KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS – Page 14 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Glen Taylor: No Interest in KAT Trade

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by David Shama

Speculation persists the Minnesota Timberwolves might be trade partners in a deal involving their most valued player, 25-year-old former all-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT).

Even last off-season there were rumors the Wolves could part with Towns. Asked about the truth of those rumors, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said, “No, absolutely not. I don’t know where they (the rumors) would come from.”

Towns averaged 18.3 points per game and was NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2015-2016 season. He has averaged over 20 points per game each season since and in 2018 signed a five-year contract with Minnesota. “We’re building the team around him,” Taylor told Sports Headliners this morning.

Part of why Towns is targeted for trade speculation is the Wolves haven’t found much success on the floor, making the playoffs just once since he joined the team. Does Taylor know of Towns having a desire to play elsewhere?

“If anything he has indicated the opposite,” Taylor said. “He likes the coach (Ryan Saunders). He likes playing here and he’s just sorry he’s not out there playing.”

Because of COVID, Towns hasn’t played since January 13 but he will return soon. “I would think it would be this week, yes,” Taylor said. (Towns will not play in tonight’s game in Cleveland against the Cavs).

With COVID protocol and a wrist injury earlier, Towns has only played in four games for the 5-14 Wolves who are in last place in the Western Conference. The team has won two of eight games without Towns, including a 109-104 victory over the Cavs in Minneapolis last night.

The team record is a clear disappointment to Taylor who made it known before the season he expected the club to make the playoffs. “I just expected them to do better than they have,” Taylor said.

But despite the slow start, Taylor is still anticipating his team in the playoffs later this year. “I recognize that it’s going to be difficult, but on the other hand, there’s other teams that aren’t performing up to their expectations, too, and I guess we just gotta catch them.”

Taylor thinks the Wolves can have better results even without Towns in the lineup. “I don’t know why there’s this much difference (without Towns). There were some games we played pretty well. Almost all the games we lose, we go through a streak, maybe a quarter of the game, where we just have difficulty putting up shots, and I don’t know that you can tie that just on one person. There’s gotta be somebody else out there that can take the leadership role and…score during those difficult periods.”

Towns had a friendship with high scoring point guard D’Angelo Russell even before the Wolves acquired him last winter. The two haven’t played much together yet, nor have they seen many minutes with 2020 NBA first round overall draft choice Anthony Edwards, another gifted scorer. “Potentially we have some firepower there,” Taylor said. “We just gotta get them on the floor.”

Worth Noting

Word is the Minnesota Twins remain optimistic about signing free agent DH Nelson Cruz and free agent right-hand pitcher Jake Odorizzi. A source told Sports Headliners a Cruz deal could be for two years, the Odorizzi contract for one.

The Capital Club, via Zoom, will hear from Dave St. Peter of the Twins and Mike Veeck and Derek Scharrer from the St. Paul Saints Thursday morning.

Because of the pandemic it’s uncertain when the Saints will begin their first season as a Twins Triple A affiliate. Twins fans are curious to see who among the team’s top minor league prospects will be on the Saints roster.

If shortstop Royce Lewis is in St. Paul, it’s a lock fans will flock to CHS Field. MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, announced on Friday, ranks Lewis No. 17. The other Minnesota prospects on the list are outfielder-first baseman Alex Kirilloff, No. 26; outfielder Trevor Larnach, No. 80; and right-hand pitcher Jordan Balazovic, No. 97.

Former Gophers right-hand pitcher Max Meyer, now with the Miami Marlins, is No. 27.

Ex-Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario has reportedly signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Indians and he has a successful history at Progressive Field. As a visiting player he has a .353 average and 1.031 OPS, per a Friday MLB.com story. His 11 home runs, 12 doubles and three triples are career bests in any road stadium.

The current bid this morning was $270,000 on the Heritage Auctions website for a mint condition Topps 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card.

