Timberwolves – Page 105 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Nanne: U Potential Frozen Four Team

Posted on February 1, 2013February 1, 2013 by David Shama

Here is a Friday morning Sports Headliners roundup including Gophers hockey and basketball, the Wild, the Wolves and NBA commissioner David Stern, and even Cuban bully Fidel Castro!

Hockey authority Lou Nanne told Sports Headliners the 2013 Gopher team is “skilled at every position and has excellent goaltending.” No. 1 ranked Minnesota played in the Frozen Four last year and Nanne can see a return engagement.

“If they play up to their capabilities, they should be in the Frozen Four,” he said.

The Gophers, 18-4-4, have scored four or more goals in eight of their last nine games. In their 4-1 win over Minnesota State last Saturday night four different players had goals. Among the four was Nate Schmidt who leads the nation’s defensemen in scoring.

Minnesota leads the WCHA in power play goals and penalty killing. Goalie Adam Wilcox has a WCHA-best 17-3-4 record.

St. Cloud State and the Gophers are first and second in the league standings. The two teams play each other February 8 and 9 in St. Cloud. Minnesota has a bye this weekend.

Nanne said the Wild are talented and could finish among the better teams in the Western Conference. The key is “balanced scoring and defense.”

The Wild play at Anaheim tonight, facing a Ducks team that may pose problems in the Western Conference playoffs. In this week’s ESPN.com NHL power poll the Wild are ranked No. 9 and the Ducks No. 10 among 30 league teams.

The Wild’s Matt Cullen, who led the team in points (six) in four games against Anaheim last season, played in 427 games with the Ducks from 1997-2003. The 36-year-old center, scoreless in his first six games, scored twice in the Wild’s 3-2 win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

Wild prospect Jason Zucker, representing the Aeros, scored a goal for the Western Conference on Monday in the AHL All-Star game. The Western Conference defeated the East, 7-6. Zucker leads the Aeros in points with 36.

Nanne and wife Francine spent a week visiting communist Cuba late last month as part of a University of Minnesota Alumni Association trip. Asked for a quick impression, Nanne said, “Too much government.”

Cubans use ration books for food, and some buildings have no running water. The higher wage earners, including doctors, make $500 a month in American currency, Nanne said.

There are many 1950s American cars on the streets in Cuba and Nanne even rode in a 1932 vehicle. “It had a rumble seat,” he said.

Nanne also said Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, in poor health for years, was recently seen walking with a cane. His brother Raul Castro runs the country.

The basketball Gophers, who ended a four-game losing streak with a home win over Nebraska (84-65) earlier in the week, play Iowa at noon Sunday. Minnesota, 16-5 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten, lost twice to a mediocre Iowa team last season, 64-62 and 63-59.

The Hawkeyes were frequently the more aggressive team in those wins, combining for 21 steals. In Iowa’s 63-59 win in Iowa City the Hawkeyes not only had 11 steals to Minnesota’s one, but they out rebounded the Gophers.

Iowa, 3-5 in the conference and 14-7 overall, has several returning players from last season and is again a scrappy, well coached team. “I think, honestly, we just didn’t have the toughness mentality (last year),” said Minnesota junior guard Maverick Ahanmisi. “This year I think we have a lot of guys on this team that can take it upon themselves to slow the game down, or know when we need a shot or a basket. Last year we just let the game get away from us. Once they started scoring on us, we just put our heads down and stopped moving (fighting back).”

Center Trevor Mbakwe is disappointed with the Gophers’ start to the Big Ten schedule but still thinks Minnesota can be one of the nation’s best teams and win the league championship. “Little surprised (with the start),” he said. “We thought we had a chance to be 6-2 coming out of those two big games (losses to Indiana and Michigan). …We played a tough schedule so far. It’s the best conference in the country.”

Nebraska coach Tim Miles predicted the Gophers can win games in the NCAA Tournament. “I am really impressed with them. …If they don’t turn it over they’ll be good.”

The Gophers came into the Nebraska game averaging a Big Ten high 14.6 turnovers a game but had only five against the Cornhuskers. Among those responsible for the improvement was Ahanmisi, a reserve point guard who entered the game with 20 turnovers in 207 minutes this season. He had no turnovers in 19 minutes on Tuesday night.

Ahanmisi said his confidence, including shooting the ball, has improved. He scored nine points and made four of seven shots on Tuesday. His season field goal percentage of .463 and three point percentage, .417, are major improvements from last year’s numbers of .361 and .294.

“Back in high school I was a shooting guard.” Ahanmisi said. “That was my game. I used to shoot a lot of threes. When I came here I just got away from it. Tried to really turn into a point guard.

“It’s kind of something I really worked on—my shooting again. I think it’s coming back.”

