David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Sano Absence May Impact Division Race

Posted on March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column leading off with the Twins, and including basketball and football newsmakers.

The Twins start playing meaningful games next week when the regular season begins, and they are a popular pick to finish second in the mediocre AL Central Division. The more optimistic fans and media were thinking division title during the offseason, but now maybe less so with puzzling slugger Miguel Sano not expected in the lineup until May.

The Indians have won three consecutive division championships and while the roster doesn’t look as formidable as in the past, the club is anchored by probably baseball’s best starting staff. Those starters could lead the way to 90+ wins, while the Twins are a smart choice to win 80 to 85.

Sano told Sports Headliners a few years ago he might be capable of producing Miguel Cabrera type hitting numbers. “I can be better than Cabrera, I think,” he said in the summer of 2015. Sano, though, isn’t even close to matching the numbers of the future Tigers’ Hall of Famer. The Twins’ third baseman began his MLB career in 2014 and his play has been characterized as much by injuries as production at the plate.

The 6-foot-4 Sano, with a .199 batting average, didn’t even come close to hitting his weight (260) last season. He is out until possibly the time of his 26th birthday on May 11. Sano, whose latest problem is with his heel, tantalized the Twins in 2017 with his 28 home runs and 77 RBI. His presence in the lineup from the beginning of this season would have added confidence to those predicting a first Twins division championship since 2010.

It will be interesting to see how the Twins’ pitching staff develops including the late innings situation. Perhaps the club will not have an ace closer, instead using a few different relief pitchers in that role.

Minnesota’s regular season and home opener against the Indians will be played late afternoon on Thursday of next week, with Accuweather.com predicting a day time high of 56 degrees. The three-game series with the Indians also has scheduled day time dates at Target Field on March 30 and 31 when temps are predicted to be in the 40’s.

On opening day the club is giving away Twins puffer vests to the first 30,000 fans. Former Twin and AL MVP Justin Morneau will throw out the ceremonial first pitch, with Minneapolis song writer and performer Sean Tillman (aka Har Mar Superstar) singing the National Anthem.

As of this morning on the Twins’ ticket website, there were tickets available for the opener ranging in cost from $17 to $31.

There were rumors last week junior Gophers forward Michael Hurt will transfer to the college destination of his superstar brother Matthew Hurt, a senior at Rochester John Marshall. The possibility was mentioned to me months ago but I chose not to write about the speculation.

Michael would be eligible to play next season with his brother who has yet to announce his college choice, and could be destined to the NBA in another year via the 2020 league draft. Michael is a three-year reserve who this season is averaging 1.7 points per game and is 1 of 13 on three point field goal attempts. If he were to leave Minnesota, that presumably opens up a scholarship for the Gophers who have multiple roster needs for next season and should be shopping for junior college help.

Matthew, 6-foot-9, is so skilled he can excel at multiple positions. The bluebloods of college basketball, including Duke and North Carolina, would welcome the five-star recruit, and perhaps his brother—allowing the twosome to play one year together.

It will be a major surprise if Matthew isn’t announced as the state’s Mr. Basketball winner at the Timberwolves game on March 26. Hurt, who averaged about 37 points per game this season, won’t be in attendance because he will play among the nation’s elite players at the March 27 McDonald’s All-American Game in Atlanta.

A member of John Marshall’s varsity since eighth grade, Hurt has closed out his high school career never having played in the state tournament. Lakeville North has blocked Marshall’s path to the state tournament by winning seven consecutive times in the section finals.

Among the favorites to win the Class 4A Tournament this week is Hopkins with star center-power forward Zeke Nnjai. He is committed to Arizona for next season but if Wildcats coach Sean Miller leaves the program speculation will start about Nnjai’s college destination.

The Gophers, in search of a point guard all season, could have filled that opening two years ago by successfully recruiting Champlin Park’s McKinley Wright, who as a sophomore at Colorado has been named first team All-Pac-12. He also was an honorable mention choice for the league’s all-defensive team.

CBS lead sportscaster Jim Nantz, who will be here for the Minneapolis Final Four, gave a shout-out to 99-year-old Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman on last Saturday’s telecast of the Minnesota-Michigan Big Ten Tournament game, and he told the listening audience he will speak to the Twin Cities Dunkers when he is town. The downtown-Minneapolis based Dunkers dates back to 1948 and Hartman has been a member since 1965.

