David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Dan Dakich: U Can Contend Next Year

Posted on March 30, 2012March 30, 2012 by David Shama

ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich told Sports Headliners yesterday the Gophers could be a top five team in a strong Big Ten Conference race next year.

Dakich, a former Indiana player and head coach at Bowling Green, said the Big Ten appears to be “loaded” next season led by Indiana, a team that could be ranked among the nation’s top five in the preseason. The Gophers won six of their last eight games, including four straight in the National Invitation Tournament before losing last night in New York to Stanford in the tourney title game. “This experience (the NIT) has been spectacular for them,” Dakich said.

By extending their season about three extra weeks and winning games, the Gophers gained experience and momentum that will increase chances for success next season. “It’s all about momentum in your program,” Dakich said.

He emphasized momentum creates excitement in the fan base and among the players. Dakich said that kind of environment helps inspire players in their workouts, weightlifting and general preparations for the next season.

Dakich’s projections about the Gophers in 2012-13 assumes the most important players return including the NIT starters and forward Trevor Mbakwe who missed most of the past season with a torn ACL. If Mbawke chooses to play one more season rather than become a professional, he could lead the Big Ten in rebounding and anchor the team’s inside defense. That’s predicated on his recovery from the ACL injury. “He should be fine,” Dakich said.

Dakich said coach Tubby Smith and his staff have done a “great job” of closing out the year after Minnesota had lost seven of eight games in February and finished with a 6-12 conference record. The coaches deserve credit for both improved team and individual play.

Mention the NIT success to Dakich and the first name he talks about is Andre Hollins. The freshman point guard has emerged as a leader, playmaker and scorer. His late game contributions helped Minnesota win games the team was losing earlier in the year. “He’s been the difference (in the NIT run),” Dakich said. “Potentially he can be as good as he wants to be.”

Dakich believes junior forward Rodney Williams should dismiss any thoughts about leaving school to turn pro and come back for one more season. “He needs to prove himself in the Big Ten (over a season),” Dakich said. “He could be as good as anybody in the Big Ten.”

Dakich said the Gophers don’t have to defend the quality of teams they defeated in the NIT. Teams like Pac-12 champ Washington aren’t the equal of the best in the Big Ten but they are competitive clubs. Defeating them has positioned the Gophers for an interesting offseason and possible 2012-13 success.

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Worth Noting

Posted on March 30, 2012March 30, 2012 by David Shama

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners Ricky Rubio’s torn ACL was “pretty serious” and he anticipates the team’s starting point guard will be playing in six to eight months following last week’s surgery. Taylor was impressed with Rubio’s first season in the NBA, and not just for the Spanish guard’s playmaking including 8.2 assists per game.

“He’s so positive,”Taylor said. “He doesn’t talk about his own personal goals. He’s into helping others and seeing the team do well.”

Without Rubio, the Wolves likely won’t qualify for the playoffs despite the headline making season of Kevin Love. In Love’s fourth season he has frequently drawn praise as the NBA’s best power forward.

“He’s developed much faster and further than I think the real basketball people anticipated, and even those who saw all the potential,”Taylor said.

Former Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg called him to ask about how several years ago Saunders used 6-11 forward Kevin Garnett as a ball handler and facilitator of the offense. Hoiberg featured 6-8 forward Royce White in a similar way this past season.

Jabari Parker, a junior guard-forward from Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, has been named Mr. Basketball in Illinois. Parker is pals with Apple Valley sophomore point guard Tyus Jones. The two are among the most recruited young players in the country and there’s speculation Parker and Jones will attend college together.

Siyani Chambers from Hopkins High School was named Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball. He will attend Harvard. The four finalists and their college choices: Joey King, Eastview High, Drake; Sanjay Lumpkin, Benilde-St.Margaret’s, Northwestern; Johnny Woodard, Duluth East, undecided; Isaiah Zierden, Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Creighton.

Jay Pivec, National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame coach and head coach at Dakota County Technical College, will speak on the topic of “Play More Zone, Win More Games” on Sunday at the National Association of Basketball Coaches annual convention in New Orleans. He will be the only NJCAA coach speaking.

Twins starter Francisco Liriano ranks second in strikeouts (26) among all major league pitchers in spring training.

The CBS Evening News reported on Tuesday one of the remaining sixty 1909 Honus Wagner baseball cards is being auctioned this spring and could command a price of $1.5 million.

