Timberwolves – Page 66 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins’ Cruz, Berrios on Top 100 List

Posted on March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Friday notes column with a focus on the Minnesota Twins and Target Field.

Sports Illustrated ranks two Twins players among its top 100 players in Major League Baseball. The February 25 issue of the magazine lists the game’s best, and the publication has newly acquired outfielder and designated hitter Nelson Cruz at No. 65 and starting pitcher Jose Berrios at 95.

The Twins could come out of spring training as a consensus choice among oddsmakers and media to finish second in the American League Central Division behind the Cleveland Indians. Despite some offseason payroll trimming, the Indians may win a fourth consecutive division championship because their talent is still impressive.

Three Indians made the magazine’s top 10—shortstop Francisco Lindor at No. 4, third baseman Jose Ramirez, No. 5, and starting pitcher Corey Kluber, No. 9. The club’s starting staff also includes Trevor Bauer, No. 35, and Mike Clevinger, No. 73.

The Twins can’t match that pitching but if their staff produces some pleasant surprises, Minnesota looks like a run-scoring club. Bleacherreport.com said in an article this week that the Twins averaged a solid 4.6 runs per game last season, and additions like Cruz figure to make the offense even better.

Bleacherreport’s story focused on the playoff chances of all 30 MLB teams. The Indians came in at 70 percent, while the Twins were next among Central Division clubs with a 40 percent chance of qualifying for the postseason.

Sports Illlustrated’s rankings had Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout as the best player in the game. Aaron Hicks, the center fielder Twins GM Terry Ryan traded to the New York Yankees in 2015 for catcher John Ryan Murphy, is the No. 78 player in the game, per S.I.

The Twins have been trying to fill their center field void for years. Murphy has become an obscure player, most recently signing a reported one-year, $900,000 deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hicks reportedly has a new seven year, $70 million contract with the Yankees.

In a telephone interview yesterday from spring training in Florida, Twins president Dave St. Peter predicted Cruz will become a “fan favorite,” perhaps similar to former Minnesota slugger Jim Thome. “He (Cruz) has been great,” St. Peter said about the six-time MLB All-Star who is known for his hitting and clubhouse leadership.

Berrios, 24, is a potential staff ace for the Twins who St. Peter admires for his talent and work ethic. “He works harder than any player on our team,” St. Peter said.

Regarding the Sports Illustrated article, St. Peter said Marwin Gonzalez “should be on the list.” The Twins signed the multi-positional free agent earlier this week after the switch-hitter hit 16 home runs and drove in 68 runs last season for the Astros while playing 76 games in the outfield, 39 at shortstop, 32 at second base, 24 at first base and three at third.

The Twins’ regular season opener, March 28 at Target Field, is close to a sellout, with a few thousand tickets remaining. The early opener was prompted by the presence of the April 6-8 Final Four in Minneapolis. Extensive field preparation begins in a couple weeks. “I will take 50 (degrees) and sunshine (for opening day),” St. Peter said.

About 28,000 tickets have been sold for the August 31 North Dakota State-Butler football game at Target Field, with capacity at over 38,000. NDSU is the defending Division I FCS national champion.

Target Field hosted a record Division III crowd of 37,355 in 2017 for the St. Thomas-Saint John’s football game. St. Peter said there are discussions about playing the November of 2021 Tommies-Johnnies football game at Target Field. Talks are ongoing, too, with the Minnesota Wild regarding an NHL Winter Classic at the downtown Minneapolis stadium.

Construction on the Minnesota United’s Allianz Field is complete, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for March 18 at the St. Paul stadium. The club reports the project generated more than 650,000 work hours, totaling over $46 million in wages, and that $167 million was awarded to companies located within 150 miles of Allianz Field.

Minnesota’s MLS team opens its regular season on Saturday (5 p.m. Twin Cities time) on the road against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The club has five new starters counting Slovakian Jan Gregus, 2017 MLS Defender of the Year Ike Opara, 2016 MLS Cup Champion Ozzie Alonso, Premier League goalie Vito Mannone and the only player from Madagascar in the league, Romain Metanire.

Coffey photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications

Amir Coffey is one of the Big Ten’s most versatile and skilled players. He will need to produce like he did last night (31 points, 12 rebounds in a must-win over lowly Northwestern) if the Gophers are to earn an NCAA Tournament invite. Minnesota entered the game as a projected last team entry in the tourney field of ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Men’s regular season MIAC basketball champion St. Thomas is in the Division III NCAA Tournament and so, too, is the conference’s playoff title winner, Saint John’s. The Tommies (22-4) have a tourney opening game tonight in Lincoln, Nebraska versus Wisconsin-La Crosse (17-9). The Johnnies (23-3) are at home tonight against Northwestern-St. Paul (21-6).

