#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: 0). In a wan Week for Twin Cities sports (although, thankfully, it includes five teams, which is great because I have work early this morning), it's the U. of M. women's hockey team on top. In a much-anticipated series at Ridder Arena, the third-ranked Golden Gophers hosted the top-ranked Ohio St. Buckeyes over the weekend. Minnesota got the better of OSU on Friday, winning 4-2, but the Buckeyes crushed the shit out of the Gophs yesterday/Saturday, 5-1. (Like I said in my previous blog post, I was planning on going to this Game, but work was calling out for overtime, so I went to work instead. I made the right decision.) I don't want to say that the Loss more than cancels out the Win just because of the margin. A split against the #1 club in the country isn't anything to sneeze at. But ... yeah, I'm more worried about that 5-1 Loss than buoyed by that 4-2 Win. If this were just a one-off -- say in an NCAA Frozen Four Final -- I still think the U. has a puncher's chance of beating Ohio St.
And now this is what you call quality competition. This weekend they host other WCHA nemesis Wisconsin, currently ranked eighth (?) in the country.
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2). In a still compressed middle of the Western Conference, the Woofs get shuffled down to eighth due to a 1-2 screening Week. Lost the back half of a two-Game home series vs. The Bastard Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings in Overtime Monday by seven, then in an incredibly gutsy performance in front of a raucous Target Center crowd, they outlasted The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors (and Steph Curry, whom Woofie Dogs General Manager David Kahn refused to draft twice) in OT, 119-114 on Wednesday. Finally, they wound up the Week Friday by losing to Orlando, also at home, also by seven. That defeat was marred by a brawl precipitated by Minnesota's Austin Rivers and the Magic's Mo Bamba. One of the guys piling onto the fracas was Jalen Suggs of Orlando who's from Minnesota, and it is kind of weird to see a local kid, presumably with family and friends at the Game, fight and then get ejected.
Rivers is out for three Games. And he'll still be back before Karl-Anthony Towns, who is getting Wally Pipp'd by Anthony Edwards, who got snubbed for an All-Star spot. There's a good article by Michael Pina of The Ringer analyzing his present and future. Specificaly, Pina wonders if spacing issues on the squad will damage Ant's Game and growth. With KAT's lingering injury and continued frustrations concerning chemistry with the high-paid talent on the roster, it doesn't look like the Big 4 will be together for long -- not if the organization wants to move forward.
They finish their six-Game homestand tonight/Sunday night against the top team in the West, the Nuggets. That begins a home-and-home; they play in Denver Tuesday, then travel to Salt Lake City Wednesday in Rudy Gobert's first return to the team he had played for all his career, the play in Memphis Friday.
#-3: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -1). Well, this is a border battle, even though a bit of the shine might have come off in the past decade or so. But there was a notable streak on the line: The 11th-ranked Gophers hosted #2 Iowa Friday hoping to run the table at home, something they haven't done in nine seasons. Alas, it was not to be, as the Hawkeyes ended the U.'s home schedule with an 18-13 defeat, the first at the Sports Pavilion in over a calendar Year. And it wasn't that close because Iowa won the first six Matches to put this Game away. The U. won the last four to make the final score look respectable.
A quick shout-out to the Gophers' Michial Foy. Ranked 28th at 197 Pounds, he upset the Hawkeyes' Jacob Warner (ranked 7th at that weight), 2-1, getting a takedown at the last Second:
Also, Isaiah Salazar, 10th at 184, took a Major Decision on Iowa's Drake Rhodes, 13-5. That's five Points for Minnesota, which is why the Gopher grapplers have 13 total Points for winning four Matches instead of twelve.
The team finishes the season at Wisconsin on Saturday.
#-4: Gopher women's basketball (Re-Entry!). For the past several Years, for their seasons, there have been weekly coaches' shows for both Minnesota football, men's basketball and women's basketball. They're flogging both basketball teams now, of course; they're on Channel 9 (and 9.2). And considering how shitty both b-ball programs in Dinkytown are right now, I wonder if it's downright embarrassing for Channel 9 to keep promoting both shows. I mean, who the hell is watching right now?
Seriously, I don't remember a time when both basketball clubs have been this godawful. I remember growing up and seeing the U. women get scant coverage on the news when they were a nothing program. Out of nowhere, Lindsay Whalen stepped up and made Minnesota women's hoops a thing. Ironically, she is the Head Coach of a U. program that appears to have fallen back down to the bottom of the well. Back-to-back ass-kickings at home, by 36 to Michigan and by 23 to Indiana (with the proviso that both foes are ranked) extends the team's losing streak to three and, more importantly, represents a sad new low for the program. They're 2-9 and tied for next-to-last in the Big Ten standings.
I'm sorry -- I don't know if it's coaching, recruiting, development or a combination of all three, but Whalen was hired to resurrect a somewhat tarnished women's b-ball program and, frankly, has made it worse. She had no experience running a team at any level, but because she is Lindsay Whalen, she was tasked to lead her hometown school, a BcS women's basketball program. Is that name brand enough to keep her on the job if season after season looks like this and, frankly, the few seasons before this? I think that was Mark Coyle's plan when he hired her. In my eyes, that really doesn't look good now. I wonder if there is any heat, however, toward making a change.
This Week: At Illinois and Ohio St., then home versus Wisconsin, the team with which the Goofs are tied for the penultimate spot in the B1G.
#-Infinity: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4). The record, which is 7-15 overall and 1-11 in the B1G, is cringe-worthy and obvious to anyone who's paying attention. And yet it seems to be this Week, and in particular what happened at The Barn last/Saturday night, that might have alerted the casual U. men's basketball fan to the dire straits this program is in now. Because in case you haven't noticed, this Week these Golden Goofers suffered back-to-back 35-Point Losses. I haven't checked and yet I am 100% certain such shit-kickings have never happened to a University of Minnesota men's b-ball team before. And that is why I have no choice but to give an ultra-rare in-season #-Infinity to this ballclub.
I hate to do it. By all accounts, Head Coach Ben Johnson is a good person and is trying his hardest. But last/Saturday night's emasculation to Maryland by a score of 81-46 on a weekend night in front of a home crowd seems to have triggered intense scrutiny on the program and, to be honest, some existential soul-searching. In his press conference, Johnson tried to fall on the sword for his players -- a couple of whom are injured, much of the rest failing to demonstrate on that night they could compete in top-flight men's basketball -- saying he's to blame, don't put this on his men. It is notable that Johnson had to take the long picture in the sad aftermath of this horrible Loss, because even he knows that, even if it's just his second season, this humiliation in the spotlight turns up the heat on this program and his career. I think by all rights Whalen should be on the hotter seat than Johnson. But it is unfortunate to point out that even with the small incremental steps forward this program made last Year, they have taken many, many steps back this Year. And it's hard to be given trust for a third Year when that happens.
They have only one Game this Week, at Illinois Tuesday. Probably a good thing.
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