Olson loves what Williams has to offer

Lute Olson, the former Arizona basketball coach who developed a number of players who went on to star in the NBA, believes that Derrick Williams a chance to develop into as outstanding a player as any he has coached or watched since his retirement.

Speaking from Tucson on Thursday, Olson said there wasn't any doubt in his mind that Williams, the No. 2 overall pick in Thursday's NBA draft, could start for the Timberwolves as a rookie.

"He can play a 4 [power forward] for the Wolves," Olson said. "If there is one thing he needs to improve on some, it's his defense."

Olson, the Augsburg alum and former Iowa coach who led Arizona from 1983 to 2008, called Williams a great competitor who will prove to be an outstanding three-point shooter for the Wolves, adding that he would fit in with the other young players on the Wolves team.

During his long career with Arizona, Olson won the 1997 national championship behind a team that featured Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Jason Terry and Michael Dickerson. Other NBA players that the Wildcats produced during Olson's time there included Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, Chris Mills, Damon Stoudamire, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas, Luke Walton, Andre Iguodala and Channing Frye, as well as former Wolves players Sean Rooks and Loren Woods. Another former Arizona player under Olson who became a superstar in another sport is Kenny Lofton, a point guard who helped the Wildcats to the 1988 Final Four who went on to a long career as a Major League Baseball outfielder.

Olson described Williams as on a par with any of the great players he has coached and talked about how he dominated the Pacific-10 Conference and the NCAA tournament this year.

"[Williams is] almost one of a kind," Olson told CBS during the NCAA tournament. "His length and jumping ability remind me of [76ers star] Andre Iguodala, but Derrick is a better shooter -- [nearly] 60 percent from [three-point range] on the year."

More Williams praise According to the Tucson Citizen, current Wildcats coach Sean Miller said of Williams this week: "My advice to him has always been, 'Don't change who you are.' That's his greatest gift. He's a great teammate. People are going to love the fact that he's part of their organization. That humble approach has worked for him, and Derrick is always going to follow that script."

Some people have been concerned that Williams is a tweener, too small to defend power forwards and too slow to guard small forwards. Said Miller: "Fans, even media, try to pigeon-hole players into an area. It's not about that. The game has evolved. You look at [Oklahoma City star] Kevin Durant. I can make the argument he is sometimes a shooting guard, a small forward and sometimes a power forward. I'm going to do that with Derrick. He is going to score. He is really explosive. He will hit the ground running in the NBA on offense. Where his learning curve is going to be is on defense. But where he is on Day 1 is not where he will be three or four years down the road."

Flip Saunders, the former Wolves coach who is now with the Wizards, also said he believes Williams could be a future NBA star.

"The Williams kid is a explosive player," Saunders said. "He plays a small forward but he's got a power forward's body with his size and his strength and his explosiveness. I think he has a chance to be a very, very, very good player in our league."

Big loss The Rev. Paul Youngdahl, the head of the largest Lutheran church in America, was so well-liked that he will have two funerals Friday: one at noon and one at 3 p.m. at the Mount Olivet Church, which he made so popular.

The church was popular, with more than 13,000 members, because Youngdahl was such a great man who was loved by all.

Youngdahl inherited the position held by his father, Reuben, and didn't miss a step as he was the sounding board of so many people who had problems and needed any type of help.

Not to take away anything from other religious leaders, but my very, very, very close personal friend Paul Youngdahl was, in my opinion, the most beloved man of his kind during the long period that I have been a member of the media.

He had one great personality and made time for everyone. I've always had a file full of letters from Pastor Youngdahl thanking me for each of the many individual appearances I have made at his great church before members who worshiped the ground he walked on. Yes, he was a great sports fan, but more importantly, he helped many athletes that I know solve their problems.

I expect a lot of tears to be shed at both services, where we will say goodbye to a man who was so very important in this community and who will be missed by all.

Jottings• Twins starting pitchers have an ERA under 2.00 since June 2, and a big reason for that is because they cut down their walks from an average of 3.1 per nine innings from that date to 1.6 since then. Even though the Twins lost the final two games in San Francisco, their starting pitchers continued to pitch well, as the past two times through the rotation every pitcher has produced a quality start (six innings or more and no more than three earned runs). ... Looking at the Twins righthanders' four starts in June, Carl Pavano is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA, Nick Blackburn is 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA and Scott Baker is 3-1 with a 2.40 ERA. For the lefthanders, Francisco Liriano has made only three starts this month because he was on the disabled list, but he is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA this month, and Brian Duensing, even with one poor start against Texas, is 2-2 with a 2.38 ERA in June.

• Jim Fregosi, the top scout in the Braves organization, was asked to appraise the Twins after watching the recent series with the Padres. "They're back in the race, so to speak. If they can get healthy, they can make a run at the division," said Fregosi, a former great player and manager. "The young players that they've called up have done really a nice job. They go about their business in a very professional manner. It's a credit to the Twins organization. ... They're starting from way back. But they've picked up a lot of ground as of late and they've got use out of a lot of players in their minor league system. They've come up and done a nice job for them." Regarding Joe Mauer, Fregosi said: "He looks a little rusty, to be very honest with you. His swing it's going to take a couple weeks for him to get back in the groove."

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. • shartman@startribune.com