Napheesa Collier injured; Wolves flex in West; Minneapolis Paralympic athlete Chuck Aoki

[Music] it is your Friday daily delivery I am Michael Rand glad to be back at it after that one day holiday break of course the weekend coming up so last show of the week but hope everyone's having a great day hope everybody got a chance to celebrate the weather was spotty yesterday you had all sorts of rain a lot of fireworks got cancelled we celebrated a lot on Wednesday went to a great uh party with some friends that was good times the kids swam had some good times it was it was great hope you guys got a chance to do more on Wednesday than Thursday maybe got out some yesterday and get out some today it's supposed to be better today a lot of those fireworks postponed until today so maybe just as well heading into the weekend with u with some uh some some more festivities to come um festivi festivities on this show for sure Chuck ioke a par Olympic athlete from Minneapolis wheelchair rugby team will join me here in just a little bit great conversation with him Paralympics later on this summer you'll want to check that out just a really really good conversation really good chance to catch up with chuck on all things about his career but also he's a big Minnesota sports fan he's a Minneapolis native and we talk to little Vikings things like that so stick around for my conversation with chuoke in just a few minutes some twins stuff at the end of the show 12 to3 win yesterday uh Jose Miranda five hits in a game that only went like 6 and a half Innings that's amazing to me to see how how many how much he did in just that short amount of time a rain shortened victory for the twins but took two out of three from Detroit their fourth I think fourth straight Series win I think six out of seven they've won the series just on a nice little roll right now where they're being consistent and and very good right now so I'll have some thoughts on that at the end of the show first though what I miss kind of a double dose of basketball starting with kind of The Nightmare scenario for the links they lose to Connecticut on Thursday that's not the nightmare Connecticut is a good team that's going to happen it was a competitive tight game but it was the third loss in four uh for WNBA games for the links a little bit of a hangover since the commissioner Cup victory although they have been playing some pretty good teams lately as well nightmare is that nefisa ker they do everything star player had to leave the game um in the third quarter with a foot injury and did not return we don't know the severity of it at this point it was a two-point game when she left the legs lose by five um now it's a foot injury it's a non- contct as described by Kent Young Blood basically she was she was on the on the court she left 5553 2 and A2 minutes left in the third quarter as Kent wrote um she made a cut she came up limping no contact that was apparent left the game with what was called a left foot injury didn't return don't know what to make of that long term but when someone leaves a game and doesn't return it doesn't sound good for at least a shortterm kind of comeback for Coler and of course that's not just her links career that is that's the Olympics as well she is an Olympian the Olympics coming up in not too long hoping that doesn't impact her ability to play over in Paris hoping that doesn't impact her links season Minnesota has five games left before the Olympic break the first one um tomorrow against the Washington Mystics the last one against the Atlanta Dream Wednesday July 17th oh by the way the Indiana Fever visit the links on July 14th that is the Caitlyn Clark game if you are not um if you not been living on this planet Caitlyn Clark will be here in a little over a week but five games I don't know we getting we don't know her status but five games before the break then of course she's supposed to play for Team USA but almost a month off before the links play again on August 15th July 17th to August 15th so if it is kind of a midlevel injury um we'll see how it affects her Olympic play but also it could the the Olympic break if she is forced to miss that time which would be a shame would work in the Link's favor and like hoping hopefully getting her healthy cuz she does so much for this team one of the things that's been um you know well documented about this team this year is how balanced and how good they are around her but she is still the center of their universe that the the thing that everybody orbits around leads the team in points leads the team in steals leads the team in rebounds second in um second in Block shots third in assists she does everything for this team first in free throws free throws attempted like she is their star player their Superstar player probably doesn't get enough credit for how good she is sometimes but she is she is who everybody else revolves around and to be missing that for any amount of time will be a challenge and the links have been relatively healthy this season I mean think about this uh Collier Kayla McBride Elana Smith and Courtney Williams have all started all 20 games so far this season for the links who are 14 and six Bridget Carlton started 16 of them so they've had a very consistent starting lineup so far this season how that changes if uh if ker is out for any significant amount of time will be something to watch as well so wait and see how serious this is you don't like it when someone leaves and can't come back that's not usually a good sign but we will wait for any final judgment until we get more word on how serious this injury is and since there was no show yesterday I've not yet talked about what seems like a minor