Timberwolves – Page 90 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Gophers Hope RB Numbers Add Up

Posted on March 4, 2015March 4, 2015 by David Shama

Gophers football notes:

Minnesota started spring practice yesterday and will have 15 total sessions including the April 11 spring game at TCF Bank Stadium. The game and most practices (all at Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex) are open to the public. The first of the practices fans can attend is this Saturday starting at 9:50 a.m.

The coaching staff will evaluate candidates to replace David Cobb, last season’s senior running back who rushed for 2,893 career yards, seventh best in program history. Gophers authority Darrell Thompson believes Cobb, who was a 100 yard rusher in all 13 games as a senior, may not be replaced by one individual next fall, but instead the coaches will use a “committee approach.”

There are several candidates for playing time including senior Rodrick Williams, redshirt sophomore Berkley Edwards, and redshirt freshmen Jeff Jones and Rodney Smith. Then the crowd of hopefuls grows larger in a few months with the arrival of freshmen running backs Shannon Brooks, Jonathan Femi-Cole and James Johannesson.

The candidate group offers power, speed, quickness and athleticism. Some players like Williams (bull rushing power) and Edwards (sprinter speed) possess more defined attributes while others appear to have more of a skills mix. Thompson, the Gophers’ all-time leading career rusher and now an analyst on the team’s radio broadcasts, can foresee using multiple runners with different styles each game. “Quite honestly, that’s what you want,” he said.

Thompson anticipates seeing even two of the running backs in the game together, along with junior quarterback Mitch Leidner who is a physical rusher. Such a setup could, for example, have Leidner running a quarterback keeper, or Edwards on a jet sweep or Williams busting up the middle. “I would like the defense to be thinking about all three of those things, versus they’re just going to hand the ball off to someone on the inside,” Thompson said.

He predicted Cobb could be selected between the second and fifth rounds in this spring’s NFL Draft. As a senior Cobb set school single season records with 314 rushing attempts and 1,626 yards.

Cobb combines speed and power but perhaps his best attribute is his ability to anticipate and see openings to run. “I think he’s certainly an NFL back,” Thompson said. “He’s got the poise, he’s got the strength, he’s got the size (and) he’s got the speed. He (also) has the patience.”

Cobb and tight end Maxx Williams, a redshirt sophomore last fall who has opted for the 2015 NFL Draft, were the big play producers on offense in 2014. There will be a number of candidates to replace Williams including former Blaine High School player Duke Anyanwu who has yet to catch a pass for Minnesota in a game.

Anyanwu, a redshirt sophomore, missed last season because of a knee injury. Gophers coach Jerry Kill said on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle program Sunday that before Anyanwu was injured the plan was to have him on the field at times with Williams.

“You’re going to see Duke has his confidence back,” Williams said. “Duke is moving around great. I ran routes with him a few times. Duke looks great, probably the best he’s been here. He worked hard to get back.”

Nice guy Barry Mayer has former teammates with the Gophers rooting for the success of his son Adam Mayer. Adam will be a preferred walk-on for the Gophers this year after a prep career at De La Salle High School in Concord, California. The younger Mayer caught 27 passes for 486 yards and two touchdowns as a senior. Barry was a star running back for the Gophers from 1968-1970.

The Goal Line Club is having a membership drive and encourages Gophers football fans to learn more about club benefits at Goallineclub.com. Membership for one year costs $100 and runs from May 1, 2015-April 30, 2016.

Basketball Notes

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said in the months ahead Flip Saunders, the coach and president of basketball operations, will work to improve the roster’s defensive personnel. “…I think we can see some offensive skills but if he’s going to get deep into the playoffs he’s just got to have guys that can play defense.”

Targeted for defensive improvement will be the power forward position. Last month the Wolves added 20-year NBA vet Kevin Garnett and rookie Adreian Payne to the roster in hopes of strengthening that spot. Garnett, 38, is one of the NBA’s all-time defensive greats but his body is wearing out, while Payne, 24, only played three games with the Hawks, his former team, and is learning the pro game.

