NBA Preview 2019-2020: The West

Okay, now we turn to the NBA West, where most of the top talent resides, especially with Kawhi Leonard moving out to the left coast. Actually, most of the other big talent who moved in the west moved within the west, not into the west. Still it’s an impressive list: Anthony Davis, Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Favors, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Iguadola, any one of whom the Knicks would have given somebody’s first-born child to get. But, no, we want to play in the West. It’s where the talent is.

So, everybody knows there’s a logjam at the top among Houston, who landed Westbrook (for Chris Paul); the L.A. Clippers, who landed Leonard and George; the L.A. Lakers, who landed Davis and Cousins; and Denver, who mostly stood pat. Could Golden State even get into the mix? No. More about that presently.

1. Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers won 48 games last year, tied for 7^th and 8^th in the West, and lost in the 1^st round of the playoffs. Not an auspicious record on which to build. But, has any team ever signed 2 free agents of the magnitude of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Well, probably. But, still, this is awesome. Leonard is the bigger star, having led the Toronto Raptors to the NBA title last year with 27 ppg and making 2^nd team all-NBA and 2^nd team all-NBA defense. Still, George scored 29 ppg and made 1^st team all-NBA and 1^st team all-NBA. Both are listed as small forwards but Leonard is 6-7 (with a 7-3 wingspan), George 6-9 (or 6-10, according to one report). George scores from everywhere while Leonard’s outside shot was long regarded as a liability, but his 732 points in last year’s playoffs was #3 all-time behind LeBron and Michael.

Along with George and Leonard, the Clips also added JaMychal Green and Maurice Harkless (among others), who scored 9 and 8 apiece for Memphis and Portland, respectively. Both are (are you ready for it) small forwards at 6-7 and 6-9.

The Clips return power forward Montrezi Harrell and 7-1 post Ivica Zubac.

But, wait, who are the guards? Lou Williams is the best of the lot but he’s 6-1 and has almost never started. He signed out of high school back in 2005 and is a 3-time 6^th Man of the Year, including 2019 when he set an all-time NBA record for points off the bench. He scored 20 ppg last year. Landry Shamet is a 6-4 shooting guard who scored 11. Patrick Beverley is also a 6-1 guard who scored 8 ppg last year. Rodney Magruder is one of the others mentioned above, a 6-4 shooter who scored 8 for Miami last year.

So, the true guards are unimpressive, to be sure, but the 2 spot will be occupied by one of those many forwards listed above. George and Leonard are skilled perimeter defenders who will probably man the 2-3 spots. The guess is that Harrell and Zubac start inside. The point guard is a question. Williams is so good off the bench, it would be a shame to start him. The bench, in fact, is remarkably deep. Still the Clips essential identity will be as the best defensive team in the league, and in Doc Rivers, they’ve got one of the top coaches around. Chalk the Clips down for 60 wins and 1^st place in the west. The other previews have them #1, #2 and #6!!

2. Los Angeles Lakers. OK, so the Lakers have LeBron and now they have Anthony and DeMarcus. Yikes. But, the best thing about these Lakers is no more Lonzo Ball and all of the soap opera he and his dad brought to the team. You don’t have to root against LeBron and the Lakers anymore. 

So, speaking of LeBron. He played in the fewest games of his career last year, 55, and he fell to 3^rd team all-NBA after 12 straight years on the 1^st team. His shooting percentages of 51-34-66% were among the lowest in a decade (the 66% FT was his lowest ever). So, is he 100%? Is he 80% of the player that he was? I mean, the guy will be 35 years old this year.

But, make no mistake, in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the Lakers will have the most formidable front line pairing in the NBA, if Cousins TCB. Davis, 6-10, mobile, always a great defender who has doubled his scoring over the course of his career to 26 ppg last year. Cousins, strong, ornery, he is known for his emotional outbursts, technical fouls and suspensions almost as much as anything else, but he acted in a mostly mature manner as an afterthought with the Golden State Warriors last year, scoring 16 ppg, lowest since his rookie season. He has also had some injuries and has not played a full season since 2016.

Beyond this Big 3, the Lakers have a lot of athletes, including returnees Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGree, and newcomers Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook and Danny Green. Coach Frank Vogel is also a newcomer to the Lakers, but has 2 previous stints as NBA coach with some success. But, who is really gonna coach LeBron and DeMarcus? LeBron and DeMarcus, that’s who. The Lakers won just 37 games last year. They might be a little thin in the backcourt but they’re deeper overall than Houston or Denver. They’ll win at least 50 and maybe 55. The other previews have them at #2 and #3.

3. Houston Rockets. I think most of the “smart money” will be on the Rockets this year, not the Clips. The other previews have them 1^st, 1^st and 5^th! Their Big Two is probably better than George and Leonard, well, on offense. I’m talking about James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the NBA MVPs for 2018 and 2017, respectively, together on one team. Westbrook, of course, came over in the trade for Chris Paul, which was almost a salary dump by Westbrook’s old team, the Thunder. Paul’s skills have slipped to the point that Houston used Harden at the point guard for much of last year. Now the question is, is one ball gonna be enough for the 2 MVPs. I mean, one ball is barely enough for Harden himself. But here’s the real catch. On a scale from 1 to 10, on offense Harden and Westbrook are a 10, George and Leonard maybe an 8.5. On defense, George and Leonard are a 10, Harden and Westbrook are a 5 on a good day.

But the real point is that I can’t pick a team featuring James Harden for 1^st place. If they win, they win, but I’m not gonna put ‘em there. I hate James Harden’s game, which is based, well, on step-back 3, of course. But, secondly, it’s based on drawing fouls. He initiates contact and he gets the call. It’s boring as hell. I mean, sure, lots of people do that. Harden has led the NBA in FT made for 5 straight years. Kevin Durant led the NBA in FT made the previous 5 years. Karl Malone once led the NBA in FT made for 5 straight years. But Harden is the only guy who repeatedly and constantly takes shots that he can’t make just for the purpose of drawing contact and going to the line. Durant and Malone drew fouls taking shots that they could make. Harden’s not the only one who does what he does, but he’s perfected it and he is a total bore to watch.

