Bullpen

It will be a crucial offseason for young Wolves

The Timberwolves are a handful of games from finishing off another miserable season. They’ve got 17 wins, which is just two more than last year’s even more miserable team.

Soon will come an offseason, and one full of crucial decisions to make.

Presuming that Ricky Rubio, the hyped point guard form Spain, does make his Wolves debut next season, that leaves two starting positions that the team still needs to figure out.

One is shooting guard, the other center.

Rookie Wesley Johnson has had his moments at shooting guard this season, and shows promise as an NBA player. Still, that promise seems to be more as a small forward than a shooting guard. Johnson is the perfect size, 6-foot-7, and with plenty of athletic talent to turn himself into a skilled small forward. It’s also a position where he could become an admirable defender.

But Johnson needs to make that position change. And the Wolves’ current small forward, offensively talented but defensively challenged Michael Beasley, needs to get shipped. But he must only get shipped if the Wolves can get a shiny piece in return; Beasley is too talented to be just given away.

One trade that would seem to make sense is Beasley going to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for big and athletic shooting guard Andre Iguodala, who would provide a much needed veteran presence for the incredibly young Wolves. The 6-6 Iguodala is in his sixth year as a pro. He’s not a great scorer (just 14 ppg. this season, 16 ppg. through his career), but he’s considered an excellent defender, passer and rebounder. He’s also someone who can make fans jump out of their seats with his high-rising dunks.

That still leaves the center position to figure out. The Wolves, who are virtually assured of a top-six pick in the upcoming draft, should trade it, moving it and possibly point guard Jonny Flynn, for an established center. Current starter Darko Milicic is not the answer at center. He plays well one out of every eight games. I like mid-season acquisition Anthony Randolph, and all of the energy and athleticism that he brings, but he's awfully skinny and seems more of backup than a starter.

The Wolves need to bring in a guy who can play well above the rim, and play with infinitely more energy than Darko. For a top-six pick in the draft, they should be able to land somebody worthy in a trade.

— Pat Ruff

Can you see on TV?

Did anyone get a chance to watch the Minnesota State Boys Baksetball Tournament on TV?

The semifinal and championship games were aired on KSTC and the games were not easy to watch. That's because the picture quality was so incredibly poor. The picture quality looked like a mixture of grainy and blurry footage. It was something you might expect from the 1960s or 70s, but surely not in the high-definition era of television.

Of course high def was not in use by KSTC and it certainly showed. Flipping back and forth between the high school games and NCAA Games (in high def) over the weekend was like looking at a wonderful piece of art compared to finger painting.

Here's hoping that KSTC can enter the 21st century by next year's state tournaments and bring us a high picture quality. Fans watching at home deserve better.

— Guy N. Limbeck

Chisholm coach is amazing

It's too bad Chisholm lost Friday. The state could use a bit more Bob McDonald.

When I covered my second state boys basketball tournament, McDonald was in his 18th season as Chisholm's coach. They beat the Melrose team (and their incredible Mark Olberding) I was covering on a shot in the final seconds, the first of three state championships and 11 trips to the tournament for McDonald.

Very intense during the games, he was humorous and almost gentle in postgame interviews.

The State High School League's resident blogger, John Millea, has a great post on McDonald, the state coaching wins record holder for boys basketball. Look for John's Journal.

-- Craig Swalboski

A big difference in women's tournament

Picture for a minute the Marquette men's basketball team, a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Division I tournament, getting to play the first two rounds at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee.

And then if they made the Sweet Sixteen, to play the next two rounds in, let's say the Milwaukee Bucks' Bradley Center?

In other words, a chance to get to the Final Four by winning four games without leaving their city?

The uproar would rival the Wisconsin legislature.

But that's exactly what the NCAA women's tournament has going this year. No. 11 seed Gonzaga knocked off No. 6 Iowa and No. 3 UCLA in the first and second rounds, playing on its own McCarthey Athletic Center floor.  The victories earned the Zags a berth in the third round -- this time at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Poor Louisville. The No. 7 seed scored a nice 85-75 upset over No. 2 seed Xavier, on Xavier's home court. And the Cardinals' reward is a road game with Gonzaga.

I understand the rationale behind the home sites. Unlike the men's tournament -- where high ticket demand makes more-or-less strictly neutral floors an affordable luxury -- the women's tournament needs to place its games where fans are more likely to turn out in significant numbers.

So when the sites are determined (about 18 months in advance), they're top-heavy with perenially strong programs. Who then are even more unlikely to lose in the early rounds, for the most part robbing the tournament of one of the major attractions of the men's event: early-round shockers.

Would Marquette have beaten No. 3 Syracuse on the Orange's home floor? Or even No. 6 Xavier, in Cincinnati?

Or more to the point, would tiny No. 13 Morehead State have stood a chance playing No. 4 Louisville in the Cardinals' gym?

One of the women's region semifinals and finals being held in the same city is admittedly a quirk (this is the first time it's happened since the current format for scheduling -- including having the national championship game the day after the men's -- was adopted in 2003) but that only exaggerates the point about home-court advantage built into the system for the first two rounds.

