Posted March 21, 2008
Timberwolves center Al Jefferson set the franchise record for most offensive rebounds in a season with 273 in the team’s win over Memphis Wednesday night. He broke Felton Spencer’s record of 272.
Childress to Fly with Blue Angels in July
Brad Childress, 51, is one of those adventurous guys who doesn’t want to reach the end of his life and lament a lot of things he wanted to do. The Vikings’ coach told Sports Headliners yesterday he will fly with the Navy’s Blue Angels in Duluth in July and thereby check off another item on his “bucket list.”
Childress said he started with about 50 items on his want-to-do list and has completed “32 or 33” including parachuting out of an airplane. Also on the list is a visit to the moon, if the trip is available and not too costly.
For now, however, Childress has most of his focus on the Vikings. “I can’t think of anything I would rather be doing,” he said.
The Vikings gave him his first NFL head coaching opportunity two years ago and he’s produced records of 6-10 and 8-8. While saying it’s always a “tough discussion” to define what fans’ expectations should be for the next season, he’s anticipating having “the best” of his three teams this fall.
That optimism is based on such factors, Childress said, of how the offensive and defensive lines have improved, plus added experience for younger players and the anticipation of upgrading the talent pool through off-season free agent acquisitions. The Vikings, of course, have the 17th pick in the first round of the April college draft and figure to improve even more.
Childress said he would “take darn near any position” with the 17th pick including a running pick. That was a way of stating he believes it’s a “mistake” to blindly draft for need, instead of using a value philosophy that says choose the best player available.
Brad Childress
Przybilla Homecoming Could Help Wolves
Memo to the Timberwolves: make a note to acquire Joel Przybilla in the off-season. The former Monticello High School and Gopher star is potentially a nice fit for the Wolves who are in need of a center who specializes in rebounding and blocking shots.
Those skills are highlighted on Przybilla’s resume and the Wolves know it. They saw him twice last week in the Portland Trailblazers’ two wins against the Wolves. In the game in Minneapolis he helped lead a fourth quarter rally, effectively defending Wolves' star Al Jefferson. Although he missed part of the game because of a foot injury, Przybilla had 10 rebounds and a timely fourth quarter blocked shot. In a game in Portland, Przybilla had 13 rebounds and two blocks in an 11 point Blazer win after his team had won by seven in Minneapolis.
The 7-foot-1 Przybilla is an exemplary teammate with the Blazers and figures to be the same here. He unselfishly accepts a role of setting high post screens and seldom receiving the ball near the basket where he could shoot. His offensive skills are good enough to average more than his current 4.7 points per game if he had more opportunities to score.
The 28-year-old Przybilla, now in his eighth NBA season, willingly offers advice to teammates, including to Greg Oden, the guy who will have his job next season. Oden, the No. 1 overall NBA pick last season, is sitting out the season because of microfracture surgery on his right knee. The Blazers will not only start Oden next season, they will give him more opportunities to score than Przybilla even though both have similar and limited low post offensive skills.
The Wolves could help themselves and give Przybilla more playing time by bringing him here. Jefferson has the marvelous scoring ability of a low post center but he needs another big body (Przybilla is about 255 pounds) to help the team’s interior defense. Acquiring Przybilla would allow Jefferson to move from center to his more natural position of power forward. Immediately the Wolves become better defensively and rebounding at both ends of the floor. Those are improvements the Wolves, 17-50, should have at the top of their off-season shopping list.
Although his average minutes per game are about 23, Przybilla ranks in the NBA’s top 32 in rebounding (averages 7.9) and blocked shots (1.2).
Al Jefferson
Worth Noting
TNT studio analyst Charles Barkley chose his words poorly when he went off on Glen Taylor Tuesday night after earlier in the day the Timberwolves owner had suggested Kevin Garnett “tanked” some late season games last year while still playing here. “Glen Taylor’s got a lot of money but he doesn’t know anything about basketball,” Barkley said. Barkley then made a crude remark about where Taylor could kiss him and he still wouldn’t know who Taylor is.
Kirk Snyder, traded to the Wolves in late February, has now matched his total starts here, nine, with what he had in Houston. His minutes per game have almost tripled, from nine to 26.9 as the Wolves try to learn whether the 6-6, 24-year-old forward can be part of their future. He’s averaging 7.3 points and 3.5 rebounds for the Wolves.
ESPN2 will televise the Gopher women’s opening NCAA basketball game Sunday night against Texas from Bridgeport, Conn. Game time is 8:30 p.m. central daylight.
Four MIAC men and five women have been named to the 2008 D3hoops.com All-West Region teams as selected by sports information directors at various Division III schools. Macalester senior forward Tom Conboy was a first team selection. Bethel junior guard Tim Madson and Concordia senior forward Luke Linz were second team selections. Carleton junior forward Zach Johnson was a third team pick.
Gustavus Adolphus senior guard Jess Vadnais and Bethel junior center Annegret Nautsch were both first team All-Region women’s selections. Concordia senior forward/ center Melanie Hageman and St. Thomas senior forward Carrie Embree were selected to the All-Region second team. Macalester sophomore forward Trina PaStarr was a third team pick.
San Jose, which clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Wild on Wednesday night, was Sports Illustrated’s preseason Stanley Cup favorite. The Sharks, who didn’t lose a game this season to the Wild, are in second place in the Western Conference with 97 points.
The Wild are at Vancouver tonight, the first of eight remaining games against Northwest Division teams. Minnesota, leading the division, needs one more win to tie the franchise record for most road victories in a season, 19.
Brent Burns, 23, had an assist Wednesday night and added to his club record for most points in a season by a defenseman, 41. Burns has eight two-point games this season, plus a career-high three points – all assists – in a January game against Dallas. Minnesota is 10-1-3 this season when Burns, now in his third season with the Wild, scores a goal and 7-0-2 when he has two or more points.
Marian Gaborik, team captain for March, scored two goals in the Wild's 4-3 shootout loss to the Sharks. He now has 38 goals, matching his single season career best 38 set in 2005-06.
Gopher women's hockey coach Brad Frost has been named a finalist for national coach of the year, announced earlier this week by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The award will be presented at the AHCA Coach of the Year Banquet on Saturday, April 26, in Naples, Fla. Frost was the WCHA coach of the year after his team finished second in the league during his first season.
Glen Taylor
Tom Conboy
Marian Gaborik
