Timberwolves – Page 60 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

National Football Magazine: U ‘Dangerous’

Posted on May 23, 2019May 23, 2019 by David Shama

When it comes to offseason college football predictions, some things never seem to change like forecasts Alabama and Clemson will play for the national championship, or Ohio State will again wear the Big Ten crown. But there is variable and contrary chatter during the winter and spring including about the Golden Gophers program.

In early January Sporting News placed Minnesota No. 25 in a (how could you be earlier?) rankings of America’s best college teams for 2019. This week a few web searches of more recent top 25 national rankings produced no such good news for Gophers fans.

Sporting News’ post-spring practice listing of April 29 had Nebraska No. 25, Northwestern 24th and Wisconsin 21st but didn’t include the Gophers in the rankings. Pro Football Focus and Athlon came out with top 25 rankings Tuesday, but again Goldy was absent.

My research did discover a “nugget” that will please Gopher optimists. Athlon’s college football magazine, now on newsstands, includes an article by algorithm specialist Bill Connelly. He includes Minnesota among six national “Teams on the Rise” after deciphering data such as efficiency, explosiveness, field position, finishing drives and turnovers. He references the Gophers’ lack of consistency last season (Minnesota played in only two of 13 games decided by a touchdown or less) but concludes his write-up with these words: “This team will be dangerous.”

Read most anybody who offers a detailed preview on the Gophers, including Connelly, and be prepared to hear about inconsistency, including at the quarterback position last season. The Gophers played two freshmen there last year, Zack Annexstad and Tanner Morgan. Athlon includes Minnesota in a two-page spread titled “QB Battles” and predicts Annexstad will win the job because he is “the better pure passer.”

Both Athlon and Street & Smith’s college football magazines forecast the Gophers will finish fifth in the Big Ten’s seven-team West Division—perhaps the most unpredictable division in the country. The two publications say Nebraska will win what is expected to be a close race to play for the Big Ten championship against Ohio State from the East Division.

Street & Smith’s predicts Purdue will finish second in the West, while Athlon has the Boilermakers sixth behind Minnesota. S&M sees Iowa finishing sixth, while Athlon projects the Hawkeyes placing second in the Big Ten. (More evidence of how crystal balling varies and changes during the offseason.)

The Gophers, after an awful early season Big Ten performance, closed fast in 2018 by impressively winning two of their final three league games. Then they soundly defeated (34-10) a capable Georgia Tech team in the Quick Lane Bowl to finish 7-6 overall, 3-6 in conference games.

Among the most inexperienced teams in the country last year, the Gophers are loaded with key returnees on both offense and defense. There is also more talent to work with than Minnesota coaches have been accustomed to having. The quality of the finish last season is countered, though, by the poor performance earlier in the season, and the contrasting results have forced college football authorities to be a bit inconsistent and cautious in their outlooks about the Gophers.

Both magazines have Minnesota senior wide receiver Tyler Johnson on their regionally produced covers. S&M tabs JD Spielman, the Eden Prairie alum, former lacrosse player, and speedy receiver and returner for Nebraska, as the Big Ten’s best athlete. Athlon includes the Gophers’ Carter Coughlin, another Eden Prairie alum, on the line of its third-team All-American defense.

Worth Noting

Golden Gophers coach P.J. Fleck likes to recruit players with ties to the program like Coughlin whose dad and grandfather played for Minnesota. Maybe he will take a look at Gracen Bell, a tight end at Lee’s Summit North in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. He is the grandson of legendary Gophers lineman Bobby Bell, a two-time All-American and perhaps the greatest player in University of Minnesota history.

Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and Texans defensive end J.J. Watt are drawing praise this month for commencement speeches at their alma maters, Michigan State and Wisconsin respectively.

If new Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas wants the inside word on Ricky Rubio, he can probably get it from Jazz boss Dennis Lindsey. Rosas and Lindsey worked together with the Rockets before being hired to work for the Wolves and Jazz respectively.

Rubio is a free agent who the Wolves traded to the Jazz in 2017 and it seems possible he could end up back in Minneapolis. His name is being conjectured with multiple NBA destinations, and the Wolves might like to replace the point guard he was traded for, Jeff Teague.

It doesn’t hurt the fan popularity of the successful Gophers softball team that 10 of the 14 players on the roster are Minnesota natives. Among the Minnesotans is pitcher Sydney Smith, who joined the Gophers after transferring from LSU, Minnesota’s opponent starting Friday at 4 p.m. in Minneapolis for a NCAA Super Regional matchup. Smith, who while pitching at Maple Grove High School was 54-1, figures to offer some insights to her coaches about the Tigers who will be in a town for the best of three series.

All-session chair backs for the Super Regional at Sage Cowles Stadium are priced at $40, with bench seating at $35 and $30. Standing room is also $30. ESPN2 televises Friday’s game.

Ex-Pioneer Press sportswriter Gregg Wong and former Washburn High School three-sports star Gerry Clark play in the Tzatskees band Saturday night June 1 at the Eagles Club in southeast Minneapolis.

Comments Welcome

U Prez Maybe ‘Home Run’ for Athletics

Posted on May 12, 2019May 12, 2019 by David Shama

Joan Gabel takes over as University of Minnesota president July 1 and her tenure will be interesting on many fronts including athletics.

Former Golden Gophers football player Mark Sheffert was a member of the presidential search committee, and he is a shrewd evaluator of people and organizations. It didn’t take him long during the search process to become an admirer of Gabel.

Sheffert has over 40 years of business experience and in 2014 was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame. He is former president of First Bank System (now US Bancorp) and now he is founder and CEO of Manchester, a renowned Minneapolis-based firm providing financial and advisory services to organizations. A reserve football player for the Gophers in the 1960s, he is a passionate but sometimes critical supporter of the University on multiple issues including athletics.

Sheffert has long insisted that high profile U sports like football can and should be more successful, and do so on a consistent basis. He told his colleagues on the academics-heavy search committee he wanted the U to hire a person “that understands” the value of Division I sports in this marketplace.

The athletic department reported to Gabel at South Carolina where she is provost. She has been exposed to big-time sports at South Carolina, including the football-crazed South Eastern Conference environment. Her experiences should be beneficial to the U Athletic Department and Gophers fans.

“I love sports—I’m a huge fan,” Gabel said in a 2015 story about her on the University of South Carolina website.

“She is a supporter of athletics. She loves athletics,” Sheffert agreed. “She thinks we can do better in athletics, and I love that too. She said during the interview (process), ‘I think there are a lot of opportunities at the University of Minnesota that haven’t been capitalized on, and we’re going to do that.’ ”

When Sheffert and others on the search committee looked at Gabel they saw a candidate with not only interpersonal skills, but a balanced blend of administrative, academic, law, finance and business backgrounds. “She started off as a commercial litigator. Commercial litigators are the true professionals of the legal field,” Sheffert said. “She was also at Missouri (as) head of the business school.”

Gabel will become the 17th president of the University and the first female. Sheffert is pleased to have Gabel, who quickly earned his confidence, make history at Minnesota. “She did her homework (on the University),” he said. “She knew more about us coming into the (interview) meeting than we knew about her. As soon as I read her resume, I said to myself, ‘This is going to be our next president.’ “

Over the years the University has employed many presidents who shorted athletics in vital ways. They failed to recognize and passionately support the notion athletics do represent “the front porch” of a major University’s image, and the resulting goodwill and financial windfalls that can occur. Not only didn’t many of those presidents make athletics a priority at Minnesota, but their indifference and lack of expertise resulted in mediocre (at best) hires of athletic directors and coaches.

Gabel will soon have the opportunity to not only be the first female president but perhaps one day be judged as the best ever for both academics and athletics.

Worth Noting

Vietnam veteran Tom Sakal, a superb defensive back on the 1967 Golden Gophers 1967 Big Ten champions and one of the great captains in program history, will be interred Tuesday at Arlington National Cemetery. Tom was a wonderful friend and he lived a life that blessed so many others including his many years as an insurance executive.

Twins home attendance has been on the rise since last week’s popular $5 “flash” sale. In their last three games at Target Field, the club has announced crowds of 26,789, 28,840 and 20,724. As of last Thursday, the Twins ranked No. 23 in MLB attendance, averaging 16,843, per ESPN.com

Twins’ fan Scott Buss writing on Facebook: “In June they should have regular price tickets and $4 beers and $2 hotdogs all month. By July, people will be scalping tickets if they keep playing the way they are.”

The Twins, with the best record in the majors, are 12 games over .500 at 25-13 going into today’s series finale at Target Field against the Tigers. Minnesota’s starter, Martin Perez, is 5-0 with a 2.83 ERA after restarting his career coming over from Texas.

Baseball legend Willie Mays, who played for the 1951 Minneapolis Millers and is considered by some authorities to be the greatest player ever, turned 88 last week. Mays played his early MLB career with the Giants in New York when the club eyed a franchise move to Minneapolis. Instead, the Giants moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season and Mays played most of his career in windy Candlestick Park instead of home run friendly Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.

An NBA source told Sports Headliners new Timberwolves general manager Gersson Rosas was effective in 17 years working for the Houston Rockets front office but not visible to the public. “There weren’t five paragraphs written about him in the newspapers,” the source said.