Purdue, who the Gophers defeated twice in March, is an upset pick to make a run in the NCAA Tournament including a prediction by Seth Davis the Boilermakers will advance to the Minneapolis Final Four. Davis, the CBS in-studio college hoops analyst, is the son of Lanny Davis, the well-known lawyer and TV political commentator.

Steve Erban and Paul Dillion are among Gophers fans expected in Des Moines tomorrow for Minnesota’s NCAA Tournament game against Louisville. Erban emailed that the two are the only people who have seen every Gopher NCAA Tournament game dating back to 1989.

Gophers’ athletic director Mark Coyle said on the WCCO Radio Sports Huddle show last Sunday that about $130 million out of the $166 million targeted cost has been raised for the new Athlete’s Village on campus.

Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck, new North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz, and former Vikings Matt Birk and Ben Leber are headline speakers at next week’s MFCA Football Clinic at the DoubleTree in St. Louis Park. More than 30 speakers and over 50 sessions are scheduled for the March 28-30 clinic. More at mnfootballcoaches.com

Karl-Anthony Towns had his 47th double-double of the season last night when he scored 26 points and got 21 rebounds in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Warriors at Target Center.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer hosts his first Mike Zimmer Golf Classic at Bearpath Golf and Country Club in Eden Prairie on Monday, May 13. The event is part of the Mike Zimmer Foundation. Hole sponsorships starting at a $1,000 are available. More at Mikezimmerfoundation.org.

Looks like Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman were right about quarterback Case Keenum who they let walk as a free agent last year. The Broncos, who signed Keenum in 2018, traded him to the Redskins earlier this month and now have turned to another veteran, Joe Flacco, as their quarterback leader. Keenum is with his fourth team in four years.

Ex-Gopher Phil Nelson, who received a lot of media and fan attention last month for a no-look pass, has completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 513 yards, and thrown three touchdown passes and three interceptions, quarterbacking the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football, according to noextrapoints.com.

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U NCAA Tourney Run Looks Unlikely

Posted on March 18, 2019March 18, 2019 by David Shama

Golden Gophers players and fans are understandably excited about the team earning an invitation yesterday to the NCAA Tournament, but it will probably be a “short dance” for coach Richard Pitino’s team.

After 34 games, including many against quality opposition, there are no more secrets about this club. Before the season a lot of media didn’t think the sixth edition of the Pitino era was talented enough to qualify for the “Big Dance,” but the Gophers mostly rode the twosome of forward Jordan Murphy and guard Amir Coffey to several successes including defeating nationally ranked Purdue twice this month.

Coffey at No. 7 in points per game and Murphy at No. 11 are among Big Ten’s best scoring combos. Only Indiana’s Romeo Langford at No. 6 and Juwan Morgan at No. 9 are a higher scoring duo in the Big Ten.

Coffey saved his best for last this season, averaging 23.8 points per game in helping Minnesota win four of its last six games. He is a multi-skilled player who offensively gives the Gophers outside and inside scoring, including in the deciding moments of games. “His skill set is off the charts,” said CBS analyst Grant Hill during Saturday’s Minnesota-Michigan game in the Big Ten Tournament.

Coffey is averaging 16.3 points per game, while Murphy is at 14.9. Few college players are better inside scorers than Murphy who consistently bulls his way to the basket. Without Murphy’s Big Ten leading rebounding, the Gophers could not have come close to putting together a 21-13 season. That record earned the Gophers an NCAA Tournament assignment to play Thursday in Des Moines against Louisville in a East Region game.

Minnesota is likely to struggle in the tournament, though, because there isn’t enough talent and experience on the roster to complement Coffey and Murphy. The Gophers went a combined 3-8 against the Big Ten’s five best teams (over .500 records in league play). They were 2-1 against Purdue, split two games with Wisconsin and finished 0-1 versus Michigan State, 0-2 against Maryland and 0-3 in matchups with Michigan.

