KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS – Page 19 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

JC Quarterback Could Be U Prize

Posted on November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 by David Shama

Recruiting authority Ryan Burns from Gopher Illustrated doesn’t see Shelby, Ohio senior quarterback Brennan Armstrong signing a National Letter of Intent with the Golden Gophers next month. Armstrong re-opened the recruiting process in October after being a solid verbal commit to Minnesota for most of the year.

Burns predicted the highly regarded dual-threat quarterback will be on Virginia’s roster next season. Armstrong may have developed second thoughts about Minnesota because of competition at the quarterback position including the emergence of redshirt sophomore Demry Croft as the team starter this fall, and the enrollment next year of freshman preferred walk-on Zack Annexstad who is originally from Mankato, Minnesota but has played this fall for IMG Academy in Florida.

Armstrong’s status concerns Gophers followers but Burns believes head coach P.J. Fleck will have a promising quarterback in his 2018 recruiting class. Brevin White, a California prep quarterback who has verbally committed to Princeton and turned down offers from Washington, Washington State and Tennessee, is considering the Gophers. Minnesota is also after Utah high school quarterback Zach Wilson who has verbally committed to Boise State and California junior college QB Victor Viramontes.

Burns said Minnesota’s “best chance” among the three is probably Viramontes, a dual threat quarterback. He was a prominent high school player from Norco, California when he enrolled as a freshman at the University of California in 2016. There was a coaching change at Cal after the 2016 season and late last spring Viramontes left the Golden Bears. A four-star recruit by 247Sports coming out of Norco High School, he would have three seasons of eligibility at Minnesota.

At about 6-2, 240-pounds, Viramontes has been compared with former Heisman Trophy winner and Florida legend Tim Tebow. When Sonny Dykes was California’s head coach this is how he described Viramontes to Calbears.com:

“Victor is an unusual athlete at his size as a 240-pound quarterback that is a great runner and a good passer. He’s pretty raw but he’s got a lot of upside and really can develop into a good player. He has an unusual skill set with his size and strength. He plays with great passion. I really like the way that he plays the game and the toughness that he brings. I’m really excited about him.”

Fleck has 23 verbal commits and wants to have all the players signed to National Letters of Intent in the early signing period that starts December 20. Burns estimates only 16 or so scholarships are currently available but anticipates seven or so players leaving the Gophers will make up the difference.

Most or all of the verbal commits are expected to make official visits to Minnesota December 8. The early signing period for high school players is December 20-22, while junior college players can sign December 20-January 15, 2018.

Worth Noting

With a 5-5 overall record, the Gophers will definitely be invited to a bowl game with one more win in their last two games. A 5-7 final record could even earn an invite as it did two years ago.

Not surprisingly, there were no press box seats assigned to bowl representatives at last Saturday’s home game against Nebraska (4-6).

Last Saturday’s announced attendance of 39,933 was the second smallest in TCF Bank Stadium history. Minnesota drew 38,162 for the Northwestern game last season.

At 6-foot-10, Gophers tight end Nate Wozniak is the tallest skill player in major college football. His 34 career starts lead all offensive players on the Gophers. The senior from Greenwood, Indiana has his under graduate degree in agricultural and food business management.

It will be interesting for state basketball fans to watch tonight’s ESPN matchup of No. 1 ranked Duke and No. 2 Michigan State. Apple Valley’s Tre Jones has signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Duke next season and he will likely have to compete for playing time next fall with current Blue Devils freshman point guard Trevon Duval. Both are five-star recruits.

The game is also an opportunity to see former Apple Valley five-star shooting guard Gary Trent, Jr., who is a freshman at Duke, and also compare Michigan State with the Gophers. The two teams are favorites to win the Big Ten title.

The Gophers justified their A.P. No. 14 ranking last night in an impressive road win at Providence against a Friars team Athlon Sports magazine described as “the most experienced in the Big East.”

It seems like a “duh” by now, but Adam Thielen’s speed still seems to be news—perhaps even to NFL defensive backs. The 27-year-old Thielen—now in his fifth pro season and ranking third in NFL receiving yards (793) during a breakout season—told Sports Headliners his best time in the 40-yard dash is 4.45.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer after being asked Monday whether anything still surprises him about Thielen: “The one ball he kind of dropped there at the end (in Sunday’s game), that surprised me. He usually makes all those catches.

“The guy is a gamer. When he gets the opportunities, he makes the most of them. Adam does a lot of dirty work. He blocks defensive ends. He blocks linebackers in the run game. He’s just a competitive guy. ….”

Former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber has been retired from the NFL since 2011. His weekends this fall are busy while working for FS1 on Saturdays and as a sideline reporter on the Vikings radio network. He has provided color commentary on college games for FS1, mostly Pac 12 and Big-12 games, but he also did analysis on last Saturday’s Golden Gophers-Nebraska game.

Leber has been earning more prominent TV college football assignments during his four full time seasons. Does he want to make a career out of the broadcast work? “I do,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been a challenge that I’ve readily accepted, and now I am just kind of rolling with the punches and seeing where it goes.”

Twins fans can watch the MLB Network tonight at 5 p.m. when the Baseball Writers Association of America announces its American League Manager of the Year winner. The Twins’ Paul Molitor is a finalist along with the Astros’ A.J. Hinch and Indians’ Terry Francona.

Francona, who directed the Indians to a 22-game winning streak last season, was named The Sporting News AL Manager of the Year last month. Hinch managed the Astros to the franchise’s first World Series championship.

Molitor, who was a finalist for the writers’ honor in 2015, had less talent to work with than Francona and Hinch but got his team in the playoffs after a 59-102 record in 2016. The Twins became the first MLB franchise to make the postseason after losing 100 games the year before.

Karl-Anthony Towns had another double-double last night in the Timberwolves’ win over the Jazz, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He has 10 double-doubles in 13 games this season. The 21-year-old center is the seventh player in NBA history to total 3,000-plus career points and rebounds prior to age 22. Towns turns 22 tomorrow.

The Wild try to make it consecutive shutouts over the Flyers tonight at Xcel Energy Center. Last Saturday Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk stopped all 32 shots he faced and Jason Zucker had the team’s lone goal. St. Paul native Paul Holmgren is in his fourth season as Flyers president.

After a loss to Purdue last week, the nationally ranked Gophers volleyball team has dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

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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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