but is rather significant to me signing for the Timberwolves grabbing Joe Eng Les on a one-year deal I think the reported was $3.3 Million veteran who you know can make some plays but can also make some shots over 40% from three-point range last season played a long time in Utah has been teammates with Mike Conley junor and with um with Rudy gobear before um a trash talker a good talker um should be good for us here in the media just an interesting guy a good guy um a veteran but someone who is kind of at that stage of his career where he's got choices he's got opportunities he can go various places on one-year contracts still a useful player but not the kind of guy someone is probably going to ass to a lucrative multi-year deal he's 36 now you know came over from Australia originally so a guy who you know a guy who's got options and if he he's a guy if he's a guy who's picking the Timberwolves a guy who says look this is a team that has a chance to win maybe I could squeeze a little bit more money somewhere else maybe I could get a little bit more term or you know security somewhere else but I want to go to Minnesota a team that just made the Western Conference Finals a team where I've got some familiarity with some teammates that's the team maybe that the wolves are starting to become they have not been that team for you know any time that I can really remember for a very long time where a veteran would look at them and say man that is a good basketball situation that I want to be a part of that is a team that could be a championship Contender I can go and be a piece I can be an eighth ninth 10th guy some nights I might play 25 minutes some nights I might play 8 minutes and I'm okay with that depending on the matchups because I know it is all for the greater good of trying to build a Championship playoff roster that's what this signing is to me if you tell me you can have Kyle Anderson for three years and $27 million like he wound up getting from the Warriors or you can have Joe Eng Les for one year little over 3 million I will take the Joe Engles deal that is no knock against Kyle Anderson it's just the kind of flexibility and the kind of player he is they need shooting they need people who especially on that second unit can put the ball in the basket now you've got Joe Engles now you drafted Rob Dillingham you drafted tan Shannon Jr don't want to put too much on those young guys in particular or or on Les who is more in the tail end of his career but guys who can definitely help inject some offense into the second unit too often last year you would watch a Wolves game and you'd look at them when they had certain lineups out there and you'd be like man how are they going to score three or four of those guys out there just aren't guys who can create their own shot aren't guys who are Dynamic offensive players that changes this season now trade off is you're probably not as good defensively as you were with some of the guys that went away no Kyle Anderson Monty MO signed elsewhere not having those guys back will change some of how you play but the effectiveness overall I feel like will keep going up I feel like the wolves on balance have gotten a little bit better this off season than they were last year which is hard to do given their cap situation and the draft assets they had coming into the draft just a really nice job so far by Tim Connelly adding to this roster without having to disrupt it in a big way and again he still could we don't know what he's got up his sleeve for the rest of the offseason but if nothing else happened you would feel pretty good especially relative to the rest of the Western Conference who else got a lot better this year or has the chance to get a lot better this off season Oklahoma City yeah I think they made some good moves this offseason especially getting Alex Caruso from Chicago for Josh giddy I think that was a fleecing uh on their part and they got all these draft assets in the future they are set up nicely for for the present and the future they were the number one seed last year they could be the number one seed again but they are still somewhat untested as a playoff team Dallas got themselves Klay Thompson that should be an interesting fit maybe they got better but Denver losing K kavus cwell Pope kyp that is going to make them worse because not only is your starting lineup disrupted you were already a little thin in your rotation now you're another player down in a already thin roster Lakers didn't get any better they're losing guys they're getting older Clippers Paul George Goes to Philadelphia they are on the down swing you would imagine Phoenix is who they are I can't take New Orleans seriously as long as Zion can't stay healthy at critical moments I think they're you know they're dangerous but they are not serious unless they have more know more stability from their Superstars um so you just look up and down the West you know I think the top three in the west next year probably Oklahoma City Minnesota Dallas you got to throw Denver in there as well of course cuz kcp doesn't totally derail what you got so maybe that's a top four projected top four next year but feels like the West is still open feels like there's still an opportunity the Wolves staying in that mix not going too far down in a year where they don't have too much flexibility preaching the possibility of some of their internal improvements preaching stability things like that I like their chances next season I think they were able to finesse this off season so far better than I could have anticipated but we will see ultimately once they start throwing the ball up in the air in October I'm Chris Hine Timberwolves beat writer at