MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN DAILY: Friday, October 20, 2017

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MSF Daily: 10/20/2017

Timberwolves vs Utah Jazz (and Ricky Rubio) in Game 2 of 82:

What: Minnesota Timberwolves (0-1) vs. Utah Jazz (1-0)
When/How: Friday, October 20 – 7:00 PM / FSN – TV
Where: (Newly Renovated) Target Center – Minneapolis, MN
Vegas: S:+4.5 O/U:199

Well Minnesota, you didn’t overreact quite as much as I had predicted when the Wolves lost the first game of the year. I’m proud of you.

The Wolves will take some time to mesh together with all of their new pieces. We need to be patient with that. I mentioned in the season preview on Tuesday-Wednesday, how poorly newly formed talented teams had played early on in their first seasons together.

So, after doing that research, I expected things to look a little off.

However, some things looked eerily similar to last season. First, the defense. It looked like Towns and Wiggins haven’t come as far as we’d hoped on that end of the floor. It seems to be a lack of concentration. There are things….

CONTINUE READING (WOLVES VS JAZZ PREVIEW)

Wild Back on Ice Friday vs the Winnipeg Jets; Foligno In, Granlund GT Decision:

What: Minnesota Wild (1-1-2; 4 PTS) vs. Winnipeg Jets (3-3-0; 6 PTS)
When/How: Friday, October 20 – 7:00 PM / FSN Plus – TV
Where: MTS Centre – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

It hasn’t been the start to the season the Wild were hoping for. It’s been the opposite. They’ve lost 3 of their first 4 games. Injuries haven’t helped. They will once again be without Zach Parise vs. Winnipeg. They will also be without Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter are out and will be for an extended period due to injuries.

However, some good news on the injury-front, Mikael Granlund is a game-time decision, after missing the last 3 games. We will see Foligno on the ice. He will be wearing a protective cage to protect his fractured face.

It was a slow start to the season. It happened last year too. I don’t know why the NHL…

CONTINUE READING (WILD VS JETS PREVIEW)

B1G Basketball Media Day; Mason, Coffey All-Preseason B1G:

It was B1G Media Day today for the men’s basketball teams. Richard Pitino talked about his team. He spent awhile talking about injuries. I’m not sure if he’s trying to make us nervous or if he’s trying to pre-make excuses to use if the team gets off to a slow start. He spent a lot of time on injuries just to say that he doesn’t expect any of them to linger into the season, other than Eric Curry, who tore up all the (CL’s) in his knee before the season could start.

I also thought it was funny how he played dumb in the “One and Done” rule, when asked about his feelings.

“I think the trendy thing that everybody said is the baseball model? I don’t even know what that is, so I’m not sure”

He did talk about Reggie Lynch though and how important it is for him to stay out of foul trouble. He is absolutely right on that part. For the Gophers to reach their full potential….

CONTINUE READING (PITINO PRESS CONF. + PRESEASON ALL-B1G)

Teddy Reiterates His Mission to Play THIS Season; Will People Listen?:

I’m getting sick of repeating myself over and over again but Teddy Bridgewater is AGAIN in the news because most people continue to doubt him.

Thursday, Teddy stayed strong on his thoughts to play this season. He even said he could have been practicing sooner, if it weren’t for the rules on the PUP List. I love when Teddy talks.

To him, this is all part of the plan. His plan is to play this season and prove himself as the starting QB for the Vikings. Unless there is a setback between now and November 8th, Teddy will be on the field trying to prove himself by the end of the season.

Here is Teddy and some other reaction about his situation on Thursday:

CONTINUE READING (REACTION TO TEDDY – OTHER VIKINGS NOTES)

Tigers Choose Ron Gardenhire as New Manager – The Athletic:

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 GARDY INCLUDING PLAYING CAREER)

Minnesota Sports Fan Daily by Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

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