Pat McKenzie, only the 15th head men’s basketball coach in 113 years at Saint John’s, speaks to the CORES lunch group Thursday, March 14 at the Bloomington Event Center (formerly the Knights of Columbus building), 1114 American Blvd. For reservations and other information, contact Jim Dotseth by Monday, March 11, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Maybe Timberwolves starting point guard Jeff Teague has some Jimmy Butler in him. That was the view expressed yesterday by Mike Max on WCCO Radio who said it appears Teague plays in games when he wants to.

Butler, traded to the 76ers after his infamous start to the season with the Timberwolves, is one of the NBA’s better closers when his team creates isolation situations for him to score. The 76ers are among the NBA’s best clubs, partly because of Butler who will be a free agent after this season. He reportedly has given no assurances he will return to his new club.

New to major college hockey and ranked No. 12 nationally in the latest USCHO poll, Arizona State is in Minneapolis to play the Golden Gophers tonight and tomorrow evening at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The Gophers aren’t ranked in the 20-team poll but three schools from the state of Minnesota occupy top spots—St. Cloud State, No. 1; UMD, No. 3; and Minnesota State, No. 4.

Condolences to family and friends of “Bucky” Zimmerman, the former Gophers tennis player and Minneapolis attorney who died late last month. I knew “Bucky” and enjoyed his intellect, curiosity and easy-going manner. He was married to former WCCO TV anchor Pat Miles.

Comments Welcome

Big Vikings Decisions May Await Wilfs

Posted on December 31, 2018December 31, 2018 by David Shama

What does the Vikings ownership do now with their football leadership?

Staus quo?

Does the Wilf family even think about changing head coaches and/or general managers?

Zygi Wilf’s stated goal is a Super Bowl and before the 2018 season started the Vikings were among the NFL favorites to play in the big game next February. Yesterday the Vikings finished one of the most frustrating seasons in franchise history when they didn’t qualify for the playoffs and earn the opportunity to play in Super Bowl 53.

In five seasons as head coach Mike Zimmer has a 47-32-1 record. His clubs have won two NFC North Division championships. The Vikings reached the NFC title game about a year ago. That’s a better resume than a lot of franchises achieve over a five-year period.

Zygi Wilf has long been an admirer of former NFL coach Bill Parcells who also happens to be close with Zimmer. The Parcells influence reportedly was a factor in Zygi wanting Zimmer to be the coach. It might be difficult for the Wilfs to be emotionally invested in Zimmer and now consider parting ways.

Zimmer has mostly fulfilled expectations as a defensive coaching authority. There have been times when his units were among the NFL’s best. There have also been big moments like the NFC title game against the Eagles in January of 2018 when the defense didn’t show up in a 38-7 loss.

And late in yesterday’s game Minnesota needed to defeat the Bears to make the playoffs but the defense was subpar. Never was this more evident than in the fourth quarter when the Vikings trailed by three points, 13-10, but couldn’t stop the Bears from driving for a long touchdown and making a two-point conversion.

The Vikings haven’t found sustained offensive success during the Zimmer-Spielman partnership. The last few years have been a revolving door of offensive coordinators and quarterbacks. This season (8-7-1 final record) ended with an offense that lacked identity and productivity, and played a major role in the club defeating just one team with a winning record at the time the Vikings played them.

Spielman, who has been involved with player personnel decisions for the Vikings for 13 seasons, has struggled to put together an offensive line that is consistently successful. This season’s version played mostly mediocre football and sometimes awful like yesterday when the Bears just pushed Minnesota’s offensive linemen around on too many plays.

It was Spielman and Zimmer who decided spending a guaranteed $84 million last offseason on quarterback Kirk Cousins was a next step to a Super Bowl. Perhaps it will work out but so far Cousins, who often appears too deliberate in processing while in the pocket, has only added to his reputation of not being able to defeat winning teams (4-25 record).

Spielman has made many correct personnel moves over the years including draft choices like wide receiver Stefon Diggs, running back Dalvin Cook, tight end Kyle Rudolph, defensive ends Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter, and safety Harrison Smith. He has helped shape the franchise with free agent signings like defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Sheldon Richardson. He has also enhanced his roster with hard to find talent among undrafted college free agents (cue the music for wide receiver Adam Thielen).

