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Tyus Jones Supporters in Indy Tonight

Posted on April 6, 2015April 6, 2015 by David Shama

Tyus Jones will have plenty of Minnesota support tonight when he and his Duke teammates play Wisconsin for the NCCA championship in Indianapolis.

The Blue Devils freshman point guard can look into the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium and see his mom, dad, brothers and other family and friends he has known while growing up in the Minneapolis area. Family is important to Jones and he earned many admirers while becoming a high school All-American at Apple Valley High School. Tonight he will be hoping the Blue Devils can defeat the Badgers just like they did in early December in Madison when folks from his Minnesota constituency were also in the stands cheering for him.

Jones enjoyed a Midwestern homecoming in Madison on December 3, leading then No. 4 ranked Duke to an 80-70 win over No. 2 Wisconsin. Jones scored 22 points, driving to the basket with success and making outside shots (2 of 3 three point attempts). The 6-foot-1 Jones also had a team-tying high of six rebounds and the most Duke assists with 4 during 37 minutes on the floor.

In the past the Badgers have shown vulnerability to guards like Jones who can penetrate the lane and score, or pass to teammates for easy shots. But teams make adjustments and tonight will show what answers the Badgers have for Jones.

There’s no doubt both the Blue Devils and Badgers are better than when they played in December. Duke starts Jones and two other freshmen, center Jahlil Okafor and forward Justise Winslow. Those players are not only exceptionally talented but have progressed since early December as they gained more experience. That’s a plus for Duke but Badgers fans remember that when the two teams played in Madison star forward Sam Dekker was recovering from an injured ankle.

Dekker is a junior and often shares scoring honors with Associated Press Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky, the 7-foot center. Kaminsky is a senior, as is starting guard Josh Gasser. Those three are joined in the starting lineup by two sophomores, guard Bronson Koenig and forward Nigel Hayes. All five played last year when the Badgers lost to Kentucky in a semifinals Final Four game.

All that past playing time might give the Badgers an edge tonight, just like it did in the closing minutes of last Saturday evening’s game when Wisconsin defeated a more inexperienced Kentucky team (71-64) by playing with better precision and poise. But the Blue Devils also looked like a potential national champion on Saturday night, easily defeating Michigan State 81-61.

Win or lose, Jones has proven he can play with college basketball’s best point guards. Al Nuness, the former Gopher guard and cousin to Tyus, has been impressed. “Early in the season no one knew how a freshman point guard would play,” he told Sports Headliners. “But he hasn’t played like a freshman point guard. He’s so cool, calm and collected. He sees the court as good as anybody I’ve ever seen. He doesn’t get anxious. He doesn’t try to take over the game.

“No one expects him to score a lot but he can. Everybody says he passes. He (also) penetrates. He shoots the three as good as anyone. His whole thing is getting everyone else in the game. …”

Nuness predicted it will be a “great game” tonight. As a long time Gophers booster, he has loyalties to the Big Ten but when he sorts out his emotions it’s clear he wants Duke to win. “Family always comes first,” he said.

Tonight Jones will see family and friends from Minnesota make him a priority by being in Indianapolis.

Worth Noting

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino, whose name has been linked in the last couple weeks with openings at St. John’s and Alabama, must pay the University of Minnesota $1.5 million if he decides to leave prior to April 30, 2016, according to his contract. Anthony Grant, the Alabama coach who was fired last month, was once head coach at VCU where Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague hired Grant when he was AD there. Grant’s name was mentioned with the Minnesota job before Pitino was hired by Teague two years ago.

Internet reports now are that former NBA coach Avery Johnson will take the Alabama job.

Two players the Gophers reportedly are recruiting, Chris Boucher and Mychal Mulder, were included on the All-American National Junior College Athletic Association first team announced recently. Ten players were named first team All-Americans. Boucher is a 6-10 sophomore center at Northwest Florida State College and Mulder is a 6-4 sophomore forward from Vincennes University.

Eric Musselman, the son of former Gophers and Timberwolves head coach Bill Musselman, was an assistant coach at LSU last season before recently being hired as head coach at Nevada. Eric is friends with Wolves coach Flip Saunders and it wouldn’t have been surprising if Musselman had been added to the NBA team’s coaching staff last year.

Bolder Options, the youth mentoring nonprofit headed by former Gophers running back Darrell Thompson, celebrates its 21st anniversary with a gala on Thursday evening May 28 at TCF Bank Stadium. NBC Sunday Night Football reporter and long time Minneapolis area resident Michelle Tafoya will be the keynote speaker.