Especially the evolution of his jump shot the past couple of years, where he now, when finishing his shot, kicks his legs forward such that they come down in the defender’s landing area. The feet get tangled, Harden lands on his ass, and he gets 3 FT. The way he kicks his feet forward, so that his as is 2 feet further out on the perimeter, he would land on his ass even if there were no defender. But, of course, there is a defender, Harden lands in the defender’s landing area, there is contact and Harden gets the call. NBA rules say a defender cannot crowd a shooter such that he takes away the shooter’s landing zone. And, of course, lots of shooters jump forward while shooting, forcing officials to make tough judgments about where the landing zones are. But Harden sticks his feet into the defender’s landing zone for the sole purpose of getting a foul call, which he more often than not in the past 2-3 years has gotten. Some officials have started to wise up to what Harden is doing, but not enough. 

Still, you’ve got to hand it to the Rockets who have become the poster children of 21^st century basketball and have really led the charge of the newest basketball philosophies as they’ve gone from radical to orthodox in a matter of a few short years. That is, shoot 3s and layups. DO NOT SHOOT MID-RANGE JUMPERS!!!           

The point is that if you run your offense well, if your players know how and when to cut, you can shoot 75-80% or more on your layups, and you use the 3 to open up those cutters in the lane. Of course, you also want to make, oh, say, 40% of your 3s in the NBA. In Minnesota high schools it’s 30-32% but that was good enough that in the 2019 state tournament, across 28 championship round games, teams made 54% of their 2s. So Houston, over the past several years, has done just that, and they’ve won an average of 53 games a year, trailing only Golden State, Toronto and San Antone for that period.

And, Westbrook is a solid NBA point guard, an MVP, the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring and assists in multiple seasons. He is #2 all-time for triple doubles, but he is not a great 3-point shooter and he turns it over a bit. He has, however, a great mid-range game, but is that what the Rockets really want. Coach Mike D’Antoni probably has as good of chops as anybody in finding ways to make this duo work on offense. On defense, well, we’ll see. 

The Rockets gave up a ton to get Westbrook but managed to hang on to center Clint Capela (17 ppg) and shooting guard Eric Gordon (16 ppg). If the Clips are loaded with 3s, the Rockets are loaded with 2s and might be a little thin up front. Still, they won 53 games with Harden and Paul last year. They’ll win 55 with Harden and Westbrook this year. The Lakers have more question marks. If they all come up “yes,” the Lakers will be better, but there’s more question marks there. Still, I hate Houston so, Go Lakers!

4. Denver Nuggets. Denver has increased its win total every year since 2015, and they’re the only NBA team to do that. The numbers are 30, 33, 40, 46 and 54. They largely stood pat in the off-season, losing free agents Isaiah Thomas and Trey Lyles while adding forward Jeremi Grant (14 ppg) from Oklahoma City. Everybody else returns including a bevy of guards—Will Barton (11 ppg), Malik Beasley (11), Gary Harris (13), Monte Morris (10) and Jamal Murray (18). Nikola Jokic (20 ppg) and Paul Millsap (13) return up front. This is a remarkably balanced team, probably better able to sustain an injury or two without a noticeable loss of efficiency. If they won 54 with this bunch last year, they’ll win 54 this year. The other previews have them #2-3-4.

5. Utah Jazz. The Jazz swapped out point guards with Ricky Rubio out and Mike Conley in. That sounds like an upgrade. The Jazz also have guys like Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell coming back. But, hey, this is the west. 50 wins is nothing, and that’s what the Jazz got last year. With the Lakers and Clippers much improved, we’ll say that the Jazz are also better, but they’ll still be stuck at 50 wins. The other previews have them at #4, #5 and #6.

6. Golden State Warriors. How far will the Warriors fall? Well, they’ve already fallen, from that remarkable 73-9 season to 67 to 58, then 57 wins and the loss to Toronto last year. Now they’ve lost Kevin Durant and Cousins and Klay Thompson to an injury through about January. So for the 1^st half of the year this will be the Stephen Curry-D’Angelo Russell show. I mean, Draymond Green is back and Willie Cauley-Stein is a nice addition, but it will be up to Curry and Russell to make this team go. We know Curry is up to the job, we’re not totally convinced re. Russell, and as to how they’ll work together, we’ll just have to wait and see. Suffice it to say that Russell, playing the point guard with some pretty good teammates, has never been a big assist guy. And, then, when they get Thompson back in January, it will be learning time all over again. So, 50 wins might be a reach. The other previews have them anywhere from #4 to #7.

For a 5-time NBA finalist, though, the regular season is not something anybody is going to remember. So, think about it now. This fall, the question is, Will D’Angelo Russell learn how to play with Stephen Curry. If the answer is yes, then in the winter, Klay Thompson will figure out how to play with D’Angelo Russell. And if all of that goes well, whether they’re #6 or #5 or #7 or whatever, they’ll be a tough out come springtime. My little preview suggests they’ll get Houston in the 1^st round. That would be a wonderful time for the Warriors to be clicking on all cylinders and sending James Harden to an early summer. One can only hope.

7. Portland Trailblazers. Portland has exchanged some role players, adding Kent Bazemore and Hassan Whiteside and Pau Gasol in place of Moe Harkless, Farouq Aminu and Enes Kanter. Overall, it seems that they’ve upgraded things a little bit. But, in the end, the only thing that will matter will be how well Damian Lillard (25 ppg last year) and C.J. McCollum (21) play and how well the new guys fit in with them. They won 53 games and 2 playoff series and they’ve upgraded? And they’re forecast for 7^th? Well, the other previews have them 6^th through 11^th! It’s just that they’re so one-dimensional. So predictable. And some of their key adversaries have improved so much! They can only hope for 50 wins this time around.

8. San Antonio Spurs. Like Portland they’ve sorta stood pat, not for lack of trying, and so they’ll be riding LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan (21.5 ppg each) again. Aldridge is 34 and DeRozan 30, so they’re not getting better. Some of the supporting cast may be getting better. But these guys won 48 games last year, up from 47 the previous year but down from an average of 61 the previous 3. They’ll be closer to 47 than to 61, and probably closer to 43.

9. Sacramento Kings. The Kings have the longest non-playoff streak in the NBA, longer even than the T-Wolves at 13 years, yet they’re not that bad. On the other hand, just because they’re 9^th here, don’t be thinking this is their year. They’ve got eight pretty good ballplayers but nobody who is an obvious go-to guy. They managed somehow to win 39 games last year. It could happen again. But, the playoffs. Not a chance.