Rosas’ work as assistant general manager for the Rockets was appreciated by Kevin McHale, the former Houston head coach and once the Timberwolves basketball boss. “Great hire by the Wolves. Gersson is a good blend of analytics and basketball. He values high IQ and skill in players, along with chemistry. Gersson will make sure the team can produce high value shots from three, in the paint and from the line. He is a good person and will fit very nicely in Minnesota.”

Among Rosas’ challenges will be extracting more production from over compensated Andrew Wiggins. A suggestion: switch Wiggins from small forward to big guard. NBA game strategy is often about exploiting mismatches and at 6-foot-8 the athletic Wiggins has the potential to do just that, including near the basket.

Comments Welcome

Taylor: Interim Coach Has to Sell Himself

Posted on May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 by David Shama

In an interview today, owner Glen Taylor said it will be up to new president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas to decide if Ryan Saunders has the interim tag removed from his title as the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach.

Taylor is an admirer of Saunders but said he isn’t telling Rosas who should be the team’s head coach for next season. “He’s got to sit down with Ryan,” Taylor said following a news conference at Target Center where Rosas was introduced as the franchise’s new basketball boss.

Does Saunders have to sell himself? “Sure, he does,” Taylor said. “That’s part of his job, but I am positive Ryan knows what he wants to do, and he will do a good job. So we’ll see how it works out.”

Saunders, 33, is the NBA’s youngest head coach and was promoted to his interim status in January when Tom Thibodeau was fired. Although he had never been a head coach before, he impressed Taylor despite the team not making the playoffs.

“I think that Ryan did a great job based upon the circumstances that he was given,” Taylor said. “It’s hard to really measure him when you have so many of his guys that were injured and stuff.

“But I still watched how he substituted, brought players in, got the most out of some of our young guys and did some really positive things. I haven’t changed in my thinking, and now we’ll see what others think.”

Taylor said that during the interview process Rosas asked what he saw in Saunders. But Taylor didn’t try to prejudice the decision Rosas will need to make in the coming weeks about who his coach will be.

The Wolves missed the playoffs this spring after qualifying for the postseason in 2018 for the first time since 2004. Taylor believes in the personnel already in place. “I haven’t changed my mind. I think we have the talent.

“What he (Rosas) talked about is something I just really believe in too. We’ve got to develop our own players, our draft choices. We’ve got to get those guys to play better.

“I think that’s what he’s got to talk to the coach (about). What plays do you set up? What styles do you do to utilize the skills of your players? …

Taylor said the goal of building a world class organization is shared by Rosas who worked for 17 years in the successful Rockets organization and gained a variety of experiences including as executive vice president of basketball operations. The ultimate goal for the Wolves is an NBA title for an organization that began play in 1989 and has never reached the league finals. “I think we have selected a leader that can take us there,” Taylor said of the 40-year-old Rosas.

Worth Noting

Rosas’ wife Susana said the couple, who have been married almost 16 years, met in high school in Houston. “When we met he told me he wanted to be the president …(of a) team. We were 15 years old and I thought he was trying to impress me,” Susana said. “Lo and behold…here we are today. We’re very thankful and blessed.”

It’s a solid bet the Vikings and the metro area will host their first NFL Draft within seven to 10 years. Club officials are interested, but probably have to wait awhile for the NFL’s blessing after Minneapolis hosted the 2018 Super Bowl. The city of Nashville estimates more than 500,000 fans attended Draft activities last month.

While there is speculation the Vikings want to restructure tight end Kyle Rudolph’s contract to better the club’s payroll—or even trade him—he does remain a superb pass catcher. He and rookie tight end Irv Smith could sometimes be on the field together. The Vikings might line up the athletic Smith in the slot while using two tight ends, and have Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs on the flanks.

The 29-year-old Rudolph isn’t known as an elite blocker, but Smith was praised for that skill in college at Alabama. Smith said, “I don’t want to be classified as a receiving tight end. I want to be classified as a complete tight end.”

Kyle Kilgore, the rookie free agent defensive end trying out with the Vikings, describes his four years at Division III Bethel as the best of his life. He told Sports Headliners he was taught at Bethel that you either become a “horse,” or a “jackass.”

“That place is chock full of horses,” the East Ridge alum said. “It’s rich soil. I can say I’ve grown as a man in those four years. All the brothers that I have on that football team forcing me to be better every day. Kind of the coolest thing.”

Kilgore’s Bethel teammate, safety Dawson Brown, is a free agent with the Atlanta Falcons. He played high school football at Becker.

Brown and Kilgore have been training together since the Royals season ended at the East Metro location of ETS Performance. ETS is run by Ryan Englebert who trained Thielen after his senior year of college.

Comments Welcome