Miles, in his first season at Nebraska, will have his Cornhuskers playing in a new state-of-the-art arena next fall. Each players’ locker has an iPad.

The first in a series called the Minnesota Timberwolves Business Alliance will be held next Wednesday at the Graves 601 Hotel and NBA commissioner David Stern will be the keynote speaker. The event, preceding a Target Center game against the Spurs, will bring together Wolves season ticket holders and corporate partners for networking opportunities.

Wolves president Chris Wright told Sports Headliners efforts to bring the NBA All-Star game back to Minneapolis (last here in 1995) will wait until his organization completes negotiations with the city for Target Center renovations. There’s no timetable for completing negotiations.

Wright and others with the Wolves have never seen a stretch of hard luck like this year’s team has experienced with numerous starters and reserve players sidelined with injuries for days, weeks and months. And even coach Rick Adelman missed 11 games to be with his wife who suffered seizures.

Since the early days of TargetvCenter there’s been speculation the franchise’s misfortunes have been tied to constructing the arena on an ancient Indian burial ground. Not true, said Wright. “That may have come from a couple of drunken guys talking at the (Cafe) di Napoli 20 years ago,” he joked.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien e-mailed this week that DeLaSalle power Reid Travis has been offered a scholarship by Arizona.

The Wednesday Sports Media News e-mail reported Brett Favre will be a guest on the NFL Network morning show Sunday preceding the Super Bowl. The network is providing more than 16 hours of live pre-game and post-game Super Bowl coverage on Sunday, according to SMN.

Denis McDonough, a 1992 Saint John’s graduate and a three-year starter for the Johnnie football team, is President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff after serving as deputy national security adviser the past two years.

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Vikings Survey More Than PSLs

Posted on January 2, 2013January 3, 2013 by David Shama

The Vikings’ survey of season ticket holders regarding personal seat licenses has created a stir in the marketplace but there’s more to understand. Team spokesman Jeff Anderson said the survey will determine not only costs for personal seat licenses but also ticket pricing, and will measure interest in potential events at the new downtown stadium including professional soccer.

Stakeholders being surveyed include season ticket buyers, private suite holders and corporate sponsors. Anderson said surveying will continue into the fall, and the club is also using focus groups to obtain marketing information.

Personal seat licenses mean fans pay fees beyond the price of tickets for specific seat locations. Costs for licenses and pricing of tickets won’t be announced by the Vikings until 2014.

Ted Mondale, executive director of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, said the target date for opening the stadium is July 1, 2016. He plans to have several events (including a possible open house) in the stadium before the first Vikings’ preseason game in August. Those first events will be important to test stadium operations.

Mondale said it’s likely the Vikings will play the full 2014 and 2015 seasons at TCF Bank Stadium. That would make the 2013 season the last for the Vikings at Mall of America Field.

By mid-March the authority expects to determine what features, including a possible retractable roof, will fit into the $975 million stadium budget, and what ideas will be dropped.

Worth Noting

Although the Vikings had a sellout crowd of more than 64,000 at Mall of America Field on Sunday to watch the playoff qualifying win over the Packers, ticket demand was such that Mondale said perhaps 100,000 tickets could have been sold.

Give former Vikings defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema credit for his prediction about the team last summer. In a town of skeptics, Lurtsema said the Vikings, who were 3-13 in 2011, would have a 10-6 record and possibly make the playoffs. The Vikings won four consecutive games to end the season and finish 10-6.

Lurtsema believes the Broncos, 13-3 and winners of a league leading 11 consecutive games, are the best team in the NFL right now. He likes their defense and admires former Gophers wide receiver Eric Decker who has five touchdown catches in his last three games and a career best 13 for the season.

Coach Jerry Kill said the Gophers played their most “physical” game in his two years at Minnesota during the team’s 34-31 loss to Texas Tech at the Meineke Car Care Bowl last week. While disappointed with the loss, Kill was encouraged by the improvement of his team including on offense after the Gophers had struggled to score points in their last two regular season games.

Leading 31-24 late in the game, the Gophers took a gamble being in press coverage (no deep pass defenders) and gave up a touchdown to Tech that tied the score. The Red Raiders went on to kick the game winning field goal as time expired.

Tech’s unsportsmanlike penalties during the game upset Minnesota supporters. A Gophers fan who was in Houston for the game wrote an email to Sports Headliners that said in part:

“Fans after the game came to us…and apologized for their players’ behavior. The next day, when we were at a boardwalk park near Galveston, fans came up to us and said the same. I had one Texas Longhorn fan, who was at the game, come up to me and say they were rooting for Minnesota. They cannot stand TT. …”

North Dakota State announced yesterday that football coach Craig Bohl, who aggressively recruits Minnesota high school players, has signed an eight-year contract extension with the Bison from 2013 to 2021. Bohl’s base salary is $206,503 and the agreement includes language about annual increases, plus incentives such as compensation for winning the FCS national championship. Bohl will also receive three percent of gross tickets sales for Bison home games. NDSU plays Sam Houston State for the FCS national title on Saturday.

