2012 Women's Recruiting Rankings Out; Gophers Not Mentioned

The HoopGurlz 2012 recruiting ratings are out (published on ESPN.com)--just the top 20 at this time. And Purdue is the only Big 10 team mentioned, and the Boilermakers are rated #10. "The strength of this class," they say, "is not individually-based; it is a collection of 4-star players who all complement each other...."

In other words, there's a post, there's a wing, there's a point guard, there's a shooter. Joslyn Massey from Michigan, April Wilson from Kentucky, Taylor Manuel from Missouri, and Hayden Hamby from Alabama are the 4. They won't be on the Boilers' roster this-coming season, these are (again) the class of 2012 coming out of high school.

While reading up on the 2012s, I took a quick review of HoopGurlz' ratings of the Big 10 classes back to 2008--2008 now being seniors in college, assuming they've come straight through without injuries, redshirts, etc. etc. Here's a composite of their rankings of the 2008s through 2011s who for the most part make up the school's rosters today.

1. Ohio State. No surprise here. All 4 of the Buckeyes recruiting classes are ranked in the top 30 at #17 (2011), #19 (2010), #29 (2009) and #25. I used a point system based on 50--#1 gets 50 points, #50 gets 1 point--and the Buckeyes add up to 114 points on that basis. It's best class, according to Hoopgurlz, is it's incoming freshmen.

2. Minnesota. OK, you can get up off the floor now. That's right, Minnesota, all 4 of whose recruiting classes from 2008 to 2011 were rated at #23 (2011), #46 (2010), #34 (2009) and #16 (2008). That #16 are now seniors--Kiara Buford, Jackie Voigt and Brianna and Nicole Mastey. To say the 2008s have been a disappointment is, of course, a gross understatement. But Gopher fans probably believe in their hearts that the talent is still there, so who knows. With the #5 point guard nationally in the class of 2011 coming in to take charge, maybe if everybody gets better....

The 2010s, rated #34, include Kionna Kellogg, Shonte Clay, Sari Noga and Micaella Riche, who have the potential to be better than the 2008s unless the 2008s indeed pick it up in their senior year.

The 2009s, rated #46, include Katie Loberg, Leah Cotton and Amber Dvorak--the 1st 2 juniors while Dvorak is officially a redshirt sophomore.

The 2011s, rated #23, are Rachel Banham and Kayla Hirt.

The 2012s, for the record, are as yet unrated (HoopGurlz will eventually rate a top 60 and it is this rating that the Gophers have been in for all of the past 4 years. Only Ohio State and Purdue have done the same. But the 2012s, as you will recall, are Shayne Mullaney and Mikayla Bailey. Nothing that Jackie Johnson couldn't boost up into the top 40 again.

3. Purdue, with a #46, #41, #21 and #20, and now of course that #10 for next year. Nice trendline.

4. Illinois based mostly on a #3-rated class in 2009, one which seems unlikely to fulfill such a lofty prediction.

5. Iowa based mostly on 2011's #12-rated class led by Samantha Logic, the #10-rated player in the country in her class.

6. Northwestern who is coming on like gangbusters with a "close" rating last year (2010) and #14 this year. Northwestern's freshman class includes a 6-5 post, a 6-2 wing and a point guard from the Canadian national 17U team. Then the sister of the highly-regarded 6-2 wing is also transferring in. So look out.

7. Penn State but that's based entirely on the 2009s, now their junior class.

8. Michigan State, believe it or not, though at least the 2009, 2010 and 2011 classes have all been mentioned, but never as a highly-rated class.

9. Wisconsin got a couple of mentions in 2009 and 2010.

10 and 11. Indiana and Michigan have received no mentions of any kind through the past 4--now 5--years.

If recruiting were an exact science, then the Big 10 standings should look just like this list. But of course you come a cropper right away there at #2 in trying to do that. The Gophers #2? That would be a shocker. The 2008s would have to turn into world-beaters in their last shot. And who's to say that Kiara Buford, with a great new point guard, couldn't score 20 points a game and cut her turnovers in half?

But it seems more likely that the pre-season dope will run something like this. #1 will be Ohio State, same as their recruiting ratings. Then will come Iowa (#5), Michigan State (#8) and maybe Purdue (#3). After that it's a crap shoot, which means that nobody knows if the Big 10 has even 5 NCAA tournament caliber teams.