Taylor said Saunders considered using a lottery pick to acquire Payne in last June’s NBA Draft. Instead, Saunders just couldn’t pass up drafting ultra athletic guard Zach LaVine at No. 13, while the Hawks chose Payne two picks later. Taylor said Payne’s potential is apparent including his ability to defend and rebound. At 6-10, 245, with long arms, Payne’s body resembles Garnett’s, 6-11, 253.

“He’s just beginning to play and the season is half over, and all the other guys have played…but he’s got the potential,” Taylor said. “You can just see that.”

Taylor said the Timberwolves aren’t for sale, although in the future he might allow limited partners to buy into the franchise he has controlled since 2005. “…We’re working on that (new) practice facility. We’re working on the (renovation of) Target Center. I want to get those projects done and see how it works. I am excited about our team’s future.”

Awhile ago he talked with Dr. Bill McGuire about Timberwolves ownership. Now the two men have had conversations about McGuire bringing an MLS franchise to Minneapolis. Taylor, however, hasn’t committed money yet to the franchise McGuire is hoping to acquire if the league expands into Minneapolis.

Taylor’s WNBA franchise, the Lynx, starts its regular season June 5. He said “the area of concern” is adding more height to the roster. Mercury star center Brittney Griner is 6-8 and she helped Phoenix to the WNBA title while averaging 15.5 points and six blocks per game in the finals. Her presence has WNBA teams on the lookout for tall players. Taylor said the Wolves need help for 6-2 starting center Janel McCarville.

One possibility could be Amber Harris, 6-5, who was a reserve with the Lynx in 2013. She didn’t play for the Lynx last season but Taylor indicated her return is a possibility.

A year ago no one foresaw the major developments ahead for the Gophers women’s basketball program. Coach Pam Borton was fired in late March and replaced by Marlene Stollings, the former VCU women’s coach. Then in December guard Rachel Banham, the preseason choice for Big Ten Player of the Year, tore an ACL and was lost for the season. But Minnesota still had a successful season led by Stollings, sophomore center Amanda Zahui B., senior forward Shae Kelley and freshman guard Carlie Wagner.

It was Zahui B. who won the media’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Player of the Year award this week. She finished the regular season with averages of 18.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4 blocks per game, with a .553 (214-387) field goal percentage.

Her numbers are impressive, too, against teams ranked in the top 25—averaging 25.8 points, 16.8 rebounds, 4.3 blocks and 2 steals per game with a .548 field goal percentage.

Kelley wasn’t even on the roster a year ago. A transfer from Old Dominion, she was named first team All-Big Ten by the media after almost averaging a double-double with 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds. Minnesota was 10-3 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten games when Kelley led the team in scoring.

Wagner, from New Richland, Minnesota, made the coaches’ Big Ten All-Freshman Team after averaging 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. She scored 10 or more points 21 times, including 11 straight games from January 18-February 21. She ranks second on the team in three-point field goals with 55.

The Gophers, 11-7 in conference games this year, play their Big Ten Tournament opening game tomorrow night in suburban Chicago against the winner of tonight’s Wisconsin-Purdue game. Minnesota is the No. 6 tournament seed.

Comments Welcome

Look for KG to Play All Home Games

Posted on March 2, 2015March 2, 2015 by David Shama

The Timberwolves have 11 remaining home games this season. Fans can expect to see Kevin Garnett in every one of those games in Minneapolis.

“He will play them all at home, and then some of them (13) away,” Wolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners during a telephone interview.

Garnett, the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer, returned to the Wolves via trade last month and made his debut last Wednesday night before a standing room only audience at Target Center. Garnett, who played for the Wolves for 12 years before being traded away in 2007, is no longer able to play a lot of minutes because of his aging body (he turns 39 May 19th).

In Wednesday’s game he played 19 minutes during the home win over the Wizards, and then watched the entire game from the bench on Friday night when the Wolves lost in Chicago to the Bulls. Saturday evening he played 15 minutes in a home loss to the Grizzlies before being ejected from the game for a second technical foul.