the Star Tribune and the first five-time guest in Daily delivery history thank you for listening to this podcast this work is made possible by our Star Tribune subscribers for unlimited access to the Articles mentioned in this podcast our coverage of Minnesota sports from Pros to preps and even all of rand's future blog posts about how the Timberwolves should trade for players they will never get go to startribune.com subscribe happy to be joined today by Czech ioki uh Minneapolis Minneapolis is own right you you're not here right now but you've been here for a long time um welcome to the show thank you for having me yeah well you know I I still bleed purple and gold baby so don't you don't you fret minneap Minneapolis in here well you've you've been we think we've heard your name for for years and years because of how how often and how how much you've represented the US and you know Minnesota in in the par Olympic games you've got another another opportunity coming up here in not too long maybe for for the listeners here just tell us what what you've been up to and kind of just just the journey you've been on yeah no it's been it's been a it's been an amazing journey it all started in Golden Valley Minnesota courage Kenny got I always shout them out uh yeah no I you know I play the sport wheelchair rugby I've been doing it for a very long time at this point I'm a Grizzle old veteran at the age of 33 I've been to the last three par Olympic Games London Rio and Tokyo uh won uh bronze medal at the first one back toback Silvers now which I always tell people in in team sports unfortunately silver means that you did lose your last match which is tough uh but the you know I've been we're out here grinding the team feels really good we've had a a great year competition a lot of change in the team I had a one I had one coach my entire career and how now have a new coach for this quad you know you know Paralympics and Olympics we think in four-year quad so it is but had a new coach uh brought a lot of exciting ideas we feel really good about the team and you know it's going to be a lot of work come Paris uh coming up here in just a couple of months but we feel we feel confident we've got the team to get it done but now we got to go do it we're probably talking about close to 20 years that you've been at this right because what I believe if just kind of reading your bio and just kind of doing a little bit of background again and refreshing my own memory it was it was about 2005 or so that you made the transition from wheelchair basketball to wheelchair rugby and you were still young at that point right yeah yeah no for sure 200 uh 2005 2006 is when I showed up to my first ever practice and promptly got destroyed because I was a little bit practically wasn't quite ready uh but yeah I've been doing this for for at least half my life now at this point um probably coming up on 20 years and it's uh it's been it's been a special thing to get to be a part of um it's been fun to watch the growth of the movement over the years um that I've seen but uh but yeah it's it's it's it's it's it's been a long time but I'm I still love it I'm still having a blast so I'm going to keep doing it for a while um you referenced the kind of the the growth what what specifically can you speak to in that regard yeah you know I think there's been a lot of things you know one is just the the sheer amount of coverage that we've seen of of the paralympic games you know I quite frankly I go back to my very first one and it was in London and London was amazing we had incredible crowds and things like that but the coverage in the US was was lacking to be honest with you it's hard to find it was hard to find coverage across time a lot of it and then now for this year you know like between NBC and peacock it's going to be everywhere like you if you want to see the Paralympics you're going to be able to see it full stop period which is just really exciting because you know I think we and we've seen this in all sports that want to grow like women's sports we've seen this as well it's like you have to air it people have to be able to see it uh to be able to be able to do it and then so that's been the one aspect I think is just the sheer amount of coverage and media attention we've seen and the other growth has been really on sort of a you know a commercial side quite frankly you know we've had so many more Brands and partners come in and say yeah we want to support paral Olympics we see Paralympics as as equal um to the Olympics you know for example this time around uh Comcast is actually I'll show it off they gave us they gave every single person who's made the team these really cool hats they made it and they also gave like a um a monetary contribution to every single athlete to help us you know because what folks may or may not realize is you know you see the phelps's you see the bils who are amazing and earn everything they get but most of us are you know we know we work a couple jobs we do this and that to pull things together and you know we're we're just grinding away like everybody else and trying to compete at a high level so it's it's been incredible to see that come in uh like I said with you know companies like Comcast and XFinity supporting the par Olympic movement is is really really and the Olympic movement quite frankly too because not every Olympian would get this as well so it's been amazing to see that growth um and you know I think too it's like obviously Paris is in just couple months but in just a few years the game are coming back home so it's really exciting to see how much growth this is having in the United States uh as a whole you reference um just m