Given their recruiting results over the past 4 years, the Gophers should have as good a shot at #5 as anybody. Expecting as much means that you think Rachel Banham is a game-changer and, again, maybe Kiara Buford will really blossom after all. That and then Katie Loberg and Jackie Voigt will be better in supporting roles, and ditto Brianna Mastey or perhaps Kionna Kellogg proves to be a diamond in the rough that was the 2010s.

The pressure, of course, should be on Pam Borton and not on Rachel Banham or Kiara Buford. But I'll put it on all 3 and say, hey, the talent is there. 5th place ought to be the least that Gopher fans will accept for 2012.

Lynx Dodge a Bullet

There were themes galore, last night. But the big one was this: The Lynx dodged a bullet last night, edging the San Antonio Silver Stars 66-65 in the opener of a hoped-for drive to the WNBA title. In so doing (Theme #2), they made coach Cheryl Reeves look like a world-class prognosticator on the day that she also was named WNBA coach of the year.

Reeve had spent the past few days saying that the Lynx were not focused on the fact that they'd beaten the Stars in all 4 of their meetings this year. Rather, they were focused on the fact that each of the 4 games had been close and hard-fought. Of course, that was a lie. The Lynx beat the Stars by 1 and 2 points, it's true, in their 1st 2 meetings. But they won more easily, by 10 and 11, after that.

But (Theme #3) the fact is the Stars are a different team with rookie forward Danielle Adams in the lineup. The Lynx have now beaten the Stars by 1 point, 2 and now 1 again with Adams at full strength, and by 10 and 11 after Adams got hurt but before she got herself fully into fighting trim again. And on the very day that Maya Moore was named WNBA rookie of the year, Adams made a strong case that they got the wrong woman.

Adams out-scored Moore 16-10 and out-rebounded her 4-3, while Moore had a pair of turnovers and Adams none. Moore also missed 3-of-4 FT in the 4th quarter, including a pair with 37 seconds remaining.

But the marquee match-up (Theme #4) was veteran point guards Becky Hammon and Lindsay Whalen, and the Lynx took this one. Whalen led all scorers with 20 (to Hammon's 16), and chalked by 5 assists (to Hammon's 2). But the biggest number was probably 4--Whalen had 4 steals to Hammon's none, and the 4th clinched the win with 4 (there's that number again) seconds remaining in the game and the Stars still with the ball and a chance to win.

The Lynx started out cold, making just 10 of 30 shots in the 1st half and trailing 16-11 at the quarter and 35-32 at intermission. The Stars led by as much as 8 at 14-6, though the Lynx came back for their only leads of the 1st half at 26-25 and 30-28. But San Antone scored 7 straight points before Alexis Hornbuckle closed the half with a pair of FT.

Fortunately the Stars were also cold at 13-of-35. But, amazingly, they were 6-of-20 on 2-pointers and 7-of-15 on 3s. Meanwhile, the Lynx had made just 1-of-5 3-pointers but had out-scored the Stars 11-2 from the charity stripe. Whalen led everybody at half-time with 12 points, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The game was nip and tuck throughout the 2nd half. The Lynx largest lead was still just 2 points at 57-55 at 6:48 of the 4th, but suddenly it was 60-55 at 5:23 and the Lynx appeared to be on their way (or Whay). But, no. San Antone went ahead 65-64 on a Hammon 3 at 1:10, but Seimone Augustus hit a mid-range jumper at 0:53 to put the Lynx back in front, and neither team scored after that.

The Lynx shot a respectable 15-of-33 in the 2nd half while the Stars made just 12-of-31. The Lynx could have/should have pulled away with those extra FG and a 10-5 edge in FTA, but the Lynx made just 4-of-10 throws and San Antone 4-of-5.

On balance, the Lynx 27-7 (or, now, 28-7) record would seem to reflect the fact that everything fell into place for them--i.e. no injuries--while the Stars' 18-16 is in no way reflective of the caliber of team they are right now. A win in San Antone on Sunday, despite a 6-game winning streak against the Stars, would hardly seem assured, nor even a win at home on Tuesday. And the same might be said of defending WNBA champion Seattle--that they're a much better team than their 21-13 record would indicate. In fact, 2010 WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson remains at less than 100 percent, and yet the Storm thrashed the Phoenix Mercury 80-61 last night and held the league's leading scorer, Diana Taurasi, to just 11 points.

The Lynx, in short, are not going to find a WNBA title to be a cakewalk. Surely, they expected as much. And, so, while we fans might be distressed by the difficulty of win #1, well, again, nobody said it was going to be easy. Did they?