Hit by injuries that sidelined three starters for more than 100 games this season, the Wolves have struggled on the court while compiling one of the NBA’s worst records. The result has been problems at the box office and overall minimal interest in the team including poor TV ratings. The Wolves are last in home NBA attendance averaging 14,225 fans per game, according to Espn.com. Tickets have not only gone unsold but seats already purchased haven’t been used for many games this season at Target Center.

All of that and more is why bringing back Garnett was a calculated business decision by the franchise. In acquiring Garnett from the Nets in a trade that sent Thaddeus Young to Brooklyn, the Wolves agreed to pick up the remaining money owed to Garnett on his contract this season—about $4 million.

Garnett’s presence in a Wolves uniform and playing 13 home games before the season ends on April 15 is probably worth at least a few million dollars in additional revenue to Taylor’s club. The Wolves drew a second consecutive sellout (19,356) on Saturday night and even if Garnett helps the franchise attract only an additional 2,000 fans per game the revenues will be significant. Tickets, concessions and merchandise are all impacted by Garnett. His presence also increases the likelihood of fans using tickets purchased before he came back to town.

“I think we’ve really got a lot of interest (with Garnett back),” said Taylor who told Sports Headliners in January he anticipated the franchise losing a couple million dollars this season.

There’s an economic impact tied to Garnett for next season, too. Getting more fans in the building now to see the team’s roster of high potential players like 2014 first round draft choices Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine is the kind of “product sampling” Taylor and staff marketers want. The potential for selling more season tickets has increased and the renewed interest in the franchise can also impact potential revenue areas such as suite sales, sponsorship and advertising.

Garnett was only 19 when the Wolves made him their No. 1 draft choice in 1995. He is the greatest player in team history and seen as the face of the franchise. His intensity and zeal to win can be inspirational to teammates and fans. The energy Garnett created in Target Center for the first two games put new life into the fans and the Wolves who have a near worst league record of 13-45.

“He just has a showmanship about him,” Taylor said. “…The way he points his fingers and the look on his face and stuff like that. The whole crowd loves it.”

Garnett is a free agent after this season but indications from him are that if he chooses to play a 21st season in the NBA it will be for the Wolves. Taylor said there is no agreement yet about next season but the owner seemed upbeat a deal could be made. “If he remains healthy I am optimistic that he would probably want to continue try playing.”

Worth Noting

Garnett’s first home game with the Wolves last Wednesday night offered a boost in Fox Sports North’s audience compared with typical viewership of the NBA team on the cable network. A Sports Headliners source e-mailed that viewership was “four or five times better” than a typical game on Fox but because of the Wolves’ poor record this season viewership numbers have been low. At peak viewing on Wednesday night about 139,000 people were watching the game.

The telecast of last Tuesday night’s Wild game against the Oilers was the highest-rated regular season Wild game ever on Fox Sports North. The viewing audience was over 200,000.

The prediction here remains the same as months ago: in the near future U.S. Bank will buy the naming rights for the new Vikings stadium. You wonder, though, how the Adrian Peterson controversy is affecting sponsorship relations for the Vikings. Certainly Peterson’s incident with his son last year provoked concerns from corporate supporters of the Vikings and the NFL. More recently Peterson’s publicized reservations about returning to Minnesota added to speculation about how his association with the Vikings might be perceived by the public if he plays here in 2015. When companies invest millions for sponsorships and other affiliations with sports teams, controversy and public disapproval aren’t developments they want associated with their brands.

The Gophers basketball team plays No. 6 ranked (AP poll) Wisconsin on Thursday night at Williams Arena. Last season Minnesota upset the Badgers in Minneapolis and Jim Dutcher told Sports Headliners it could happen again. The former Gophers coach said the Badgers struggle against guards who penetrate toward the goal, and also Minnesota center Mo Walker matches up effectively against Wisconsin Player of the Year Candidate Frank Kaminsky. “They’re built to really play well against a team like Wisconsin,” Dutcher said.