Minnesota (center Liam Robbins and guard Marcus Carr) and Illinois (center Kofi Cockburn and guard Ayo Dosunmu) are the only schools that have players who are top 10 candidates on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award and Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Harvey Mackay, the New York Times best selling author and former Gopher golfer, shared memories with Sports Headliners of his 32-year friendship with the late Larry King who died January 23. The famous talk show host interviewed Mackay many times about his business and motivational books, and the two formed a close relationship.

“Larry loved boxing and Muhammad Ali,” Mackay said via email. “He once wrote in his column in USA Today that meeting Muhammad was ‘the biggest thrill in my life … I couldn’t sleep last night … chills running up and down my spine.’

“One night I was having dinner with Larry in New York, and I brought Muhammad with me as a surprise. Suddenly a woman came up and said, ‘Oh, Mr. Mackay, I’ve read all your books … Can I have your autograph?’

“Larry went nuts and said, ‘Don’t you know who this is? This is Muhammad Ali. Don’t you want his autograph?’

“I looked at Larry and said you bit it hook, line and sinker. I paid her $50 an hour to come up and ask for my autograph. We were still laughing about that years later. But the point is don’t ever be boring. Don’t be predictable. Show some creativity with your friends and have some fun.”

Mackay’s latest book came out last month, “Getting a Job is a Job.”

Sign of the times: various online reports in the last few days have the NHL borrowing $1 billion to help its fiscally troubled franchises. In December the NBA reportedly borrowed $900 million to assist its franchises.

The prep Mr. Football Award winner will be announced February 21 via Zoom. The Vikings and Minnesota Football Coaches Association sponsor the Mr. Football Award and the ten 2020 finalists are: Shea Albrecht, Orono; Joe Alt, Totino-Grace; Cameron Anderson, Blue Earth Area; Trey Feeney, Moorhead; Nick Flaskamp, Minneapolis Southwest; Marcus Hansen, Waseca; Eli Mau, Chanhassen; Jake Ratzlaff, Rosemount, Garrison Solliday, St. Thomas Academy; Adam Tonsfeldt, Barnesville.

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Timberwolves Owner Sets Tone for 2021

Posted on March 6, 2020March 6, 2020 by David Shama

The Timberwolves, with a 19-42 record, haven’t met the early season expectations of owner Glen Taylor who believed his team would make the 2020 playoffs as one of the NBA’s lower seeds. Instead, they have endured a 13-game losing streak this winter and won just four of their last 24 games.

Ryan Saunders, 33, had never been an NBA or college head coach prior to being named Tom Thibodeau’s replacement to lead the Wolves in January of 2019. He was interim head coach before being named permanently to the position in May of last year. His career record is 36-67 and Minnesota will finish the season in April with one of the NBA’s most dismal totals of wins and losses.

In a telephone interview with Sports Headliners yesterday, Taylor was asked about Saunders’ future. “I think he will be back (next season) for sure,” Taylor said.

Gersson Rosas, the president of basketball operations, shook up the roster in February and added eight new players. Taylor believes the revised personnel will be a better fit for Saunders’ coaching style that includes a fast offensive pace and emphasis on three-point shots. The owner wants to see how the team looks next season after Saunders and his coaching staff have a summer and a training camp to prepare players.

“I think next year our expectations will be higher,” Taylor said. “We will expect results that are significantly better than what we’ve gotten his year. But I think we have to give him (Saunders) that chance.”

The coaching staff has new assistants this season and Taylor empathizes with them and Saunders because of all the work they invest with minimal results in wins and losses. “…But I haven’t seen them pout or I haven’t seen them be negative, or do any of those things,” Taylor said. “They always say good things about the players. They say they’re really proud of what they’re doing. They’ve said they like all the new guys that we’ve brought (in).”

The Wolves won three straight games to open the season last fall. Minnesota was 7-4 after the first 11 games but losing set in partially because star center Karl-Anthony Towns was absent. He has missed the last eight games with a wrist injury and earlier in the season was out with a knee injury. He has been available for only 35 of the team’s 61 games, while averaging a career-best 26.5 points and 10.8 rebounds.