Welcome, Rick Adelman

As a blogger, I like having something new to say. But in this case, all I can say is, Ditto.

Most of the Twin Cities press, among many others, is saying that Rick Adelman was the right man to coach the young and struggling Minnesota Timberwolves. Ditto.

As Kevin Love has said, the Wolves need a great coach and now they've got one. Ditto.

Some have even noted what a surprise this is, given the Wolves and David Kahn's sorry record in hiring coaches, and also given that Adelman commands a real salary, probably somewhere in the vicinity of $5 million. Ditto.

Ditto, ditto, ditto. Me, too. Great hire.

Jim Souhan went so far yesterday to say that Adelman will double the Wolves win total into the 30s. OK, now I'm a little uncomfortable. I'm not sure if I can ditto this.

The fact is that Adelman is only the 2nd proven building block for a franchise turnaround. Love, Minnesota's basketball player of the year for 2010-2011 according to a vote among readers of this blog, is of course #1.

The rest is all unknowns. Can Ricky Rubio play in the NBA? Don't know. Will Derrick Williams be a star or a journeyman? Don't know. Will Michael Beasley mature enough to become a night in-night out threat, or will he continue to mix in those half-hearted efforts? Ditto. Even if Beasley does mature, do we have a bona fide shooting guard who can take some of the pressure off of Love and Beasley? Ditto. Are the Wolves going to be improved just enough to get a bunch of useless draft picks in the next few years? Ditto.

But if Glen Taylor's Lynx can turn it around, surely Glen Taylor's Wolves can do it, too. But, by that analogy, the Love and Adelman are the Wolves' Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus. Who is going to be their Mya Moore and their Rebekah Brunson? Ditto. No idea. But Adelman at least injects into the equation a modicum of hope--something that Rubio's signing, unfortunately, didn't do after a couple years of mediocre play in Europe. Now at least we can get an accurate reading of how good this roster is, knowing that they're being led by a qualified coach.

Lynx Ready for Playoffs; Whalen for MVP

The Minnesota Lynx disposed of the stubborn Chicago Sky 78-69 Thursday night in their penultimate tune-up for the WNBA playoffs, wherein they have the #1 seed and the home court throughout.

The Sky, though already eliminated from the playoff picture, came to play and play hard, and shocked the Lynx with a 19-5 2nd half run to a 53-52 lead just 30 seconds into the 4th quarter. But Lindsay Whalen responded with 3 buckets and 3 assists over the next 6 minutes and the Lynx gradually pulled away.

Seimone Augustus led the scoring with 22 points, but Whalen was the obvious star of the game with 20 points, 10 assists, 7 boards and 2 steals. Maya Moore added 16 points and 7 boards. Sylvia Fowles and Erin Thorn scored 17 points each for the Sky.

In fact, the game started out as a showcase for MVP candidates Fowles and Whalen. Fowles is currently rated #2 in the MVP race and Whalen #8 behind teammate Seimone at #6. Fowles scored Chicago's 1st 5 points and 11 in total in the 1st quarter on 5-of-7 shooting, and she added 3 rebounds. Whalen picked up her 2nd foul at 1:45 of the 1st, but before she sat down she scored 8 points on 4-for-4 shooting with 3 assists.

I mean, this is the Lindsay and Seimone show. Moore, not to mention Rebekah Brunson and Taj McWilliams-Franklin, are admirable role players--all-star caliber players, all three--but in a supporting role. So, with Whalen on the bench with those 2 fouls, the Sky scored 7 straight points to get within 30-26 at 5:34 of the 2nd. Lindsay checked back in and over the next 3 minutes found Taj (twice), Moore and Seimone for open shots, which they knocked down, for a 41-32 lead.

She then opened the 3rd with a reverse lay-up off a baseline drive and another assist to Seimone, and the Lynx were up 47-34. Another driving lay-up made it 49-42, and it was 49-44 when Lindsay took a seat on the bench again. The Sky rallied to within 52-50 after 3, then took their 1st lead since 11-10 on a 3 by Epiphanny Prince. Whalen checked back in and once again the Lynx took control of the ball, the tempo and, ultimately, the game.

After her stellar 1st half of work Fowles, on the other hand, disappeared. She made 6-of-9 FG in the 1st half, just 1-of-4 in the 2nd. And Chicago's other bigs, Carolyn Swords and Michelle Snow, also punished the Lynx' out-sized interior defense with 5-of-9 shooting. I mean, let's be honest, if there's a weakness on this team, interior defense would be it with its 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 starting front line. And so the Sky's big 3 out-scored Brunson, Taj and Jessica Adair 29-11. And yet, at crunch time, Fowles was not a factor.

