Timberwolves – Page 72 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Zim Talks Division, but Goals Bigger

Posted on December 9, 2017December 9, 2017 by David Shama

A Saturday notes column kicking off with the Vikings.

Linebacker Ben Gedeon told Sports Headliners Mike Zimmer has talked to the Vikings this week about how the team can clinch the NFC North Division title and a playoff spot by winning Sunday against the Panthers, but then the coach added, “There are a lot bigger goals than just winning this week.”

Gedeon said the team reacted to Zimmer’s words by being quiet and professional. A steady approach reflects their coach. “I think that’s one thing you see with him is he is pretty consistent week to week and I think the message every week has been, ‘We haven’t done anything yet and…not looking too far ahead in the season,’ ” Gedeon said.

The Vikings have won eight consecutive games and with their 10-2 mark have the opportunity to finish the 16-game schedule with the best record in the NFC. They could have home field advantage throughout the payoffs and advance to the Minneapolis Super Bowl on February 4.

Zimmer was asked why some teams are better able to handle success than others. “I think it’s human nature. Some guys get full of themselves and go from there. Everybody is telling them how good they are and they listen.

“But it goes the other way, too. Everybody tells you how bad you are and you listen. It’s really human nature to back off of things.”

Defensive end Brian Robison, now in his 11th pro season, said he’s not surprised by the Vikings’ success. The team knew during the offseason the things that needed attention but realized the potential was present for success, he said. Included on the to-do list were how to handle “critical situations” in games.

A big year could have been derailed by the loss of starting quarterback Sam Bradford early in the season, but Case Keenum has impressed not only his teammates but NFL followers from coast-to-coast. Robison said he isn’t surprised by the performance of Keenum who came into the NFL in 2013 and has been with multiple teams before signing with Minnesota as a free agent this past offseason.

“I’ve known Case for awhile and I thought he’d been a good quarterback for a long time going back to his Houston days and even when he was in St. Louis,” Robison said. “I just think Case got caught up in a situation where he never really got that real opportunity and he was able to do it this year. He’s a smart player and he’s done some things for us this year that have helped us win ball games.”

The Vikings have used the same caterer for Friday locker-room buffets during their winning streak.

Vikings fans have been turning out in large numbers at away games this fall including in Landover, Maryland where a team spokesman estimated there were 5,000 to 10,000 cheering for Minnesota. The Skol chant prompted boos from Redskins fans in Landover. Historically, there have been large turnouts of Vikings fans for away games in Arizona and Florida.

“Get Inside the Game,” the interactive fan experience scheduled January 27-February 3 at the Minneapolis Convention Center as part of Super Bowl week activities, will charge admissions of $35 for adults and $25 for children 12 and under. Fans can experience NFL games via virtual reality technology, run a 40-yard dash against NFL players on a giant LED screen, obtain autographs from NFL players and learn football skills at clinics.

Twins general manager Thad Levine told Sports Headliners he doesn’t believe the franchise’s experience with Tsuyoshi Nishioka is a factor in negotiating with other Japanese players. Nishioka came to the Twins directly from Japan and failed with Minnesota before returning home. Now the Twins have interest in standout pitcher Yu Darvish, the native of Japan who is a free agent.

Levine said to his knowledge Darvish and his representatives won’t be affected by Nishioka’s experiences with Minnesota. He also said he didn’t think the history with Nishioka impacted the thinking of Shoehi Otani who eliminated the Twins and other teams before committing to the Angels.

Otani, often described as the Babe Ruth of Japanese baseball, is both a hitter and pitcher. Levine referred to him as a “significant prospect” who compares favorably with the best pitchers to come out of Japan.

Gopher junior Jordan Murphy, who has started the season with 10 consecutive double-doubles, isn’t projected to be selected in the two rounds of the 2018 NBA Draft, according to a mock listing by Nbadraft.net. Gary Trent Jr., the freshman at Duke and ex-Apple Valley star, is projected as the No. 15 selection in the first round. J.P. Macura, who played at Lakeville North and is a senior at Xavier, is predicted as a second round selection and the No. 55 pick.

Paolo Uggetti, writing December 6 for Theringer.com, said the Timberwolves starting lineup through 19 games logged more minutes than any other NBA team. Coach Tom Thibodeau used his starters 484 minutes, or 145 more than the No. 2 Pistons. Thibodeau, dating back to his first NBA head job with the Bulls, has long been known as a coach who likes to use his regulars for max minutes.