There is speculation Towns is not committed to the Wolves organization, despite signing a five-year contract extension last September. He has been mentioned this winter in NBA trade rumors.

Taylor insists Towns is on board for the long term. Taylor said, “We talk about that. He just says, ‘You’re doing everything that I could ask for to enhance my ability to perform well, and therefore I want to stay with this team.’ ”

Towns and Taylor converse frequently. The owner said they have a relationship that dates back to the Wolves making Towns the No. 1 overall NBA draft choice in 2015. Taylor is friendly with not only Towns, but his family. Also, Taylor said Towns likes playing for Saunders, and is enthused about the revised roster that includes his friend D’Angelo Russell who joined the team in February. “He (Towns) wants to get out there (on court) really bad,” Taylor said.

Worth Noting

Forbes.com lists the 2020 value of the Timberwolves franchise at $1.375 billion, ranking No. 28 among 30 clubs. Taylor bought the franchise in 1994 for $88 million but is not pursuing someone to buy him out. His observation over the years is NBA franchises sell for more than their Forbes valuation.

Would he give up the club for $2 billion? “Yeah, I’ll take it,” he said with amusement.

Taylor has several limited partners in his ownership group and said a few might want to sell. He has accepted inquiries since January 1 from “some parties” interested in replacing existing investors.

Brian Dutcher, the Bloomington, Minnesota native who is coaching the San Diego State Aztecs to a 29-1 record, was the subject of a USA Today major feature yesterday.

Hockey authority Kevin Gorg believes the Wild’s Kevin Fiala can become a 40 to 50 goal per season scorer. The 23-year-old forward is having a late winter breakout performance including four goals last week. “He’s been amazing,” Gorg told Sports Headliners.

For 58 seasons Ron Stolski coached football in Minnesota, teaching his players about the game he loves and lessons in life. Stolski, who coached 45 years at Brainerd High School, leaves a prep football legacy in the state and will be honored at a retirement celebration April 4 at Cragun’s Legacy Clubhouse in Brainerd.

Also a longtime leader of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association, the 80-year-old Stolski has been a force in the campaign to make high school football in the state the best experience it can be for players and coaches. Whether it’s clinics, the All-Star Game, the Mr. Football Award or raising funds for cancer research, the Minneapolis native has been involved with varied impactful projects.

I have known Stolski for decades and I am grateful for his words of encouragement through the years. He will be remembered as one of the state’s longest tenured and winningest coaches with 389 career victories, but even more so for how he inspired and related to thousands of Minnesotans.

Rob Hunegs, owner of Twin Cities Sports Cards in Golden Valley, emailed that Yordan Alvarez (Astros), Bo Bichette (Blue Jays) and Gavin Lux (Dodgers) are hot rookies in the new Topps Series 1. Players from past decades are also in the series.

Dave Mona, the WCCO Radio “Sports Huddle” host, has been playing golf for more than 50 years and he shot the best round of his life recently, recording a 79 at the Westin Kierland Golf Club in Scottsdale.

Gophers fans have asked about featuring tight ends more in the team’s passing game. Coach P.J. Fleck said on last Sunday’s “Sports Huddle” the 2020 team has the tight end depth and talent to command more of the gameday playbook.

Phil Esten, St. Thomas athletic director, speaks to the Minnesota Breakfast group March 13 in Naples, Florida. Started 56 years ago by prominent Minnesotans vacationing in SW Florida, the group meets regularly during the winter and hears from Minnesota newsmakers in sports and other fields. Twins executives Dave St. Peter and Derek Falvey spoke February 21.

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Thielen, Mahomes Return on Sunday?

Posted on October 29, 2019October 29, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Tuesday notes column:

It could be that top playmakers Adam Thielen and Patrick Mahomes return for Sunday’s game in Kansas City between the Vikings and Chiefs.

Wide receiver Thielen, recovering from a right hamstring injury, didn’t play last Thursday in Minnesota’s win over the Redskins. By Sunday he will have both rested and undergone treatment, making a return to the lineup perhaps likely.

