Wolves 2015-16: The Freshmen Class of '15

Alternate logo (2008-present) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After years of bad ping pong ball mojo and NBA draft picks that never really worked out, the Minnesota Timberwolves made the most of the first number one draft pick they've ever had.  They chose Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky to help lead them out of the NBA wilderness.

That wasn't the biggest surprise coach Flip Saunders (wearing his President of Basketball Operations hat) would pull off Thursday night, considering that every basketball pundit from ESPN on down predicted that the Wolves would take Towns.  No, the honor went to Tyus Jones, for whom the Wolves traded two second round draft picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Oh, and Jones just happens to be from the Twin Cities suburb of Apple Valley.  How convenient.

Towns gives Minnesota something they've been sorely lacking--a 6'11 center who can play defense.  James is a 6'1 point guard, the kind the team doesn't need at this time because they already have Ricky Rubio.  But since Rubio hasn't made the impact the Wolves had hoped for because of injuries, Saunders must think that having Jones around might light a fire under Rubio if he doesn't get traded first.

Both Towns and Jones came from the "one and done" world that college basketball has become, leaving after their freshmen years to enter the NBA draft.  Towns was part of a Kentucky Wildcat team that went undefeated for nearly an entire season, until they lost to Wisconsin at the NCAA Men's Final Four in Indianapolis last spring.  The Badgers proceeded to lose the national championship game to Duke . . . and Tyus Jones.

While visions of playoffs and NBA championships dance in the heads of Wolves' fans, it should be noted that Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyus Jones are joining Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine as part of one of the youngest lineups in the league.  Meaning it should be quite awhile before they show any kind of progress, and by then they should feel confident enough to leave Minnesota and win their championships somewhere else.  Because that's how the Timberwolves roll--as a development team for the NBA's creme-de-la-creme.  And it's not in Minnesota.

Golden Warriors

Wizards v/s Warriors 03/02/11 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Golden State Warriors and their fans had been waiting 40 years for another chance at an NBA title.  The wait ended Tuesday night when the Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97, winning their Finals series four games to two.

The Warriors had a big season, dominating the Western Conference with a 67-15 regular season record.  Novice coach and former TV analyst Steve Kerr got plenty of help from Stephen Curry (who scored 25 points in Game 6), Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala.  Their playoff run took them past the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets.

As for the Cavs, their Eastern Conference playoffs went through the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks with minimal effort.

When LeBron James came back to Cleveland after his championship sojourn in Miami, he was expected to bring a title to a city that hasn't seen one in over 50 years.  He almost did it single-handedly, scoring a triple-double (32 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists) in Game 6.  Some said James should have been the playoff MVP, an honor that ultimately went to Iguodala.

James had to be a one-man team when Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love went out of the playoffs with injuries.  But you can't win championships when the starting lineup consists of one superstar and four other guys.

The San Francisco Bay Area now has two teams that have won pro sports championships in the past nine months, with the Giants winning baseball's World Series last October.  The Warriors seem likely to make a long run at the top with the talent they've got, provided they remain healthy.

Cleveland?  They're still waiting.

Blackhawks On The Six

Chicago Blackhawks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the Chicago Blackhawks, their number this season was six.  They are an Original Six NHL franchise (though Keith Olbermann of ESPN disputes that) who have now won six Stanley Cups in its history, three of them in the past six years.

It took the Hawks six games to clear the final hurdle against the Tampa Bay Lightning, with a 2-0 win at United Center in Chicago to take the series four games to two.  Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, who was named winner of the Conn Smythe trophy for being MVP of the playoffs, scored one goal each.

This was a tight series, with all but one game--the last one--being decided by one goal.   Corey Crawford of the Hawks and Ben Bishop of the Lightning were both solid in goal, though there were times when Bishop's on-ice behavior was so erratic that you wondered what was really going on with him.

Both teams' road to the finals were daunting, but no less doable.  The Blackhawks' Western Conference path went through the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks. (They benefited from not having to play the defending champion Los Angeles Kings, who missed the playoffs this year.)  Tampa Bay's Eastern Conference journey went through three of the Original Six teams--Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.  They couldn't get past the fourth.

There's no reason why the Chicago Blackhawks can't go for a seventh Stanley Cup--or more.  The core players of Kane, Keith, Jonathan Toews and others, along with coach Joel Quenneville, are all signed up for the next few years.  So don't be surprised if Lord Stanley's Cup continues to take up residence in the Windy City for the rest of this decade.