doing multiple things just your your bio it seems like you are like my wife a lifelong learner You' you've stacking up degrees what what do you what what does that part of your life look like right now yeah you know I think uh my my my dad is a professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and he's been there for a long time and so uh so education and learning has always been a big part of me and I think it's actually part of what's made me a great athlete is that I've I've never been satisfied with with something it's like okay this was great I'm glad I have this what do I learn next what do I learn next what's the next thing I can improve on and so yeah you know I have um my undergrad is from Metropolitan State University over in St Paul I did a master's over at uh at um ofm at the Humphrey School uh which was which was really fun and you know I've always been a person who has to keep my mind as stimulated as my body and so the school has been the way to do that I'm I'm on what I like to call permanent Hiatus from a PhD program at univers of Denver which was a really great time um enjoyed learned a lot uh Co SL some injuries from myself happened they kind of had me say okay I need to set this aside but I haven't abandoned it I'm I'm working at the University of Michigan um as well doing some work in their adaptive sports program so I'm Still Still T touching Academia at least in some way um but uh but yeah it's been it's been a really uh it learning is always something and I like I said I think it contributes to success as an athlete is having this sort of like always hungry to learn the next thing and find the next thing and it also leads to having a stack of books next to my bed that I'll never get through but but that's okay we we all have our emotional support stack of bedside table books that we're never going to read it's fine we we it's good it's there they're good they're there just you just like the idea that you might read them someday I've got like always got one or two that I'm going I'm going on right now but uh um you mentioned a couple things one um I think what what you just said about being a lifelong learner I feel like over I don't know how many years it's been but over maybe the last 10 or 20 years I feel like The Stereotype of the athlete has been broken down if it used to be like athlete you know the dumb jock athlete kind of mentality that feels like it's you know it's not a surprise anymore to hear someone like yourself or anybody else that who is the complete opposite who is you know not only a great athlete but is also you know very intelligent and wants to to work that part of their brain do you find that do you find that to be the case absolutely you know I think you're so right that you know and we the the the dumb Jo still is and every and then ever so often I think I play a sport where I crash into people that's maybe the smartest thing um but uh no I I agree I think we've seen this sort of embracement of athletes in their fullest and whether that's academics whether that's in fashion business um you know whatever it may be yeah I think we've really seen that absolutely seen that break broken down and realizing that you know athletes are human beings too they have interests they have likes they have dis we have we have likes we have dislikes that um that go just along as well yeah I think it's I think and I think that's been really cool you know because I think it allows us athletes to not be pigeon holding okay when you finish your career you're either a coach or you just you you or you train other athletes you know it's like well there's so much more out there for you to do and and I think too we've we've all built a diverse set of skills because I like to say yes you know being an Olympic or par Olympic Athlete or professional athlete requires you know a lot of physical hard work but it requires a lot of mental effort too in terms of like understanding you know being able to plan out your days understanding training schedules understanding how to do different things and manage things it takes actually a lot of mental skills as well um and you know I think we he can contribute in a lot of different areas but yeah overall I totally agree I think we've seen that that stereotype is is not not nearly as prevalent as it once was athletes are so scheduled are you very scheduled you have to be regimented in your days like that I I do and I do it's as I've just gotten older and I have more things going on in my life you know you have to find ways to sort of you know plan out your days and for me I'm I've never been a big schedule person so it is kind of tough but it's like you know understanding that okay in the morning I'm going to get up and train and then in this next window I'll do this next window this I'll go back and train at the end of the day and so for me it helps it's just about it helps to prioritize it says okay these are the two things that I simply must get done today and then everything else sort of we build in around it you know and so scheduling helps with that and certainly when you travel and on the road a lot it's like okay be gone these two days and I'll back this day and gone the next day so how do we kind of manage all that so so yeah there's there's there's not as much scheduling as I probably should have but it certainly is a component to to success what do you love about your sport what what are the things that just drive you to keep doing this yeah well I I you know first of all I think I love I've always loved the physicality of the sport you know it's wheelchair rugby used to be called Murder ball yeah it's yeah it's very intense it's very physical which you know we