12,000. Last season the home attendance average was 12,188.

It was three years ago tonight that the Gophers upset No. 1 ranked Indiana at Williams Arena, 77-73. Minnesota went on to win only two of its last six games including an NCAA Tournament loss to Florida, and Smith was fired as coach.

Dick Jonckowski, the public address announcer in his 30th season working Gophers game at Williams Arena, will be a guest on WCCO TV’s Rosen Sports Show this Sunday. Jonckowski was presented with a No. 30 Gophers maroon basketball jersey earlier this month that has his name on it. During a presentation at halftime of the Maryland game he received a standing ovation from fans.

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Vikings Told Playing for Rings Now

Posted on January 6, 2016January 6, 2016 by David Shama

Updates on the Vikings and Gophers basketball. …

Mike Zimmer refers to Teddy Bridgewater as a people pleaser. His second-year quarterback can certainly enhance that reputation Sunday in his first-ever playoff game.

Bridgewater said today that Zimmer told the team in a team meeting that the playoffs mean competing for trophies and rings. “Hearing that, let’s you know that it’s go time,” Bridgewater said. “I walked into the (Winter Park) facility this morning and the guys were locked in. Those guys had that intensity, that look in their eyes that they want to get it done.”

The Vikings, of course, hope they’re going to eventually advance to next month’s Super Bowl and win rings. No Viking will receive more media and fan scrutiny than the 23-year-old Bridgewater, who while known for his poise and quiet leadership, didn’t have a highlight performance last Sunday in Green Bay when Minnesota’s stellar defense deserved most of the praise for producing a 20-13 win and the NFC North Division title. Six of the Vikings’ points came on a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Captain Munnerlyn as they finished the regular season with an 11-5 record.

Teddy Bridgewater (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.)

In next Sunday’s home playoff game with the (10-6) Seahawks, Bridgewater will be expected to lead the offense. He completed 10 of 19 passes with an interception against the Packers. His passer rating was a season low 45.7. He was sacked three times and threw a left-handed interception. Late in the game he misfired on a handoff to Adrian Peterson, nearly resulting in a Packer recovery and potential rally to tie the game.

“He just wasn’t as sharp last night as he’s been these last three weeks,” Zimmer said on Monday. “I thought he moved in the pocket too much. He didn’t take some of the easy throws he had. He may be trying to do a little too much, I don’t know. I haven’t really talked to him yet. I’ll talk to him more this week. But he needs to play better.”

In a regular season 38-7 home loss to the Seahawks on December 6 things didn’t go so well for Bridgewater either. He had a 55.4 passer rating, and the Vikings’ only touchdown came on Cordarrelle Patterson’s 101-yard kickoff return. The offense produced only nine first downs, and 125 net yards including 31 rushing.

Bridgewater had his late regular season moments, though, including a 108 passer rating on the road against the Cardinals, a team that finished with a 13-3 record. And in another December game, against the Bears, he had career highs of four touchdown passes and a passer rating of 154.4.

Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes expects Bridgewater to handle the pressure of the playoffs. “Teddy is going to be the same Teddy. He’s going to be calm. He’s not going to be easy to rattle.

“He’s just going to go out there and play football. One thing I know about Teddy, he’s been doing this for awhile (high school, college and pros). So Teddy’s mentality (will be) just go in the game, and stay poised, and get the call, and make the right throw and make the right decision.”

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen is one of many Vikings who have never been in the playoffs. His approach to Sunday’s game is to be poised and he expects the same from Bridgewater. “I think he’ll handle it better than anyone,” Thielen said. “He’s always calm and he’s always ready to play. He’s a leader on this team and he’s going to be ready.”

Zimmer has high expectations for his players including the soft-spoken quarterback. The coach has said Bridgewater is a “pleaser” and encourages him to speak his mind including about plays he may not like. “You can be pretty direct with him,” Zimmer said. “He understands when he screws up. …”

The Vikings priced available tickets for Sunday’s game in a range from $48 to $154, with the relatively inexpensive prices likely influenced by the expected game day cold temperature and windchill. Availability earlier in the week included lower level seats.

Because of the two-hour time difference, the Seahawks will fly into Minneapolis Friday. That will allow the Seahawks to better adjust from West Coast time to Midwest. Often NFL teams don’t arrive for an NFL game until the day before.

Official capacity for the Vikings’ new stadium will be 66,200. Earlier figures were in the 65,000 range but a Vikings official told Sports Headliners the 66,200 number has been finalized and will include suite ticket holders, but not standing-room only—with the front office uncertain whether they will offer the stand and watch option. …

Last night Gophers freshman forward Jordan Murphy, while playing only about half the game, had 7 rebounds and 9 points in Minnesota’s 86-77 loss at Penn State. Murphy had nine rebounds and 14 points in Minnesota’s Big Ten home opener last Saturday against Michigan State.

The 6-6, 230-pound Murphy ranks second among all Big Ten players at 8.5 rebounds per game (includes conference and nonconference schedules). Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, whose Spartans are always among the best board teams in the nation, referred to Murphy as “a rebounding machine” and joked he wants to “steal him” from the Gophers.

“I like that kind of player,” Izzo said at his postgame news conference. “He’s tough, he’s aggressive.”

Most of the playing minutes on the Gophers are going to freshmen and sophomores including second-year center Bakary Konaté whose college offers included Louisville. He had 4 points and 2 rebounds last night after having 6 and 6 against Michigan State. The 6-11 native of Mali, who played 20 minutes last night, has potential and his development is vital for a Gophers team that lacks size both offensively and defensively.

“He’s put a lot of pressure on himself to become great this year,” said Gophers coach Richard Pitino. “Why I don’t know. We keep telling him, ‘Relax, it’s going to happen.’

“He works so hard everyday, every practice. I mean he works his butt off, and he wants it now like everybody does. I think he just needs to understand that if you continue to work like this, you’re going to be a really good player.”

The Gophers are 0-3 in the Big Ten and 6-9 overall. This is Pitino’s third season and most difficult start so far. Izzo acknowledged there’s “heat” on Pitino and the Gophers but he likes the talent of Minnesota’s young players. “They’re going to be good down the road, I believe that,” Izzo said.

“I understand fans are frustrated with us, but we’re young, and I hope they can stick with us,” Pitino said. “They’re (usually) really patient and they’re really supportive. …We’re going to be a really good team down the road for sure.”

Last week Izzo’s father Carl died at age 90. Earlier in 2015 Izzo lost his close friend Flip Saunders, the former Gophers guard and Timberwolves coach who died at 60. When Izzo was in town last week he spent time with Flip’s son Ryan Saunders.

“He only got 60 years out of his dad and I got 90 out of mine,” said Izzo who acknowledged the outpouring of support for him following his father’s death. “We’re all going to go through it (death). The only one that’s probably not going to die is Sid.”

Izzo was referring to 95-year-old Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman. At the news conference he teased Hartman when the local columnist and radio personality placed a 1980s style tape recorder in front of him. “I’ve still got a flip phone,” said Izzo who then wondered whether Hartman uses a rotary dial telephone.

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