Lynx 2015: Hiding In Plain Sight

English: , home of the (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Lynx won their first two games of the 2015 WNBA season over the Tulsa Shock at home, and the Indiana Fever on the road.  With the NBA and NHL playoffs going on and the Twins playing better these days, most of you probably didn't notice.

The core regulars for the two-time league champions are all back:  Seimoine Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson.  Janel McCarville is not.  She has chosen to take the season off to allow her body to heal after a grueling season of playing in Europe, or so the team says.

Unlike most professional athletes, women pro basketball players such as Augustus, Whalen and Moore play year-round not just in the WNBA and in international competitions like the Olympics, but overseas as well.  It's mainly because the WNBA is a summertime league that doesn't pay nearly as well as those in Europe or China.  The end result is that all that playing is bound to take a toll on their bodies, so the older these athletes get the more likely it is that they need time off.

Take the defending WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury, whose biggest star Diana Taurasi isn't playing this season because the Russian team she's contracted to for winter ball is paying her to sit out.  This may have been an understandable decision on Taurasi's part, but it doesn't make her or the WNBA look good.

Neither does domestic violence.  Brittney Griner of the Mercury is currently serving a seven-game suspension for an incident involving her and her married partner Glory Johnson, who just happens to play for the Shock.

The league's image has also taken a hit when the New York Liberty announced that Isiah Thomas has been brought in as president and part-owner.  Thomas, who has earned the everlasting enmity of Knicks fans for screwing up that franchise over the past few years, also happens to have had sexual harassment problems that make it hard for anyone to understand (beyond Liberty management) why he's the best choice to run a women's pro basketball team.

Back to the Lynx.  They may have won two titles, and are always a threat to win another with the collection of talent they've got.  But unless you buy a ticket to a game at Target Center, your chances of seeing them on TV are few and far between.

Fox Sports North currently holds the local TV rights to Lynx games.  Because the Twins take priority on the station during the summer, Lynx telecasts have to be scheduled on days when there's no baseball.   All others are either shown nationally on ESPN2 and NBA TV, or streaming live on the WNBA's website.

It's not as if FSN spends much money on covering the Lynx in the few games they do show.  The regular announcing crew of Marney Gellner and Lea B. Olson sometimes gives way to coverage provided by some of Fox Sports' other regional networks, even if the game is at home.

The Lynx are again the favorites to challenge for the WNBA title.  Our advice is to see this team as much as you possibly can, before age and time makes some of the players decide that taking a season off might be a good idea for them too.

Pot Shots 2015, Volume 1

English: National Lacrosse League game with the Philadelphia Wings visiting the Minnesota Swarm at the Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Adrian Peterson is stuck between a rock and a hard place.  The Minnesota Vikings won't trade him, so he whines on Twitter about the unfairness of his contract.  Well, if he hadn't been taking most of last season off because he got caught taking a switch to his child's behind, we wouldn't be subjected to any of this.

Cleveland vs. Golden State in the NBA Finals.  One team is carrying the ball for a city that hasn't seen a pro sports champion in over 50 years.  The other hasn't been this far since 1975, when Bruce Springsteen graced the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week.

American Pharaoh is the latest horse to try for a Triple Crown, which is something that hasn't been done since the Disco Era.  At least he doesn't talk, or try to sell us satellite TV while being squired by a nearly naked supermodel.

The Minnesota Swarm are moving to the suburbs of Atlanta, citing financial issues and their inability to get a favorable lease with the Xcel Energy Center.  The fact that, in the Swarm's 11-year existence, few people knew they were an indoor lacrosse team suggests that poor marketing may also have been a factor.  Hope you like indoor lacrosse, y'all!

If a new soccer stadium is built, maybe the Twin Cities should try for an outdoor lacrosse franchise.

As we write this, the Minnesota Twins are tied for first in the American League Central Division.  No, this is not April 1.

The Timberwolves won the NBA draft lottery for the first time ever, after years of bad luck that would have perplexed a black cat.  Now the challenge is how not to screw up their number one pick.

Minneapolis is in the running for the 2020 college football championship game, which would be held in the new Vikings stadium.  Wait.  Minneapolis is a college football town?

Alex Rodriguez has now hit more home runs than Willie Mays.  A nation shrugs.

For the second consecutive year, the National Spelling Bee ended with two students being declared co-champions.  Either the kids are that good at spelling words most of us have never heard of, or the number of words in the final round needs to be increased from 25 to 40 or 50.

Deflating the Legend

Tom Brady (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is what you get for deflating footballs, even if your team didn't need that kind of help in a game that decided who went to the Super Bowl.

