Timberwolves – Page 71 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Ring Not Money Excites Vikings Joseph

Posted on January 9, 2018January 9, 2018 by David Shama

Linval Joseph has one Super Bowl ring and the Vikings’ defensive tackle wants another.

Joseph was a 23-year-old second-year pro when he started for the Giants in their 2012 Super Bowl win over the Patriots. This week he and his Vikings teammates are preparing for their playoff game against the Saints, while hoping it will be the first of three tests ending with a Super Bowl title in U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4.

Each player on the Super Bowl winning team will receive over $100,000 but that’s not Joseph’s incentive. “It’s mostly about the ring, (rather) than the money,” Joseph told Sports Headliners. “You really don’t get that much money playing extra games. It’s about the ring and that’s what’s most important right now. Minnesota has never won a Super Bowl, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done here before.”

Not only are the Vikings 0-4 in Super Bowls, but no team has ever played the big game in its home stadium. Joseph believes the Vikings are a better group than the 2012 Giants. “I think this is the top team I’ve ever played on.”

Joseph played four seasons with the Giants before signing as a free agent with the Vikings in 2014. “This team is younger than the Giants (were),” he said. “This team feels as hungry as the Giants were when I played with them in 2010, 2011.

“So this is a great team. I’ve seen the growth in the last four years of this team, and I just can’t wait to go to war with this team.”

Case Keenum (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Joseph is part of an elite defense that Vikings fans expected to excel, but there were doubts about the offense after journeyman quarterback Case Keenum replaced the injured Sam Bradford starting with the October 15 game against the Packers. Keenum has been outstanding, playing a major role in helping the Vikings to 10 wins in the next 11 games.

Joseph played for East Carolina in college and competed against Keenum who was setting NCAA records at Houston. Joseph said he isn’t surprised by Keenum’s success, although some others in football are. Keenum never established himself as a full-time starter playing for two other NFL franchises. Even coming out of college he was labeled too short to be a big time prospect (generously listed by the Vikings at 6-feet-1).

“Case is sneaky really good, and the world got to see him this year,” Joseph said about the Vikings quarterback who wasn’t drafted coming out of college. “I am happy for him… because he works his butt off to get where he is at.”

Joseph said players are labeled—often unfairly—coming out of college into the NFL but that now the Vikings have “a hell of a quarterback.” Keenum was signed as a free agent during the last offseason.

The Vikings, 13-3, are a favorite of odds-makers to win two games in the NFC playoffs and advance to the Super Bowl. What could derail the team? “Not staying focused,” Joseph said. “…We know what we gotta do and coach (Mike) Zimmer is going to make sure we…do that.”

Joseph welcomes the possibility the Vikings could play all three postseason games indoors at U.S. Bank Stadium. Two years ago the stadium hadn’t been completed and playing outdoors at TCF Bank Stadium would have been the alternative for Vikings’ home NFC playoff games.

“I feel the weather (when cold like last week) is a big difference,” Joseph said. “The ball is different; you move different.”

Worth Noting

Joseph, 29, talking about how much longer he wants to play: “Until God tells me I can’t play no more. Right now I feel good. …I love my job. I wouldn’t trade it for any job in the world right now.”

Offensive lineman Joe Berger, 35, is a free agent after the playoffs. Berger told Sports Headliners he considered retiring prior to the 2017 season and remains undecided about his future. “If nobody (the Vikings or another team) calls the decision is easy, right? We’ll see (in) February-March, figure out what we want to do.”

Pro Football Focus tweeted that Viking All-Pro Harrison Smith graded the highest ever for a safety in the last 12 years. Smith was named to the Associated Press first team all-defense last week.

Minnesota wide receiver Adam Thielen made second-team AP all-pro offense. His 1,276 receiving yards and 91 receptions ranked among NFL leaders. He is only the third undrafted NFL player since 1970 to exceed 90 catches and 1,200 yards. The others are Rod Smith and Wes Welker.

With a playoff bye last weekend, the Vikings had time off and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur reportedly interviewed for NFL head coaching openings with the Bears and Giants in recent days. He has previous head coaching experience with the Browns.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph. “I think he deserves it (the interviews), and I know he’ll be a great head coach in this league again. I think it’s a testament to him and the way he’s really brought our offense to a top 10 offense in this league.”

Word is WCCO Radio and legendary Sid Hartman, who turns 98 in March, have been talking contract extension. Hartman has been part of programming at the station since the 1950s.

American singer, song writer and actress PINK will sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in Minneapolis, the NFL announced Monday.