In every Gopher game, it’s an unknown as to which player—if anyone—steps up and complements Coffey and Murphy. Sometimes it’s been freshman starting center Daniel Oturu, who has the talent to some day be All-Big Ten like Coffey and Murphy. Fellow freshman guard Gabe Kalscheur shows promise offensively and defensively, but inconsistent shooting is a problem. That’s true, too, of senior guard Dupree McBrayer.

The better teams, the ones who advance far in the tournament field, don’t struggle to score points, including three pointers. At 5.2 made three pointers per game, few teams have found shooting beyond the arc any more challenging than Minnesota. Opponents are averaging 6.7 three pointers converted and have 50 more makes than the Gophers.

Bench help?

Pitino has been using fewer reserves in recent weeks. Those subs usually are in for limited minutes to provide short amounts of rest for the starters. They play hard and contribute in subtle ways, but their scoring production is limited. In Minnesota’s 75-73 Big Ten Tournament upset of Purdue on Friday, the bench players produced zero points, while Murphy and Coffey combined for 48 points.

Maybe the Gophers can make a Cinderella run in the tourney but their resume doesn’t support that prediction. As a No. 10 seed they are underdogs against Louisville. If Minnesota wins Thursday, East No. 2 seed Michigan State (ouch) likely awaits the Gophers on Saturday.

Worth Noting

The Gophers are one of eight Big Ten teams invited to the NCAA Tournament. The total is the most in Big Ten history.

Brian Cosgriff, 58, added a seventh girls state tournament title Saturday night as part of his 20 year coaching career at Hopkins, and he told Sports Headliners last week he plans to continue coaching for awhile. His roster is loaded with returnees—14 of 18 players back for next season including daughter Brooke Cosgriff.

Four of five starters return including point guard Paige Bueckers who could turn out to be the best prep player nationally in the class of 2020. Bueckers plays unselfishly on the court, and has given her time to organize a series of free basketball clinics for youth.

Sid Hartman, whose 99th birthday was last Friday, got his first by-lined story in Minneapolis newspapers on November 1, 1944, per his book Sid Hartman’s Great Minnesota Sports Memories. Before going to work as a journalist for the Minneapolis Times for $11.50 per week, Hartman’s previous newspaper work was in high school at Minneapolis North. Still now writing multiple columns per week in Minneapolis, he wrote his first column for the Times on September 13, 1945.

Governor Tim Walz, MLS commissioner Don Garber, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul and other dignitaries are scheduled to speak this afternoon at the Minnesota United’s ‘Scarf Raising’ ceremony to commemorate the opening of Allianz Field, the privately-financed soccer specific stadium in St. Paul. MNUFC’s home opener at Allianz Field, a nationally televised game on ESPN 2 against New York City FC, will be Saturday, April 13 starting at 4 p.m.

Have to wonder about ticket demand for tomorrow night’s Timberwolves game at Target Center against the defending NBA champion Warriors when Ticket King was promoting $29 tickets via email several days ago. The Wolves per game home attendance average of 14,981 ranks 29th out of 30 teams, per Espn.com.

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Hopkins Star Worth Admission Price

Posted on March 14, 2019March 14, 2019 by David Shama

I admit to being cranky yesterday morning. I took a couple of steps out the front door and onto the sidewalk, and I immediately realized ice skates could provide a steadier walk to the garage than my shoes.

I gingerly made my way through the fog, found the garage and began driving toward Williams Arena—an expected trek of 30 minutes or less. About 55 minutes later my car was parked a couple blocks from the arena, but I was not pleased with the long journey that included stretches of 10 miles per hour traffic on north-bound 35W.

I arrived at Williams Arena about 9:30 a.m. without a media credential to watch the Class 4A Hopkins-Lakeville North quarterfinals girls’ state high school basketball tournament game. It’s been a long time since I paid my way into watch a pro, college or prep game in this town.

But guess what?

That $16 admission was money well spent. I had come to see the tourney favorite, 29-0 Hopkins, and the Royals’ phenom point guard, Paige Bueckers. Among those having a look at the extraordinarily gifted Bueckers was an assistant coach for the storied Connecticut women’s program. Legendary head coach Geno Auriemma, who practically wins NCAA titles like some people win conference crowns, has come to watch Bueckers many times.