Spielman is a high character guy who presumably has a solid track record of communications with the Wilfs. It’s hard not to like Spielman who counting his time with other NFL clubs has nearly 30 years of experience in player personnel work.

Since the Wilfs began operating the franchise in 2005, the value has increased dramatically. Zimmer and Spielman have played a major role in that monetary gain with Forbes now valuing the franchise at $2.4 billion. The Vikings, for whatever their season records, have been mostly entertaining and so popular in the state that no other sports entity is even worth mentioning in the same breath.

Yet during the Wilf era the team has won just two playoff games. Twice the Vikings have advanced to the NFC title game but didn’t advance to the Super Bowl. During the last five years the Vikings have missed the playoffs three times, with 2018 particularly frustrating and at times chaotic.

If the Wilfs were to change their football leadership, who would they turn to? There are many individuals who would love the opportunity to lead the franchise but the Wilfs know what they have in Zimmer and Spielman. Is that good enough for them?

Worth Noting

Fox TV analyst Troy Aikman talking yesterday about the Bears-Vikings game: “It will be a long offseason for Kirk Cousins and company.”

If Gophers junior wide receiver Tyler Johnson wants to apply for the 2019 NFL Draft, he and other underclassmen must do so by January 14. The draft is April 25-27 in Nashville.

Look for the Vikings to continue their interest in hosting a future draft.

The late Murray Warmath, the Gophers’ 1960 national championship football coach, would have been 106 years old last Wednesday. Former players remembered the coach’s influence on their lives in email exchanges.

The Twins have one of the five most improved farm systems in baseball, according to a Mlb.com story last Thursday by Jim Callis. He wrote that shortstop Royce Lewis and outfielder Alex Kirilloff “rank among the most elite prospects in the game.”

St. Thomas Academy running back Brendan McFadden, the Pioneer Press East Metro Player of the Year, has a preferred walk-on offer from Rice where 2017 Minnesota Mr. Football award winner Antonio Montero (Eden Prairie) is on the roster. Ivy League schools are also recruiting McFadden.

Linebacker Luke Herzog, also from St. Thomas Academy, will be a preferred walk-on at North Dakota.

The University of St. Thomas football team, 8-2 last season, was ranked No. 15 nationally by D3Football.com in its final poll. That’s the 10th consecutive year the Tommies have finished among the top 20 teams in the website’s final poll. Only two other Division III programs have accomplished that, Mount Union and Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Hill-Murray alum Jake Guentzel, the Penguins forward in town Monday night to play the Wild, has reason to celebrate the New Year. The 24-year-old recently signed a $30 million, five-year contract extension. Guentzel is in his third season with the Penguins and is on track for a career season in goals, assists and points.

Former Wild forward and Virginia, Minnesota native Matt Cullen, 42, has recently returned from the injured reserve list and is a valued leader on the Penguins.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor talking yesterday on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” show regarding a potential trade to help his inconsistent team: “I don’t see anything that is going to help in the near future.”

The Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball team the Gophers defeated yesterday, 71-53, is 3-10 on the season, and has played one other Big Ten team, losing to Maryland, 92-77.

Comments Welcome

Glen Taylor Talks about Butler Antics

Posted on November 16, 2018November 16, 2018 by David Shama

In a telephone interview Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said disgruntled Jimmy Butler misled him and he regrets trading for the former Chicago Bulls star. Taylor, though, wouldn’t criticize the man who recommended the 2017 trade—Tom Thibodeau, his president of basketball operations and head coach.

Butler’s childish antics at an expletive-laced practice last month and refusal to play in early season games were centerpieces to his strategy of forcing the Wolves to trade him, which they did several days ago acquiring three players and a future draft choice from the 76ers. It was a difficult trade process for the Wolves and one that Taylor advised Butler about, saying he should play in the games instead of opting out here and there.

“I said it was just necessary for him to do that even if he wanted to be traded,” Taylor told Sports Headliners. “That if you wanted to be traded, you want to put yourself in the best light. Other teams can see your behavior here. And it certainly slowed down the process for us and hurt us in negotiating with other teams in that they were concerned if that behavior would continue on with their team.”

The Wolves’ longtime owner said Butler indicated to him he would play in the games, saying he planned to play with heart while inferring it would be business as usual. Instead, Butler’s theatrics, including his infamous October practice where he reportedly yelled at teammates and Wolves brass, created a drama that became a national story.