Walker and point guard DeAndre Mathieu each scored 18 points in last year’s 81-68 win at home. Mathieu’s quickness could be effective again and Dutcher advised watching Minnesota junior college transfer Carlos Morris, a 6-5 wing with NBA type slashing ability. “Morris could have a great game against Wisconsin just taking the ball to the basket,” Dutcher said.

The Badgers, 14-2 in Big Ten games, defeated Minnesota, 63-53, in Madison on February 21. The Gophers, 6-10 with two regular season games remaining, had thoughts of a winning conference record before the season and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA dream is gone unless Minnesota wins the Big Ten Tournament later this month. A victory over the Badgers would be a morale boost. “This is almost a season salvager for the Gophers,” Dutcher said.

Multiple sources have said East Ridge High School junior quarterback Seth Green, considered the top Minnesota prep football recruit for the class of 2016, will play his senior season for Allen High School in Allen, Texas. An announcement might be made soon that Green will play for the suburban Dallas school, a football power playing its home games in a $60 million stadium.

Green verbally committed to Oregon last fall and if he moves out of Minnesota it appears to further diminish any possibility he will sign a National Letter of Intent with the Gophers next February. Among Green’s college offers is one from Texas, and the Longhorns now might figure more prominently in the young quarterback’s decision-making process in choosing a college.

Rivals.com labels Green as a four-star recruit and ranks him as the No. 10 dual-threat quarterback in the country.

Safety Cedric Thompson was one of the ex-Gophers who impressed today at Pro Day at the University of Minnesota. Thompson was timed at 4.37 seconds in the 40-yard dash as pro scouts looked on.

A quad strain kept ex-Gophers running back David Cobb from participating but he said he will have a private workout for scouts at the U early next month.

Among talent evaluators in attendance were Rick Spielman, Norv Turner and Mike Zimmer from the Vikings. The three talked with Gophers coach Jerry Kill on the field at the U indoor football facility where Pro Day was held.

Hamline’s men’s hockey team has an improbable success story. The Pipers were 2-22-1 last season and won just a single game the year before. Former Gopher Cory Laylin is the new coach this season and the Pipers are 13-10-4 overall after Saturday’s upset of No. 1 seed St. Thomas in the MIAC playoffs. Hamline’s 11 win improvement this season is the best in men’s Division III hockey. The Pipers scored three goals in the final four minutes to break a 3-3 tie against the Tommies (16-6-4) to win the game. Hamline, the No. 5 playoff seed, has advanced to the MIAC playoff championship game where next Saturday night the Pipers will play No. 2 seed Saint Mary’s in Winona.

Bob Gustafson, public relations director for Grandma’s Marathon, will speak at the March 12 CORES luncheon at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. A St. Louis Park High School alum, Gustafson is responsible for various public relations and marketing duties for the annual event that attracts 18,000 runners. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations for the program (deadline March 9) can be made by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Comments Welcome

Gophers 4-Star Recruit a Nice Fit

Posted on February 23, 2015February 24, 2015 by David Shama

Kevin Dorsey is the only Rivals.com four-star recruit in the Gophers’ 2015 class. The point guard from Clinton Christian High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland is also a leading candidate to start for the Gophers next fall.

The Gophers starting point guard for most of this season, DeAndre Mathieu, is a senior. The team’s top shooting guard, Andre Hollins, is also in his last season of eligibility. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino will be looking for replacements and while freshman Nate Mason can play the point he might be a better fit in the starting lineup next season as a shooting guard.

Ryan James, the basketball recruiting authority for Rivals affiliate Gopherillustrated.com, told Sports Headliners that “without a doubt” Dorsey could be one of the Big Ten’s top dozen freshmen next season. James has seen Dorsey play five times and also watched him online.

James said to his knowledge Dorsey is the highest-ranked point guard the Gophers have ever recruited out of high school. While James won’t predict Dorsey as an immediate starter, he is confident the teenager will be a major contributor. “I just know he’s going to get a lot of minutes just because he’s an excellent on-ball defender and off-the-ball-defender, and he’s one of the best pace pushers you will see. I mean he will fly with the basketball in the other direction, and he often ignites it with his own defense.”