Quarterback Tom Brady was sacked by the National Football League for the first four games of the 2015 season for his role in the controversy that became known as "Deflategate".  His team, the New England Patriots, got fined for a million dollars and lost two top draft picks.  They will not, however, be required to give back the Lombardi Trophy that they won four months ago.

(You'll notice that neither Patriots owner Robert Kraft nor coach Bill Belichick received any kind of punishment.)

The NFL took this action after a report concluded that Brady was aware of what was going on when two of the team's flunkies allegedly let the air out of some of the footballs during the AFC Championship Game in January, which was won by the Patriots 45-7 over the Indianapolis Colts at Foxborough, Mass.  Said flunkies, according to the league, have been suspended without pay indefinitely.

Nobody looks good here.  Not Brady, who refused to cooperate with the investigation and will likely appeal his suspension.  Not the Patriots, whose suspicions by fans outside of New England that this is an organization that plays by its own rules have been confirmed.  And certainly not NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Goodell wants to project the image of an enforcer who wants to rid Dodge City of miscreants, much like U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon used to do on "Gunsmoke".  Instead, Goodell comes across as Deputy Barney Fife of Mayberry (OK, we've been watching too much classic TV.) when it comes to issues more serious than deflated footballs.  Like when players are caught on tape beating their significant others inside a hotel elevator, or taking a switch to the backside of their kids.  Or having to retire too early from the game because of one concussion too many.

It's hard not to feel sorry for Brady.  He and the Patriots have gone to the Super Bowl six times, winning four of them.  He has all those passing records that Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers doesn't have.  He has a beautiful wife (Credit:  Alanis Morrisette) in Gisele Bundchen, who happens to be a supermodel.  And someday he'll be in Canton, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The NFL is right about the fact that they need to work on maintaining the integrity of the game.  Letting the air out of footballs is not one of them.  As for Tom Brady, he'll survive this the way he always has.  And so will the Patriots, whether fans like them or not.

Wild 2014-15: The Half-Season of Devan Dubnyk

Devan Dubnyk, Springfield Falcon, Canadian ice hockey goaltender (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild ended their improbable run in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, after having dismantled the St. Louis Blues in six games, by getting swept in four games by the Chicago Blackhawks.

We say "improbable" because before the middle of January, the Wild were so bad that they were one of the worst teams in hockey.  No direction.  Lousy goaltending.  Miles from a playoff spot.  Even coach Mike Yeo's YouTube-worthy meltdown couldn't move the needle.

Everything changed the moment Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher swung a trade with the Arizona Coyotes for Devan Dubnyk, a heretofore unheralded goaltender who had been bouncing around pro hockey until now.  Dubnyk started nearly every game since then, and did so well that few seem to remember the problem-filled tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom from earlier in the season. 

The rest of the Wild soon picked up on the newfound stability in goal and started winning games, making a dramatic run past other borderline Western Conference teams to get into the playoffs as a wild card.  For three and a half months, the Wild and Dubnyk were the talk of the NHL.  There was even speculation that they could be Stanley Cup contenders. Seriously.

After taking care of the Blues in the first round, everything fell apart when the Wild faced the Blackhawks in the second.  Not only were the Wild eliminated by the team from Chicago for the third consecutive year, but it was done in four games.  They were shut out in eight of 12 periods.  A reminder that for all the strides the Wild had made during the season, they never really were Stanley Cup material.

Wild owner Craig Leipold had built this team on high-priced free agent signings--Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Suter and anyone else who had anything to do with Minnesota hockey.  None of them made a dent in the Chicago series.  And Dubnyk was exposed for what he really was, a journeyman goalie who happened to peak at the right time.

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, have Patrick Kane, Johnathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp--NHL All Stars who have plenty of experience in winning playoff rounds and Stanley Cups.  And the way the conferences and playoffs are now set up, they could be dominant for years to come.  So no matter how much money Leipold spends on free agents (Minnesota connection or not), the Wild will still be looking up at the Blackhawks.

Before next season, the Wild need to reassess their issues involving scoring and goaltending.  Dubnyk was a great short-term solution, but that doesn't mean the Wild can't go after some more experienced netminder who doesn't need seasoning in Des Moines.

Maybe by then, the Wild will have figured out a way to be more competitive in the playoffs against the Blackhawks.  But don't hold your breath.  The Twins are still trying to figure out how to get past the New York Yankees in the baseball playoffs.

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Our projected Stanley Cup Final matchup:  Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals.