Best of the Decade

You may have noticed the Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, etc., posts where I've picked the best every year, or almost every year going back to 1900. In each case, there are a few winners who are listed in boldface. Those, my friends, are the Player of the Decade, Coach of the Decade, and so on. Well, it's obviously time to boldface some of those winners from the 2010s.

It's been a decade of mixed results, starting right at the top with the Lynx earning an A+ and the Timberwolves a D for continued futility. The Gopher women have had a little more success than the men, but neither has been a power. Women C, men C-. Among the smaller schools, St. Thomas has earned an A for the men and an A- for the women.

Minnesota high school ball has continued to improve. It's just a shame Minnesota kids don't want to play for the U. Minnesota basketball will only truly arrive with the hometown university gets the support of local basketball fans and players, like they used to in the heyday of Kevin McHale and Randy Breuer and Jim Dutcher. But, yes, that's a long time ago. The superstars of Minnesota high school ball of course are the Hopkins Royals. Both the boys and girls earn an A. Minnesota high school ball overall, compared to other states, more like a B.

But, anyway, here are the best of the 2010s.

Player of the Decade

The candidates would obviously have to be somebody from the Lynx, the Gopher women and the high schools. Sorry to say that the Timberwolves and Gopher men did not have enough success that anybody looks like a PoY candidate, and it's almost by definition that D2 and D3 players aren't quite good enough for such as award. So the finalists are:

Seimone Augustus, Minnesota Lynx
Rachel Banham, Lakeville North girls and Gopher women
Paige Bueckers, Hopkins girls
Tyus Jones, Apple Valley boys
Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx

Augustus played about 5 years longer for the Lynx than Moore did, and both won 4 WNBA titles (or 5, if you count the one that was stolen from them on that no-call on the shot clock violation by the L.A. Sparks). But, Moore at her best was a little better than Seimone--playoff MVP in 2013 and league MVP in 2014, a 3X all-star game MVP.

After that, Bueckers probably ranks ahead of Banham or Jones but she's got a lot of basketball still ahead of her. And, I could argue that she will one day belong to the 2020s.

Player of the Decade--Maya Moore

Team of the Decade

Now, by Team of the Decade, do I mean the team that had the most consistent success throughout? That would be the Minnesota Lynx. Or do I mean just simply the best team in the best season? On that basis, I could argue for one of the Lynx champions, or one of the 2 St. Thomas men's national championship teams, or I could for Hopkins 2019 girls undefeated state champs. On the other hand, Hopkins is likely to be better yet this year.

But I've always picked the Team of the Decade on the basis on consistent success rather than one single season, so:

Team of the Decade--Minnesota Lynx

Coach of the Decade

There are 4 obvious contenders--Brian Cosgriff, Hopkins girls, with 5 state titles this decade alone and 7 altogether; Kenny Novak, Hopkins boys, 4 state titles this decade and 7 overall; Cheryl Reeve with her 4 WNBA titles; and Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas women who almost annually have won the MIAC title and managed to run deep into the D3 tournament. But, on the other hand, some of you may have noticed that I boldfaced one of these 4 coaches some time ago.

Coach of the Decade--Cheryl Reeve

Game of the Decade

OK, now, here, obviously, I'm going to be picking based on just one single event. And, wow, there have been great, great basketball games pretty much every year this decade. How can one not pick Rachel Banham's 60 point game in the Big 10? Or, the Lynx win over Indiana in Game 3 2015 on that buzzer-beater? But, I'm probably giving away my big bias in favor of high school ball when I tell you that I like the 2012 and 2014 boys state tournament games in which Osseo and then Lakeville North surprised Hopkins.

• In 2012, it was a semi-final. Hopkins was going for a record (in AAAA) 4th straight state title but was denied in 3 OT. If I remember correctly, Hopkins hit something like 13 3s, Osseo 0, and yet Osseo won. As a sidelight, as you know, Kenny Novak and Hopkins always get beat up for the allegedly large number of open enrollment kids who have played for them over the years. In this game, Hopkins had 1, Osseo had 7.

• In 2014, Lakeville North roared back in the closing minutes to beat Hopkins 84-82 as J.P. Macura scored 43 points.

Games of the Decade (tie)--
Osseo 87 Hopkins 86 (3OT), 2012 boys AAAA semi-final
Lakeville North 84 Hopkins 82, 2014 boys AAAA final