All-2000s NBA Team

By Peter Linskey | Twitter: @Izzy_Legit

I was inspired to create my own All-2000’s NBA team from reading Bleacher Reports Adam Fromal’s article on the matter. He made some very nice, but pretty straight forward, picks. I took a little different route in selecting my players. Rather than just picking the best players at each position, I choose players that I thought would make the best team. I also took some minor liberties on what position players would fit into. You may notice some very big names not on the squad.

Back Up Point Guard: Allen Iverson

When I think of a complete basketball roster, you always need to have that one guy on the bench who you can put in to be instant offense. Iverson would do just that. The Ankle Breaking King of Philly would give this team a fantastic spark off the bench.

Back Up Shooting Guard: Ray Allen

What do I want my shooting guards to do? Shoot 3’s and score points. Not too many people did that better in the NBA than Allen (40% career from 3Pt and averaged 23 pts/gm during his prime). He was clutch, he was consistent and would be the perfect spot up shooter that every team needs to win.

Back Up Small Forward: Kawhi Leonard

I am a big Kawhi Bo-Bo. He plays some of the best defense in the league while also being a legitimate threat on the offensive side of the ball. A high end two way player. He is as close as you can get to a clone of LeBron James. Anyone with that kind of comparison is a no brainer to have on my team.

Back Up Power Forward/Center: Marcus Camby

I like Camby here for many reasons. He would provide interior toughness and energy that would be infectious to the rest of the squad. Much like Dennis Rodman was to the 90’s Chicago Bulls teams, Camby wouldn’t need to focus on scoring, but instead just do what he did best. Rebound and cause havoc to the opponents in the paint (averaged almost 3 blocks a game over his career).

Back Up Center: Dwight Howard

For how much Howard has completely fallen off from NBA relevancy, early in his career he was a force. He single handedly carried the Orlando Magic to an NBA Finals (the MAGIC!). I like Dwight here for much of the same reasons I like Camby coming off the bench. They would both swallow up the paint with their defensive prowess, and every rebound would be theirs (Howard averages double digit rebounds a game over his career).

Starting Point Guard: Steve Nash

While the hot trend in the NBA today is the “scoring point guard” I still find myself liking players that fit the mold of the more traditional guard where their main role is to set the pace, control the offensive at put other players in the right position to make a play. No one did that better over this time span than Steve Nash. He was the floor general for arguable one of the best offenses in NBA history while in Phoenix, averaging double digit assists per game, and shooting over 50% from the field during his time with the Suns. 

Starting Shooting Guard: Stephen Curry

What did I say earlier about what like my shooting guards to do? Here’s a refresher. Shoot 3’s and score points. While I know Curry is “technically” listed as a point guard, the move to shooting guard would be a seamless one. Averaging nearly eight 3pt attempts a game (while shooting 44%) he already takes enough shots to slide into the role of shooting guard. While having a Nash/Curry starting 1-2 would give me a small backcourt (both only 6’3”) I feel the versatility of my front court will amply make up for it.

Starting Small Forward: LeBron James

I really …. REALLY tried to find someone else for this spot, but it was just too hard to keep him off. While I don’t necessarily like him, the dude is a beast. At 6’8” and 250 lbs, LeBron can guard any position on the court and pretty much do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it. I think I’ll take that kind of power on my team.

Starting Power Forward: Kevin Garnett aka “The Big Ticket” aka “The Kid”

 KG was my childhood superstar. I grew up watching the 6-foot, 12-inch tall superstar dunk and scream his way through the league. No one was more intense than Garnett, and that is primarily why I have him on this squad. Every team needs a player that annoys not only the opposing team, but also their own. Keeps everyone on their toes and focused. Also being the only player to reach at least 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5,000 assists, 1,500 steals and 1,500 blocks would probably come in handy. 

Starting Center: Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq was a monster on the court. An unstoppable force that bullied his way through opposing defenses. While pushing his way to averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds a game, Shaq was also a very polished player around the rim, showing great finesse and agility for a guy who was 7’1” and 325 lbs. Unless you fouled him, Shaq was pretty much unstoppable.