Dick Jonckowki said sportswriters LaVelle E. Neal and Charley Walters, along with ex-Gopher Jim Carter and former North Star Lou Nanne, will roast ESPN 1500 talk show host and Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse on January 26 at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul. The luncheon is sponsored by the Minnesota Minute Men and Jonckowski will emcee.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Lynx star Lindsay Whalen, 35, is thinking of retirement after next season. The Minnesota native could be considering her post-playing career options. She will serve as a Timberwolves analyst for eight games on Fox Sports North starting with Tuesday night’s telecast of the 76ers game.

Whalen’s coach, Cheryl Reeve, speaks to the CORES lunch group January 11 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Reeve has coached the Lynx to four WNBA championships in the last seven years. More information, including reservations, is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Dorothy McIntyre, the former executive with the Minnesota State High School League, has a new book called Two Rings: A Legacy of Hope. She co-authored the novel with Marian Bemis Johnson. McIntyre previously helped write a book about the early years of girls high school basketball in Minnesota.

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NBA Champs to Test Timberwolves

Posted on November 7, 2017November 9, 2017 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column including a look ahead to the Timberwolves game Wednesday evening against Golden State:

Tom Thibodeau told Sports Headliners yesterday his team’s game in Oakland tomorrow night against the defending champion NBA champions will be a “test,” but win or lose he won’t make too much out of the early season result.

The Wolves, 7-3, are on a five-game win streak—a franchise best since 2009. Optimism about making the playoffs for the first time since 2004 is growing with new starters Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson. They join two of the NBA’s better younger starters in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins—and Thibodeau, in his joint role as the franchise’s president of basketball operations and coach, has strengthened the bench this season.

Butler is a top 10 to 15 NBA player who at 6-7, 231 pounds, can guard all five positions. Some NBA authorities might include Towns in a top 15 listing of league players, and Wiggins could potentially be a top 25 player soon.

The Warriors, though, have two players who could be included among the NBA’s five best. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry are in the conversation when the elite players are talked about, and two more Warriors starters, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, are stars, too.

The two teams split a pair of exhibition games in China in September. Thibodeau said those games will help preparations for Wednesday night in California against a Warriors team that is 8-3 so far, and has won four consecutive games.

Fans are dazzled with the playmaking and shooting of the Warriors, but they excel on defense, too. They have won two of the last three NBA titles and are so young and so good that even an NBA All-Star team might not win in a seven-game series against them.

No wonder Thibodeau sees Wednesday night’s game as a test. The two teams play twice more this season—again in Oakland on January 25 and March 11 in Minneapolis.

Rochester John Marshall power forward Mathew Hurt watched Sunday’s Minnesota-Green Bay game at Maturi Pavilion. Hurt is ranked by recruiting authorities in the top five nationally among high school players in the class of 2019.

Minnesota writer and recruiting authority Ryan James told Sports Headliners Hurt could end his prep career as the highest ranked Minnesota boys high school basketball player ever. Hurt’s brother Michael is a sophomore reserve for the Gophers, and James believes that if the older Hurt’s experience continues to be positive it will help Minnesota’s chances in landing Matthew.

A winning season in the Big Ten and success in the NCAA Tournament will be factors too in the race to influence the younger Hurt. James said Hurt is far from a decision on his college choice, with the Gophers in the mix with some of college basketball’s blue bloods.

Power programs Duke, Kansas and North Carolina have extended scholarship offers. “I think they’re right there (the Gophers) having the same chance as everybody else,” James said.

Ryan said Hurt and his family haven’t announced a timeline for choosing a school. “He can take his time with his decision because every one of those schools is going to wait for him because he is that level of player.”

Ticket proceeds and a portion of the concessions and merchandise revenues from the Green Bay game are to be donated to the American Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico. The Gophers provided hotel rooms for the Green Bay staff and players on Saturday night but the Phoenix didn’t receive a fee for participating in the exhibition game.

The NCAA has allowed teams two exhibition games in the past but added a third this fall because of the disaster in Puerto Rico. Gophers coach Richard Pitino thinks it’s a “no- brainer” for future years regarding a third exhibition game with proceeds dedicated to a good cause.