At about 5-11, 160, Dorsey certainly doesn’t impress with his stature but his athleticism, including his quickness, draws attention. So, too, does his competitiveness and aggressiveness. “Yes, I don’t think I saw a guy on the summer circuit that played as hard in an AAU-style of game defensively,” James said. “He was always drawing the other team’s best assignment, and that said everything.”

Pitino is an advocate of fast play offensively. Grab the defensive rebound and push the basketball fast toward the Minnesota goal, or create a steal and accelerate into a fast-break. Dorsey sounds like a clone of the point guard prototype for the Pitino system.

“This offense is perfect for him,” James said. “This is exactly the right fit.”

A weakness? James said Dorsey is an okay shooter. “I saw him make jumpers but I think overall he probably has to get better in that regard.”

Dorsey is rated the No. 87 prospect nationally in the class of 2015, according to Rivals.com. In 21 games for Clinton Christian High School he has averaged 22.1 points, 3.8 assists and 3.1 steals, according to Maxpreps.com.

But it’s the eye test that also impresses about Dorsey. James observed that Dorsey wears basketball shorts that are short enough not to bother his knees while trying to move his feet and legs on defense. “He doesn’t care about the shorts. He cares about getting it done, and that’s another reason why people like him.”

While saying to heck with more fashionable longer shorts, Dorsey takes the court to create a frenzy including on offense. “You have to get in front of him or he’s going to hurt you,” James said.

Gophers fans hope he will do some hurting on opponents immediately next fall.

Worth Noting

This observer’s opinion on the Gophers’ chances of winning on Thursday night at Michigan State: 10 percent. Minnesota, 5-10 in the Big Ten, has lost three consecutive games and plays a Spartans team, 10-4, that has won four straight and leads the conference in field goal percentage defense. Coach Tom Izzo has the Spartans on another classic bull run to season’s end.

The Vikings announced this morning the signing of free agent linebacker Brian Peters who played the last two seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. In 2014 the former Northwestern player led the Roughriders with 78 tackles, plus he had three sacks, one forced fumble and two interceptions.

The Twins open their home spring training schedule at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers next week with exhibition games against the Gophers March 4 and Red Sox March 5. A dugout box seat costs $15 for the Gophers game but $44 to see the Red Sox. Both games will be telecast on Fox Sports North Plus starting at 6 p.m. Minneapolis time.

Twins second-year slugger Kennys Vargas was listed at No. 25 by USA Today in a February 13 article about “young players primed to make impacts during the major league season.” The 24-year-old designated hitter and first baseman hit .274 with nine home runs and 38 RBI in 215 at bats last season for the Twins. Vargas, 6-5, 290, was the only Twins player listed in the article headlined “The 50 names you need to know.”

Kevin Garnett is 38 but he remains feisty. He was suspended one game last month for head-butting Dwight Howard of the Rockets. Known for his temper when he played for the Timberwolves from 1995 to 2007, Garnett’s altercations with teammates included Wally Szczerbiak and Rick Rickert. Garnett, who was traded by the Nets last week to the Wolves, averaged 5.1 points and 17.4 minutes per game during January. He makes his home debut with the Wolves Wednesday night against the Wizards.

Timberwolves rookie star Andrew Wiggins has his 20th birthday today in Houston where his team plays the Rockets. Wiggins was about five months old when the Wolves drafted Garnett in June of 1995.

Jim Petersen, Timberwolves TV analyst and Lynx assistant coach, turned 53 yesterday. The former Gophers and NBA player was a McDonald’s All-American at St. Louis Park High School. As a prep senior he was also the 1980 Minnesota Mr. Basketball winner.

Gophers football fans can take encouragement from a recruiting analysis article in the February 9 issue of Sports Illustrated. Big Ten powers Michigan State and Wisconsin averaged No. 6 and No. 13 in the final Associated Press rankings from 2010-2014 despite neither program having high enough averages to be in the Rivals.com top 25 team recruiting rankings during the same period.

1 comment