Timberwolves – Page 65 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Birthday Raves for Vikings DE Hunter

Posted on October 29, 2018October 29, 2018 by David Shama

Enjoy a Monday notes column on Vikings, Gophers and NBA newsmakers.

Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter turns 24 today and he is already a star. Teammate and safety Harrison Smith told Sports Headliners: “I mean that’s even better, how young he is—how much football he has ahead of him.”

An insider with the Vikings organization didn’t want his name printed but raved about Hunter who is the fifth player in NFL history to have 31 sacks before turning 24. The insider believes Hunter’s “potential is through the roof.”

Hunter was only 20 years old when the Vikings selected him in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. By the 2016 season he became the youngest player in Vikings franchise history to lead the team in sacks, coming up with 12.5. That total was the most by any NFL defensive end, and third highest in the league.

Hunter continues to improve and the Vikings continue to appreciate him, with the source above even referring to his Hall of Fame potential. And Smith added more praise,“Yeah, I mean he’s just constantly getting better, and he’s making the…plays for us.”

Through the schedule’s first seven games the Jamaican-born Hunter was the only player in the NFL to record at least a half sack in each game. He is tied for second in league sacks with eight.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, who has ascended from a practice team player to a potential NFL MVP candidate, remains humble and well-liked by teammates, including tight end Kyle Rudolph who was joking about the Detroit Lakes native a few days ago.

“The only thing (change) that I’ve really noticed is he’s got a much more expensive backpack now,” Rudolph said. “He had kind of a cheap backpack and now he’s got a nice little compact backpack.”

Thielen’s contract reportedly runs through 2020 and pays him $19,246,000, according to Spotrac.com. With his record setting season and weekly heroics, that is a one-sided deal for the Vikings. But Thielen said last week no revised contract talks are being discussed now, or planned for after the season.

Vikings wide receiver Chad Beebe was an undrafted free agent this year, the same status Thielen had in 2013. Beebe told Sports Headliners he’s learned about improving his skills from being around Thielen and the veteran’s success story has motivated him.

“So I’ve appreciated him a ton,” Beebe said. “Being able to look at his story inspired me.”

That was Vikings general manager Rick Spielman at Friday night’s Minnesota-Indiana game, perhaps to watch Hoosiers senior safety Jonathan Crawford and Gophers offensive tackle Donnell Greene.

Former Viking Adrian Peterson had 149 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns in the Redskins’ 20-13 win yesterday over the Giants. Peterson, at 33 years and 221 days old on Sunday, was the oldest player in NFL history to have at least 100 rushing yards and both a rushing and receiving touchdown in a single game.

Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan, who threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Indiana, was named the Big Ten’s Co-Freshman of the Week today along with Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi.

Ryan Burns, the recruiting authority from GopherIllustrated.com, told Sports Headliners Minnesota is likely to make the recruiting of junior college defensive backs a priority for its remaining class of 2019 scholarships. That might mean both a safety and a cornerback.

During an interview Burns contacted Jason Clark, father of prep quarterback Jacob Clark, to check on a rumor that his son was being targeted to flip his commitment from Minnesota. Not true, Jason quickly answered.

The 6-5 quarterback from Rockwall, Texas is expected to enroll at Minnesota in January. Burns said it could be likely that Clark will be elevated from a three-star ranking to four by the time he joins the Gophers.

Although the Gophers ended a four-game 2018 Big Ten losing streak Friday night, the lack of wins hasn’t negatively impacted, according to Burns. The 2019 class is ranked No. 32 nationally in the team rankings by 247Sports.

Josh Richardson, reportedly part of the proposed trade deal between the Heat and Timberwolves that Minnesota rejected, is averaging only about three points per game fewer than Jimmy Butler (20.6) and is four years younger.

LeBron James, in town tonight with the Lakers to play the Timberwolves, made his NBA debut 15 years ago on this date, October 29, 2003.

It was the last Sundays in October that the Twins won their two World Series titles. October 25, 1987 and October 27, 1991 they won Game Sevens at the Metrodome.

Comments Welcome

Zimmer Predicts ‘Chip on Shoulder’ Saints

Posted on October 22, 2018October 24, 2018 by David Shama

Enjoy a Monday notes column that includes the Vikings, Gophers and Timberwolves.