The Gophers were impressive in a 115-86 win over the Phoenix but defense on both sides was sometimes lackadaisical. Gophers sophomore forward Amir Coffey showed his versatility, including scoring 26 points. He could be Minnesota’s best player in 2017-2018.

Freshman guard Isaiah Washington scored 24, and had a game-high six assists. His flashy style gave notice he could become the most electrifying playmaker ever at Minnesota.

Senior center Reggie Lynch picked up his third personal foul with 19:06 to play in the second half. Lynch, who fouled out eight times in 33 games last season, ranks near the top of the program’s best shot blockers ever but he has to avoid so many fouls in 2017-2018.

Pitino said Lynch understands he has to use better judgment. “We’re working on it,” Pitino said.

Former Apple Valley star Gary Trent Jr. is a freshman at Duke and Sports Illustrated’s basketball issue that came out last week predicts the shooting guard will average 10.8 points per game and 5.4 rebounds.

Ric Flair, the legendary professional wrestler who spent part of his youth in Edina, is the subject of ESPN’s documentary “Nature Boy” airing tonight as part of the network’s highly regarded “30-for-30” series. The program begins at 9 p.m.

In the prior hour, ESPN will air a show announcing MLB’s Gold Glove winners with Twins center fielder Byron Buxton expected to be among those honored.

The Gophers won Big Ten baseball championships in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Players and others associated with the program back then will hold a reunion next May. During that era Stew Thornley was a batboy with the Gophers, while Gregg Wong was an official scorer and public address announcer. Both are now Twins official scorers.

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Pressure on Wolves from Opening Tip

Posted on October 17, 2017October 17, 2017 by David Shama

With a disappointing past but an intriguing offseason of personnel changes, coach Tom Thibodeau and his players need to fulfill expectations in the months ahead. The Timberwolves, who haven’t earned their way into the NBA playoffs since 2004, open the regular season schedule Wednesday night in San Antonio against the Spurs, and the pressure to win starts this week.

The Wolves are a favorite of NBA authorities to qualify for the 2018 playoffs, perhaps finishing with the fifth best record in the Western Conference behind the Warriors, Spurs, Rockets and Thunder. If the team doesn’t make the playoffs the disappointed will include Wolves owner Glen Taylor. He told Sports Headliners Monday he shares the “high expectations” of fans and nothing else could balance out the club not playing in the postseason.

Taylor described the expectations for the playoffs as “good pressure” on the Wolves. “We have some very good players,” he said. “The coaching staff should be ready. I can’t think of any reason other than injuries that’s going to hold us back.”

Glen Taylor (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves).

Taylor is more excited going into this season than any in awhile. In the past he has been looking down the road, hoping for a playoff team eventually. “I think we’re there now,” he said. “We just have to produce.”

Thibodeau’s chair is a little warm after last season—his first as the franchise’s basketball czar. As coach and president, Taylor has entrusted his team’s future to Thibodeau who was one of pro basketball’s most successful coaches with the Bulls. The Wolves, though, underachieved last season when they won only 31 games, lost 51, and weren’t even a threat to make the playoffs.

Thibodeau, who in the past has been aloof with players, is considered an old-school coach demanding discipline and physical play starting with defense. The new era NBA—at least some places—seems to put an emphasis on chummy coach and player relationships, while tactically spreading the floor, using long distance shooting and multi-positional players.

Can Thibodeau make things work? Will the Wolves play differently than the grinder style characterizing the coach’s Bulls’ teams?

The Wolves, who open their home season Friday night against the Jazz, have three new starters and four newbies coming off the bench. Power forward Taj Gibson, small forward Jimmy Butler and point guard Jeff Teague join center Karl-Anthony Towns and shooting guard Andrew Wiggins as starters. Shooting guard Jamal Crawford is a key reserve.

With so many new faces there are questions? How will the club chemistry be? Will the players share the ball on offense and help each other on defense? Will they sacrifice their bodies and egos to achieve team success?

Among questions being asked is whether collectively the players will shoot well enough from the outside to help deliver a big year? Butler, Teague and Wiggins haven’t been that effective with perimeter shooting in the past.