Rather, Chicago became guard-oriented as the game wore on. Erin Thorn was terrific on offense, hitting 4-of-7 from 3-point-land. Her understudy, rookie Courtney Vandersloot doubled Thorn's assist total 4-2 but made just 2-of-10 shots, 1-of-6 from beyond the arc. Prince made just 3-of-12 with no assists. Advantage Whalen and the Lynx.

Chicago's bench was also more productive than the Lynx' by 18 points to 12 and 6 assists to 1. The Lynx' bench did out-rebound Chicago's 13-10. Candice Wiggins, so effective for most of the season and especially the past 4-6 weeks, scored 5 points but with no assists and 2 turnovers. The Lynx out-scored the Sky by 2 with Wiggins on the court for 18 minutes, and by 16 with Whalen on the court for 28 minutes.

The biggest Lynx, Amber Harris, was out with a concussion, and I'm not aware that there's been any announcement of when she'll return. It's hard to say she was missed, considering that the Lynx shut down Fowles in the 2nd half, anyway, but it would be good to have the additional size available for the playoffs.

San Antonio and the Playoffs

Oh, yes, the playoffs. The Lynx now have just 1 regular season game remaining at Phoenix on Sunday night. They've drawn the San Antonio Silver Stars for the playoffs, which open at the Target Center on Friday September 16. A Sunday (September 18) game at San Antonio follows with the rubber match, if necessary, back at the Target Center on Tuesday September 20.

The good news is, well, two-fold. The Lynx swept the Stars in 4 games this year--OK, two were close (70-69 and 62-60) but the 2 more recent games were decided by 10 and 11 points. And San Antone doesn't seem to be the type of team to beat the Lynx, anyway. They don't have anybody like Sylvia Fowles--well, nobody has anybody like Sylvia Fowles. But the Stars are just not big and strong inside, as evidenced by their 37-31 per game rebounding deficit throughout the year.

That leaves it up to Becky Hammon, the former Lynx who scored 37 points last night on 14-of-19 shooting. But over 4 games, Whalen out-scored Hammon 14 ppg to 10. Hammon had 26 assists to Lindsay's 24, but Hammon also turned it over 18 times to Lindsay's 10.

Not to underestimate the Stars. They will present stiff resistance, especially now with rookie all-star forward Danielle Adams back from injury. But the Stars not only get out-rebounded, they shot 42.5 percent, same as their opponents. The Lynx shoot 46 percent and hold their opponents to 41 percent. And San Antone seems a bit prone to turn it over. They will not defeat the Lynx.

And if Lindsay Whalen can consistently out-play people like Becky Hammon and Sylvia Fowles, then she ought to rank well above #8 in the MVP race. In fact, if I had a vote, I'd pencil her in at #1.

Timberwolves Next?

If the Lynx can turn it around, maybe the Timberwolves can, too. Or should I say, maybe the Timberwolves can, too?

Because, frankly, the assertion is questionable. Sure, Kevin Love's emergence as an NBA all-star is 1 building block. And if Rick Adelman is indeed interested in the Wolves' coaching job, and if the Wolves are smart enough to accept their good fortune and offer the guy the job, that's building block number 2. Trust me, he's the guy you want.

But, meanwhile, Michael Beasley shows no signs of maturing just yet, and the 2 new guys are, well, new guys, and it's crazy to expect new guys to be real difference-makers in the NBA. I'm referring here to #2 overall draft pick Derrick Williams--hey, Kevin Love could be gone as a free agent before he's ready to assert himself--and Ricky Rubio.

My main point is to note that Rubio is not exactly ripping it up in Europe right now. Spain is 3-0 in the European championships, though a loss to host Lithuania today is not unlikely. Rubio is the back-up point guard behind Jose Calderon. Here's Ricky's line:

vs. Poland 16 minutes 0/5 FG 2 steals 2 turnovers 0 points

vs. Portugal 18 min 2/4 FG 4 reb 2 assists 1 turnover 1 steal 5 points

vs. Great Britain 21 min 2/5 FG 1 reb 4 assists 0 turnovers 2 steals 4 points

3 games (avg.) 18 min 29% FG (57% 2FG, 0/7 3FG) 2 reb 3 assists 1 turnover 2 steals 3 points