“It (the weeks of unpredictable behavior) was certainly something that shouldn’t have happened,” Taylor said. “There’s nothing positive about it at all. I think you just have to assume that type of action by anybody affects the other people on the team. It’s not consistent with team play.”

Upon joining the 76ers this week Butler pronounced himself “an incredible human being.”

Taylor’s reaction? “I probably don’t want to comment,” he answered.

Glen Taylor (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves).

The Wolves had a losing record of 4-9 while Butler was with the team. Minnesota qualified for the playoffs last season and the team’s early record was a disappointment to Taylor who gave up promising guards Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn, plus the No. 7 first round pick in the 2017 draft, to acquire Butler.

“I would say it would never have occurred to me to give up those talented three young men that we did…if we were only talking about a year or two,” Taylor said. “I knew that he (Butler) was under contract for a couple of years and assumed that we would renew that contract.”

Butler was a controversial talent in Chicago who had played part of his career for Thibodeau. Should Thibodeau have known—or had assurances—that in acquiring one of the NBA’s best all-round players he was obtaining a talent who wasn’t making long-term promises of staying in Minneapolis?

“Maybe it just never really occurred to us to ask him that,” Taylor said. “Maybe we just made some assumptions that we shouldn’t have.”

Butler reportedly didn’t like his teammates and didn’t feel appreciated enough by the organization. A one season run was all the loyalty he cared to send Minnesota after the trade that brought him here.

Apparently Thibodeau and Taylor initially had other assumptions but the owner didn’t criticize his basketball leader. “Well, I probably shouldn’t point the finger at anybody else,” Taylor said. “Maybe I should have been as responsible for that as he.”

Taylor didn’t become a billionaire by being sidetracked with problems but he admitted to feeling some relief these days. “Well, I am much better now that it’s concluded (the trade),” he said. “During this whole last seven weeks it was time consuming and also unnerving in the sense that you didn’t know exactly what was going to be the final result.”

Worth Noting on Gophers & Vikings

It’s the City of Lakes versus the Windy City this weekend with the Gophers playing in Minneapolis on Saturday against Northwestern, and the Vikings in Chicago for a Sunday night assignment with the Bears.

Both the Gophers and Vikings were about three point underdogs earlier this week. That’s changed with the Gophers and Northwestern, and the game is now seen as closer to a tossup with wagers perhaps concerned about injuries taking a toll on the Wildcats.

The incentives for the Gophers and Vikings goes beyond Minnesota pride. The Gophers, with a 5-5 overall record, need a sixth win to earn bowl eligibility. The Vikings, 5-3-1, are trying to repeat as NFC North Division champions and four of their remaining seven games are against division rivals including two meetings with the Bears.

The question for the Gophers is what defense will show up at TCF Bank Stadium tomorrow? The unit that gave up 646 yards in a 55-31 loss to lowly Illinois? Or the group that limited explosive Purdue to just 233 yards in a 41-10 Minnesota win last Saturday?

It’s Senior Day tomorrow and among the Gophers playing his last game will be Eden Prairie’s Blake Cashman. His performance against Purdue has to be one of the most impressive ever by a Minnesota linebacker. The coaching staff graded him with a remarkable 58 points, the most ever during head coach P.J. Fleck’s nearly two seasons at Minnesota.

Former Gopher head coach Glen Mason, talking on the Big Ten Network this week, predicted Minnesota will defeat Northwestern and Wisconsin in its last two games of the season.

The Bears have lost three of their last four games against the Vikings but the 2018 Chicago team is revitalized with new or improved players. The Bears are 6-3 and whether the Vikings can leave Chicago late Sunday night in first place could come down to which quarterback is best late in the game.

The nationally televised game is a potential showcase for Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins, playing in his first season with the Vikings, and Chicago’s Mitch Trubisky who at 24 is having a breakout season. Cousins has made some pressure plays already this year for the Vikings but in his previous seasons with the Redskins was 4-19 against winning teams. He is 0-2 with the Vikings after losses to the 9-1 Saints and 8-1 Rams. Trubisky, this week’s NFC Offensive Player of the Week after last Sunday’s career best 355 passing yards, talked this fall about the importance of the Bears developing a “killer instinct.”

The game’s outcome could turn on one play including special teams. Three years ago in Chicago Marcus Sherels ran a punt back 65 yards for a touchdown as Minnesota won 23-20. Sherels, 31, along with defensive end Everson Griffen, are the longest tenured players with the club after joining the Vikings in 2010.

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