MIAC coaches’ polls predict St. Thomas will win the conference baseball and softball league championships.

Coach John Anderson’s Gophers baseball team opens the Big Ten schedule today against Michigan, with additional games on Saturday and Sunday against the Wolverines. All games are at the Metrodome.

Tweet from Gophers offensive lineman and Minnesota native Jimmy Gjere: “If you attend the U of M don’t wear other schools clothes like that W word across the border or the O state place.”

Augsburg running back Tyler Maxwell, who tore his ACL late last season, is expected back for the first game in 2012, according to an MIAC source. As a freshman he rushed for 121.3 yards per conference game, best in the MIAC.

According to a Minnesota Swarm news release, the local pro team runs the largest youth box lacrosse league in America with nearly 900 participants. Quoting a 2011 Sporting Goods Manufacturer Association participation report, lacrosse is America’s fastest growing sport. Minnesota has 83 boys high school lacrosse teams and 71 girls.

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KG Minnesota Farewell Coming Soon

Posted on March 28, 2012March 28, 2012 by David Shama

Will this town say goodbye to Kevin Garnett on Friday night? Garnett and the Celtics will come to Target Center to play the Timberwolves for the first and only time this season. It could be Garnett’s final game here.

The face of the Wolves franchise from 1995-2007, Garnett will turn 36 next month and his body has lots of “miles” on it. “Da’Kid” arrived here at 19, just a few months out of high school. Friday night he will be back in Minneapolis with speculation surrounding his future.

Garnett’s contract expires after this season but Boston coach Doc Rivers said last week the Celtics want him to return. “Oh yeah, absolutely. We want him back,” Rivers told CSN New England last Friday. “I think it will come down to if he wants to play or not. But, you know, who knows? So many games and so many things can happen. Being around this as long as I have I know it is very emotional how the season ends. And a lot of players have made poor decisions on the end of a season, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Not surprisingly, Garnett isn’t saying what his plans are. But you have to wonder if he wants to chase one more world championship with the demands of offseason conditioning and the grind of another NBA season. He’s been earning about $20 million or more per season for a long time. How much more dough does he need? And how enthusiastically will the Celtics front office be to keep paying Garnett seven or eight digits?

Garnett’s skills have been eroding for years, probably even before he arrived in Boston via the blockbuster trade from the Timberwolves. Now he’s been moved from power forward to center to help fill Boston’s gap in the middle and although he’s quicker in a lot of matchups he’s averaging 15.4 points per game and 8.1 rebounds versus career numbers of 19.4 and 10.6.

The Celtics are having their least successful season since Garnett and Boston won the world championship in 2008. Boston’s record of 27-22 scares no one. This team will be an improbable bet to march to another league title in the playoffs, not with a big three of Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce who are 35, 36 and 34 years old.

Garnett’s place in Wolves, Celtics and NBA history was long ago secured, though. Kevin Love might be the franchise wannabe, but for now Garnett is the greatest player in Wolves history. Garnett carried a sorry team for many years and a couple of years had enough support to threaten the league’s elite. He won the league MVP award in 2004 with the Wolves as they almost made the NBA finals.

In Boston he was the second best player (to Pierce) on the 2008 NBA championship Celtics. He taught teammates to care about defense and was a shot blocking intimidator who averaged 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds. He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.

For nine years Garnett was first team all-NBA defense. He led the league in rebounding four times. He has an effective 15 to 20 foot jump shot and could go inside to score, too. His single season best average of 24.2 came in 2003-04 when he also averaged 13.9 rebounds.

During an interview with Sports Headliners, Flip Saunders, Garnett’s Timberwolves coach for most of his career in Minneapolis, praised Garnett’s durability and multiple skill set that includes passing, ball handling, defense, shot blocking, rebounding and scoring inside and outside. With the Wolves Garnett typically played 38 minutes or more per game, and he was on the court in all 82 regular season games, or close to it.

At times Saunders even had Garnett bring the ball up the floor and start the offense. “He will go down (in history) as the most versatile player ever to play,” Saunders said.

It’s probably fair to say that for most basketball authorities Garnett has earned a place among the NBA’s top 30 players ever. Author Bill Simmons, for example, writing in his 2009 publication The Book of Basketball, details the top 100 NBA players of all-time. Checking in at No. 22 is Garnett.

As soon as he’s eligible (five years after retirement), Garnett will be checking in, too, at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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