Mahomes, the Chiefs’ starting quarterback and 2018 NFL MVP, dislocated his right knee cap more than 10 days ago and he didn’t play Sunday night against the Packers. But that evening NBC TV reporter Michele Tafoya said Mahomes told her that if the Chiefs were facing a playoff game he would have played against the Packers.

The 6-2 Vikings and 5-3 Chiefs have postseason ambitions just like 50 years ago in 1969. Minnesota and Kansas City played in Super Bowl IV on January 11, 1970. The Vikings were about a two touchdown favorite but lost 23-7.

Chiefs coach Hank Stram loved the limelight and was “miked for sound” during the game. He is famous for this quote about a Vikings defensive back: “(Karl) Kassulke: was running around there like it was a Chinese fire drill.”

Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall played in that Super Bowl but many fans remember him for a gaffe 55 years ago this month. Playing against the 49ers, he scooped up a fumble and ran 66 yards the wrong way and into the end zone. The 49ers were rewarded with a safety.

Former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber, now a sideline reporter on the team’s radio broadcasts and TV analyst for college football games, speaks to the CORES lunch group Thursday, November 14 at the Bloomington Event Center, 1114 American Blvd. Reservations are accepted until Monday, November 11 by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Ben Utecht, the Hastings native and former Gophers star tight end now a brain health advocate, speaker and entertainer, is the latest guest on the “Behind the Game” Twin Cities cable TV showed hosted by Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. The Utecht episode is also on YouTube.

In the latest A.P. and Coaches polls the Gophers are ranked No. 13 nationally, while Penn State is No. 5. The last time Minnesota was ranked in the top 25 and played another ranked team was in October of 2004 when the No. 13 ranked Gophers lost to No. 14 Michigan.

If Minnesota defeats Penn State a week from Saturday the Gophers will almost certainly be ranked in the top 10 in polls. The Gophers haven’t finished a season in the top 10 since 1962,

Minnesota connections: An October 19-20 Wall Street Journal article lists the five best sports scandals books ever and includes Foul: The Connie Hawkins Story, and The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino. The Hawkins biography details how the former ABA Minnesota Pipers star was blacklisted for years from the NBA following gambling allegations while in college. Pitino, the former Louisville basketball coach and father of Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino, fell from grace after two sex scandals.

Willie Burton, the former Gophers basketball player who will have a banner raised in Williams Arena to honor his legacy January 26, was recruited out of high school in Detroit by Minnesota head coach Jim Dutcher who said Burton turned down Michigan and Michigan State. “He could have gone wherever,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

Dutcher resigned as Minnesota coach before Burton enrolled in 1986 and he played four seasons for coach Clem Haskins. The third-leading career scorer in program history, Burton played on two NCAA Tournament teams including a group that made the Elite Eight.

Dutcher’s son Brian Dutcher, head coach at San Diego State, has a team that is picked by the media to finish second in the Mountain West Conference behind Utah State.

The 3-0 Timberwolves have shown unity and hustle in their early regular season games, but face their biggest challenge so far Wednesday night in Philadelphia against a 76ers team that could win the NBA title. Give Wolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns credit for organizing a team bonding trip to the Bahamas prior to training camp.

Towns is the Western Conference Player of the Week for NBA games played October 22-27. As of Monday afternoon Towns ranked third in the NBA in scoring (32 points per game), sixth in rebounds (13.3), second in steals (3.00) and second in three-pointers made (5.0).

Gorgui Dieng, the Wolves backup center, speaks five languages.

An S.I. online story last week listing baseball’s top 50 free agents ranked Astros’ starting pitcher Wade Miley at No. 40 and suggested the best fit for him could be the Twins. The October 24 article ranked Twins pitchers Serio Romo No. 44, Kyle Gibson No. 42, Michael Pineda No. 27 and Jake Odorizzi No. 14. S.I. said best fits for them are with other teams.

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