Don’t be surprised if an announcement is made soon that two college basketball games will be played on the same date in U.S. Bank Stadium next December. It’s been known the Golden Gophers will play one game there to help the facility and NCAA with 2019 Final Four preparations, but there could be a second game, too, so watch for more.

Nancy Lindahl, who along with her husband John Lindahl have been generous donors to University of Minnesota athletics, is the 2018 “Head Coach” of the Twin Cities Dunkers. In her role she presides over meetings, and also schedules guests for the organization that recognizes and pays tribute to athletic achievers.

The Cavs defeated the Timberwolves six consecutive times by an average of 17.7 points prior to last night’s loss at Target Center. The Wolves led by 35 points going into the fourth quarter and won the game 127-99. The Wolves have now held six straight opponents under 100 points.

Minnesota, 26-16, and leading the Northwest Division, has won as many games as the 26-14 Cavs, a team among the favorites to win the NBA title in 2018.

The best player on the floor last night was Wolves forward Jimmy Butler whose defense against LeBron James was superb, helping to hold the superstar forward to 10 points. Butler scored 21, with nine assists and eight rebounds.

The Gophers and college basketball’s elite are recruiting Rochester John Marshall power forward Matthew Hurt who is among the top players nationally in the class of 2019. Ed Rauen, the longtime Rochester radio man who has seen all the state’s best high school big men dating back to the early 1950s, told Sports Headliners the athletic Hurt can be better than any of them.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association is helping promote the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Mini-Camps for middle and high school football players during the week leading up to the Super Bowl. The training sessions, covering various experiences, will be held at Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine downtown.

The Gophers men’s tennis team is in Australia for a 10-day preseason training trip. The team left Minneapolis last Thursday for the 9,500-mile trek. Minnesota opens its season January 20 against North Carolina State at the Baseline Center.

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Jim Dutcher Upbeat on Gophers

Posted on January 7, 2018January 7, 2018 by David Shama

It’s been a difficult couple of days for the Golden Gophers basketball program after losing two starters indefinitely, but Jim Dutcher is keeping an optimistic perspective for now. News came late last week that senior center Reggie Lynch is suspended from games and sophomore forward Amir Coffey is unable to play because of a shoulder injury.

If Coffey can play again after a short absence Dutcher believes Minnesota could pull off a fourth place final finish in the Big Ten. A return before long by Lynch, too, may result in third place, according to Dutcher who was the Gopher head coach from 1975-1986.

The Gophers struggled last night without Coffey and Lynch, losing to Indiana 75-71. The defeat left Minnesota with a 2-2 Big Ten record, with 14 more games remaining on the conference schedule. “They still got a lot to play for,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

Dutcher, though, acknowledges “all bets are off” if the Gophers must play without Lynch and Coffey for several weeks. Lynch is appealing a decision by the University of Minnesota to ban him from campus for more than two years for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy. Athletic director Mark Coyle announced a suspension of Lynch from playing in games on Friday. Although Lynch is practicing with the Gophers, it might be likely he will never play for Minnesota again. Even if the University reversed itself after appeal, Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino could decide Lynch doesn’t meet his standards for being on the team.

Pitino isn’t creating any specific timeline for the return of either Lynch or Coffey, whose shoulder injury apparently is significant enough to cause speculation he could be out for many weeks. Challenging, too, is the schedule ahead that has the Gophers playing five road games between now and February 4. During that period Minnesota plays twice at home and also has a neutral court game on January 20 in New York City against Ohio State.

Senior Bakary Konate replaced Lynch at center last night, while sophomore Michael Hurt had Coffey’s forward spot. Lynch was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year last season and entered the Indiana game with about three times more blocked shots than any other Gopher. Coffey, a Big Ten all-freshman last season, is Minnesota’s third leading scorer and perhaps the team’s most versatile and unselfish player.

Konate scored two points against Indiana in 27 minutes. He had four rebounds and blocked three shots. Hurt, in 31 minutes, took one shot and didn’t score. He had four rebounds, all of them in the first half.

Late last summer Minnesota lost its best bench player for the season. Promising sophomore forward-center Eric Curry is sidelined following knee surgery. Now with Lynch and Coffey out, the Gophers are without three of their top six players.

“They went from having a Big Ten championship as a goal, to (now) trying to qualify for the (NCAA) Tournament as a goal,” Dutcher said. “They’re not going to win the Big Ten championship.”

Worth Noting

Dutcher believes Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan will finish one, two and three in the final Big Ten standings. MSU is not only the league favorite but could win the school’s first national championship since 2000.