There is plenty of advance intrigue surrounding next Sunday’s Vikings-Saints game at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Saints return here no doubt seeking some redemption on last January’s “Minneapolis Miracle” that bumped them out of the playoffs. Then during the offseason Tom Pelissero from NFL Network reported in a March story the Vikings inquired about legendary Saints QB Drew Brees before eventually signing Kirk Cousins. Count on comparisons being made Sunday between the two.

Then, too, and most importantly, the game Sunday is an opportunity to judge two teams that could meet again in the playoffs. The Saints, 5-1, have the second best record in the NFC behind the 7-0 Rams. The 4-2-1 Vikings are trying to stay ahead of the 3-2-1 Packers in the NFC North.

The Saints are known as a gritty team under the direction of head coach Sean Payton. “I think the Saints will come in with a chip on their shoulder because that’s who they are,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said this afternoon at his news conference heard on KFXN Radio. “They are very aggressive on defense. They’re aggressive offensively. They’ve got a good football team.”

Asked about the 39-year-old Brees, Zimmer said, “This guy is amazing. When you talk about Hall of Fame quarterbacks, obviously, he’s going to be one. But he’s very cerebral, accurate. He’s moving well in the pocket. …”

The Gophers, 53-28 losers to Nebraska on Saturday, are giving up an average of 43.3 points per game against Big Ten opponents. Meanwhile, former Gopher coach Tracy Claeys is in his first season at Washington State as defensive coordinator and deserves a lot of credit for helping the nationally ranked Cougars to a 6-1 start.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor was asked Friday night by Sports Headliners if he was embarrassed for young fans after Jimmy Butler’s profanity-laced practice earlier this month. “Let’s just say I wish some of those things were handled a little bit better,” he said.

Butler, one of the NBA’s best two-way players, wants to be traded but Taylor said he is not handling inquiries from other teams. He is deferring to general manager Scott Layden. “At this point that’s his job,” Taylor said. “He’s out there doing it.”

Taylor wouldn’t say if he expects his club to move Butler elsewhere before the February 7 NBA trade deadline. He acknowledged disappointment that Butler—the most important player in leading his franchise to the playoffs last spring for the first time since 2004—doesn’t want to continue beyond one season in Minneapolis.

“It’s a shame because I was looking forward to this season because I had the highest goals for it,” Taylor said. “I just thought we would be a really good thing.

“And I think we still can but we just somehow got to make sure that a couple of things (happen). We’ll have to do a good trade, and a number of members of our team will have to step up. We still could have a really good year.”

For that to happen the Wolves, with a 1-2 record so far this season, need to fix a leaky defense. Counting their final exhibition matchup before the regular season started last week, the Wolves have given up 143, 112, 123 and 140 points in their last four games.

Despite Butler’s nasty preseason behavior, the Wolves announced a sellout attendance of 18,978 at their home opener Friday night. Ticket King was promoting $27 tickets for the game last week.

During pregame player introductions Butler received an earful of boos from the home opener crowd. Tom Thibodeau, the coach and president of basketball operations, might have been targeted with even louder jeers.

The crowd warmed to Butler, though, as he led the team to a win over the Cavs. Almost as usual, he was the Wolves’ best player at both ends of the court.

The Sports Illustrated NBA preview issue, out last week, quotes a rival scout as being skeptical of the Wolves making the playoffs—and not just because of the trade drama involving Butler. “Their floor could be pretty low because their roster isn’t balanced well positionally and has a lot of holes,” the scout said in S.I.

The issue included a ranking of the NBA’s 30 teams according to “entertainment value.” Criteria included “projected success, style of play, firepower, age, injuries, coaching and personality.” The Wolves landed at No. 22 (“…Butler circus left them dead on arrival.”) The NBA champion Warriors got the No. 1 spot, just ahead of the new LeBron James-led Lakers.

Paige Bueckers, the junior point guard at Hopkins, excelled last season for the Royals and in AAU competition during the summer. Among girls, she might be the best young teenage point guard in the world. Legendary Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma is all-in on recruiting her.

Remember “The Crusher?” The former professional wrestler was hugely popular in Minneapolis and other places in the Midwest decades ago. Now a memorial bronze statue is going up in his hometown of South Milwaukee. How about a statue of Minnesota wrestling legend Verne Gagne?

1 comment

Wolves Mess with Flip’s Rebuild Vision

Posted on October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 by David Shama

Flip Saunders had so many friends and admirers in Minnesota. Many of them must be thinking the same thing that is going through my mind as the Timberwolves await their season opener in San Antonio tonight against the Spurs:

Flip would not be happy with the state of the franchise he rebuilt before unexpectedly passing away at age 60 on October 29, 2015.