The whole college basketball world wants the talented yet unselfish Bueckers to play hoops at their schools. Bueckers, a slightly built 6-foot-1 junior, is known as the best point guard in America’s high school class of 2020. This week she was a finalist for and just missed out on being selected the Gatorade Girls Basketball National Player of the Year. She was Gatorade’s Minnesota Player of the Year and the Star Tribune chose her as Metro Player of the Year this week—the second consecutive year the newspaper has honored her with the award.

Yesterday Bueckers performed like someone who receives that kind of attention in her team’s 68-46 win over Lakeville North. In 30 minutes on the floor she made 10 of 12 field goal attempts and eight of 10 free throws. She scored a game high 29 points while not forcing things to happen, and she could have totaled 40 had she not played so unselfishly. At one point the Hopkins student section let loose with chants of “MVP!”

Hers is a mystical style of play where she seems to spontaneously and naturally do the right thing, be in the right place—all while flowing with what is happening on the court. After the game yesterday Bueckers told Sports Headliners that she has a “God given ability that I know what I am doing, and I see…plays two steps ahead.”

Brian Cosgriff has been the Hopkins head coach for 20 years. His former great players include Nia Coffey who helped produce three state championships for the Royals. How do Coffey and Bueckers compare? Who is the best prep player Cosgriff has coached?

Cosgriff referred to Bueckers as the “most skilled” prep player he has had. Coffey is the best athlete. Then he said, “It’s like the age old debate, who is better (Michael) Jordan or LeBron (James)?”

Bueckers’ total profile includes sound fundamentals that even on defense make her a pleasure to watch. She doesn’t reach for the ball when she shouldn’t and she keeps her feet on the floor instead of jumping out of position. “Her feet are always in the right spot,” a Hopkins fan and Bueckers admirer said during the game.

The Royals were the dominant team yesterday, out scoring North by 12 points in the first half and 10 in the second. The one-sided game had the North student section yelling “Let’s play football” in reference to the school’s powerhouse 2018 team.

Cosgriff’s heart, though, may have skipped a beat early in the second half when Bueckers started limping and went to the bench for a short while. She was favoring her left knee and Cosgriff hopes his star player will be available for tonight’s semifinal tournament game against Centennial.

Bueckers dismissed the possibility of the injury preventing her from playing tonight. Understandably, Cosgriff was more cautious, indicative of how coaches take on a lot of worry during a lose and go home format like the state tournament.

Cosgriff has won six state titles. However, the Royals have also lost three consecutive state championship finals games. Bueckers, on the varsity since eighth grade, has experienced those crushing losses.

A determination to change that burns in Bueckers who said she thinks about winning the championship all the time. She uses words like energy and passion when discussing what it takes to be the best team possible. The drive and commitment to win is so evident.

Seemingly well liked by teammates, Bueckers feels a responsibility to lead a young roster and let more inexperienced players know even a single possession in a game could ultimately determine the Royals’ fate. “I’ve been thinking about it (the state title) three years in a row now…but I believe that we’ve worked so hard this year, and I think we can get it,” she said.

Bueckers wants to win for herself, teammates and “really bad” for Cosgriff who not only put a talented and balanced team on the floor yesterday but one that executed assignments while performing with focus and determination. “We want it for each other,” Bueckers said. “That’s the thing about this team. We’re so close. We’ve gone through ups and downs with each other but at the end of the day we stuck as one—so we want it so bad.”

Bueckers has already played on three USA basketball teams that have won gold medals. A state title this year and next would close out an almost fantasy prep career of team and individual recognition. Along the way Connecticut, Notre Dame, Minnesota or some other college will win the Bueckers recruitment process with a commitment. A verbal commitment, she said, could certainly come before starting her senior year at Hopkins.

The Gophers under new head coach Lindsay Whalen have talked to Bueckers about becoming a “hometown hero” by choosing Minnesota. Bueckers smiled at the mention of being a transformational player for the Gophers, but she didn’t give away any secrets as to who she favors among college choices. No, because right now she is focused on how she can help the Royals go a perfect 32-0 and snap that state title slump.

As for me, after watching the game, and talking with Bueckers and Cosgriff, I left Williams Arena and headed for the home office. The fog had lifted and so had my cranky outlook.

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