10. Dallas Mavericks. Dallas fell off the table in 2017 and has averaged 30 wins since then. They’re on the way back and as the team that featured Dirk Nowitzki for 21 years, it’s appropriate that they're doing it the European way with Luka Doncic, the 6-7 Slovenian Rookie of the Year last year and, now, Kristaps Porzingis, the 7-3 Latvian acquired in trade with the New York Knicks. The two of them will be the foundation for Dallas for the next decade. Porzingis is 24, Doncic just 20. But, beyond these 2 guys, the cupboard is a little bit bare down Dallas way, and the Mavs might be a year or two away. On the other hand, they might be ready to bypass the Kings right now. Still, let’s move them up to 35 wins, good for 10^th, but with a nice future assuming the Mavs can assemble some athletes around these 2 guys.

11. Minnesota Timberwolves. We’ll have a full column with commentary on our local guys.

12. Memphis Grizzlies. Last year was a disaster for the Grizzlies though they won 50% more games than the previous year. Nobody excelled. Mike Conley stepped into the vacuum to post his career high of 21 ppg and then Memphis moved him to Utah for nothing much. Is Memphis going the “tank” route for the next draft? Maybe. OK, they’ve got Jonas Valanciunas, a serviceable big. They’ve got Jaren Jackson at the point guard. They’ve added Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodola. Still, this has more of the look of “pieces” than anything else at this stage. They won 46 games per year for 3 years, then 27 the past 2. They’ll be closer to 27 than 46.

13. New Orleans Pelicans. The big birds lost Anthony Davis and gained Zion Williamson, meaning their entry into the promised land has moved back about 5 years. I mean, one day they’ll be as good as they were in 2018 (48 wins), but probably not until 2023. It’ll be up to point guard Jrue Holiday to try to bring Zion into the fraternity. It’s gonna be a slog.

14. Phoenix Suns. The Suns have been below .500 for 5 years and have declined from 39 to 23 to 21 to 19 wins, and the decline could just as well continue. I mean, they’ve added Ricky Rubio and Frank Kaminsky. ‘Nuff sed.

All-West

Center—Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas

Power Forward—Anthony Davis, L.A. Lakers

Small Forward—Kawhi Leonard, L.A. Clippers

Point Guard—Stephen Curry, Golden State

Shooting Guard—Paul George, L.A. Clippers

2^nd Team

Center—Karl-Anthony Townes, Minnesota

Power Forward—Kyle Kuzma, L.A. Lakers

Small Forward—Luka Doncic, Dallas

Point Guard—Russell Westbrook, Houston

Shooting Guard—James Harden, Houston

3^rd Team

Center—Nikola Jokic, Denver

Power Forward—Montrezi Harrell, L.A. Clippers

Small Forward—LeBron James, L.A. Lakers

Point Guard—Damian Lilliard, Portland

Shooting Guard—Donovan Mitchell, Utah

In the east, we named a 1^st and 2^nd team. My point here is that the 3^rd team in the west is much better than the 2^nd team in the east.

Final Predictions—Western Conference

The problem with the methodology used above is that the league as a whole is going to end up at .500. Just predicting how many more or fewer games each team will win may or may not add up. So here we’ve adjusted to make sure it all adds up.

Northwest Division

1. Denver Nuggets 56-26

2. Utah Jazz 52-30

3. Portland Trailblazers 50-32

4. Oklahoma City Thunder 40-42

5. Minnesota Timberwolves 36-46

Pacific Division

1. Los Angeles Clippers 60-22

2. Los Angeles Lakers 55-27

3. Golden State Warriors 52-30

4. Sacramento Kings 36-46

5. Phoenix Suns 18-64

Southwest Division

1. Houston Rockets 57-25

2. San Antonio Spurs 45-37

3. Dallas Mavericks 38-44

4. Memphis Grizzlies 30-52

5. New Orleans Pelicans 26-56

Playoffs

L.A. Clippers 4 San Antonio 1

L.A. Lakers 4 Portland 2

Houston 4 Golden State 2

Denver 4 Utah 2

L.A. Clippers 4 Denver 3

L.A. Lakers 4 Houston 3

L.A. Clippers 4 L.A. Lakers 2

NBA Finals

L.A. Clippers 4 Milwaukee 3

All-NBA 

Putting together the all-East and all-West, the all-NBA team for 2020 will be:

Center—Joel Embiid, Philadelphia

Power Forward—Anthony Davis, L.A. Lakers

Small Forward—Giannis Antetekuonmpo, Milwaukee

Point Guard—Stephen Curry, Golden State

Shooting Guard—Paul George, L.A. Clippers

The 2020 NBA MVP will be:

Giannis Antetekuonmpo, Milwaukee

NBA Preview 2019-2020: The East

Eastern Conference

It’s time for some pre-season speculation. What else is there to do in September? And, the first basketball to get underway this fall is the NBA, so we’ll start there, and we’ll start with the East, leaving the West and the Timberwolves to another day. Basically I’ve eye-balled the rosters of the various teams and made a completely seat-of-the-pants judgment of how many games each team will win. Any further trade activity could totally upend things, though that would only be true if such a trade or trades were basically salary dumps. Real trades should (maybe) see relatively equal values changing hands. But, who knows? So obviously we have to go with the rosters as they stand today.

Now, this is not to say that I haven’t looked at some other previews, mostly to be sure I’ve accounted for all of the off-season roster moves. But in doing so, it’s hard not to be influenced by the judgments of the so-called professionals. You know, the folks who write for Web sites. Ahem! And who, pray tell, has such previews posted at the present time? I’ve looked at 538.com, lineups.com and fadeawayworld.com. 538 I’m familiar with, the other 2 not so much. 

So, anyway, here goes.

1. Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks of course led the entire NBA with 60 regular season wins last year—and increased their win total 3 straight years—before being dumped by those rascally Toronto Raptors in the eastern final. That made them look pretty bad there for a couple of weeks but then Toronto did the same to the heavily favored defending champs from Golden State, which made Toronto look a lot better and Milwaukee a little better. Certainly injuries had something to do with Golden State’s demise but so did the Raptors. The Raptors then went on to lose Kawhi Leonard to free agency. So, there is no Toronto is going to surprise Milwaukee again. More likely to challenge the Bucks, at least according to the experts, are the 76ers or the Celtics. More about them later.