2017 NBA Finals

Well we made it. The NBA Finals start tonight and to no surprise it will be the third installment of Warriors vs. Cav’s. In fact, with the exception of the Utah/LA Clippers series, there wasn’t one upset throughout the entire playoffs (if you even want to call a 5 seed over a 4 an upset) proving my point even more that the NBA Playoffs suck.

But who cares right? This finals should generate more than enough buzz to make us all forget about the snooze-fest that took place the past month and a half. Or will it? Unfortunately I do not foresee any kind of “savior” series that will salvage what has been an overall disappointing playoffs. For you to understand where I am coming from, let’s take a quick trip back to the 2014 NBA Finals.

It was the second straight year of the San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat in the Finals. The year before, the Spurs had Miami dead to rights until a complete collapse in game 6, and the hangover that ensued for game 7 gave LeBron his second title. However 2014 was a different story. San Antonio seemed like a team on a mission, and that mission apparently was to obliterate the Miami Heat. The series only took 5 games with each of San Antonio’s victories coming by an average margin of 18 points.

The Warriors are a similar team on a mission. After becoming the first team in NBA Finals history to lose after having a 3-1 series lead, this team is as focused as the aforementioned Spurs. They are currently 12-0 in the playoffs, winning each game by an average margin of 16.3 points. They know they blew an opportunity to be one of the few teams in any professional sport to win three straight championships, and trying to show that last year was simply a fluke.

This year I see a similar result from the one that took place in 2014. The Finals won’t take more than 5 games, with each game being decided by double digit margins. Durant gets his title and the Warriors get some closure on the failures from a year ago.

Why the NBA Playoffs Suck

By Peter Linskey | Twitter: @Izzy_Legit

Well, the time every NBA fan has waited for since … **flips though calendar - finds date - shakes head in disgust** … October, is here. (yes, October). The NBA Playoffs are upon us and personally I can’t wait for all the Cinderella teams to emerge and top seeds to fall … wait sorry that tournament already happened. I almost forgot that these were the NBA Playoffs, where upsets happen less often than they do in nearly every other professional sports league playoff.

Seven of the last ten years, a #1 seed has won the NBA Finals, and eight out of the last ten representatives from each conference has either been a #1 or #2 seed. What excitement does that create when you can so easily predict the outcome?

What I find even more discouraging is that there aren’t even any lower seeded teams advancing far enough to give people like me an opportunity to root for the underdog. Over the last 10 years, the Eastern Conference Finals has had six meetings between a #1 and #2 seed. In the West there has been a little more parity with only four #1-#2 Conference Finals match-ups, but they still have a very high rate of having a #1 seed at least represented (seven).

Some may still argue that even without the madness that has been personified by March Madness, you can still have a successful and exciting playoff. Last year when the Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 deficit was exhilarating and great entertainment. However that didn’t happen until the Finals. So if it takes that long for the NBA Playoffs to really get going, then fine. Wake me up when that starts in …**flips through calendar - pounds head on desk** … JUNE! 

Racking Up the Minutes and the Wins: Gopher Men's Basketball

By: Peter Linskey | Twitter: @Izzy_Legit

Needless to say, I did not expect the season that the Men’s Gopher Basketball team is currently having. After the abysmal year that was 2016, the team has rebounded quickly and are poised for a NCAA Tournament bid. Personally, I would have been happy with a six win BIG10 season and an invitation to the NIT.

Even with the successful season thus far, I am worried about the overall health of the team. While we haven’t had any serious injury this season (*knocks on wood*) the boys just look tired. With Pitino only playing around 7 guys a game, I think our key players are starting to feel it. In the last 7 games, our top players have averaged the following minutes/game:

•          Nate Mason: 35 Minutes
•           Amir Coffey: 37 Minutes
•          Akeem Springs: 34 Minutes

This doesn’t include Jordan Murphy (who finally decided to show up this year) in the last three games has averaged 35 minutes. I know that in many major programs, the key players play more time. The difference that I am noticing though is that late in games we look be a step slow on defense and not as energetic offensively. I also feel that we have the players on the bench to alleviate some of these minutes our starters are accruing. Playing Ahmad Gilbert or Michael Hurt a bit more, even if it’s just for 3-4 minutes a game, could help our stars be fresher for the final minutes when it really counts. While I know that the aforementioned players have their own deficiencies, which is why they aren’t playing, but Lil’ Ricky should be able to get creative with his lineups to at least not make them stand out to much for the limited amount of minutes I am suggesting they play.