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to promote the old Minneapolis Lakers jerseys, and the team wore them in a game last week at Target Center against the Timberwolves. The popular MPLS jerseys prompted a telephone call to Bob Stein, the Timberwolves first president, to ask if franchise ownership and management considered naming the team Minneapolis instead of Minnesota back in the late 1980s. Stein didn’t recall serious discussion about using the city’s name, noting the franchise wanted to represent the larger Minnesota market despite the history of the state’s first NBA team being named Minneapolis.

Regarding the choice of Timberwolves as the nickname, Stein said a naming contest open to the public generated many suggestions including the Minnesota Mosquitoes. Others that drew amusement from the team’s front office were:

Minnesota Taxes$; Minnesota Fats; Minnesota Uff Da’s; Minnesota Loona-Ticks; and Minnesota Yumpin’ Yacks.

Timberwolves was a fan favorite but Stein said the organization’s inner circle “winked” on the final tabulation of voting by the public. The outcome, he suggested, was not unlike some “alleged political elections.”

SI.com’s famous NFL writer Peter King, writing last Thursday, predicted the Vikings will win Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis with a 27-23 victory over the Patriots.

SI.com announced its NFL individual award winners last week including Coach of the Year. Sean McVay from the Rams won the award, while the Vikings’ Mike Zimmer was runner-up finishing 25 points behind in voting.

Patrick Mader, the Northfield-based author who wrote the book Minnesota Gold detailing the lives of many Minnesota Olympians, emailed this historical note to Sports Headliners: “In the late 1940s, a young, energetic, and politically ambitious American city mayor was on an Olympic Committee bidding to host the 1952 Summer Games which ended being runner-up to Helsinki, Finland. The mayor was Hubert Humphrey and the runner-up city (tied) was Minneapolis.”

Next month’s Winter Olympics will be in South Korea. Mader predicted Jessie Diggins, a graduate of Stillwater High School who is from Afton, has “a good chance” to win the first Olympic medal in cross-country skiing ever by an American woman. A 2014 Olympian who has an outstanding World Cup record, the 26-year-old is expected to be named to the 2018 Olympic team later this month.

When the Twins go to spring training it will be interesting to see if Brian Dozier is finally moved out of the leadoff spot in the batting order. The team’s power hitting second baseman has led the club in home runs (76) the last two seasons but has batted leadoff because Minnesota didn’t have anyone more suited for the spot that requires foot speed and consistency at the plate. With center fielder Byron Buxton hitting around .300 for part of last season and showing extraordinary speed, it appears the fourth-year Twin could be the new leadoff man, with Dozier moving down to third or fourth in the batting order.

Carl Pohlad, the deceased Twins owner who passed away in early January of 2009, would be pleased his farm system developed most of the franchise’s promising core of position players that includes Buxton, Dozier, third baseman Miguel Sano, left fielder Eddie Rosario, right fielder Max Kepler and shortstop Jorge Polanco.

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Fleck Talks Up New Wide Receiver

Posted on December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 by David Shama

The 26-man Gophers football class announced yesterday on National Signing Day is ranked the best in the Big Ten West Division but that doesn’t mean the majority of players will be ready to make an impression on the field next fall.

The surest contributor could be four-star wide receiver Rashod Bateman from Tifton, Georgia. “I think he can make the biggest impact for us right now because we need some speed, some explosiveness, some playmaking ability on the outside, and I think he does that,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck told the Big Ten Network yesterday.

Minnesota had one of the more unproductive passing offenses in major college football last season. The issue wasn’t just the quarterbacks, it was the inability of receivers to get open.

Playing for Tift County High School this year, Bateman had 83 receptions for 1,539 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was good enough that national power Georgia tried to persuade him to change the verbal commitment he made to the Gophers in June.

Allen Trieu from 247Sports, the recruiting authority that gives the Gophers 2018 class a composite No. 30 national rankingy, talked about the 6-2, 185-pound Bateman on the Big Ten Network yesterday. “Rashod Bateman is one of the best athletes in this class,” Trieu said. “A kid that Minnesota got on early, got him committed after one of their satellite camps, and had to hold off Georgia, Texas A&M, a bunch of schools…late.

“…Really athletic kid. He was a high school basketball prospect. Penn State, Virginia Tech, both offered him. His basketball (team) won a state title. I think you’ll see him out there on the field next year.”

Bateman is one of 10 candidates for the American Family All-USA Offensive Player of the Year award reported on this fall in USA Today. Ryan Burns, publisher of GopherIllustrated website affiliated with 247Sports, refers to Bateman as the “crown jewel” of Minnesota’s 2018 class.