But for now, more about the Bucks. With Giannis Antetekuonmpo leading the way—and he’s still getting better—the Bucks wisely stayed the course. They re-signed as many of their own free agents as they could afford, starting with Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez. In order to do so, they lost free agents Malcolm Brogdon and Nikola Mirotic. The loss of Brogdon is not insignificant. I wonder why they didn’t sign Middleton and Brogdon. Well, size matters, I guess.

The experts project the Bucks falling to 54 to 57 wins this year. At least one of them does not have the Bucks at the top of the east. But almost everybody else is not only back but getting better. Well, OK, not Brook Lopez. But, personally, I think they’ll win 60 again and this time, they’ll follow that up with a trip to the NBA finals.

2. Philadelphia 76ers. OK, Jimmy Butler has left the building in Philly, so it’s OK for Minnesota fans to not care if the 76ers are really good. And, they’ll be really good. They won 51 games last year and, basically, they replaced Butler with Al Horford. Horford may not be quite the talent that Butler is when he decides to give a shit, but Horford is one of the best locker room guys in the league, Butler of course one of the worst. No, make that the worst. Then they swapped (for all intents and purposes) Markelle Fultz for Josh Richardson. Again, Richardson may not be the talent (or, that is, have the upside of Fultz) but he is more of a standard 2-3 guy where you know what you’re going to get each night and who therefore may be a better fit. So overall, Philly should be improved if in part by virtue of subtraction.

Still, their upside will be defined mostly by Ben Simmons. Is he the second coming or not? But don’t forget either that the 76ers still have Joel Embiid who definitely is the second coming. So, with Toronto and Boston and the Knicks and Indiana all losing some of their top talent, the best bet is Philly wins 56 games and gets to the eastern finals. And, with some folks still think Simmons might finally become the second coming, well, then, the Phillies have a bit more upside than Milwaukee if all goes well. But, for now, 2^nd place.

3. Toronto Raptors. OK, the poor Raptors lost Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. Wha! Wha! But, they’ve got Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam coming back, so they’ll not be a pushover. Of course, they won’t win 58 again, nor will they win 2 playoff series, much less 4. But they’ll win 47 times and take 3^rd. The other previews have them anywhere from 4^thto 7^th. I think that’s an overreaction.

4. Boston Celtics. Like the 76ers, Boston swapped out one of its best players, in this case its best player, for a reasonable facsimile who may be a better fit, at least in the drama queen category. Goodbye Kyrie Irving, hello Kemba Walker. Of even greater significance, however: Goodbye Al Horford, hello Enes Kanter. There is no way to see that as anything but a downgrade. I mean, Kanter is not bad but still. Brooklyn could be better and they would be better if Kevin Durant could play. Boston won 49 games last year. For 2020 let’s say Boston wins 45 and takes 4^th.

5. Brooklyn Nets. Along with Kyrie Irving, the Nets also added DeAndre Jordan, and lost almost nothing. They won 42 games last year, and they should improve by at least 2-3 games. If Kyrie decides to shut up and play ball, this might be too low. So let’s say they win 45 games, and even if they finish 5^th, a 1^st round playoff win is not unlikely. The other previews have them anywhere from 3^rd to 8^th.

6. Miami Heat. If you think you’ve noticed a trend, you’re right. The top 4 challengers to the Milwaukee Bucks are all in the Atlantic Division and why not? That’s where the money is. But even money is not enough to make a competitive team out of the New York Knicks, so we’ll have to look elsewhere for our remaining playoff teams, starting with Miami. Miami added the walking, talking soap opera known as Jimmy Butler, so we’ll see. They’ll probably get one year out of him before it all falls apart. Miami gave Hassan Whitehead away but he looked washed up last year at 23. They won 39 games last year and should improve on that, which would mean 42-43 wins. The other previews have them at 42-44 and 5^th to 7^th place.

7. Indiana Pacers. The Pacers won 48 games last year with, seemingly, not much beyond Victor Oladipo. Now they’ve brought in Malcolm Brogdon to run with Oladipo, so they should be better. On the other hand, I have no idea how they won 48 last year and I don’t see how they’ll win 48 this year. So 42ish and a 6-7-8 finish seems likely. The other previews have them anywhere from 38 to 46 and 4^th to 7^th.

8. Orlando Magic. Orlando or Detroit will fill out the playoff qualifiers and get Milwaukee in the first round, and get swept in the deal. The Magic added Markelle Fultz and Farouq Aminu, both better than a sharp stick in the eye so, after winning 42 games a year ago, they could be improved. In fact, we said that Indiana would win 42ish, so something north of 42 wins would actually get the Magic up to the 5^th or 6^th spot but, frankly, I can’t quite stomach that. So let’s say that they’ll be better but unlucky with 40 wins and 8^th place. The other previews have them with 40 to 47 wins and anywhere from 3^rd to 10^th! I don’t see how they’re better than neighboring Miami.

Outside Looking In

9. Detroit Pistons. Detroit won 41 last year and made the playoffs. They’ve added Derrick Rose but, essentially, they’re the same team as last year except that Blake Griffin is a year older and a year more beat up. Andre Drummond remains a solid young player with upside. In reality, of course, #7-8-9 are almost identical at 40-41-42 wins. 2 will make it. Somebody won’t. So we‘ll say Detroit won’t.

10. Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are young and you gotta wonder about their preference for Trae Young over Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft. But they had one of the better 2019 drafts, at least at this point, with DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish, though obviously you never really know about those draft picks. And they got Jabari Parker as a free agent. They won 29 last year, and they’ll be better. Just not enough better.

11. Washington Wizards. Hard to believe the Wiz’s won 60 games just 4 years ago. They won 32 last year. Now John Wall is hurt. Isaiah Thomas and Bradley Beal will be the whole show and they won’t win 32.

12. Chicago Bulls. They’re young. They won 22 last year. They’ll be better but won’t get above 25.

13. Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte lost Kemba Walker and got nothing in return. They won 39 last year and will be hoping to win half that much this year. But, how bad is the east? There will be 2 more teams worse than Washington, Chicago and Charlotte! Sad!

14. Cleveland Cavaliers. Maybe you’ve heard. LeBron’s not in Cleveland anymore. Kevin Love is, for the moment. They won 19 last year. Ditto seems about right.