We stole one last night from an Indiana team that really needed a win. The Barn was a'rockin, but my continuing concern about the amount of minutes key players are accumulating could hinder this teams tournament aspirations.

Minnesota Gopher Football - National Signing Day 2017

By: Peter Linskey | Twitter: @Izzy_Legit

I just want to start this out by saying that I hate the essence of what college football’s National Signing Day (NSD) stands for. It seems as though it has created a platform for recruits to use their commitments to troll other programs and instills to these kids an heir of superiority and self-entitlement. I don’t think there may be a better representation of what makes this day so wrong, than this story of a recruit who couldn’t even commit to a college, because he was in prison.

With that being said, I do have some takes on what to expect the next couple years under the Fleck administration based on his first class as the University of Minnesota football coach. For starters, the hype around how good Fleck was at recruiting was not understated. In the first 24 hours after his hire, Fleck convinced 6 of his previous Western Michigan commits to switch over to Minnesota (which jumped Minnesota’s 2017 class ranking from 77^th to 49^th nationally). Given how late in the process he got the job, he put together a very serviceable class with some good football players. From the looks of it, he was at least able to find a young quarterback who seems to be able to actually throw a football (yes this is a poke at the former Golden Gopher signal caller), and wide receivers who look like they can create some sort of separation from the defense

So while this class looks good on paper and on highlight reels, what will the actual affect be on the field? I wouldn't be surprised if we are in for a couple rough years in the win column.  With the unknown outcome of the 10 players that were indefinitely suspended from the program in the wake of a disturbing sexual assault allegation, the Gophers could end up playing A LOT of Freshman and that normally correlates to one thing - lots of losses. With the glaring holes at quarterback, the defensive secondary and with over half of the offensive line going to start the season on injury, it simply could be too much to overcome. 

One thing that would alleviate an initial slip in the wins column could be the addition of some more seasoned players. The gophers have a few scholarships remaining which they could use to grab Jr College and Graduate transfers that could step in immediately to fill some positions of weakness. Ideally I would love to see Fleck put his recruiting mojo to good use and nab one of the many Graduate Transfer eligible quarterbacks that are still available to be a stop gap for a year to give time for someone else to develop into the starter.

Photo courtesy of Star Tribune

Another factor that could help is the Gophers schedule. Per usual, you should be able to sleep through the non conference portion of the season which should help pad win column. After that, our first two Big Ten games are probably our most winnable, which means the team could very realistically be sitting at 5-0 by mid-October. After that it's all up in the air, but needless to say the manageable schedule should help the team avoid a dreadful two or three win season. 

Breaking the MAC Curse - Gophers Hire WMU P.J. Fleck

By: Peter Linskey | Twitter: @Izzy_Legit

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

So for once, the Minnesota Gopher Football team hires the “hot name” in coaching to revitalize the program and bring them back to relevancy. These should be exciting times that any fan should be happy about! Unfortunately I am not any fan. Through my 20 years of cheering for Gopher Football, I likely have lived through the dark ages of this program. From the 21 point 4^th quarter collapse against Michigan in 2002, the game winning blocked punt against Wisconsin in 2005, and of course the debacle that was the Tim Brewster coaching era, it’s no wonder I am a little skeptical for the future.

With the announcement that P.J. Fleck will become the new head of coach of the Golden Gophers I had this overwhelming feeling of “Here we go again.” While he may be dubbed the next generation of elite college football coaches, I’m just not that convinced. For starters he is coming from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) which has recently been a breeding ground for BIG10 institutions to look for their next football coach. Unfortunately, the MAC hasn’t really produced that many coaches that have succeeded in these higher profile positions. And before you say, “But what about Urban Meyer (Bowling Green) and Nick Saban (Toledo),” just stop. Meyer’s stint in the MAC was only two years all the way back when Will Smith was considered a chart topping Hip-Hop artist. Saban only coached at Toledo for one year back in 1990. And if you say anything that happened back in 1990 is still relevant to the sports world today, then you can take your Jheri Curls and VHS copy of Die Hard 2 and get out of here. So for the sake of argument I am only going to look as far back as 2010 for conference stats, and MAC coaches that were given other opportunities at larger institutions.