say when someone starts it for the first time you know very quickly if they'll like it because the first time they get hit they either are like o I didn't like that so much or their eyes light up I was an eyes light up person so I love the physicality you know I think growing up with a disability you can feel you can be treated as fragile and sometimes you are fragile quite frankly when you're recovering from something but it's a sport where I you know fra fragility has never come into play it's always been about who can be the strongest the fastest the hardest hitting and all that and so and so I love that but I think the other part that I really love and what truly does keep me coming back is the community of athletes I have around me you know this year you know it's such a incredibly amazing diverse set of people you know it's my one of my best friends is from a small town in Southern Illinois country guy and I'm a city kid from Indiapolis we never would have crossed paths if it wasn't for this sport you know another one is uh you know he just finished up at Stanford and he's someone I never would have met and another teammate is this our first ever female Us paralympian Sarah Adam who's a uh who's um a professor at St Louis University um in stou you know there's people who are all incredible and are all s so close to me now but are people I never would have met you know it's it's so it's really you know about that community of athletes I think they keeps me coming back and wanting to succeed wanting to succeed together uh because with some of them I've been I've been doing this for over a decade with them and it's like we we've come so close to achieving our ultimate goal and we know that for some of them Paris will probably be their last games and it's like I want to you you want to push it on top for them you want to you want to finish really really strong so what is the Outlook then like you said the silvers are great that you get to you metal everything is great but you do want the gold how where are you at right now team wise feeling like feeling like that'll be a possibility yeah we we feel really good about it uh you know team is currently ranked number two in the world so we're we know we're in the mix of it we know we're in the thick of it I think the biggest thing for us is we know that when it comes to the Paralympics we we play five games in five days and I would say of the eight teams that are there honestly any of the eight could medal it would not Shock me if any medal which means that well we know we're good know we're one of the best teams we've got to bring it for five games straight and if if we do that if we play to our standard I know we can come home with a gold medal but the other team will probably have something to say about that right and so it's it's really about making sure we can bring it for five days straight you know we'll finish that first game okay it's Focus up right for the second game second game etc etc ETA and so you know it's um it's going to be an absolute grind in a battle but I think we've got uh We've really got a diverse set we've got six firsttime paralympians and six long long time ones who I think it'll be at least their third games uh and so we've got we've got we've got the squad to do it it's up to us now to to to prove it though feels like that's that I mean that's across the board of the Olympics but Olympics and Par Olympics but it feels like the the reason we probably love watching it so much is it it comes down to you you put so many years into one concentrated stretch of time like I guess I guess like pro pro sports playoffs and like March Madness are kind of like where it comes down to that but it's like it feels extra like compressed when it's four years and then you get this like you get this one chance do you enjoy that pressure that aspect of it how does that how do you deal with kind of that that kind of mindset yeah it definitely is unique you know I think that it's obviously when you see the team that lost the championship in the NBA or NFL they're they're they're obviously crushed they do know they'll probably be able to go at it again the next year although you never know for sure um but yeah for us it's it's it's a different mindset you think in fouryear Cycles you know you think this is our chance to be on the world stage you know for everyone to see us everybody to watch us um and so you know it's it's something that I think if you've been in this movement long enough like myself you kind of get used to it you kind of understand it but uh you always know that you never know when it's going to be your last one because at some point it's out of your control and so you know I think for me what it's become a case of is really how do I just Embrace this moment how do I embrace every second of it how do I have you know fun doing it quite frankly um and just just just embrace the fact that you you have this we're going to have this moment on the world stage that everyone across the globe will be able to see and stream and all those things and so how do we how do we just how do we just Embrace that moment how do we you know make the absolute most of it and you know I think it's um would it be nice to have a chance every year to go for it maybe but it wouldn't be as special then you know it wouldn't it's part of what makes the Olympics and Par Olympics are specials this is something that for us it's every four years couple more things for you Chuck enjoying this convers ation we talked at the beginning you said you you bleed purple and gold you are in an near Ann Arbor so you you before we started recording you said you have been uh kind of doing some doing some scouting