Timberwolves – Page 96 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Jones Works on Gaining U Admission

Posted on June 18, 2014June 18, 2014 by David Shama

Jeff Jones is focusing on earning admission to the University of Minnesota by attending Minneapolis Public Schools summer classes, and recently took the ACT test for a fourth time hoping to improve his score.

A source told Sports Headliners Jones is working to raise his overall high school GPA and hopes that improvement along with a higher ACT score will allow him to gain admission to Minnesota and join the Gophers in time for August workouts and preparation for the 2014 season. Jones took the ACT test last Saturday and the results are expected later this month.

A combination of ACT result and GPA determines admission at Minnesota and other colleges. Jones signed a letter of intent last February to become a scholarship player for the Gophers but has known for awhile he faced academic challenges.

Jones is the only Rivals.com four-star recruit in the Gophers’ 2014 recruiting class. He drew national attention in the prestigious Under Armour All-America Game in Florida last January, gaining 72 yards and being named Team Nitro MVP.

Other members of the freshman class have started summer school classes at Minnesota and are becoming acclimated to the football program through conditioning and on the field drills. This is Gophers coach Jerry Kill’s fourth freshman group at Minnesota and potentially the best. The coaches have been impressed with the physical size of the players and wait with optimism to see what the freshmen can do during the coming months.

Preseason college football publications rank Jones as Minnesota’s top recruit. Lindy’s Sports rates Jones the No. 10 incoming freshman in the Big Ten Conference but many other Gophers newcomers are intriguing too. Kill and his staff have developed a reputation for identifying talent that is better than advertised.

That intriguing group could include tight end Gaelin Elmore, wide receiver Melvin Holland Jr., center Connor Mayes, quarterback Dimonic Roden–McKinzy and defensive lineman Andrew Stelter. Lindy’s identifies wide receiver Isaiah Gentry as its “sleeper” among the Minnesota freshmen. “Isaiah Gentry out of Cincinnati Moeller was one of the most overlooked players in the Buckeye State, and Minnesota is getting a steal in the speedy 6-4, 185-pound pass catcher,” the magazine wrote.

Worth Noting

The Gophers players and coaches received their Texas Bowl rings on Monday. Minnesota lost to Syracuse in the Houston-based game last December.

Prior Lake linebacker Blake Weber, who was the South Suburban Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2013, has decided to play football at Rochester Community and Technical College.

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” program on Sunday that earlier this month the great grandson of the legendary Bronko Nagurski attended Kill’s camp. Nagurski is one of five former Gophers to have his jersey number (72) retired.

Dr. John Baumgartner, who passed away last week, was an outstanding Gophers football player who lettered four times, from 1951-54.

That was Minneapolis entrepreneur, best-selling business author, motivational speaker and former Gophers golfer Harvey Mackay sitting with wife Carol Ann near courtside at Sunday’s Game Five in San Antonio when the Spurs defeated the Heat to win the NBA championship. Carol Ann gave her husband the trip as a Father’s Day present.

“I go almost every year to a finals game,” Mackay said. “This was the loudest arena I’ve ever been in.”

Mackay said he didn’t meet one San Antonio native who wasn’t aware of Sunday’s game. “What was normally a 15 minute drive from our hotel to the arena took two hours. We got out and walked the last five blocks.”

It will be interesting to see how Flip Saunders fills in his Timberwolves coaching staff after already naming Sidney Lowe and Sam Mitchell assistants. Saunders’ son Ryan, with a reputation for statistical analysis expertise, has NBA coaching experience with the Wizards and seems likely sooner or later to join the Timberwolves organization. Don Zierden, a Minnesota native, was an assistant to Flip Saunders with the Timberwolves, Pistons and Wizards in the past, and is still with the Wizards. Former NBA head coach and assistant Eric Musselman is close to Saunders and resigned earlier this season from Arizona State.

Xavier Thames, a 6-3 senior guard from San Diego State, is a player to follow in next week’s NBA Draft. Thames isn’t a “brand name” but he impressed with his shooting at the NBA Combine last month. It would be ironic if the Spurs drafted Thames since their NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard is from San Diego State and was also underrated coming out of college.

The June 18 issue of Sports Illustrated refers to Nick Gordon, who the Twins selected No. 5 overall in baseball’s amateur draft this month, as the “best high school shortstop in America.” The Gordon article includes praise from former Reds shortstop great Barry Larkin. “The kid fields with the best angles of any young shortstop I’ve ever seen,” Larkin said of Gordon who was the first infielder taken in the draft.

The same issue includes a story about the infamous O.J. Simpson whose wife Nicole was murdered 20 years ago this month. Simpson later dated Nicole look-a-like Christie Prody, a Minnesota native who the magazine reported is serving time in a Minnesota prison “after a conviction for stealing prescription painkillers from an elderly couple.” Simpson is incarcerated in Nevada from a 2008 conviction on charges that included kidnapping.

