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

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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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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