The Twins open the regular season today with an afternoon game in Detroit against the Tigers, and Minnesota’s 25-man roster has changed a lot from one year ago. Twelve players weren’t with the Twins when they opened the 2014 season. Here is a listing by position of the 12: pitchers – Blaine Boyer, J.R. Graham, Tommy Milone, Tim Stauffer and Aaron Thompson; catcher Chris Herrmann; infielders – Eduardo Nunez, Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas; outfielders – Torii Hunter, Shane Robinson and Jordan Schafer. Graham is the only player without previous major league experience.

The Wild plays its final regular season home game tonight against the Jets and with a win in regulation can clinch a playoff spot for the third straight year. The club has sold out its previous 40 home games this season and is working on a stretch of 71 consecutive sellouts at Xcel Energy Center dating back to 2013-14.

Goalie Devan Dubnyk started his 37th consecutive game for the Wild in last Saturday night’s 3-2 loss to the Red Wings. That’s the most in the NHL since Evgeni Nabokov made 43 straight starts for the Sharks (in 2007-2008), according to Elias Sports Bureau. Dubnyk has given up only 62 total goals for a 26-7-2 record in 36 straight starts since joining the Wild January 15. He has allowed two goals or less in 27 of those 36 games.

The 2015 Gophers women’s hockey national championship team has 17 of 21 players returning for next season. A year from now 12 of those 17 are expected back for the 2016-2017 season, so the likelihood for continued success is considerable.

UMD is the only women’s program that has won three consecutive NCAA hockey titles. Can the Gophers win two or three in a row?

“That would certainly be the goal,” coach Brad Frost told Sports Headliners. “In 2012 and 2013 we went back to back (titles) and then lost last year in the championship game, and then won it this year. So to be in the national championship game three of the last four years and win three of those I think is remarkable. People probably think it’s pretty easy but I can promise you it’s not.”

The Gophers begin their off-ice spring conditioning work this week. Part of their endurance building in the weeks ahead will include running the steps at Mariucci Arena. Frost said players laugh about the challenge but also cry because the task is so demanding. “They love it and hate it at the same time,” he said.

Frost, who earns $170,000 from the athletic department in salary and other compensation, left town to recruit after the Gophers won the national title on March 22. He knows prospective players and their parents look at the Gophers with more interest coming off a national title. “I think we’re building something pretty special here at the University,” he said.

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Dubnyk and Wild Look at Big Stage

Posted on March 30, 2015March 30, 2015 by David Shama

What an interesting spring this will be for the Wild and “Superman” goalie Devan Dubnyk.

The Wild has six regular season games remaining before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. A franchise with shaky playoff ambitions a few months ago, the Wild has made a remarkable recovery since acquiring Dubnyk in a trade. The man wearing a “Wild cape” has won 26 times in 34 games for Minnesota. The NHL’s hottest team and hottest goalie look like they will not only play in the postseason, but be a favorite for a deep run.

In the playoffs a superb goalie can be even more valuable than during the regular season. With a short series, it’s win or start relaxing on the golf course. The Wild and their fans hope they see the same goalie in the playoffs they’ve watched with awe in January, February and March.

That’s not a guarantee, though. Despite Dubnyk’s superhero performance so far he is (as far as we know) human. In his NHL career with three other clubs he didn’t win or compile the same impressive goals against average (1.70) and save percentages (.939) as with the Wild. A change in goaltending technique that better helps him track the puck receives at least partial credit for the upgrade that puts Dubnyk among the league’s best goalies now.

Dubnyk’s salary, reportedly at $800,000, certainly doesn’t place him among the NHL’s top paid goalies. At 28, with five previous seasons in the league, he is a journeyman who has found sudden success, almost like a character in a Broadway play. Dubnyk turns 29 on May 4 and if the Wild are still in the playoffs and toying with the possibility of winning Minnesota’s first Stanley Cup ever, it will be a great script for the 6-foot-6 Canadian.

Dubnyk, who has led the Wild to five straight wins and 10 in a row on the road, is an unrestricted free agent after this season and unless he flops in the coming weeks he will command a huge pay upgrade. Not as much compensation as Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s $8.5 million per season (per Spotrac.com) but perhaps in the $4 million to $5 million range.

Those numbers are much more likely if Dubnyk doesn’t lose his kryptonite and the Wild at least make the Western Conference Finals, if not the Stanley Cup finals. An NHL title is a no-brainer for a long-term deal at major money.

Dubnyk is in his prime career years and 2015 could be his best and last chance to secure a max deal. Lundqvist is the league’s top paid goalie and six others make $6 million or more, according to Spotrac’s 2014 goalie salary rankings. If Dubynk is wowing the NHL as summer approaches, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher will have competition in re-signing the goalie he aced with his trade last January, giving up a third round draft choice to the Coyotes.

If Dubnyk has the Wild in a bidding war, the team’s fans can feel some confidence about owner Craig Leipold’s willingness to open his wallet. Leipold wants to win and he puts that in writing every time he signs the checks of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, two players he signed to long-term $98 million deals in July of 2012.

The challenge for the Wild, though, is how to fit all the salaries on their roster together and stay near the league’s expected payroll cap of about $73 million. Part of the puzzle and challenge is there are other free agents beyond Dubnyk. One helpful move could be to buyout the contract of backup goalie Niklas Backstrom who reportedly is due $4 million for next season.

The summer of 2012 was interesting. This spring will have its own drama.

Worth Noting

In Sports Illustrated’s baseball preview issue last week the magazine included a story on Byron Buxton, saying he can “hit to all fields like Kirby Puckett, possesses the arm of Russell Wilson” and “is nearly as fast as Bo Jackson.” The 21- year-old center fielder is ranked No. 1 by Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com, according to the magazine, and the publication reports the much-hyped Twins prospect threw a 98 miles per hour fast ball in high school and has been timed in 3.9 seconds from home plate to first base.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association has honored the O’Brien family including Gophers senior associate athletic director Dan O’Brien and his 15-year-old son Casey O’Brien with its Cal Stoll Award. Casey has recovered from bone cancer after an ordeal that included a seven hour operation and 24 rounds of chemotherapy. His support group includes his family and Gophers coach Jerry Kill who has praised the young man for his courage. The award is named after Stoll, the former Gophers football coach, and is given to someone who has overcome adversity.

The MFCA honored Dwight Lundeen, the only coach in Becker High School football history, as its Man of the Year on Saturday night. Lundeen coached Becker to 13 consecutive wins last year including the 4A state title.

The MFCA’s Minnesota Football Clinic had a record 1,263 registrations and 67 vendors last week. The clinic dates next year are March 31, April 1 and 2.

Joe Haeg, the 6-6, 300-pound former Brainerd High School player who walked on at North Dakota State and is now an All-American, has the interest of pro scouts and might be selected as an offensive tackle in the early rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft. He will be a senior for the Bison this fall.

Greg Kleven reported in the March 26 Eden Prairie Sun Current that Eden Prairie High School safety and linebacker Blake Cashman will be a preferred walk-on with the Gophers this summer. Kleven wrote that Cashman turned down Division I offers from Iowa State and North Dakota State, hoping to earn a scholarship at Minnesota.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino signed four recruits late last year for his 2015 incoming class this summer. He has three more scholarships available, although not all of them maybe used this spring. “We believe we will have a top-25 recruiting class when it’s all said and done,” Pitino wrote on his Gophersports.com blog last week.

Big Ten women’s basketball drew a record total of more than 869,000 fans for the home games of its 14 conference teams this past season. The Gophers, with an average of 3,846, finished 10th in average home attendance.

The women’s WCHA is represented by 40 current or former players at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships that started last Saturday and continues through April 4 in Malmö, Sweden. Seventeen of the women played during the 2014-15 season, while 23 are WCHA alumnae. The list includes three Gophers from the 2015 national championship team: Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi and Lee Stecklein.

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Nanne Raves about Wild GM Fletcher

Posted on March 9, 2015March 9, 2015 by David Shama

When Chuck Fletcher was an assistant general manager of the Penguins six years ago his resume had the approval of Lou Nanne. Now Nanne believes there isn’t a better GM in the NHL than the Wild’s front office boss.

Nanne played for the NHL’s North Stars, later coached them and also led the franchise as general manager and president. He remains a passionate and knowledgeable observer of the Wild and NHL.

Fletcher, the Wild’s general manager since May of 2009, earned the attention of the Minnesota sports public three years ago when he and owner Craig Leipold brought high profile free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter here by signing them to $98 million contracts. Last spring Fletcher’s roster and Mike Yeo’s coaching had the Wild making an improbable playoff run that ended in the second round against the Blackhawks.

This winter Fletcher has negotiated trades that have included bringing goalie Devan Dubnyk and forward Chris Stewart to Minnesota. Dubnyk has made 24 straight starts, a franchise record, and has won 18 games.

Stewart, 6-2, 230 pounds, was acquired just last week and adds size and toughness to a roster that has been lacking those qualities. He complements the team’s speed and depth. The Wild is unbeaten in three games since his arrival from the Sabres.

Nanne said the addition of Stewart rounds out the roster while the trade for Dubnyk is in a class of its own among trades made this year by NHL clubs. “Far and away,” Nanne told Sports Headliners. “There’s nothing like it.”

Before Dubnyk joined the Wild the team was nine points out of a playoff spot. Now the Wild are No. 1 in the Western Conference Wildcard standings.

Nanne raves about Fletcher’s work as GM. “He’s been terrific. I expected him to do a real good job but he’s done a sensational job. He’s definitely one of the best general managers in the National Hockey League.”

Nanne praised Fletcher’s hockey support staff. “I think the Wild have been very fortunate with the front office staff that they’ve hired. They’ve identified…real quality people. They’ve hired them. They’ve let them do their jobs. I think the Wild operation is sensational.”