15. New York Knicks. The Knicks struck out on all of their big-name deals and, after winning 17 games last year, will be happy to do that again. Well, they’ll be happy with less than that so as to get another crack at the #1 draft pick. 

All-East

Center—Joel Embiid, Philadelphia

Forward—Giannis Antetekuonmpo, Milwaukee

Guards—Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn

            Kirk Lowry, Toronto

            Kemba Walker, Boston

2^nd Team

Center—Andre Drummond, Detroit

Forward—Blake Griffin, Detroit

            Pascal Siakam, Toronto

Guards—Eric Bledsoe, Milwaukee

            Victor Oladipo, Indiana

Not exactly a stunning collection of talent when you get down to that 2^nd group.

Final Predictions—Eastern Conference

The problem with the methodology used above is that the league as a whole is going to end up at .500. Just predicting how many more or fewer games each team will win may or may not add up. So here we’ve adjusted to make sure it all adds up.

Atlantic Division

1. Philadelphia 76ers 57-25

2. Toronto Raptors 47-35

3. Boston Celtics 47-35

4. Brooklyn Nets 46-36

5. New York Knicks 18-64

Central Division

1. Milwaukee Bucks 61-21

2. Indiana Pacers 45-37

3. Detroit Pistons 43-39

4. Chicago Bulls 26-56

5. Cleveland Cavaliers 19-63

Southeast Division

1. Miami Heat 45-37

2. Orlando Magic 43-39

3. Atlanta Hawks 32-50

4. Washington Wizards 30-52

5. Charlotte Hornets 20-62

Playoffs

Milwaukee 4 Orlando 0

Philadelphia 4 Indiana 1

Toronto 4 Indiana 2

Brooklyn 4 Boston 3

Milwaukee 4 Brooklyn 2

Philadelphia 4 Toronto 2

Milwaukee 4 Philadelphia 3

2019 Season Recap: Player of the Year

Here are 7 candidates for our 2018-2019 Minnesota Player of the Year.

Kenisha Bell, Minnesota Gopher women

Google “up and down” and you’ll get a picture of the 2019 Gopher women. They started 12-0, then went 1-7, then finished 7-2 before laying an egg in the Big 10 tournament. And make no mistake, this was Kenisha Bell’s team. She was our joy and our sorrow. She scored 19 ppg with 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 3.5 turnovers, and shot 41% on 2s, 29% on 3s and 70% on 1s. She was always quicker than quick, a great ball defender, a fearless attacker.

In 2018, the numbers were 20-5-7-3-4 and she shot 43-36 and 73%. So the assists came way down and the shooting dropped a little bit. Of course, in 2018 she could dish to Carly Wagner, Gadiva Hubbard and Destiny Pitts. In 2019, only Pitts remained, and Bell had to do more on offense. And sometimes it showed. The Gophers lost, what?, 5 times when they had a 4^thquarter lead? And Bell would maybe push it a little and it just wouldn’t work.

Still, it’s not her fault that Carly Wagner graduated and Gadiva Hubbard got hurt. 21-11 was probably as good as it was gonna get. If the Gophers had lost those 5 games in the 1^st quarter instead of the 4^th, it just wouldn’t have hurt quite so bad.

Paige Bueckers, Hopkins girls

Let’s wait until her high school career is over before we worry about this best-ever stuff. But, it is true that she led Hopkins to their 7^thstate championship in about 15 years now under coach Brian Cosgriff. Shockingly, it’s the first one ever to do so with an undefeated record. Now, the fact is that Hopkins could beat most teams without Bueckers but I admit that’s a stupid thing to say. She was the best player on the best team. 

Not only that, but she is the first Minnesota girl to get recruited by Geno Auriemma and not surprisingly she will be going to UConn after this coming season. In the meantime, she’s also won 3 gold medals at her age group tournaments with the U.S. national team, and she has been one of the top 2 or 3 players for the U.S.A. every time. I mean, she may be the best high school senior in the country.

But let’s wait until her high school career is over before we worry about this best-ever stuff.

Booker Coplin, Augsburg men

As the season went along, I kept seeing this name. Booker Coplin. Who the heck is that? It’s not like you’re looking at Augsburg thinking that a Player of the Year candidate is going to emerge. That hasn’t happened in, oh, 55 years, give or take? But Coplin just kept on putting up big numbers, finishing at 28 ppg and 9 rebounds, both leading the MIAC, with 52-43-90% shooting. Augsburg finished 19-9, 13-7 in the conference, with a playoff semi-final win at St. Thomas, of all things, 84-81, a game in which Coplin scored 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting. They came up short in the final at St. John’s losing 82-79 but you can’t hang that one on Coplin. He scored 46 on 17-of-30 FG including 7-of-16 3s. Coplin was named the national Player of the Year in D3. And, hey, the 6-3 guard has another year of eligibility this coming year, so check him out.

Amir Coffey, Minnesota Gopher men

Jordyn Murphy, Minnesota Gopher men

I think most Gopher fans would agree that Jordyn Murphy was the MVP of this team, and it was a pretty fair team. The Gophers finished 22-14 with 2 wins in the Big 10 tournament and one in the NCAA. One more Big 10 win would have gotten them a .500 record in the conference and they would have been 23-13 overall, or maybe better because it might have gotten them a better seed in the NCAA tournament. But, that’s pretty useless, wishful thinking. Still, they were close to being a really good team. On the other hand, while they’ve got some talent coming back, wow, are they gonna miss these 2 guys!?

Coffey was the top scorer on the team with 17 ppg on 44%-30%-74% shooting, and in some of the team’s biggest wins, Coffey played like a man possessed. But it depended a lot on matchups and some nights it just wasn’t there. Murphy was also a mere mortal and had his ups and downs but while his highs weren’t as high as Coffey’s, his lows weren’t as low. He scored 14 ppg on 49-27-68% shooting and of course led the Gophers and the Big 10 with 11 rebounds a night. All things considered, I’d have to stick with Murph.

Matthew Hurt, Rochester John Marshall boys

Hurt won the Mr. Basketball award though, unfortunately, his team didn’t get the job done and he never played in a state tournament. But he was unstoppable going to the basket. He scored 1,068 points, 9^th best all-time, in 29 games for an average of 36.8, the 7^thbest of all-time. I think he finished with 3,819 career points, #4 all-time, with 777 free throws, #5 on the Minnesota list. He’s headed to Duke, like how many Mr. MN Basketballs before him?

Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves

Things started out pretty rocky for KAT and the Timberwolves, thanks to dickhead Jimmy Butler. Butler, of course, requested a trade from the Timberwolves late in the pre-season, then adding insult to injury, he intimated the trade request was because KAT and Andrew Wiggins didn’t play hard enough rather than just telling the truth, that he wanted the trade because he was a dickhead. Then, of course, there was the rumor that he, uh, had, er, well, you know, slept with KAT's girlfriend. Dickhead. Dickhead. Dickhead.

Well, by the time the trade was accomplished, the Wolves were 4-9 and so far down in the dumps that it seemed they would never recover. Against all odds, they did, kind of, winning 3 straight without the cancer man, and eventually getting over .500 at 13-12. They promptly lost 4 straight but got back to .500 at 24-24. But they then lost 6 out of 7 and .500 was never seen again. The Wolves finished 36-44 and whether I should say “a disappointing 36-44” or not is in the eye of the beholder. Better was expected after a pretty good 2018, but after all the Butler BS, well, who knew?

Then, of course, there was the little matter of the coaching change. Erstwhile savior Tom Thibodeau became the whipping boy, and justifiably so. The Jimmy Butler trade, as badly as it turned out in the longer run, was probably a worthwhile risk. But the fact is that Thibodeau was a throwback. He had probably the least interest in the 3-point shot, either on offense or defense, of any coach in the NBA. He was pretty much the last NBA coach to play a double-post. So, after reaching 13-12, the Wolves went 6-9 and on January 6, despite 2 straight wins, the Wolves were 19-21, there was just no bounce in anybody’s step, and Thibodeau was let go. He was replaced by Ryan Saunders, son of the sainted Flip Saunders, and on January 8, Saunders (age 32) became the youngest NBA coach to win his debut in 41 years, since Dave Cowens won with the Boston Celtics in 1978 at the age of 30. Somebody wrote that the Wolves played with “an energy and spirit that was lacking under Thibodeau.” That was true some nights and not others as the Wolves went 17-23 under Saunders. 

But, hey, we’re talking about KAT, and he scored about 22 ppg under Thibodeau and about 25 under Saunders. His scoring average of 24.4 was the 2^nd best in his 4 years in the NBA. His rebounds, assists and steals were career highs but so were his turnovers. His shooting was down a tich at 56% on 2s and 40% on 3s but he took 17 shots per game vs. 14 the year before as the Wolves needed whatever scoring they could get from their big guy.

So whatever ails the Timberwolves, it ain’t the big KAT, OK?

Player of the Year

It comes down to Paige Bueckers, Booker Coplin and the sentimental favorite Jordyn Murphy. Relative to her peers, it’s hard not to pick Bueckers as head and shoulders above the crowd, but, hey, Coplin’s 78 points against the MIAC’s top 2 powers, on the road, in the playoffs, now, that’s an accomplishment of truly historic proportions. And, again, there’s Murph. Some of you old-timers may recognize him as the 2^ndcoming of Richard Coffey, which is to say the 2^nd hardest-working Gopher men’s player of my lifetime.

But as much as I love Murph…and, hey, Bueckers gets another chance this coming season…but, of course, so does Coplin. Still, you probably won’t agree with this but Booker Coplin had the best season of anybody in Minnesota basketball in the 2018-2019 season.

Well, that’s comparing Coplin’s play for Augsburg with Bueckers’ play for Hopkins. If you count Buecker’s world championship, then it pretty clearly pulls her ahead of Coplin for our PoY award. Again, that’s Paige Bueckers, Minnesota PoY 2018-2019.

Runners-Up: Booker Coplin, Augsburg men; Jordyn Murphy, Gopher men

2019 Season Recap: Team and Coach of the Year

2019 Basketball Season Recap: Team of the Year

OK, we’re going to limit the field to the traditional 5 candidates, and they are:

Gopher men

I dunno. Disappointing? Surprising? Well, once they knocked of Sconny in Madison in January, 59-52, well, expectations soared. And, on that basis, yeah, they were disappointing. But, let’s be honest. Only once in 37 years have high expectations really been justified and justifiable at the U. So 22 wins, 2 of them in the Big 10 tournament, one in the NCAA (against big-shot Louisville, no less) is not too shabby. But, it’s true. They left us wanting more.

Gopher women

It’s true, they left us wanting more. 21-11 with no less than 5 losses in which they had a 4^thquarter lead. Ouch! I mean, 26-6 was not out of reach. It’s one thing to not be a closer. The Gophers were the un-closers. Still, there were some super high points, like the 12-0 start and the win over top 10 Syracuse at the Barn. But, it’s true. They left us wanting more.

Hopkins boys

I think Kenny Novak would say this was not his most talented team. This group had lost to Wayzata in the section in both 2017 and 2018, the first Hopkins team to miss back-to-back state tournaments since 2007 and 2008, and only the 3^rd of the 4-class era. Their 27-4 record is the worst by any of Hopkins 10 or Novak’s 8 state champions. And, the enduring image of the team is its 55-40 grinder over Lakeville North in the final. But, this team was not a grinder. Novak’s kids were not grinders. 6-11 center Zeke Nnaji is of course a beast. They outscored their regular season opponents an average of 80-60, and they outscored their first 2 state tournament opponents by an average of 78-50. 

But, ultimately, we picked them as the #1 boys team over DeLaSalle, who defeated Hopkins, and Minnehaha, who lost to Hopkins twice but beat the Islanders. So, there’s that. At one time, I had the 3 of them in a 3-way tie for the top boys team. But, at state tournament time, Hopkins would have beaten De or Haha. 

Hopkins girls

The Hopkins girls, on the other hand, went 32-0. They were the first of coach Brian Cosgriff’s 7 state champs to go unbeaten. They outscored their regular season opponents by an average of 83-49 and won 3 state tournament games by an average of 72-47. Some thought this to be the best girls team ever in Minnesota. Maybe it was.

