#0: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -1). This has been a very good week for Minnesota sports, possibly the best in WMNSS history. There were only five losses total for the eight teams in the Survey, and most of them were mitigated by wins. In fact, there was only one local team that turned in a completely pathetic performance (I think you know who). So who's at the top?
I have to give it to the team that is playing exceptionally well in a do-or-die knockout round. The Minnesota women's soccer team won their first- and second-round games in the NCAA Tournament last weekend. After coming back from a halftime deficit to score three goals and defeat first-round opponent Creighton, they shut down the seeded team in the pod, Texas A&M, in a thorough 2-0 victory the day after the snowstorm. I was there for that game (as well as Friday's); the tableau of soccer against snowbanks under a cold, cloudy sky was its own kind of beautiful. Anyway, their upset of the Aggies, ranked in the last national polls ninth in the country, was a very impressive, even if they had home-field advantage.
Individual accolades go to Forward Katie Bethke, who scored three goals over last weekend and thus made TopDrawerSoccer.com's Team Of The Week. She currently leads all in the tourney in goals and shots on goal (8). And I have to say that it heartened me to see the Gophers play so well. They outclassed both the Bluejays and A&M in connected passes as well as winning individual battles for the ball. Tamara Strahota, in particular, typifies the toughness this team has displayed so far.
This is the second time in program history they've reached the Sweet 16. Now is their chance to make a breakthrough. Not only is their third-round game against Georgetown at Robbie tomorrow at 1, the Hoyas are, like Minnesota, unseeded. Now, they did upset the #1 seed in the region, Maryland, but that was by penalty kicks, so they got lucky. Besides, without that win, the Gophers wouldn't have won what I think is the record game and tapped to host. I'll be there tomorrow rooting on this team; they have a great chance to reach the Elite Eight. The Gopher soccer team, one of the last eight!
#-1: Gopher football (Last Week: -8). They'll never be this high until they get a good coach to turn around this program; in other words, this is partially a charity case. But this win over Illinois, 38-34, was remarkable for a couple reasons. First, this was won on the road. And second, the Gophs were down by ten points with eight minutes remaining. All season, when confronted with such long odds, you knew they were going to lose. And yet somehow, for some reason, they rallied to win. This gives interim Head Coach Jeff Horton as many wins as Tim Brewster.
The comeback began on the ensuing kickoff, where Troy Stoudermire took the ball back 90 yards to the Illini 4. Two plays and 19 seconds after Illinois scored, DeLeon Eskridge punched the ball in. The defense stiffened, the offense moved the ball, and in the end they won. For his spark, Stoudermire was named Big Ten Special Teams Player Of The Week. Good for them; they've earned their rest this week in anticipation of their season finale hosting Iowa on the 27th.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Re-Entry!). A good start to a team regarded by many as Tubby Smith's best since he got here. They started their season 3-0, none of them second-division scrubs: Wofford, then Siena, then Western Kentucky in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
What makes them imposing is their interior force. Trevor Mbakwe, finally settled with his off-court crimes, bolsters the bigs on the roster, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III. This team will win not by shooting from the outside or guard play, but through post play and lay-ups. Now, will those three be able to match up with North Carolina's Harrison Barnes, a guy touted as being so good that he became the first newcomer -- out of high school, mind you -- to be named to the Associated Press' All-America presason team? Their win over the Hilltoppers means they draw the Tar Heels next, and they play them tonight!
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3). A sweep of the Michigan teams at home, but like most matches this season, it didn't go as one would plan it. The Wolverines are the better team, yet the Gophs swept them Friday. And yet on Saturday, Michigan St., a team that's now 4-12 in-conference and 12-15 overall, took them to five sets. They still seem to have trouble closing out games.
Still, a win's a win. Also, Libero Jessica Granquist was named conference Defensive Player Of The Week and they rose to 19th in the AVCA Top 25. They are on the road this week: At Wisconsin tonight, at Illinois tomorrow afternoon (that's going to be trouble; the second of a back-to-back, playing at the best team in the Big Team, less than 24 hours playing another team in another state?? Who schedules this?)
