Yeah, I am convinced that this is not your older sibling's Minnesota Timberwolves. The team I saw on Wednesday plays defense. The experiment with pairing Rudy Gobert with Karl-Anthony Towns, aborted last Year due to injury, finally is paying off this season. And the role players -- Naz Reid, Kyle Anderson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and, lately, Troy Brown, Jr., who came off the bench to fill in for an injured Anthony Edwards (he played only four Minutes into the contest), played 30 Minutes and scored 20 Points in beating The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies -- might be emphatically answering anyone who has questions about the bench. I probably need to see this team actually, you know, succeed before saying they have what it takes to win it all. But, OK, these guys can be a contender. And I know that they'll be in Positive Numbers until they lose.
They have won six in a row and take that streak at New Orleans tomorrow/Monday night and Dallas Thursday. They then come home to face NBA Cup Game loser Indiana Saturday.
#0: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: 0). Am I wrong to think this should be a bigger deal than it was? In their only true road tilt of their non-conference schedule, these Golden Gophers went down to Lexington and crushed Kentucky by 19, 76-57. It doesn't look as though the Wildcats are ranked, but I remember they had Rhyne Howard. So, how did they do it? They attempted 22 Threes and made 13 of them, a season high. (This was the strategy they employed, possibly among other Games, vs. UConn; if they made 13 shots from deep against the Huskies, that would have been a hell of a lot closer.)
This team has proven they can play; they just needed the right coaching. And they finally step into league play this/Sunday afternoon when they take on Purdue at Williams Arena. They then flip back to non-con play as they host Grambling St. Wednesday.
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). In their annual regular season series with Wisconsin (at Ridder), the Gophers and the Badgers split: Minnesota won Friday, Wisky yesterday/Saturday afternoon. Guess that means nothing's solved.
And they are off for the rest of the Year. They return first weekend in January.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5). They started B1G play losing at Ohio St. by ten last Sunday. Then on Wednesday, they trailed Nebraska at Halftime by 15, then lost their best player, Dawson Garcia, a few minutes into the Second Half. This team in The Ben Johnson Era would shrivel up and die. But in what might, might be seen as a turning point, they came back to defeat the Cornhuskers, 76-65. Yes, it's Nebraska. But this squad would've lost to even Nebraska before. Maybe this group is learning something.
Oh yeah, they beat Florida Gulf Coast by 20 early yesterday/Saturday afternoon. They host IUPUI Tuesday.
#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4). Split at Ohio St.; the U. won Friday, Buckeyes won Saturday via Shootout last/Saturday night. Wonder if they are happy going into their holiday break with a 9-5-4 record. An exhibition against the U. S. National U-18 Team at Mariucci New Year's Afternoon.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -3). The John Hynes Effect continued early in the screening Week with Wins over Chicago and Calgary, but the Mild finally lost in the middle of their sojourn to the Pacific Northwest to, first, Vancouver and then, second, Edmonton. It was going to happen, obviously. But this may be that dead cat finally back to ground a second time ... and for good.
They finish up their trip to the PNW tonight/Sunday night in Seattle. They then come home to play return dates versus two of the clubs they just played: The Bastard Atlanta Flames Thursday, Vancouver Saturday.
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