Twins first baseman Joe Mauer went 18 games without an RBI before driving in the team’s lone run in a 2-1 loss last night to the Red Sox. The face of the franchise, Mauer is hitting .258 with 16 RBI and two home runs this season. Not surprisingly, he isn’t among the top five fan vote recipients for starting American League first baseman in the 2014 All-Star Game in Minneapolis.

StubHub.com is listing tickets starting at $13.77, $170.30 and $331.45 for the All-Star Futures Game, Home Run Derby and All-Star Game in Minneapolis. Top price listed for the July15 All-Star Game is $11,002.00.

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Wolves Coach Hire Stirs Big Question

Posted on June 5, 2014June 5, 2014 by David Shama

Timberwolves fans are entitled to view with skepticism the official announcement coming tomorrow that Flip Saunders will be the team’s new coach. Saunders is a proven NBA coach but is this the best decision for the organization?

The Wolves haven’t been to the playoffs since 2004. The team was 40-42 this past season, certainly an improvement over recent history but also an indictment of the talent. The roster is problematic from starters to bench players. There are too many weaknesses on this club including one-dimensional personnel.

The best indication right now is the Wolves are going backward regarding talented players who can turn them into a winner because second team All-NBA forward Kevin Love, according to numerous media reports, wants to be traded. After six seasons of no advancement to the playoffs, Love apparently wants out of Minneapolis to find the opportunity to play for a winner.

Saunders, as president of basketball operations for about a year, has worked at developing a relationship with Love. But that relationship isn’t likely to keep Love in a Timberwolves uniform next season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, and neither is the extra money Minnesota can pay him under NBA rules.

Saunders had a 10-plus seasons run with the Wolves in his previous coaching life here that ended in 2005. He’s the only coach to ever take the franchise into the playoffs but except for 2004 the Wolves have never made a deep postseason appearance.

That 2004 team, unlike earlier Wolves teams led by Kevin Garnett, had additional star power in guard Sam Cassel and forward Latrell Sprewell. And that’s the point: To win there has to be talent and just who is it in the newly constructed basketball operation with Saunders coaching and retaining his front office position that is going to find the talent?

Saunders has a high basketball IQ but he can’t do everything. The Wolves will need productive personnel evaluators to make themselves a playoff club. They aren’t just Team Saunders and it’s up to Flip to surround himself with a capable staff.

Until the front office shows it can dramatically improve the talent on the floor the long-suffering Wolves fans can wear their skeptics’ hats about an organization that too often disappoints and seems without a plan. The decision of Saunders to become coach is the latest example of “What’s going on with this franchise?”

Owner Glen Taylor was on record that he wanted Saunders to have one job, not two. But apparently Saunders, who less than 18 months ago was chasing the Gophers coaching job, couldn’t resist the urge of returning to the bench. Maybe Saunders and Taylor couldn’t find a big name coach who was a fit but it’s hard to believe there aren’t some good candidates with low national profiles. That kind of hire might have better allowed Saunders to concentrate on improving the roster.

With his new role as coach, Saunders increases his grip on the franchise. His power also includes minority ownership in the team. It’s also believed Saunders wants to acquire a larger ownership stake in the future. Don’t dismiss the possibility, too, that Saunders could lead a group that one day will acquire the franchise from Taylor.

Last season the Wolves sometimes looked lethargic under 67-year-old coach Rick Adelman who resigned this spring. They also had trouble closing out games, not much of an endorsement for the coaching.

Saunders, filled with passion and persuasiveness, is likely to fix the energy problem. Maybe the record in close games, too. But moving toward becoming a top NBA team will require a lot more talent on the roster—and that ultimately will tell the story of Team Saunders.

Worth Noting

Mike Yeo’s new multi-year contract pays him about $1 million annually, a hockey source told Sports Headliners. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Wild coach’s new agreement pays him over $500,000 more each year than his old contract.

He said Yeo’s past compensation was “one of the lowest” among NHL head coaches. The new deal places Yeo among the “lower third in the league.”

The source also said Jacques Lemaire, the Wild’s first coach who left after the 2008-2009 season, was the NHL’s highest paid coach at $1.8 million or more.

Yeo, according to multiple reports, almost lost his job during the past season but rallied his team in the spring including the playoffs where the Wild advanced to the second round for just the second time in franchise history.

The NBA has ditched the annoying 2-3-2 seven game series championship format, replacing it with the more common 2-2-1-1-1 schedule. The NBA Finals between the Spurs and Heat starts tonight in San Antonio, with the series switching to Miami for games three and four. If needed, games five and seven will be in San Antonio, with game six in Miami.

Clash of the Classes boys and girls basketball games are tomorrow night starting at 5:30 p.m. at Concordia, St. Paul. Three games involve 2017 versus 2018 boys, and 2015 versus 2016 boys and girls. More at Northstarhoopsreport.com/clash-of-the-classes.