The basketball Gophers are No. 9 in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll, but more importantly boosted their reputation as a Big Ten title contender after winning the conference opener on Monday against Michigan State, 76-63. Minnesota’s defense shut out the Spartans (No. 18 A.P.) the last 4:05 of the second half to break open a close game.

The Gophers’ next four games are Sunday at home against Northwestern, then January 9 and 12 at Illinois (No. 11) and at Indiana (No. 5), and January 17 in Williams Arena versus Michigan (No. 2). If the Gophers are 4-1 after the first five games, they will deserve to be in the conversation about the league’s best teams.

The Timberwolves play Utah tonight, the team’s first trip to Salt Lake City this season. Jazz fans are known for their passion and basketball IQ. “It is a tough place to play,” said Suns coach Alvin Gentry. “They’re a big team also. Their strengths are the same as Minnesota’s. They try to pound the ball on the inside to (Al) Jefferson and (Paul) Millsap. They’ve got some big guys that they play there. I think it will be a great matchup.

“I like this team right here (the Wolves). I love the way Rick (Adelman) coaches. Once they get everybody healthy and knowing exactly what they’ve got, I think you’ll see them make a little move and go on a little run.”

Wolves forward Andrei Kirilenko, who played 10 seasons with the Jazz, returns to Salt Lake City for the first time in an opposing team’s uniform. Former Wolves starters with the Jazz are Jefferson and Randy Foye.

Adelman said he isn’t surprised by the back spasms that kept Rick Rubio out of Saturday’s game with the Suns, referring to his point guard having played only five games so far this season, and “this is his training camp.”

Kevin Love, whose setbacks have included a broken hand, made eight of 20 field goal attempts and had 23 points on Saturday night in the win over the Suns. He hasn’t been playing at the level of last season, and his field goal percentage of .358 compares with .450 for his career. His three point field goal percentage is .233 versus .355 for the career.

Prior to Saturday night’s game against the Suns, Adelman was asked when Love might return to last year’s form. “I don’t have a very good feel for that. Historically he’s been a very good shooter. He’s just down this year and he’s gotta stay with it. You’re going to go through tough periods and he’s going through one now.

“Sometimes you gotta experience that to understand what you have to do. Maybe try to do a little bit more, run the court…get some easy baskets. I don’t have much doubt that if he stays with it, if he does the extra shooting on the side, and he continues to just be aggressive in taking the shots he’ll be fine.”

Brent Haskins, pro personnel scout for the Suns, said his dad, former Gophers basketball coach Clem Haskins, remains active on his farm in Kentucky and was in Minnesota recently to have his knees examined. The older Haskins, now 69, had knee replacement surgery about 15 years ago.

In his position with the Suns, Brent Haskins scouts college, minor league and NBA talent, and offers possible trade scenarios for the franchise. He lives in Minnesota.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Wolves are one of several NBA teams asked to play on Christmas Day in 2013 because of Love, a former Olympian and all-star, and the team has a roster of international players headlined by Rubio.

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U Needs to Rock ‘The Barn’ Monday

Posted on December 30, 2012December 30, 2012 by David Shama

The Gophers open their Big Ten basketball season tomorrow afternoon in Williams Arena against Michigan State and the Minnesota players hope to have the “Barn” rocking with support.

“The Barnyard is always behind us come Big Ten play,” forward Rodney Williams told Sports Headliners earlier this month. “We’re ready. We’re gonna put on a show for them (the fans). Hopefully they can be that sixth man for us.”

Williams is one of college basketball’s dunk-masters. He knows his slams can ignite the crowd and figuratively shake the pillars in the 84-year-old arena.

“The louder they (fans) get, the more tough it’s going to be on other teams,” Williams said. “Let’s hope I can get a dunk (on Monday) that’s going to shake the pillars.”

Minnesota is 12-1 and ranked No. 11 in the country by the Associated Press. Michigan State, just like the Gophers, has thoughts of finishing near the top of the Big Ten standings. The Spartans, 11-2 and No. 19 in the A.P. poll, are 17-2 against the Gophers in the last 19 games. The last Minnesota win in Williams Arena came in 2006.

Tubby Smith, who began coaching the Gophers during the 2007-2008 season, has only one win over the Spartans (2010 Big Ten Tournament). But this year’s group could be his best team at Minnesota, and Williams said the Gophers believe in themselves.