St. Thomas women

The Tommies went 30-2 under coach Ruth Sinn, winning the MIAC title at 18-0 with an average score of 77-48. They won the MIAC playoffs, beating Gustavus 64-39 and Augsburg 73-54. They won 4 NCAA tournament games by an average of 76-55 before losing to Bowdoin in the national semifinals 71-60. Senior post Hannah Spaulding led the way with 18 ppg and 10 rebounds and was named the MIAC MVP.

Team of the Year

It comes down to these last 2, the Hopkins girls and the St. Thomas women, and the Hopkins girls, relative to their competition, were just an overwhelming force. They were not just unbeaten, they were unbeatable. Team of the Year: Hopkins girls.

Coach of the Year

Here, we have 6 candidates.

Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls

Well, Hopkins is our Team of the Year at 32-0. As we noted, this is the 1^stof Cos’ 7 state champs to go unbeaten and untied. There was no other unbeaten team anywhere in the state of Minnesota.

Aaron Griess, Augsburg men

Augsburg has not been a powerhouse of the MIAC. That, of course, has been St. Thomas in recent years, recent decades. But the past 2 years, Augsburg has posted 21-8 and 19-9 records, and 13-7 in the MIAC both years. That is huge.

Randy Misegades, Henning boys

The Henning boys came pretty much out of nowhere to win the Class A title, outscoring regular season opponents 78-49 and state tournament opponents 65-44. Just 2 years ago, they were 7-20. Now, apparently, the Fisher boys, Sam and Isaac, moved into town, so that helped. But coach Misegades was our choice as the boys high school coach of the year and is a solid candidate for overall coach of the year.

Mandy Pearson, UMD women

UMD is accustomed to success but lately coach Pearson has been digging them out of a little bit of a hole. Mission accomplished, and maybe a little sooner than expected. The Bulldogs went 18-4 in the NSIC for the regular season, then upset 1^stplace UM Moorhead 52-48 in the conference tournament final as Sarah Grow scored 17 points. Moorhead turned the tables the following week in an NCAA tournament game, holding Grow to just 2 points. So you could make a case for Moorhead's Karla Nelson, too. But we thought Pearson got the most out of her talent in the NSIC 2018-2019.

Ted Riverso, Augsburg women

We wrote a post almost a year ago saying that the Augsburg women would have their best team ever last year, and they did, by a wide margin, going 22-5 and 16-2 in the conference. After December 15, their only losses were to St. Thomas 3 times, including in the MIAC playoff final. Senior guard Tamira McLemore led the way with 16 ppg.

Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women

We have already seen that the Tommies women went 30-2 and to the national finals. Ruth Sinn is just a great coach, period.

Coach of the Year

Honestly, it comes down to Griess and Riverso, Riverso and Griess. What are the odds of that? 2 coaches from Augsburg? Bottom line: Our other candidates had overwhelming talent. I’m not sayin’ I coulda coached ‘em. Coach Cos and Misegades and Sinn are great coaches. But Griess and Riverso have done and are still doing the harder job of getting from the middle of the pack into the upper echelon, and of getting the most from kids with, broadly speaking, more modest talents. Not to say that Booker Coplin is a modest talent, by the way.

But, anyway, the women went 22-5 and the men 19-9 but, seriously, I can’t differentiate these 2 coaching jobs, so we’ll have Co-Coaches of the Year this year: Aaron Griess and Ted Riverso of the Augsburg men and the Augsburg women, respectively.

Returning to our 2019 season recap: Game of the Year

The nominees are:

Gopher women 72 Syracuse 68, November 29

This win over #8 rated Syracuse got Lindsay Whalen her 6^thstraight win en route to a 12-0 start which, however, raised expectations for this team somewhat unrealistically. From that 12-0 start, they finished 9-11, losing 5 times in the final minutes. This time, however, the Gophers had led all the way before suddenly falling behind 61-55 at 3:36, but then stormed back on 3 buckets by Kenisha Bell and a raft of FT.

Gopher men 59 @ Wisconsin 52, January 3

Ditto –that is, regarding unrealistic expectations. This one got the men to 12-2 and 2-1 in the Big 10. From here they went 10-12 and 7-10 in the conference. But here the Gophers stormed out to a 29-14 lead and hung on as Bucky got as close as 49-47 at 2:05. Amir Coffey scored 21 and Dupree McBrayer 14 for the Gophers.

Augsburg men 84 @ St. Thomas 81, February 21

Huge upset, #3 Augsburg at #2 St. Thomas in the MIAC semis. Booker Coplin led the Augies with 32 while Matt Carik hit the game-winning 3 with 20 seconds remaining.

Gopher men 86 Louisville 76, March 21, NCAA tournament

An NCAA tournament win is an NCAA tournament win, and this one came against a high major opponent, and one intimately linked to the Pitino name. So it was good. All 5 starters scored in double figures as the Louisville defense proved to be highly porous. The Gophers led by 5 at the half and led by double digits through most of the second half, with a high of 19 and low of 7 at 76-69 at 2:06, but the Gophers hit 10-of-10 FT after that.

St. Thomas women 85 Wartburg 56, NCAA tournament

The Tommies lost at Wartburg 60-40 in December, shooting a miserable 30%. 9 weeks later, that was their only loss. And, who, then, did they draw in the NCAA D3 quarter-finals? You guessed it. This time the Tommies shot 60% and tied a school record with 16 3s and demolished the Warthogs, or whatever, 85-56. Lucia Renikoff scored 22 points and added 6 assists. Unfortunately, the Tommies lost to Bowdoin in the semis the following week in the semis.

Game of the Year

Easy pick. Gopher men win at Sconny 57-52 to go 12-2.

2019 Basketball Season Recap: High School Boys

Competitive balance, as everyone knows, is a thing of the past. So, 3 of our state champions are familiar faces--Hopkins winning its 8th Class AAAA title in 18 years and its 10th overall; DeLaSalle winning its 12th Class AAA title in 25 years and its 7th in 8 years; and Minnehaha winning its 3rd straight and its 4th in 7 years.

Thank goodness for Class A. Henning roared into the tournament with a 28-1 record, good for only a #4 seed. Henning, after all, hadn't played anybody that anybody knew anything about. Meanwhile, Springfield (27-2) got the #1 seed; they at least had played a Class AA state tournament team, St. Peter, and won easily. Ada-Borup (28-1) got the #2 seed; they had played a bunch of AA teams. North Woods (27-2) got the #3 seed; they were in their 3rd straight tournament, so they were a known quantity. And, Henning came it at just #7 in the all-important QRF. And, Henning was making just its 3rd state tournament appearance ever, the first 2 coming in 1965 and 1966. The almost beat Edina in 1966, losing in 3OT. But, that was about as far as their notoriety extended. The smart money was that Henning had no chance.

Wrong. It was Henning's opponents who had no chance, or so it seemed. But, the truth be told, the Hornets were unimpressive in the 1st round, leading CHOF 32-31 at the half and easing away to a 63-56 win as senior guard Sam Fisher scored 20 with 6 assists and 6 steals.

Meanwhile, Spring Grove shocked #1 Springfield 78-67, making 13-of-20 3-pointers versus 9-of-26 for Springfield. Well, now Henning got really revved up, demolishing Spring Grove 67-34. This time Fisher and Peter Fraki each scored 15 points, while Fisher added 8 assists and 3 steals.

North Woods was a slight favorite going into the final with senior guard Cade Goggleye in charge of things for the Grizzlies. Goggleye had made a half-court shot to win a state tournament game in 2017, then led his team to 2nd place in 2018. 1 win, then 2, now it would be 3 and out for Goggleye and North Woods. But, no, Goggleye had one of the worst games of his entire career, scoring just 5 points on 2-of-13 shooting, but you have to consider the opposition--that is, Sam Fisher, who scored 22 on 8-of-11 and hounded Goggleye all over the court. Henning won easily, 67-42.

That was the tournament highlight. Everything else seemed a little anti-climactic. Thank goodness for Class A. Oh, and let's also acknowledge, thank goodness for Minnehaha having the guts, after 3 straight Class AA titles, to move up to Class AAA, where they will challenge DeLaSalle. For one year, at least, we should have competitive finals in AAA and AA, But, that's next year.

Final Top 10

1. Hopkins 27-4, defeated Minnehaha twice, lost to DeLaSalle
2. Minnehaha 29-2, lost to Hopkins twice, defeated DeLaSalle
3. DeLaSalle 27-5, lost to Minnehaha, defeated Hopkins
4. Lakeville North 27-5
5. Park Center 30-2
6. East Ridge 28-4
7. Prior Lake 25-4, lost to Eden Prairie in Section 2AAAA with star Dawson Garcia injured
8. Eden Prairie 22-10
9. Maple Grove 23-8
10. Eastview 19-13

All-State

Matthew Hurt, Rochester John Marshall, Sr., F
Zeke Nnaji, Hopkins, Sr., C
Jalen Suggs, Minnehaha, Jr., G
Tyler Wahl, Lakeville North, Sr., F
Dawson Garcia, Prior Lake, Jr., F

2019 Basketball Season Recap: High School Girls

OK, I'll admit it. I picked all 4 of the girls state high school champions for 2019. You can look it up in the Breakdown Guidebook for 2018-2019. Hopkins, I said. And DeLaSalle. And Minnehaha. And, even the one and only tournament that was ever in any doubt in Class A. Minneota, I said. And, so, it  was Minneota.

But, my point is not how smart I am. My point is how easy it was. Hopkins. DeLaSalle. Minnehaha. Easy peasy. Minneota? They were one of two or three teams the could have won. Kevin Anderson picked the same four teams. Easy.

In the case of Hopkins, I mean, seriously. They ended up 32-0 with a scoring margin of 83-49. They beat my #2, #6, #7 and #8 teams in Class AAAA in the playoffs by an average of 73-50. They joined the conversation, at least, as to whether they might be the best girls team ever in the state of Minnesota. They had Paige Bueckers, who is widely regarded as the greatest player ever in the state of Minnesota. But, there's no need to talk about such superlatives right now, other than that, yes, Hopkins was #1, because almost everybody's back and their 2020 team will probably end up being the greatest team ever and a second state title will put an end to any debate as to Bueckers' stature.

In the case of DeLaSalle, was there ever any doubt? Well, they started 1-3 and 4-4, but after that it was 20-1 with a 65-51 scoring margin in the post-season. The Islanders featured a 10-deep rotation of girls who scored 5 ppg or more. Injuries? There were injuries. No problem. And, there were just 3 seniors on the roster, and only 2 of them played, and only one of them played in the post-season. So, they are as much of a sure thing in their class in 2020 as Hopkins is in theirs.

Then there's Minnehaha. Was there ever any doubt? OK, here, yes, there was doubt. They lost guard Terra Rhoades to graduation and, frankly, she supplied a lot of the heart for the RedHawks in 2018. They started 3-5, though it's true that 4 of the 5 losses were to Class AAA opponents. But the got it together behind guards Mia Curtis and Taytum Rhoades and finished 22-1, with a 66-56 average edge in the state tournament. Roseau took 3rd place and Kacie Borowicz won the Ms. Basketball Award after scoring 40 points in her final high school game.

Finally, Minneota. The Vikings had to grind it out, and so that's what they did. After scoring 69 ppg during the season, they won with just 53 ppg at state by giving up just 42 to finish 30-1. This was the one tournament, that if they played it 10 times, somebody probably wouldn't win 7 of them.

Let me put that another way. If they play Class AAAA 10 times, Hopkins wins 10 times. If they play AAA 10 times, DeLaSalle wins 9. (Holy Angels, not the runners-up from Becker, wins one. Or maybe it's 8 and 2.) If they play AA 10 times, Minnehaha wins 8. (Sauk Centre, who lost to Albany in a Section 6AA semi-final, is the other team that coulda/woulda won this tournament 2 out of 10 if it had gotten here.) If they play Class A 10 times, Minneota wins 5, Heritage Christian wins 3 and Goodhue wins 2.

Final Top 10

1. Hopkins 32-0
2. Wayzata 26-3
3. Stillwater 28-3
4. Centennial 27-5
5. Farmington 24-5
6. Eastview 25-7
7. Maple Grove 24-8
8. St. Michael-Albertville 25-4
9. DeLaSalle 24-5
10. Forest Lake 26-6

All-State

Paige Bueckers, Hopkins, Jr., G
Sara Scalia, Stillwater, Sr., G
Lauren Jensen, Lakeville North, Jr., G
Kacie Borowicz, Roseau, Sr., G
Kallie Theisen, Wayzata, Sr., F