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -4). They go 2-1 for the week. Could this team be that good? I still think that bag skate Head Coach Todd Richards made the team go through early this season set a tone. Besides Goalie Nicklas Backstrom, Center Mikko Koivu and winger Martin Havlat, there is no one on this team that I would consider to be an elite player. This team is playing over their heads. Not that I'm complaining. They are playing at Detroit right now. It'll be a one-game road trip; they face the New York Rangers and Philadelphia at the X later this screening week.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5). Wow, talk about teams playing over their heads! When was the last time this club went 2-2 in a week? Did they do that even once last season?
They made national news with Kevin Love's 31-point, 31-rebound game in the win over New York on Friday. It was the first time someone scored at least 30 and pulled down at least 30 reebs in 28 years. Losses at Atlanta and Charlotte followed, but at least they were close losses (by six and three, respectively); I'll take that as a sign that not only does this team care, they are talented enough to compete. Finally, they pulled out a win at Target Center on Wednesday with a jumper by Michael Beasley to beat the Los Angeles Paper Clips. They now have won four games; last season it took them into December to do that.
As much as Love has gotten the pub, Beasley has been a revelation this week. Maybe we just haven' t seen it, and Love's once-in-a-lifetime night brought more attention to Beasley's vastly improved game. I am most glad that, for the first time since Kevin Garnett was traded, more than one player has settled into a role. Beasley, at least right now, is the #1; Love is the #2 and the main rebounder; all others are role players, at least until supposed top Point Guard Jonny Flynn comes back from injury and takes control of the Triangle Offense, if he's capable.
We'll see how long this magic carpet ride lasts. As has been noted by many b-ball sabrematricians, Beasley is sinking jump shots at a rate that is unsustaintable, at least for someone who's not Jordan. They just tipped off against the Bastard Minneapolis Lakers; they visit the Bastard Seattle SuperSonics for a one-game road trip (like the Wild at Detroit tonight) Monday, then host the just-divorced Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday.
#-6: Gopher women's basketball (Re-Entry!). Some team was going to get squeezed, and this week it's the Gopher women ballers. They went a very good 2-1 in their first week of play. But they lost the Best Buy Classic (they won their first game against Northern Illinois) when they lost to Wisconsin-Green Bay by four points due to turnovers and miscues. They rebounded nicely by defeating Pitt (all three games were at Williams Arena). But I get the feeling that this will be yet another plodding year: nondescript, fans still in the afterglow of the Whalen-McCarville Final Four days. This team is a lot closer to the inept squads before that age than those teams of recent years.
They host another tournament, the Subway Classic, this weekend. Tomorrow afternoon they play another school in the Wisconsin School System, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (hope this goes better than their game against the Green Bay Phoenix), then Sunday play either South Dakota or Dayton. Is Dayton a really good team? I think Dayton's a really good team.
#-7: Vikings (Last Week: -2). Wow. I had a bad feeling about this game, which only gave me more incentive to go watch the Gopher soccer team Sunday afternoon instead of this. Thank Buddha I made the right choice. Now, Chicago shut out Miami last night, so it might turn out that the Bears are a really good teram. But from what I heard and seen, it's not as if the ViQueens (first time I ever used that perjorative, though it fits) put up much of a fight -- no pass rush, unable to convert on third down, unable to stop Chicago on third down, every single Wide Receiver on the team on the bench.
It's funny; Love did that 30-30 and Beasley went supernova this week to win the Woofie Dogs two games the same weekend the Vikes turned in such a terrible performance that may have sunk their postseason chances this year -- and the chances this organization stays in Minnesota for good. It is a hell of a lot better to be surprising young team than a disappointing old one. But that's where the Vikes are right now; the Timberwolves are now this metropolitan area's favorite team.
It's Packer Week at the Dome. Green Bay Tight End Jermichael Finley tweeted that we are done, and that the Pack is going to apply the finishing blow to them Sunday. Hate to say it, but I believe him.
No comments:
Post a Comment