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La Velle's 3: Who will inspire us in 2023? La Velle E. Neal III gives us his three choices.
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Welcome to 2023. What will Minnesota sports do to us this year?
That question is equal parts exciting and distressing. A year ago at this time, we didn't know a regime change would equate to a 12-4 record and division title for the Vikings. We didn't know the Timberwolves would reach the playoffs, party like it's 1999 (or 2004), trade for Rudy Gobert in the offseason and veer the opposite direction in the new season. We didn't know the Lynx would stumble in Sylvia Fowles' final season, or that the Minnesota Aurora would be a smash hit in their inaugural year.
And I didn't know I would end up in the same arena in Beijing as the tyrant who would attack Ukraine just days after the Winter Olympics.
There are many reasons to believe this year will be more exciting than distressing. That's what I'm going with today, anyway: optimism, while hoping you all get everything you want from your favorite sports teams.
I see potential sources of inspiration in many places across Minnesota sports. I see a phenom working on her inspirational comeback tale for young athletes. I see a trio of hockey players working to become the best in the country. And I see a young pitcher ready to become a leader. Here are three picks from the guy with a III in his name for athletes who will inspire us in 2023:
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Paige's comeback
You've heard of baby steps. For Paige Bueckers, there are baby jumper steps.
Instead of striving toward another All-America honor on the court for the Connecticut women's basketball team, Bueckers described over the phone recently her new challenges as she recovers from knee surgery. She is focusing on strengthening exercises and Pilates and meeting with a nutritionist, a breathwork trainer and a performance enhancement specialist while cheering on her fifth-ranked Huskies.
We'll have to wait to see it, but later this year Bueckers could produce one of the year's most notable comebacks. Bueckers, the former Hopkins star and one of the most popular athletes in college sports, recently was cleared to graduate from shooting flat-footed shots to bouncing a little.
"I'm almost five months out [from the injury] now, so I've started baby jumping on my jump shots, which is a huge step for me." said the 21-year-old Bueckers. "I just want to put the ball in the basket. If I can do that then I will be happy."
It's important for Bueckers to nail her rehab and end a run of injuries and surgeries that began in April 2021 when she had joint damage in her right ankle repaired and then suffered a tibial plateau fracture in her left knee while bringing the ball up the court in December. The anterior cruciate ligament tear occurred during a pickup game on Aug. 1.
Bueckers has been relegated to an unofficial assistant coach/cheerleader for the Huskies this season. She did play Santa Claus recently, as she and teammate Azzi Fudd gave teammates customized Bose headphones, courtesy of one of her NIL (name, image and likeness) deals.
Meanwhile, her holistic approach to her return continues. Her performance enhancement specialist is Susan King Borchardt, who starred at Holy Angels before playing for Stanford. She played briefly for the Lynx but has thrived while helping Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Tina Charles, Kelsey Plum and other WNBA stars.
"The first week after I tore it, before I had surgery, was the worst," Bueckers said. "Then I had surgery and I knew that from that point on, every day that went by was a step closer to playing basketball again. That's how I look at it. Just getting stronger and doing everything I can possible to never have this happen again."
Sometime in 2023, Bueckers will make her highly anticipated return to the Huskies lineup, likely during a team trip to Europe in August. She should be 100% healthy then.
All you Lynx fans who hoped Bueckers would just declare for the WNBA draft — where she would likely be sitting there for Minnesota with the No. 2 pick on April 10 — you will still get to see her play in town. The Gophers play host to the Huskies on Nov. 19.
Her resolve has been challenged. Her faith has been tested. But Bueckers remains positive.
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The best in college hockey
The Gophers men's hockey team is 15-5 as it exits the break and looks capable of bringing an NCAA title back to Dinkytown for the first time since 2003.
There's something old and something new on Bob Motzko's top line of freshmen Jimmy Snuggerud and Logan Cooley and sophomore Matthew Knies. Many are claiming it is the top line in college hockey; Snuggerud has scored 12 goals and added 15 assists, Cooley with 10 and 15 and Knies with 11 and 11. Snuggerud and Cooley are NHL first-round draft picks, while Knies, who played on the U.S. Olympic team at the Beijing Games, was a second-rounder.
Go to 3M Arena at Mariucci and watch these guys put on a show. They have an away-and-home series vs. St. Cloud State this weekend after Cooley and Snuggerud return from the world junior tournament in Canada.
Motzko was asked how they compare with lines he has seen and coached.
"The greatest answer to that would be to have them all back next year," he said. "They are building some chemistry. One with Knies, who is in beast mode all the time the way he works and competes. And the other two with great compete level. But it just doesn't happen overnight. It has to come together."
Snuggerud and Cooley have had to adapt to college hockey while adapting to Knies, and vice versa. Knies said he has learned to get the puck on Snuggerud's stick and watch him fire away. With Cooley, he will move into open spaces and draw skaters so his linemates have room to operate.
"I'm a hard-nosed player who plays around the net," Knies said. "So I had to adjust a little bit, adapt to their playing style. But I think we picked it up."
Snuggerud scored a hat trick in the third game of the season and never looked back. Cooley developed differently; he entered the season hyped as the most touted prospect in Arizona Coyotes history and started slowly.
"Cooley came with the weight of the world on his shoulders," Motzko said, "and it took a month and half just to wipe it away. This last month [he's] going in, smile on his face, just playing free, and it really started to jell."
The Gophers have won eight of their past nine games, with the one loss in overtime at Arizona State on Nov. 26. After that game Sun Devils coach Greg Powers told media the Snuggerud-Cooley-Knies line was the best his team had faced in seven years as a Division I program.
There is quality depth behind that line, as well. A few Gophers had a chance to sign with NHL teams and begin their professional careers. They opted to chase a title together. As a result, these Gophers are likely to be Minnesota's best team to watch later this winter.
"[It would mean] everything," Knies said of winning a title. "That's the reason you see guys in there like [Brock] Faber, [Jackson] Lacombe, [Ryan] Johnson. That's the reason everyone came back. We have a special group."
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The Joe Ryan Express
In 2021, Joe Ryan was traded by the Tampa Bay Rays to the Twins for a half-season of Nelson Cruz.
In 2022, Ryan was the Twins Opening Day starter.
In 2023, Ryan will be the rock of the Twins rotation.
Some would argue that Ryan already achieved that. But we don't know how much better the righthander can get, or if he can move the needle from being staff ace to someone who would be the best pitcher on several major league teams. That would be progress.
His early body of work is encouraging. He has started 32 games since being traded to the Twins. In that time, Ryan is 15-9 with a 3.63 ERA over 173⅔ innings. If that would have been done in one season, Ryan would have received AL Rookie of the Year consideration.
For comparison, Jose Berrios was 14-12 with a 5.42 ERA in his first 32 starts (148⅓ innings) with the Twins, and Kyle Gibson was 13-15 with a 4.82 ERA in 177⅓ innings.
"His ability to hold his strength into these games, that was pronounced as the season went on," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Just the way he continued to make pitches. He continued to get stronger in these games and that really impressed me.
"This is something he can latch onto and make part of the normal Joe Ryan start. Getting better and better as time goes on."
Baldelli has been knocked for pulling pitchers early, but he showed a willingness to let Ryan, 26, prove he could pitch deeper into games. Ryan finished strong, posting a 1.05 ERA over his final four starts last year. Baldelli controversially pulled Ryan after seven no-hit innings against Kansas City on Sept. 13 to preserve him for a big start at Cleveland as the Twins clung to postseason hopes. Ryan responded with 7⅔ shutout innings against the division-champion Guardians. Of any member of the Twins rotation, Ryan will be the one keeping Baldelli from calling the bullpen.
This winter, all of the quality free-agent starters have signed with other clubs, while the Twins attempted, and failed, to retain shortstop Carlos Correa. That leaves a Twins staff with Ryan, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle, Josh Winder, Bailey Ober and returning-from-injury Kenta Maeda. Who's the sure thing out of that group? No. 41. And that's not a bad thing.
"Joe does a lot of things that we want him to do already," Baldelli said. "Some of them very naturally. Some he has picked up along the way and figured out. Does he come in with something unexpected that he's tested out on his own that may be a good pitch to add to his collection? That's possible. Or he focuses on the details to take the smaller points that add up to more production? Is it one or the other? Or both?
"He's not a guy I would put anything past because he's a creative young man and I think he's like that off the field. But I wouldn't be surprised if he brings it onto the field and comes up with something new."
The 2023 season should be the year Ryan shows just how good he can be and becomes one of the better pitchers in the American League.
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How did La Velle's 2022 picks for inspiration turn out? Check out what he wrote a year ago to find out.
