MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN DAILY: Saturday, October 21, 2017

MSF Daily: 10/21/2017

Timberwolves def. Jazz Behind Huge Jamal Crawford 4th Quarter>

1st Half:

For the first half of this game, we watched the Wolves get used to playing with each other on both ends of the floor again. Luckily, the Jazz weren’t any better. I feel like I could just copy/paste my recap from the last game into this first half and nobody would know the difference. The turnovers on offense were a BIG problem. They had 9 in the first half total.

Wiggins was the Wolves’ best offensive player by far in the first half, scoring 16 points. He also had 4 rebounds, which might be more than he has ever had in a whole game, before tonight. The Wolves struggled to get Towns good shots again in the first half. He ended the half with 11 points, good for 2nd most on the team, but had to make tough shots to get there.

Towns again frustrated us with his defense. I almost typed “defensive effort” in that last sentence. However, I can’t blame it on effort. Everything we know about Karl tells us it wouldn’t be due to a lack of effort or work ethic. So we will continue to sit on our hands and hope he will figure it out because it is hard to watch at times.

It’s currently halftime as I type this first half recap. Wiggins hit a last second 33 footer to put the Wolves ahead by 4. To be better in the 2nd half, Butler needs to take more control of this offense. He looks tentative again in this game early on. Same thing goes for Teague. Both guys seem like they’re still trying to find their place on this team.

Taj Gibson’s defense has definitely shown in the first half. It’s hard for even the best post-defender to make up for Towns on that end of the court right now but he is doing his best. He was big on the boards in the 1st half too, especially on offense where he snagged 3 of his 7. Defense overall wasn’t very good even though the score was low. It was a sloppy half. I may have seen things start to improve defensively, toward the end of that 2nd half though, when the Timberwolves took the lead.

Halftime: Timberwolves Lead 46-42

CONTINUE READING (HIGHLIGHTS/RECAP/REACTION)


Wild Lose Late Again in Winnipeg; Boudreau Angry Just Like Us:

It was another frustrating night for the Wild in a season that had such high expectations leading in. The Wild were in Winnipeg to play the Jets and they needed a win. Unfortunately, just like in 3 of their first 4, the Wild couldn’t figure it out.

The defense was atrocious early, giving up two goals on WIDE open shots. It wasn’t the defense Bruce Boudreau was hoping for.

“[The Jets] got four, and that’s not as good as you want,” Boudreau said of a Wild defense that has given up fewer than four goals only once in five games. “Look at the end of the year, at [teams whose] goals-against average is three and over, and see where those guys end up. They’re never in the playoffs.

“It seems like we’re afraid to win. All five games, we’ve been tied or ahead with less than 10 minutes to go. When you’re that close in every game, and you come away with nothing, we’ve got to do some soul-searching.”

CONTINUE READING (GAME HIGHLIGHTS/RECAP – WHAT’S NEXT)


Gopher Football BIG Favorites at Home vs Illinois Saturday:

It’s Homecoming on the Minnesota campus this weekend. Do you want to know what scares me about their opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini?

The 13.5 point favorites Vegas is making the Gophers.

It has nothing to do with the Illini themselves. Honestly, nothing scares me about that state. For me, this is a rivalry game. It’s not Vikings-Packers but it still runs deep.

I lived in Illinois for 2.5 years because that’s where my wife is from (girlfriend but we have kids so it’s the same thing). When our daughter was born, I was a young, dumb 21 year-old who just knocked up

CONTINUE READING (MY PERSONAL VENDETTA VS ILLINOIS AND GAME PREVIEW)


Mike Zimmer Expects Sam Bradford to Play Again in 2017:

More quotes coming out of Vikings Camp today.

This time, it was Mike Zimmer releasing the bombshell, when he told us about his thoughts on Sam Bradford coming back for the 2017 season. Just one day after Teddy Bridgewater told the media he expects to play again before the 2017 season is over, Mike Zimmer echoed the same sentiments for Teddy’s original replacement, Sam Bradford.

Not only that, but it looks like Anthony Barr made his way out of concussion protocol, which I am assuming means he is likely to be on the field, Sunday. Barr made some interesting comments about his hit on Aaron Rodgers, which is the first time I have seen him speak on the topic. The amount of Twitter mentions doesn’t surprise me from dirty, foul-mouthed Wisconsidiots.

It was quite the day of reporting for Chris Tomasson (Pioneer Press), who is becoming one of my favorites in the Twin Cities. Stefon Diggs isn’t commenting on his status for Sunday and Tomasson didn’t elaborate much on Diggs’ extent of participation in practice, but did mention him on the field. (Diggs’ status has been updated by the Vikings and he has been ruled out – See full injury report below) I’ll get to the news.

One day after Teddy Bridgewater said he expects to be back in 2017, Mike Zimmer says this about Bradford:

CONTINUE READING (BARR QUOTES ON RODGERS HIT/INJURY REPORT/FUTURE QB SPECULATION)


Detroit Tigers Make Ron Gardenhire New Manager:

The Athletic is reporting Ron Gardenhire as the next manager for the Detroit Tigers. That’s quite the interesting development, if it goes through. Here is how it reads via Ken Rosenthal:

The Detroit Tigers have identified Ron Gardenhire as the manager they wish to hire, pending the completion of a contract, Major League sources told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal…

..Multiple sources told The Athletic’s Katie Strang that Tigers general manager Al Avila entered the process leaning heavily toward a candidate with previous MLB managerial experience. Gardenhire was seen as a seasoned, battle-tested option in this regard.

As you may remember, Ron Gardenhire was once the manager of a very successful Minnesota Twins team that won 1068 of the 2107 games he coached through 13 seasons. The Twins went to the playoffs in his first 3 seasons, 4 of his first 5, and 6 of his first 9. He was successful early. But that came to a screeching halt when they finished with 4 straight seasons of 70 or less wins from 2011-2014 to end his tenure.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of Gardenhire….

CONTINUE READING (MORE ON THE HIRE PLUS SOME ON GARDY’S PLAYING CAREER)

MSF Daily by Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

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