Fletcher’s staff is impressive but sometimes decisions have to be made by one person. “…He’s not afraid to make decisions,” Nanne said. “That’s very important for a general manager. You have to make crucial decisions at critical times, and some people are not good at it, and he’s terrific at it.”

Decisions sometimes go against the majority opinion. A franchise’s inner circle, media and fans may see things differently than the GM. “…He’s steadfast,” Nanne said of Fletcher. “He knows what’s going on and he’s got the confidence to go forward when many people are pushing in another direction.”

The Wild are on a 16-3-1 streak, including five wins in their last six games. Despite the club’s recent success, Nanne isn’t changing his prediction from awhile ago about the team’s 2015 postseason chances. “If they’re healthy at the time the playoffs begin, if they’ve got their whole team—like I said at the beginning of the year—the team is capable of winning the (Stanley) Cup or missing the playoffs. That’s how tough it is in that conference.”

Worth Noting

The telecast of last Tuesday night’s Wild-Senators game from Xcel Energy Center was the highest-rated regular season Wild game ever on Fox Sports North. The game had a 7.12 household rating in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market area, according to Nielsen Media Research and was the No. 1 program in the area among all male demographics.

The Wild defeated the Senators in a shootout game, 3-2. Also adding interest to the telecast was the addition of Jordan Leopold and Chris Stewart through trades the previous day. The 7.12 rating broke the previous 6.13 record the Wild set on February 24 against the Oilers. February’s 4.63 average was the highest-rated month ever for the Wild on Fox Sports North.

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, 17,280 households represent one rating point, indicating more than 123,000 households tuned in for Tuesday evening’s game.

On Senior Day yesterday the Gophers lost their fifth game in the last six when Penn State won 79-76 on D.J. Newbill’s last second three point shot. Minnesota is 17-14 overall and 6-12 in the Big Ten heading into the conference tournament on Wednesday when the Gophers, the No. 11 seed, play Rutgers, the No. 14 seed, starting at 6 p.m. in Chicago.

Gophers senior center Elliott Eliason, who started 35 games last season, has been given minimal playing time as of late with coach Richard Pitino using more minutes on freshmen. Eliason received his second start of the season yesterday but only played four minutes after not participating at all in the two previous games.

Apple Valley High School sophomore shooting guard Gary Trent, Jr., who is among the state’s most recruited prospects, sat in the second row near the Gophers’ bench for yesterday’s game. Trent has offers from Minnesota, Providence and Texas Tech, according to Rivals.com. Trent’s teammate, junior center Brock Bertram, has an offer from Tech where former Gophers coach Tubby Smith has finished last in the Big 12 Conference with a 3-15 record.

Ken Lien from the Mr. Basketball Committee e-mailed names of the five finalists for the 2015 Mr. Basketball Award: Sacar Anim, DeLaSalle; Bjorn Broman, Lakeview Christian Academy; JT Gibson, Champlin Park; Jarvis Johnson, DeLaSalle; Marshawn Wilson, Hill-Murray. The award goes annually to a high school senior, and this year’s winner will be announced after the boys state tournament games.

Next Sunday ESPN airs the new “30 for 30” documentary on Christian Laettner. The program focuses on his career and polarizing fan reaction that followed him long after his game-winning shot against Kentucky, advancing Duke to the 1992 NCAA Final Four. Laettner, the former Timberwolves No. 1 draft choice, will be headlining two youth clinics at Wayzata East Middle School in Plymouth on March 21 for the Timberwolves Basketball Academy.

The Gophers football team has spring practice sessions Tuesday and Thursday at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. Both practices begin at 4:15 p.m. and are open to the public. Thursday’s practice is the Gophers’ last until resuming sessions again on March 24.

The Minnesota United leaves for Brazil on Wednesday to hold a preseason camp. The NASL club had an earlier preseason camp in Arizona and opens its regular season on April 11 at Tampa Bay. The home opener at the National Sports Center in Blaine is April 25.

The United has six Brazil natives: forward Pablo Campos, midfielders Ibson, Daniel Mendes and Juliano Vicentini, and defenders Tiago Calvano and Cristiano Dias. The United roster includes forward Miguel Ibarra who is also a member of the U.S. Men’s National team.

The United will play several exhibition games in Brazil and return home on March 24.

Ryan Galindo, who was announced as the new Washburn head football coach last week, is a 1999 graduate of the Minneapolis high school. He played college football at St. Thomas and from 2003-2009 was an assistant coach at Washburn. Later he was an assistant at Gustavus Adolphus under former Washburn head coach Pete Haugen before rejoining the Millers staff. He was offensive coordinator for the Millers last year, working for head coach Giovan Jenkins who last week started as a volunteer coach at Minnesota.

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