Fleck photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications

After being hired in January of this year, Fleck and his assistants had to scramble in signing their 2017 recruiting class last February which had a No. 59 composite ranking from 247Sports. From that 25-man group, only a few earned significant minutes including wide receiver Demetrius Douglas and safety Ken Holly-Handy.

But more players are likely to emerge from the 2018 class to help next fall. Minnesota has needs not only at receiver but in the offensive line and at quarterback, and a number of recruits are intriguing at those positions. Names include junior college tackle Jason Dickson and four-star prep guard Curtis Dunlap. Vic Viramontes, labeled by 247Sports as the best dual-threat junior college quarterback in the country, could emerge from spring practices as Minnesota’s No. 1 quarterback.

Worth Noting

Fleck signed five state of Minnesota players yesterday and signed the same number last February. Big Ten recruiting has become such a national hunt for talent that signing a small number of Minnesotans isn’t unusual. Ohio State has signed four Ohioans in a state long known for its high school football excellence, according to a listing by 247Sports which also ranked the Buckeyes class No 2 in the nation.

Among Fleck’s five Minnesotans, Josh Aune is the first player from the St. Paul public schools to sign a National Letter of Intent with the Gophers in 15 years. The athletic Aune may become a safety at Minnesota.

Jerry Kill, who announced his resignation this week as Rutgers offensive coordinator because of health concerns, told Sports Headliners he will take some time off to decide about future plans. The 56-year-old former Gophers coach and his wife Rebecca are returning to their home in Illinois. They recently became grandparents for the first time.

Fleck announced today that defensive backfield coach Maurice Lindguist, known for his teaching skills and ability to recruit players in Texas and Georgia, will now have the title of assistant head coach.

Anthony Barr has to be a focus of security protection when the Vikings are in Wisconsin for Saturday night’s game with the Packers. Barr has been threatened by fans since he tackled quarterback Aaron Rodgers, resulting in a broken collarbone in the Vikings-Packers game in Minneapolis October 15.

Accuweather.com forecasts a Green Bay temperature of 16 degrees and wind gusts of 14 MPH nearing kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night.

There’s fond reminiscing about cold weather Vikings games in the 1960s and 1970s at the old Met Stadium but because of shorter NFL seasons and earlier playoff dates, only one game was ever played in January. That was the January 4, 1970 NFL championship game.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer responding yesterday to a question if there is a difference in playing a team like the Packers that is eliminated from qualifying for the playoffs, and if he talks to his players about it: “…It’s a division game. We have a lot to play for. What I talked to them about was two weeks ago we lost. We had a new sense of urgency and a new focus, and that’s what we need to do again.

“Just because we won this last week doesn’t mean, ‘Ok, we can go back to how we were,’ and end up getting beat. We just try to stay on point with everything we do, and continue to move forward and continue to try to get wins.”

A factor in the Twins’ reported willingness to spend big money in pursuit of free agent pitcher Yu Darvish could be that Joe Mauer’s $184 million contract expires after the 2018 season. It wouldn’t be surprising if Mauer, who will be 35 by then and is a committed family man, retires in the fall of 2018. But if he decides to play a 16th season with the Twins he will be taking a “haircut” in compensation.

Mauer’s grandfather, Jake Mauer, was friends with the late Ralph Jon Fritz, the former WCCO TV sportscaster who passed away earlier this month. After Fritz moved to Florida years ago, he and Jake played golf together.

FOX Sports North will televise “Twins Town Hall” live from the Target Field Champions Club tonight starting at 7 p.m. A discussion will include Joe Mauer, manager Paul Molitor, and team executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. The group will be in front of a live studio audience consisting of season ticket holders and select fans. Fans may submit questions for the panel via Twitter: @fsnorth, #TwinsTownHall.

The basketball Gophers are 3-0 historically against Oral Roberts, the team they play tonight at Williams Arena. The Tulsa-based school is named after the late Oral Roberts who was known as a TV faith healer.

The Golden Eagles are 4-10 this season, including a 104-69 loss to Arkansas Tuesday night. The Razorbacks defeated Minnesota 95-79 earlier this month.

ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy said during last week’s Minneapolis telecast of the Timberwolves-Sixers game he was surprised about local concerns regarding the Wolves’ performance this season. His take is positive, noting this is a franchise that hasn’t had a team in the playoffs since 2004. The Wolves, who are 19-13 and in first place in the Northwest Division, have the fourth best record in the Western Conference.

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