“No team intimidates us,” Williams said. “We’re not worried about them (the Spartans). We’re worried about what we gotta do. …”

Williams predicts success against the Spartans despite past history between the two teams. “They got the best of us in past years but I think this year is a little different. We got a team that we can count on anybody on any given night. We got depth. I think we’re just more team oriented this year. I know we’re definitely ready for the 31^st.

The Gophers, who finished 10^th in the Big Ten last season but did win four games in the post-season NIT, have a talented starting five in Williams, forward Joe Coleman, center Trevor Mbakwe, and guards Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins. The reserves include players with starting experience. The Gophers are also an athletic bunch who can attack offensively, pressure defensively and swarm the boards for rebounds.

MSU coach Tom Izzo has made a reputation for boot camp toughness including an obsession for rebounding. Derrick Nicks and Adreian Payne are among the Big Ten’s leading rebounders this season.

Williams said the Gophers will be ready to match effort with the Spartans on the boards. And Minnesota will need to impress defensively, too, since MSU is known for shutting down opponents.

Austin Hollins believes the Gophers made their defense better during the 13 nonconference games. “Our defense got a lot better. Keeping the same intensity on defense throughout the whole nonconference schedule is huge. We always stress that coming out (for the game), getting up in their face, making it hard for the offense to run their plays. Making it hard for them to do anything and just forcing turnovers, and I think that’s one of our strong points. We really improved there.”

Hollins said the Gophers are “not going to do everything right” but he thinks the team is ready for the Big Ten schedule. And Williams considers Monday’s game a first step for a team that includes among its goals winning the conference title and playing in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s huge,” Williams said. “It’s the first game of the conference play. Rankings don’t usually mean much, but it’s two ranked teams going against each other. It’s gonna be huge for us to get that first win in the Big Ten so we can move forward and go on from there because we’ve got big goals for the season. Getting that first win is gonna be huge.”

Vikings & Other Notes

The loudest crowd of the season is almost a certainty at Mall of America Field this afternoon. The hometown Vikings can qualify for the playoffs by defeating the rival Packers in the final regular season game of the year for Minnesota, and Adrian Peterson needs 208 more yards to break Eric Dickerson’s single NFL rushing record of 2,105 yards. Mall of America Field is among the loudest stadiums in the NFL and “crowd noise can definitely throw off communication” for the opposing team, said Vikings running back Toby Gerhart.

The Vikings encourage fans to wear purple and will place “rally towels” on every seat in the stadium—the first for that promotion since a playoff game against the Cowboys in January of 2010. Target HQ Tower, the Lowry Avenue Bridge and the 35W Bridge are lit in purple at night this weekend as part of a Minneapolis show of support for the Vikings franchise.

Peterson was held to 86 yards rushing last week by the Texans. “Obviously they closed us down in the run game but then again I look at the film, it was several plays where I was just a tackle away from taking it to the house,” Peterson said. “Ultimately, when you look at it, it seems like they did a better job than I really feel like they did.”

Peterson talking about breaking Dickerson’s record today: “Deep down inside I feel like I’ll get it.”

In one word, how he describes his running style: “Vicious.”

Despite Peterson’s success, no players from the Vikings offensive line were chosen for the Pro Bowl. Selections for the post-season all-star game are made by fans, NFL players and coaches. There’s justifiable criticism that voters aren’t knowledgeable, and it’s a popular allegation in Minnesota after Vikings center John Sullivan was passed over for the Packers’ Jeff Saturday who hasn’t been starting for Green Bay. Sullivan was named a Pro Bowl alternate.

“He (Sullivan) had a heck of a year,” Gerhart said. “It’s a shame that we didn’t have any offensive line guys make it, especially Sully our leader. When Adrian puts up that type of a season—he’s a heck of a player—but it’s not all on him. Those guys up front are what’s gonna get a play going.”

Former Gophers national championship football coach Murray Warmath, who died in 2011, would have turned 100 last Wednesday.

The December 31 issue of Sports Illustrated predicts Alabama will defeat Notre Dame 23-16 in the BCS national championship game on January 7.

The Timberwolves have sold 10,000 season tickets, the franchise’s largest total since the 2004-2005 season, according to club executive Ted Johnson. A second consecutive Target Center sellout crowd watched the Wolves defeat the Suns last night, 111-107.

Ricky Rubio missed the game because of back spasms. Coach Rick Adelman is hopeful the point guard will return for Wednesday night’s game at Utah.

The Wolves, 14-13, are off to their best start since having the same record in 2005-2006.

The Tapemark Charity Pro-Am for women will be Tuesday, June 4 and Sunday, June 9. The men’s event will be June 7-9. The golf tournaments raise funds for Minnesota nonprofits serving people with developmental and learning disabilities.

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