Although the Timberwolves are desperate for a power forward or center in the June 28 NBA draft, they could draft 6-foot-1 point guard Mike Conley from Ohio State.  The best of the bigs, including 6-foot-10 Al Horford from Florida, figure to be gone by the time the Wolves pick at No. 7.  If the choice is 6-foot-11 Joakim Noah, also from Florida, or 7-foot Yi Jianlian, from China, the Wolves are advised to go for Conley. 

Conley is a true playmaker who would allow the Timberwolves to move Randy Foye to shooting guard, a more natural position for him.  Conley could easily have benefited from more than one year of college basketball, but he’s already a top 10 draft prospect.  He receives high marks for his shooting, drives to the basket, play making and character. 

Noah is a minimal player offensively.  His lack of shooting range and poor shooting form were reasons he averaged 12 points per game his senior season.  Jianlian is suspect because of his physical strength and the limited competition he’s faced in China. 

Disappointment has often characterized the public’s reaction to the Wolves’ drafts.   Since 1989 when the franchise began the Wolves have only had five high impact players they acquired throught the draft, Pooh Richardson, Christian Laettner, Kevin Garnett,  Stephon Marbury (draft day trade for Ray Allen) and Wally Szczerbiak.   

The drafts from 2000-2004 were not productive bringing Igor Rakocevic, Loren Woods, Marcus Taylor, Ndudi Ebi, Rick Rickert and Blake Stepp to Minneapolis.  Wolves fans engage in a frustrating exercise of identifying productive and even star players the Wolves could have drafted.   

Their latest poster player is Cavs rookie Daniel Gibson,  a 21-year-old rookie from Texas, who scored 31 points including five-for-five on three pointers to help Cleveland defeat Detroit in game six of the Eastern Conference finals earlier this week.  Gibson was the 42^nd pick in the 2006 draft and available to the Wolves when they chose forward Craig Smith, another promising player.  Gibson may draw comparisons with San Antonio all-star point guard Tony Parker, the 28^th pick in the first round of the 2001 draft (Wolves had no first round pick that year). 

San Antonio, the team playing Cleveland in the finals and in pursuit of a fourth NBA championship since 1999, offers players that encourage comparisons with the Wolves.  Manu Ginobili, the star guard who excels in clutch moments, was drafted in the second round of the 1999 draft, the 28^th pick.  The Wolves used their two first round choices on Szczerbiak and William Avery. The Spurs starters include two players who weren’t even drafted, defensive stopper Bruce Bowen and center Fabricio Oberto. 

ESPN.com grades only seven high school football players in the nation’s class of 2008 higher than Cretin-Derham Hall wide receiver Michael Floyd whose college choices will include Notre Dame, Ohio State and Minnesota. 

Ken Lien, who for 31 years has been a committee member or chair of the Mr. Basketball Committee, includes the following players on the watch list for the 2008 Mr. Basketball award:  Armond Battle, Jordan Taylor, Dakota Tidd, Terrel Clark, Sedrick McBounds, Cody Schilling, Trent Johnson, David Hanson, Anthony Tucker, Jerry Swezzy, Nick Haugen, Jared Berggren and Andrew Brommer. 

Dan Vandervieren, the former Hopkins center who left Purdue earlier this year, might be headed for Colorado State’s basketball team.  

Legendary vendor Wally the Beerman has been selling beer at local baseball games for 37 years.  The new Minneapolis baseball stadium opens in 2010 and Wally could celebrate 40 years of selling.  “I’ll be there for at least one game,” he said.

Joe Mauer’s left quad injury that has sidelined him since May 5  is “tearing his heart apart,” according to grandpa Jake Mauer.  Jake said Joe’s family members feel bad because the Twins catcher is “climbing the walls” he’s so frustrated.

Jake also said his grandson has been to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and also seen doctors in Cleveland but so far no one has been able to explain the injury or offer a guaranteed remedy.  The quad has been sore and Jake said there’s been internal bleeding after Joe runs.   Jake said his grandson suffered the same injury in high school and at that time also had bleeding in the leg.   

Now assigned to the Twins’ Class A farm team in Fort Myers, Mauer has been told to not run but jog on balls hit to infielders, according to Jake.  He will also catch for the Miracle and be with the team for an indefinite period. 

The injury prompts talk again that Mauer, 24, should move to another position.  Mauer, manager Ron Gardenhire and general manager Terry Ryan have consistently expressed no interest in such a change.  Mauer, a former high school quarterback, likes being a leader and working with pitchers. 

“We’re going to keep him behind the plate,” Ryan told Sports Headliners earlier this year.  “That’s where he’s always played, that’s where he wants to stay and there’s no reason to move him. …” 

Mauer was batting .353 through his last game on May 4.  He had only five hits in his last 22 at-bats.  He won the American League batting title last season with an average of .347.