By the way, Gonzaga is a first-second-round site next year too. They're mixing it up a bit, with schools like Fairfield and Bowling Green hosting games besides some of the regulars like Maryland.

Eleven of the last 15 national championships have been won by UConn or Tennessee. Maybe not much can be done to change that dominance and its resulting predictability. But at what point does the competitive tradeoff for home courts -- and indifference from the larger basketball world -- become not worth the extra ticket sales to the smaller universe of avid college women's basketball fans?

Only the NCAA can answer that.

-- Craig Swalboski

A reason for this year's madness

From Associated Press columnist Jim Litke:

This year's (NCAA men's basketball) tournament, already packed with buzzer-beaters and more than a dozen games decided by three points or fewer, could turn out to be the most volatile ever.

Because of AAU teams, talented kids have played each other in big games all over the country before they set foot in college. The brand names, both programs and players, aren't nearly as loaded as they used to be. The very best players are gone after a year, and with nearly every team on TV, the rest of the best no longer stack up anywhere waiting for their turn. With more money invested, more teams have topflight coaches.

So while VCU's players didn't bother to learn the (Purdue) Boilermakers' names, their coach, Shaka Smart, prepared them for exactly what to expect.

"We just had to have everyone on the same page and everyone going in the same direction," he said.

"It's just basketball, man," (VCU forward Jamie) Skeen said, adding a moment later, "If you jell as a team like we did today, you can beat anybody."

No doubt. But this year, it's happening at a dizzying clip as mid-major teams heavy on experienced upperclassmen refuse to be intimidated by the names on either the front or the back of opponents' jerseys. San Diego State and VCU are both in the round of 16 for the first time ever; BYU, Richmond and Florida State are back for the first time since 1981, 1988 and 1993 respectively.

"I think it's kind of the way of the world, the way it's going to be," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said before his team got axed by the Seminoles in the nightcap Sunday. "I bet this tournament is going to be really good even though maybe there's no great teams."

That point was made forcefully a day earlier as Butler's Shelvin Mack inexplicably ran into Pitt's Gilbert Brown as Brown tried a half-court desperation heave with three seconds left. Brown made the first free throw to tie the score at 70, then missed the second. As the Bulldogs' Matt Howard grabbed the rebound only to be fouled even more inexplicably by Nasir Robinson with 0.8 seconds left. Howard made the first for the game-winner.

"I've never seen anything like that in 39 years of coaching," is how UConn coach Jim Calhoun summed it up. "Both plays."

And to think: the madness has only just begun.

Nail-biters... and bonehead plays

The first four days of the NCAA men's basketball tournament was great television.

Close finishes, lots of drama, high stakes.

Unfortunately also there were stupid mistakes.

Washington gave North Carolina a very hard time Sunday and had a few seconds left to win the game when Venoy Overton made what the AP story called a "stunning half-court half-pass, half-shot, all-senseless heave." The Tar Heels' John Henson inexplicably failed to let the ball sail out of bounds (which would have given them the ball more than half the court away), touching it and giving Washington an in-bounds pass under its basket with half a second left.

Henson nearly goofed again when he almost goal-tended Isaiah Thomas's desperate final shot.

Texas messed up twice against Arizona: first after Jordan Hamilton grabbed a key rebound he for some reason called a time-out with his team ahead by two (with 14 seconds left), which set up an inbounds situation that led to a turnover via a five-second call, giving Arizona the chance to win. Which it did, on a basket-and-one by Derrick Williams.

Syracuse made a costly turnover on an in-bounds play, too, when with 51.6 seconds left Scoop Jardine didn't see how close he was to the midcourt line until he caught the ball, forcing him to tightrope to try to avoid over-and-back. He was unsuccessful, and on the ensuing possession Marquette broke the tie with a three-pointer and went on to win by four.

Michigan State had a longshot (no pun intended) chance to cap a rally from 23 points down against UCLA when the Bruins missed a free throw with 4.4 seconds left, but Kalin Lucas -- understandably in a really big hurry -- took a little too big a step and traveled.

And I can't even remember who it was now who -- trailing by three with a few seconds left -- fouled before the ball was in-bounded, taking away its best shot at tying the game via a steal and three-pointer.

Morehead State's Kenneth Faried got away with one. After teammate Demonte Harper made a three with 4.2 seconds left to put them ahead, Faried blocked a three-point attempt from the corner by Louisville's Mike Marra.

Don't foul the jump shooter, especially from beyond the three-point arc, and especially when you're 6-foot-8, the shooter is 6-foot-4 and he has to hurry his shot. Just give him something to shoot over.

The biggest of all, though, was what AP described as "A dizzying flurry in the final 2.5 seconds (that) saw Butler seemingly win the game on a layup by Andrew Smith, appear to lose it because of a foolish foul by (Shevlin) Mack, and then actually win because of a foul 90 feet from the basket by Pitt's Nasir Robinson."