The Wolves are a mess and an embarrassment three years after Flip had started a process to try and position them for annual playoff runs and perhaps one day an NBA championship. He had been hired by franchise owner Glen Taylor to resurrect the franchise in 2013 and by the fall of 2015 the roster was young but promising led by high potential talents Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, plus promising youthful role players like Tyus Jones.

Now the Wolves have an older, less promising and seemingly disgruntled roster, mostly because of Tom Thibodeau, who wields similar power to what Flip had. Thibodeau traded for temperamental Jimmy Butler in 2017—sending away LaVine, Kris Dunn (2016 first rounder, fifth pick) and a 2017 first round draft choice to the Bulls. After one season in Minnesota, Butler wants out and is willing to do and say extreme things to agitate Thibodeau and Taylor enough to trade him away.

The Bulls thought enough of LaVine, 23, to sign the shooting guard to a four-year, $78 million new deal during the last offseason. Dunn, 24, improved in his second season in the NBA, averaging 13.4 points and 6 assists as the Bulls’ point guard. Chicago used the first round draft choice to acquire Lauri Markkanen, a forward who was one of the NBA’s best rookies last season.

Bulls fans could be chuckling over the trade with the Wolves because their team added young potential in Dunn, LaVine and Markkanen. The deal allowed the Bulls to move on from Butler who reportedly was high maintenance in Chicago, too. Thibobeau gambled on a high quality two-way talent in the 29-year-old Butler who reportedly wants out of a Timberwolves uniform because the organization hasn’t shown him enough appreciation.

Butler didn’t participate in any preseason games as he dramatized his desire to be traded, but tonight he is expected to play in the regular season opener before the Wolves come home to meet the Cavs on Friday at Target Center. He is part of a roster that Thibodeau has reshuffled to make more experienced, not only with Butler but also Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and Anthony Tolliver, who are all 33 years old, and Derrick Rose and Jeff Teague, who are both 30. Those are all starters or key contributors off the bench.

Flip Saunders (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves)

Flip had a vision of stockpiling young talent and taking a patient approach. It appears Thibodeau has been intent for awhile on a commitment to win as soon as possible. If Flip had a five year plan, Thibodeau’s win now approach seems more like five months.

The problem is things are going in reverse with Butler being critical of Wolves teammates and wanting out. He reportedly expressed his desire over the summer to move on, and if true Thibodeau should have traded him awhile ago rather than put the franchise through the current drama.

We will know before long what kind of future Butler has with the Wolves—if any—and the type of season the team will experience in 2018-19, hopefully adding value to the roster by trading him. Butler is a top 15 NBA player and he was the difference maker last season in the Wolves making the playoffs for the first time since 2004 but it’s nearly impossible to believe he will be on the roster when the league’s trading deadline comes up on February 7.

During this preseason, without Butler and with all the negativity surrounding the club, the Wolves didn’t look anything like a playoff team. At times they appeared downright disinterested and awful like in their final preseason game last Friday night in Milwaukee when they gave up 84 first half points to the Bucks.

Flip would have been upset watching that. He had invested so much of his basketball life into Minnesota’s professional team. His first round of duty with the Wolves started in the mid-1990s when he was hired in the front office but soon he became head coach. He marched the sidelines during the franchise’s best years and was unfairly dismissed as coach during the 2004-05 season.

When Flip came back to the Wolves about eight years later he was in a power position as president of basketball operations. I think if Flip had lived he would have eventually put together a group of investors, perhaps including Kevin Garnett, to buy the team from Taylor. Flip was a part-owner of the franchise at the time of his death.

That move would have been the ultimate step in Flip’s basketball life. The former University of Minnesota point guard was a basketball grinder as a player, executive and coach. He worked his way up through the lower levels of the game and even when living away from Minnesota kept a home here.

Flip loved the people and basketball in this state, including the Gophers and Timberwolves. He was always ready to do whatever was needed, whether it was Xs and Os, college scouting, NBA trades, pitching potential owners, or marketing his team to the fans and media with public appearances and news gatherings.

Flip had a long term plan to finally make the Timberwolves great but there is doubt whether those who have followed him, primarily Thibodeau, are up to carrying on his legacy.

Comments Welcome