The 25th annual Bruce Smith Golf Classic and dinner at Faribault Golf Club will be Monday, June 16. Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague and former Gophers Randy Breuer, Mark Dusbabek and Darrell Thompson are among scheduled celebrities. Auction items will include a Gophers helmet autographed by coach Jerry Kill, tickets for a Gophers basketball game in a Williams Arena suite, a Kent Hrbek autographed bat, and a cap autographed by Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. The event benefits three Faribault schools and is named after former Faribault native and Gophers Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith. Golf information is available to the public by e-mailing Bruce Krinke, contact@fctv10.org.

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Spurs’ Profile Opposite of Timberwolves

Posted on May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 by David Shama

The Spurs lost on national television last night to the Thunder in game four of the Western Conference playoffs. The best of seven games series will send the winner to the NBA Finals against the Eastern Conference playoff champion.

The Spurs are tied in their series with the Thunder and despite playing with an “elderly roster” might advance to the finals for a second consecutive season. The Spurs’ franchise is dramatically dissimilar to the Timberwolves.

The success of the Spurs and failures of the Wolves is a tale told in numbers and about people. The Spurs have been in the playoffs for 17 consecutive seasons. The Timberwolves haven’t been to the postseason since 2004.

The Timberwolves’ first season in the NBA was 1989-1990. Since then the franchise has only once advanced to the conference finals. That was in 2004 and was preceded by seven years of first round playoff exits. During the period from 1999-2014 the Spurs won four NBA titles. The most recent championship was in 2007, but last year the Spurs led the Heat 3-2 in the finals only to lose the last two games.

The Spurs’ “Big Three” consists of power forward Tim Duncan, 39, shooting guard Manu Ginobili, 36, and point guard Tony Parker, 32. Duncan was on the first Spurs title team in 1999 with superstar center David Robinson, long ago retired. Despite becoming an elite team after that first title the Spurs kept excelling in the draft and on the court. Ginobili was a second round choice, the 57th player selected in the draft. Parker was the team’s No. 21 pick in the first round.

But the Spurs’ draft expertise hardly stops there. The Spurs have accepted for years that their “Big Three” is aging and with declining skills the remaining roster had to step up. The club’s personnel decision makers, starting with coach Gregg Popovich, have built a deep roster with players possessing complementary skills and a team-first approach.

The starters include 22-year-old small forward Kawhi Leonard, a rising star with rare athleticism and a pair of the largest hands in the NBA. The Spurs found Leonard available in the 2011 draft after 14 other players were taken ahead of him in the first round including Derrick Williams who the Timberwolves selected with the No. 2 selection.

Starting center Tiago Splitter was the No. 28 pick in the first round of the 2007 draft. Along with Splitter, Duncan, Leonard and Parker, the Spurs have shooting guard Danny Green as their fifth starter. Another late first round or second round pick? Nope. The Spurs acquired Green after the Cavaliers gave up on him.

The Spurs have been committed to finding players with varied approaches including high interest in players from other nations. Nine players on the roster are from foreign countries including key reserves Ginobili, small forward Marco Belinelli, forward-center Boris Diaw and and guard Paddy Mills.

Popovich is an extraordinary teacher and motivator. He’s been exerting his will over the Spurs franchise for 18 seasons. How good is he at passing judgment on personnel, developing players, and making the right moves during practices and games? Good enough to be the longest tenured coach with one franchise in not only the NBA, but also the NFL, NHL and MLB. Meanwhile, the Wolves have gone through five coaches since Popovich took over the Spurs.

Starting to get the idea the Spurs are extraordinary at finding and developing talent despite rarely having a lottery pick, or even late mid-round pick? Now compare the Spurs with the Timberwolves who have owned six top 10 picks in the draft since 2008, and in 2009 even had four selections during the first round. The results? Not a single winning season during that time period and only two lottery draft choices remain on the roster, power forward Kevin Love and point guard Ricky Rubio.

Since Love joined the team for the 2008-2009 season, the Wolves haven’t even been close to a .500 season record except for 2013-2014 when the club finished 40-42. According to numerous reports, Love is so frustrated with losing he wants to be traded. While the Wolves’ All-Star wants out, the Spurs’ “Big Three” have stayed so long in San Antonio they are legends and their careers aren’t over.

The Spurs almost defy logic with their success and are searching this spring for another NBA title. The Wolves are occupied with other searches like trying to figure out either how to keep Love (he becomes an unrestricted free agent next year) or score big by trading him for draft choices and players. And apparently trying to find a coach after Grizzlies’ coach Dave Joerger said he will stay in Memphis instead of coming home to Minnesota, his native state.

Decisions about Love and the new coach will be led by Flip Saunders, the Wolves’ second year president of basketball operations. Down in San Antonio things aren’t in such disarray. Not only has Popovich been around a long time but general manager R.C. Buford has been with the Spurs since 1994. This spring he was named NBA Executive of the Year. It’s been a good spring for rewards because Popovich was named NBA Coach of the Year (twice in the last three seasons).

The Spurs? Remarkable.

The Wolves? Not so remarkable.

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