So why was Mack close enough to foul Pitt's Gilbert Brown on a l-o-o-n-g pass (with 2.5 seconds left)? And for heaven's sake, why did Robinson bump and hack Butler's Matt Howard when it was immediately evident he couldn't tip in Brown's missed free throw (which with 1.4 seconds on the clock should have been his only thought, other than, umm, not fouling).

I wish I could blame this bonanza of boneheadedness on teams with key players who are disproportionately young and inexperienced, because so many elite players turn pro before they are seasoned (and presumably cooler-headed and less-mistake-prone) seniors.

But almost all of the mistake-makers mentioned here are juniors or seniors. Heck, Mack played in the national championship game last year.

Why the bundle of blunders?

I have no idea.

-- Craig Swalboski

 

Gophers will be banking on point guard recruit

The Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball team will be overhauling its team next season. And after losing 10 of its last 11 games following the crucial loss of senior point guard Al Nolen and now being on the bubble to even make the NIT, an overhaul sounds like a good thing.

The key to it figures to be a young, very smart, athletic and sweet-shooting point guard from Memphis, Andre Hollins. The 6-2 Hollins is averaging 25 points for his high school team and is arguably the prize of this year’s Minnesota recruiting class, which also features highly-touted 6-4 shooting guard Joe Coleman of Hopkins.

After watching Minnesota look inept offensively and defensively in the wake of Nolen’s injury, it couldn’t be any more obvious that the Gophers are desperate for a point guard who can lead, can be a threat to score outside and on drives, and can defend.

The word on Hollins is that he can do at least three of those four things, with the defensive part in question.

The mood surrounding this Minnesota program and its head coach, Tubby Smith, isn’t a good one right now. Tubby is hoping that Andre Hollins will quickly change that next season.

— Pat Ruff

Century will be TALL; JM has hope

The Rochester Century boys basketball team has an opportunity to be stunningly tall next season, and skilled, too.

There are two towering sophomores on that team who saw minutes in Century’s quarterfinal playoff win over John Marshall on Wednesday night. One is 6-foot-8 Carter Evans, who has gotten increasing playing time as the season has progressed and shows obvious skills around the basket.

The other is the younger brother of current Century 6-foot-5 junior star Ater Manyang. The younger brother, Akolda Manyang, is also a sophomore and goes 6-10 with extremely long arms. Stretch those arms out and he’s already got the wingspan of a 7-footer, plus he’s no skinny kid. Watch the younger Manyang lope effortlessly up and down the court, and you see obvious potential here, though his lateral quickness still has a ways to go.

Now, projecting to next season and expected continued growth from these two sophomores, and it’s easy to imagine a Century starting front line that goes 6-11, 6-9, 6-5, with quick and powerful 6-3 Alvin Franklin also figuring into that starting mix.

Under that scenario, Ater Manyang would shift over to shooting guard (my idea; I have no idea what Century coach Joe Ohm thinks about this). Ater has the skills and speed to play on the perimeter right now.

If these guys can stick together, next year’s Century team will go down as one of the tallest in Rochester history. But maybe not THE tallest. Back in 2001-02, John Marshall started 7-foot Mike Kinsella and 6-10 Longar Longar, with a couple of 6-5 guys also in the mix. Kinsella and Longar both went on to play at major Division I programs.

Ater and Akolda Manyang are Longar’s cousins.

• John Marshall went through an awful season in terms of wins and losses. The Rockets finished just 1-22.

However, JM made serious progress from a team that began the season routinely losing by 30 and 40 points.

That progress showed up in February. That’s when JM lost by just two points to Century, and stayed reasonably close against two more of the top teams in the Big Nine Conference, Winona and Mankato East.

JM still has an obvious ways to go, as was shown in Wednesday’s lopsided playoff loss to Century. But there is some promise for next year, with a number of young players flashing ability this season, led by sophomore point guard John Mattison, a couple of shooters in juniors Christian Hermansen and Riley Amy, a decent ballhanlder in junior Tony Webster, and a budding 6-5 sophomore in Michael Bosshart.

Add to that that JM has a terrific freshman team, led by point guard Deonte Moore and 6-6 center Ngor Barnaba, and there’s some light at the end of JM’s tunnel.

— Pat Ruff

Too much for Robison

The Vikings must see something they like in defensive end Brian Robison to offer him a contract worth up $14.1 million. I don't see it myself.

Robison is very athletic, but seems best suited to be a situational defensive player. I'm not sure he will ever be worthy of being a primary starter. And he is a strong special teams player, who came close to blocking several punts in 2010. But if he's not a starter, he is a very pricey role player.

And by signing Robison to that much money, the Vikings are probably saying good-bye to free agent DE Ray Edwards. Edwards was unhappy with his contract a year ago, so he might not want to return to the Vikings anyway.

If Edwards does depart, Robison and second-year player Everson Griffen could likely have much bigger roles in 2011. But then again maybe the Vikings' plan all along was for Robison to be on the field more often. They certainly are paying him like he should be a fullt-time player.

— Guy N. Limbeck