of uh of of new Vikings quarterback J.J McCarthy got a chance to see him I would imagine out there what's what's your take what do you think is this is this the year you know I think that uh jjj's got the tools man he's got the tools he can he can he can run he can throw he's got all the tools you know he's got the whole thing like I've been wanting this since I was young you know which you know shows a mindset right it shows a mindset of of demanding to be great and I think that you know any Elite athlete I can certainly appreciate that for my my end is like yeah you want you want to want it um and so I think he's going to be I think he's going to bring a lot of dynamism I think the challenges that we all know college to the NFL is a totally different level and yes he's he what is good is that he's played in front of the biggest stadium in in the country so he's pressure is no problem for him him it's like can he get everything else figured out and you know I I I think he can you know I think he led he led them to a championship here which is really exciting for the city I'm still also a maroon and gold at heart so okay there you go but uh but yeah no I I I think he's got the tools and capabilities but I think there's there's also no need to russan I feel good about the plan and I think that I feel good about the coaching staff so is is that the Minnesota sports team you follow Far and Away more than anything else um you know I think you know it's football's football is King and I I love I love meia football but you know I'm a huge basketball fan my first sport was wheelchair basketball of course so much affection obviously was a it was a great season overall but a tough end for for our wolves right um and of course you know baseball was my very first sport I ever played before I even had to start using a wheelchair and so the twins are deer and dear and wild and lynx and all the incredible teams I I follow it all you know no matter where I am across the world I'm always watching well I think people will feel the same about you when we're watching you in not too long here um Chuck appreciate your time best of luck go uh go go get go get that medal but also go go enjoy the experience just like you said cuz these are these are moments that you never know when they're going to come around again how you know take it all in savor it and uh and best of luck all right well thank you so much I appreciate it you know want I got to do the shout out make sure you watch us NBC Peacock all the time paralympic coverage we need every every single piece of eyeballs we can get so make sure you check us out all right thanks Chuck awesome thanks great stuff from Chuck ioki I'm really glad I got a chance to sit down and talk to him this week Paro Olympics start late next month August 28th in Paris after the conclusion of the Olympics um us going for gold in wheelchair rugby we'll see if they can bring it home along with Chuck let us finish with the cooler the twins don't mean to relegate them to the end of the show it's not really a relegation anyway I say some good stuff for here always but you know they're kind of in this spot now where we expect them to win and that was not the expectation at a lot of points in this season even when their record was better they were so inconsistent they keep winning series now though it's been about a month that they've been kind of playing this brand of baseball where they're competitive all the time manager Rocko baldelli talked about that after another Series win a rain shortened 123 victory over Detroit they gave them two out of three over the tigers on Thursday no we've been competitive in in every ball game for for about a month and that's that's not easy to do and the only way to do that is for the entire team to contribute the entire pitching staff to contribute the entire Bullpen uh to be out there and pitching and uh and winning games at different times you need everybody and uh the guys are really um you know kind of gluing together and and playing good baseball so uh yeah it's we're pleased it's July you know we we never ever get too far ahead of ourselves uh in our game um you know because there's a lot of things that can H anything can happen any given day but the consistency by uh you know at which we're playing right now on both sides of the ball um I think it's great and uh we need to continue it now it was hardly a ho hum game when you had a 123 Victory Jose Miranda five hits in seven Innings the seventh inning got truncated but he did have his he did have his F his fifth hit in the seventh because the range shortened the game didn't get a chance to go six for six would have been interesting to see if he could have squeezed another at bat out of this game in the eighth um probably wouldn't have gotten a chance in the ninth unless things went catastrophically wrong with the twins Bullpen but would have been fun to see him get a chance to go six for six nevertheless he led a massive offensive attack he had three doubles in the game twins pounded out um 14 hits as a team Ryan Jeffers three hits um Carlos kareah still going well he had a hit and a walk couple runs scored Max Kepler a couple hits couple RB things like that so offense up and down the lineup Brooks Lee had a hit in RBI up doing it right now bayy obber another good outing Just Some solid performances getting it done for the twins right now couldn't say that very often at the beginning of the year and weren't saying it consistently enough even into the later parts of April and May that will do it for me today end of the week of course royy back at it with me on Monday until then enjoy your weekend I'm Michael Rand will talk to you then [Music]