Positive Numbers: Gopher soccer (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Whatever happens from here on out, I believe that the University of Minnesota women's soccer team is currently the most unheralded story going on in Twin Cities sports. For the first time in program history, the Golden Gophers won an NCAA women's soccer tournament game on the road. Friday they walked onto the AU Soccer Complex and beat Auburn, 2-0, on Goals by Emily Peterson (in the 61st Minute) and Megan Gray (80'), both off Set Pieces (Free Kick for the former, Corner Kick for the latter). I was happy that this squad ran the table and won the Big Ten Tournament when that was the only way to get into the NCAAs. And now they've won a game? Cool!
This weekend they go to Los Angeles. Friday at 9:30 p.m. they visit UCLA, which is one of the four #2 seeds. They somehow survive that, they face either Santa Clara (one of four #3 seeds) or N.C. St. Sunday night. But really, they could get throttled by the Bruins and this season is already a roaring success. Good luck to the Gophers!
#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). And we still need to give dap to the volleyball club, who remain perfect in the B1G after sweeping Indiana and Purdue at Maturi over the weekend. But now comes the hard part standing in the way of conference perfection. The home schedule is over; the team now plays the final four games of the regular season on the road, starting with a Maryland-Ohio St. back-to-back this weekend.
#-1: Gopher football (Last Week: -6). OK, now this is a pleasant surprise ... although the fanbase has been starving for progress like this in P. J. Fleck's second year. Hosting a Purdue squad that frogstomped Ohio St. and has a Head Coach who now seems ticketed to go back to his alma mater of Louisville (Jeff Brohm), the Golden Gophers controlled the game from second 1 on Saturday and coasted to a 41-10 rout of the Boilermakers. It's kind of inexplicable how it happened. But it happened, and it should have happened, and now these guys have the same record as my alma mater.
Now, the goal is bowl eligibility. Unfortunately, neither of the team's last two games are winnable. Saturday they host Northwestern, which has already sewn up the Big Ten West.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Re-Entry!). I was at Lindsay Whalen's first game as Head Coach. Frankly, they went overboard with all the hype. The HC was more of a focus than the players -- which might make sense, but in another way, it shouldn't be that way.
For most of Friday's game versus New Hampshire I was looking at Whalen, just because. She has this tic of straightening her hair. Many times Assistant Coach Danielle O'Banion climbed onto the Williams Arena floor to talk to Whalen about something -- which might make sense, since Whalen is a new Head Coach while O'Banion has been an HC (at Kent St. from 2012 to 2016). And one time during a media timeout huddle, Minnesota set up their stools too close to one of those free-throw shooting contests the arena runs, and the whole team had to get up and re-huddle closer to the sideline.
But other than those peculiarities that don't really amount to much, all was well and good. The U. rebounded well, and led by Kenisha Bell, the Gophers ran away from the Wildcats, 70-47. Not a bad start. Now comes the hard part: The first road game of Whalen's career, at Xavier Wednesday. Then then host San Diego at The Barn Saturday night.
#-3: Gopher men's basketball (Re-Entry!). It is a make-or-break year for Richard Pitino. Remember that the hype was on for Minnesota last year; they were even placed in the preseason Top 25. And they responded with such a devastating flame-out that they refused a spot in the NIT. At least they have some dignity there.
Most of the entire outfit is back, including Eric Curry, who missed the whole season and was considered one of the main reasons the Goofers underachieved. And yet, even with a veteran-laden squad, they are picked to finish in the middle of the B1G, with only flickering hopes of The Big Dance. Anything less than that, and Pitino goes from the hot seat to the unemployment line. Sure, the year began on the right foot, beating Nebraska-Omaha at Williams Tuesday, 104-76. But I think a better barometer for what this team is made of comes tonight (Monday night) vs. Utah, a game I will be going to in a few hours. After that, the U. begins the Vancouver Showcase (whatever that is) with a game Sunday night against Texas A&M.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -3). Overall, this was a superlative week for Twin Cities sports. The Wild are the first team on the WMNSS to have lost this screening week, and even then, with a 4-3 loss in San Jose, they responded with victories at Los Angeles, Anaheim (those two coming back-to-back), and St. Louis -- all on the road. That gives the club 24 Points, which is second-best in the Central Division and Western Conference (behind Nashville), and third-best in the NHL (behind the Predators and Tampa Bay). Can they keep this up? This week they host Washington, Vancouver and Buffalo every other day; the Sabres matchup Saturday is followed by a roadie against Chicago Sunday.
#-5: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -5). You win some, you lose some. The club split a two-fer at Wisconsin, beating the Badgers Friday 3-2, then losing to them Saturday, 3-1. They host a two-game series vs. St. Lawrence (now that's an exotic squad that doesn't come up here often) this weekend.
#-Infinity: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). How in the fuck Tom Thibodeau fucked this up astounds me. He eschewed the by far best trade possible, to Houston for four first-round picks, and instead sent Jimmy Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers for two role players, an expiring contract, and a second-round pick. Thibs doesn't even get one fucking first-round pick out of this. I don't understand how in the hell Owner Glen Taylor hasn't fired Tom Thibodeau already.
Do I even need to list why this was such a self-own? I don't care that the Houston Rockets are a NBA championship contender. The four first-round picks would come next year and then every other year through 2025. (By NBA bylaw, a team cannot trade first-rounders in consecutive years, and a team cannot trade any picks beyond seven years. The Rockets literally gave the Woofie Dogs as many first-round picks as they were allowed to.) A lot can happen in seven years. The Rockets could turn to shit by 2025, even if Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey set some protections for those last two picks. Besides, first-round picks are assets. A General Manager, or at least one more competent than Thibs, could flip first-rounders if need be for Timberwolves needs as they arise. Just get the fucking picks!
Instead, we get Robert Covington and Dario Saric. Perfect Thibs people -- defend well, and can shoot the three, which this franchise still sorely need. (Oh, and the expiring contract belongs to Jerryd Bayless; there is a lot of talk that Bayless will be cut for money reasons.) But this is not the haul you get for a consensus Top 20 pick (as well as Justin Patton). Covington and Saric are pieces that will complement Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, and that leaves a problem that remains even with Butler and his bullying gone. Because it turns out that the Timberwolves' two #1 draft picks, Wiggins and Towns, are talents that don't give a shit about winning. This franchise had no choice but to go all-in on these two players, but unfortunately it feels as though these guys are not worth the contracts they signed. So Covington and Saric are going to be satellite pieces that are going to be led by two players who don't want to lead. And that's another reason why you collect first-round picks. Maybe Wiggins and Towns aren't the answer, and this organization has to -- my God, I can't believe I'm saying this -- start over again with yet another #1 overall picks. But with no first-round picks coming back in the Butler trade, that is impossible.
You want to know why Thibs turned down the Rockets' offer? He didn't want to trade Butler to a Western Conference rival. What the fuck makes him think the Timberwolves are actually a rival to the Houston Rockets? I think Thibs wanted to trade Butler to the Sixers because he thought the two d-men who he got are the best players that will help him win now -- even though it's obvious, at least to me, that this is not a playoff team.
My God, this fucking franchise could not have bungled up this trade saga worse than they have. And that is why they get a midseason #-Infinity. Well, that and the fact that they went 0-3 in California this screening week, extended a losing streak to five. At least they'll be home for the next five, including games vs. Brooklyn, New Orleans, Portland and Memphis this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment