Joerger to Meet with Taylor, Lynx Back in Action, USMNT Names World Cup Team

The Timberwolves coaching search is moving forward with Memphis Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger.  He met with Flip Saunders on Thursday, and will meet with owner Glen Taylor sometime this weekend.  Although Taylor is said to like Sam Mitchell, there is no sense that he will veto Saunders choice, who appears to be Joerger.

As Darren Wolfson points out, Mitchell still may join the organization in an assistant role given that he is liked by the powers that be and also shares an agent with Joerger:

W/ agent connection, Mitchell will be in the mix to join Joerger's staff, if/when he lands w/ #Twolves. Would be a popular/interesting pick.

— Darren Wolfson (@DarrenWolfson) May 22, 2014

The Wolves will have to work out whether there will be any compensation for Memphis should they want to hire Joerger. Teams are permitted to compensate other teams for coaches with draft picks and money, but not players.  The Wolves have three 2nd round picks, so could clearly afford to spend one of them on Joerger.  Reports suggest that they won't do so too quickly, as they expect that the Grizzlies will eventually fire Joerger anyway, leaving him free to sign with the Wolves.

I would pay the 2nd rounder if that's what it costs. While they are potentially useful in transactions, and likely have some monetary value, the Wolves need some momentum, and hiring Joerger would be a good step.  The longer you let it play out, the more likely it is that something goes wrong.  Just get it finished quickly and competently.  Please.

The Minnesota Lynx are back in action tonight on the road against the Tulsa Shock. The game is at 7:00 pm Central time and can be streamed on Live Access.  In good news, Monica Wright and Devereaux Peters both took part in basketball activities Thursday in practice. Neither will travel with the team on this road trip that also includes a game in Chicago on Monday.  Janel McCarville, who injured her ankle in the Lynx win over the Connecticut Sun, was able to participate fully in practice yesterday and should be ready to go tonight.

The NBA playoffs return to action tomorrow night with game three of the Eastern Conference Finals from Miami, with the series even at one game apiece.  Paul George suffered a concussion in game two, but expects to be available for game three. The Western Conference Finals continue on Sunday with the series shifting to Oklahoma City after the Spurs dominated the two games in San Antonio.

Elsewhere, the Jurgen Klinsmann has named his 23 man roster for the World Cup, and man were there some surprises. The overall takeaway here is that it's a very young team, with neophytes like Julian Green, John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin making the squad in front of veterans.  In truth, it feels very much like this is in part about 2018, which is both understandable given their group and the long term goals, and disappointing in that you only get a shot at this once every four years.

Obviously the headline is no Landon Donovan. He's looked pretty poor for a while now, but it still is something of a surprise. I think I would have taken him in front of Chris Wondolowski, and maybe even Graham Zusi, who I've never been a huge fan of.  In the bigger picture, this is a changing of the guard. About half of the outfield players are 25 or younger.  Among the older guys, Brad Davis and Wondo will be making their only world cup team, so congratulations to them. This will obviously be Beasley's last one, almost certainly Clint Dempsey's and Jermaine Jones' too. The team will turn over during the next cycle; Michael Bradley will become captain, and the guys making their first team now--Johannsson, hopefully Brooks and Green, will be the mainstays four years from now.

For this tournament, I think the other piece was fitness and stamina. Klinsmann is very concerned with having a team that can survive in the heat and not wilt.

Today in History

1430: Joan of Arc captured and sold to English
1568: Dutch declare independence from Spain 
1701: Legendary pirate William Kidd hanged in London
1813: Simon Bolivar begins invasion of Venezuela
1861: Virginians vote in favor of secession by 3-1 margin
1911: New York Public Library building on 5th Avenue opens
1934: Battle of Toledo between 1300 Ohio National Guard troops and 6000 picketers in the Auto-Lite strike
1945: Heinrich Himmler commits suicide in prison

Today's musical birthday is Artie Shaw, born in 1910 (d. 2004)

Have a great Friday. What ya got?