The challenge of stepping it up faces all three, but maybe Wiggins more than the others. He just signed a mega contract and his physical gifts rank with the best in the NBA. That includes the potential to be a better long range shooter. But in his previous three NBA seasons Wiggins seems more interested in being isolated with the ball and slashing to the basket.

Thibodeau will ask for maximum effort and performance defensively from his players. As defenders, improvement will definitely be expected from Towns and Wiggins. Their buy-in will dictate a lot regarding the defensive prowess of this year’s team.

The hype is on about the Wolves. Butler, acquired in an offseason deal with the Bulls, is one of the NBA’s better all-around players, and at 28 presumably the veteran leader the club has been missing. Towns, the 21-year-old center going into his third NBA season, was named in a preseason poll of league general managers as the player they would most want to start a franchise with. Teague is expected to provide better shooting than former starter Ricky Rubio. Gibson, at 32, gives the Wolves experience at power forward, and Crawford, even older at 37, will play the role of three-point producer and scorer off the bench. That same general managers poll showed 69 percent forecast the Wolves to be the NBA’s most improved team.

Taylor said that unlike the past, Thibodeau hasn’t been critical of players when talking to him. “Listening to him…he’s really been pleased with just about all the players. As a matter of fact, I don’t recall anything negative he said about any player.

“The year before he always had bitter expectations of some of the guys that they could have done more, or a little bit (of) this. But this year he’s been really positive about the guys, and he’s pointed out a lot of good things that he sees. That’s not just the starting five, but everybody on the team.”

Worth Noting

In its NBA preview edition that came out last week, Sports Illustrated ranked the league teams 1-30 for entertainment value using criteria that included “style of play, firepower, age, health, coaching and personality.” The Wolves ranked No. 7 after the Warriors, Rockets, Thunder, Celtics, Cavaliers and Bucks.

The magazine projects the Wolves will finish fifth in the Western Conference behind the Warriors, Rockets, Spurs, and Thunder. S.I. raves about Towns. Writing that Towns “flashed talent seldom seen from a second-year big man,” the magazine reported that following the NBA All-Star break last winter Towns averaged 28.4 points per game on 59.7 percent shooting with 13.4 rebounds.

The Timberwolves and city of Minneapolis officials are justifiably excited to showcase their $145 million Target Center renovation on Friday night for the team’s home opener. The concourse and bowl improvements include a new state-of-the-art scoreboard, better restrooms, new seats, upgraded sound system and digital signage. There is also new luxury seating, and exterior changes including a new three-story glass atrium.

City officials, though, should be concerned about downtown’s reputation for public safety. The threat of violence and individuals who harass others on downtown streets are issues that worry patrons attending events on Hennepin Avenue, and at Target Center and Target Field.

Taylor’s Lynx have won four WNBA championships but he said the 2017 title stands out after a controversial officiating call played a role in his 2016 team losing in the finals. “This is a good one. This is right up there (among the best title winning years) just because I was so disappointed last year and how that got refereed at the end (of the championship game). We lost something which I thought we deserved to win.”

If the Lynx receive an invitation to be honored at the White House, Taylor said it won’t happen for awhile. Most likely a White House visit would coincide with a scheduled Lynx game in Washington D.C. against the Mystics.

U.S. Bank Stadium’s five pivoting doors were opened at 9 a.m. Sunday for the Vikings-Packers game that started at noon. The outside temperature was 43 degrees. The doors (95 feet tall at their peaks) are popular for the outside feel they contribute to the roof covered facility, but fans in the west stands sometimes complain about cold air.

A street seller was asking $125 for an inexpensive seat for last Sunday’s game, and $300 to $400 for better seats.

A parking lot across from the stadium was charging $55, while eight to 10 blocks away the rate was $20 per vehicle. The cost was $30 about six blocks from the stadium. Meters on the street charged $25.

Vikings second-year receiver Laquon Treadwell had fans raving over his one-handed catch in the Packer game. Treadwell said it was the second best reception of his life, with an even better one playing in college for Mississippi.

The Gophers’ fragile bowl hopes start with a must win Saturday at home against Illinois, the Big Ten’s worst team. Minnesota, 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Big Ten, could get to the prerequisite six victories and a bowl invitation by defeating Illinois and Nebraska at home, and Northwestern on the road.

Iowa athletic director Gary Barta, who played high school football for Burnsville, is taking an extended leave of absence because of surgery and treatment for prostate cancer.

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