Friday, January 22, 2021

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5).  This is a rare week where I need to get away from just looking at records for each team for the Week.  The University of Minnesota wrestlers went 2-0 while the U. men's basketball team went 1-0.  Moreover, they were supposed to play the Cornhuskers in Lincoln Wednesday, but that was postponed because Nebraska has suffered at least one positive COVID-19 test among either its roster, coaching ranks or important staff.  While I have hit a Minnesota club for postponements if they were the ones with the positives, if I were honest with myself, I used the postponement in general as a reason to mark them down, especially if I need to break a tie.

However, that squad's only Game, and win, was no ordinary Game and win.  They beat Michigan at Williams Saturday afternoon.  This is no run-of-the-mill Wolverine club; the Golden Gophers gave them their first loss of their season, and they were ranked seventh in the country.  And they didn't just beat the Wolverines; Minnesota crushed Michigan, 75-57.  It was the Wolverines' smallest point total of their Year, and Minnesota induced 20 Michigan Turnovers.  As Marcus Carr has been a stalwart, Drake transfer Liam Robbins has been a revelation.  He has been great throughout the Year and was able to make up for a bad first performance versus Michigan (a 25-Point Gopher loss on the 6th) with 22 Points and eight Rebounds.

Yes, this was at home, and the Gophers have been perfect at home and winless on the road.  Like I have said before, I think that's a sign of how good the Big Ten is as a conference, even without crowds.  I think good teams in this league will play great at home and will probably be blown out on the road.  I am now convinced that Richard Pitino has assembled a good, even a very good, team.

So the U. finally have finished its gauntlet to begin its conference slate -- according to the Minnesota athletic department, the most consecutive lineup of opponents in the Associated Press Top 25, seven, since St. John's had to face eight in a row in 2011.  And they finished it 4-3, winning all their Games at home and losing (actually getting drubbed) all the ones away from Dinkytown.  I thought they were going to go 0-7.  Now, they're ensconced as a 6-seed according to Joe Lunardi.  That is one hell of an accomplishment, and that is why I rank the University of Minnesota men's basketball squad first this Week.

Now is the part of the schedule where the Gophers can begin winning on the road against lesser foes in the B1G, an important part to building a comprehensive resume for tournament play.  But first, well, is a home Game (fingers crossed it goes off without a hitch) vs. Maryland Saturday afternoon.

#0: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -6).  Wrestling is doing its part to stem the spread of the coronavirus by hosting more neutral-site Duals and Doubleheaders.  For example, on Saturday, the Golden Gophers went to East Lansing to play both Michigan St. and Maryland.  And the grapplers had a triumphant day, blanking the Terrapins, 48-0, and then crushed the Spartans, 28-6.  I don't think it matters in the long run -- this club faces certain slaughter tonight/Friday night against Iowa, and the Hawkeyes are coming here.  But a dominant double-dip should be honored, and so for this week's WMNSS, I made a compromise and pushed up this team to above negative numbers.  (And again, referring back to the U. men's b-ballers, I thus put them in Positive Numbers despite losing a Game due to COVID, even if that postponement is not their fault.)

#-1: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -7).  Similarly to the U. wrestlers, I want to give some extra recognition to the women b-ballers, who beat Nebraska in Lincoln Tuesday afternoon, 76-71, managing to end a three-Game losing streak.  This club is 3-7 and there remain growing problems with the program, which probably makes such good screening Weeks rare.  So, in an act of charity, I wanted to push these women up as much as possible (although not past the wrestlers because, hey, this team won only once and they won twice, and on the same day!) knowing that they visit Penn St. Monday evening and host Purdue Thursday afternoon and it is highly unlikely they'll get out of next week with a three-Game winning streak.

#-2: Wild (Last Week: -1).  Sandwiching their first loss of the Year, a 1-0 decision in Anaheim Monday, between a 4-3 Overtime win over Los Angeles Saturday and a 3-2 victory at the Ducks Wednesday.  That victory over the Kings was the very definition of a great escape.  Down 3-1, Matt Dumba tied the Game with about two Seconds left in the Third Period to send the Game to OT.  Then, Marcus Johannson completed the comeback by scoring for the first time this season with 10.6 Seconds left in the extra frame to escape L. A. with both Points.  Meanwhile, Joel Eriksson Ek's Goal about two Minutes into the Third Period was the Game-winner vs. the Ducks despite blowing a 2-0 lead.

The secondary Assist on Ek's tally, by the way, was given to Kirill Kaprizov, who now has four Points on the young season.  That's great output.  But is one concerned that neither Zach Parise nor Kevin Fiala have even registered an Assist yet?

After starting out in Southern California to start their season, Minnesota now comes back home to begin a lengthy homestand.  They will play four Games this Week, every other Day -- San Jose for two, then the Kings for two.

#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3).  It is unusual for the two U. hockey teams to have worse Weeks than the two U. basketball teams, but this is one of those Weeks.  The men's icers could not sustain success and their #1 ranking in both men's college hockey polls after getting swept, at home, by Notre Dame, which wasn't ranked last week.  The Gophers, now fourth in both polls, took their humiliation out on Arizona St. last/Thursday night at Mariucci by immolating the shit out of the Sun Devils, 10-0.

They close out their series against ASU this/Friday afternoon.  And looking ahead at the rest of the schedule, it looks like this series vs. the Sun Devils will be the last one that is played on days besides the traditional Friday-Saturday.  Finally, a return to normalcy!

#-4: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -2).  Alas, the schedule does not provide succor for the female icers as it does for the men.  A 6-3 defeat in Madison meant this squad was swept by Wisconsin last weekend, and so they swapped back #1 and #2 rankings in the USCHO.com poll.  They visit Ohio St. for two this/Friday evening and tomorrow/Saturday afternoon.

#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4).  I think I have said this before, but the Woofie Dogs' latest loss Wednesday may be a new low for the franchise.

I get the following scorelines at their points of time from Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.  The Wolves led Orlando by 20 early in the Third Quarter and by 16 with 2:44 to play in that same Quarter.  They led by 13 with 6:33 left in the Fourth Quarter.  They led by eight with 2:22 left in regulation.  And they led by two with 4.6 Seconds left.  Jarred Vanderbilt was on the line at the time, shooting two after being fouled.  He's shit when it comes to Free Throws.

He missed the first.  And I think you can guess what happened next.

They lost in Atlanta for the Hawks' annual MLKJD Game, and Friday's home date with Memphis was postponed because of coronavirus issues -- and by the way, this postponement was the Wolves' fault.  But in a long list of team emasculations, this is ... only the latest.  It doesn't matter that Karl-Anthony Towns is still out with the virus, and it doesn't matter that this squad is the youngest in the NBA.  These dumb motherfuckers should have won this Game.  And that they lost this one is a deserved indictment of all involved.

I will forever be indebted to Glen Taylor.  Say what you will about his competence in running the franchise.  But he kept the Timberwolves in Minnesota, and he's doing his damnedest to sell this team to someone who will vow to keep it in Minnesota.  That being said, right now, I don't mind if this goddamn team moves to Seattle.

Oh, and this is a shit ton of evidence that Ryan Saunders is in over his head as Head Coach.

This Week: Back-to-back home contests vs. Atlanta and New Orleans, then a pair of tilts at Golden State.

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