Leading scorers in the Euro tournament are:

1. Tony Parker, France 28

2. Pau Gasol, Spain 23

3. Dirk Nowitzki, Germany 22

4. Antonio Bargnani, Italy 22

5. Luol Deng, Great Britain 21

From the Timberwolves' roster:

Bojan Bogdanovich, Croatia 14 pts 4 reb 1 assist

Nikola Pekovic, Montenegro 11 pts 6 reb

If the NBA season started today, the starting lineup would probably be Darko Milicic, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley (unless hurt), Luke Ridnour (ahead of Rubio) and Wes Johnson. The bottom line is, you better hope the Wolves sign a superstar coach because unless I am mistaken this is the same lineup as last year. Right now Ricky Rubio has to go into the category of not-ready-for-prime-time.

Minnesota Land of 10,000 Girl Guards

HoopGurlz, one of the leading if not the THE leading experts on girls basketball in America, has been taking note of Minnesota hoops again.

About a year ago Rachel Banham of North Tartan made a splash on the AAU circuit and emerged as the #18-ranked girl among the 2012s. And so, more recently, the Minnesota Gophers 2012 recruiting class, of which she is the headliner, is rated among the Top 20 recruiting classes in the USA.

Last week the 2013 ratings were updated and 2 Minnesotans appeared among the Top 100--and the top half of the top 100, really. Rebakah Dahlman of Braham is ranked #24 and Nia Coffey of Hopkins, now listed as a forward, is ranked #43.

Now comes word that Kenisha Bell, sophomore-to-be at Bloomington Kennedy who also summers with North Tartan, is ranked #18 among the 2014s. Of course, being #18 among the 2014s only makes her #10 at her position, which is point guard. It's a big year for point guards. But when you look at that list of the Top 25 2014s, the University of Minnesota is 1 of only 2 colleges that has got a commitment from any of them.

HoopGurlz notes that Bell will join fellow North Tartan alumnae Banham, Mikayla Bailey, Shayne Mullaney and Kayla Hirt as a Gopher.

The #18 ranking doesn't make Bell a better prospect than the #24 Dahlman, by the way. The 2013s are supposed to be a super class overall, and so the #24 Dahlman is rated at 95, the #43 Coffey at 94, and the #18 Bell at 93.

The Runs #3

Just for the record, the Lynx did it again last night to the lowly (5-25) Washington Mystics. Hey, anybody can do it to the Mystics! Well, not like this. Leading 40-39 early in the 3rd period, the Lynx ripped off 17 points in a row. Game over.

Reserves Monica Wright and Jessica Adair led the run with 7 and 4 points, respectively. Wright added an assist, a rebound and a steal, while Adair added 2 boards, one on each end of the floor. Reserves Candice Wiggins was also on the floor for most of the run, contributing 2 boards and an assist, and Amber Harris for part of it, contributing a steal and a 2.

The bench out-scored Washington's bench 29-14, as it has out-scored pretty much everybody the past six weeks or so. And it was well to do so as Lindsay Whalen was the only Lynx starter to score in double figures with 21 points, plus 5 assists.

While the bench's production was typical, the starting lineup's lack thereof was not. The Lynx also played against type by failing to win the possession game. The Mystics got off 2 extra FGA, though the Lynx had 2 extra offensive rebounds and the turnovers were equal at 17. The Lynx have been winning the possession game by wide margins all year, both off the offensive glass and by protecting the ball. This time they took the old-fashioned expedient of out-shooting their opponent from the field, 56 percent to 36 percent.

In any event, the lead ballooned from 57-40 to a high of 23 at 70-47 before the Lynx coasted to the finish and a 16 point win (73-57).

As a result, the Lynx have now all but clinched the home court advantage throughout the playoffs. OK, they're one win (or Indiana loss) away from same, but with 4 games remaining and 6 straight wins, one additional win can be considered to be a formality. In fact, it should come tonight at Target Center against the New York Liberty.

It was also announced today that Lindsay Whalen is the WNBA's player of the month for August. Here's another thing the Lynx have absolutely dominated. Rebekah Brunson was player of the month for June, and Seimone Augustus for July. The WNBA ranks them just #6 (Augustus), #8 (Whalen) and #12 (Brunson) in the MVP race, however. Tina Charles, Sylvia Fowles and Tamika Catchings rate #1, 2 and 3 this week. The WNBA says that Whalen's game "doesn't have a lot of flash." If that's the case, maybe they can tell us what flash would look like.