First off, we need to stop over valuing the talent level of MAC football. If someone goes 13-0 or 12-1 in the MAC, it’s not necessarily because they have a great coaching acumen or their team competes at an elite level. instead, it’s most likely because they play in the MAC. Since 2010 no MAC team has had an above average Strength of Schedule (SOS). Not even close! In fact the last MAC team to just have an average SOS was Ball State back in 2005. Comparing that to what Fleck will be taking over, Minnesota hasn’t had a below average SOS since 2007. Dominating in the MAC doesn’t even come close to what it takes to even compete in the BIG10.

Now, pointing out that the BIG10 is harder to compete in than the MAC isn’t really proclaiming any bold predictions. So, let’s take a look and see how some MAC coaches have fared after getting promoted to the BIG10 conference:

-          Brady Hoke: Coached six years at Ball State where he posted a 34-38 record. After posting a 12-1 record (and only have two winning seasons total) he moved onto the open position at San Diego St. From there we all know Brady moved onto Michigan in 2011. While he did post a surprising 11 win season in his first year, Hoke had difficulties staying above .500, and never beat that rival to the North in his next three seasons.

-          Darrell Hazel: Coached two years at Kent State with a 16-10 record. Hired by Purdue in 2013, Hazel would go on to win only 9 games the next 4 years (and 4 of those wins came against lower FCS opponents). Needless to say his tenure in the conference can only be described as a complete disaster. 

-          Tim Beckman: Coached three years at Toledo leading them to a 21-16 record over that span. After back to back 8-4 regular season records, he was hired by Illinois and would only win 4 conference games the next three seasons.

-          Bill Cubit: Ironically, another MAC coach was waiting in the wings after Illinois fired Beckman, when they promoted Cubit from Offensive Coordinator to be the new leader of the team. Cubit Coached at Western Michigan for eight years, and was able to sustained a .500 record in that span until they let him go after a 4 win season. Perhaps all Bill needed was a fresh start and new scenery to get his career going again. Unfortunately, Illinois only won two conference games that year and Cubit was fired at the end of the season.

-          Jerry Kill: Coached three years at Northern Illinois before leaving for Minnesota (hey I thought I recognized this guy’s name!) after posting a 10-3 record for the Huskies in 2010. Hard to say what would have happened if Jerry hadn’t retired due to health reasons, but he was well on his way to being one of the successful MAC coaches to join the BIG10 after leading Minnesota to repeat 8-5 records.

Needless to say, there are at least 3-4 recent cases pointing against the idea that a MAC coach can transition to a new position in the BIG10 and be successful.

But what’s done, is done. Fleck is going to be our new head coach weather I like it or not – which honestly I am still up in the air about. My main concern in hiring him is that I really only see two possible outcomes for the program moving forward:

1)      Fleck comes in and completely turns this program around.  We face off against now perennial PAC-12 power house Washington Huskies in the 2021 Rose Bowl, which we ultimately lose in heart wrenching fashion (duh). That off-season, Fleck is another hot name tied to multiple high profile coaching vacancies such as Notre Dame - Brian Kelly’s head exploded while screaming at his Freshman QB who threw 7 interceptions in one game - and Alabama - Nick Saban forced to "step down" after a nasty civil case brought against him by former offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin accusing Saban of traumatic cyber bullying. Fleck takes one of those positions and we are stuck again looking for a new head coach.

2)      Fleck lives up to his MAC coaching pedigree and sucks on the big stage. We release him after another humiliating 17^th straight loss to Wisconsin and we are left again searching for the coach of the future to bring us to the promise land. All while Fleck rows off into the sunset with a fat buyout from the University that foolishly gave him a 10 year extension after a average 8-6 record in his first season at The U. 

Anyway you cut it, get ready to hop back on the coaching search express by January 2021.

Photo Courtesy of Yahoo Sports