Fwd: [Husker] Texas A&M 66, Nebraska 55

Mon Feb 12 22:05:02 CST 2007

Todd, I hate to admit that my first thought when you mentioned Bruce Pearl and Sadler being cut from the same cloth was that I DIDN'T like the thought of Doc, running shirtless through the crowd ... body-painted bright red at an NU women's game.  Forgive me.

Dave

P.S.  I'd like to hope that Doc has a chance to turn it around as quickly here as Pearl did at Rocky Top.

-----Original Message-----
From: toddlowell at yahoo.com
To: nustlnorris at aol.com
Sent: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: [Husker] Texas A&M 66, Nebraska 55

Once again Dave, thanks for the superior b-ball
coverage.  Here in east Tennessee I don't get much on
NU b-ball.  

I'm thrilled that NU was able to hire Bruce Pearl,uh,
I mean, Doc Sadler.  They do seem to be cut of similar
cloth.

Todd in Tennessee
--- nustlnorris at aol.com wrote:

> For anyone who may have missed it, #6/#7 ranked
> Texas A&M withstood a couple of second half charges
> by Nebraska (NU trimmed the lead to six at about the
> 8-minute and 3.5-minute marks) to improve to 21-3 on
> the season (9-1 in league) in front of just over
> 11,000 fans in the Devaney Center.  The Huskers drop
> to 14-9, 3-6 in league.
>  
> NU suffered from some "mental mistakes" according to
> Coach Doc Sadler.  One of them was, while playing
> zone, losing track of A&M zone-buster Josh Carter. 
> Carter nailed a Devaney Center record-tying eight 3s
> on his way to a game-high 26 points.  A&M point
> guard Acie Law may have played a bit gimpy (he'd
> hurt his foot late in the Texas game), but he was
> the guy who made the clutch plays late when the
> Huskers made their runs.
>  
> The first half was kind of strange.  I can't imagine
> it possible to have more "energy" on a sideline than
> when you have Gillispie and Sadler squaring off. 
> They both looked like they were upset with the
> officials before the game even started.  Sadler was
> jawing right up to opening tip.  I have no idea what
> the issue was but it makes you wonder what the heck
> was up?
>  
> A&M got off early with Carter hitting from behind
> the arc and their defense really pressuring NU. 
> Husker freshman Ryan Anderson came in off the bench
> within the first minute-and-a-half, and immediately
> started looking to score.  The crowd rose and roared
> with approval as Anderson's shot was goal-tended to
> give NU their only lead at 24-23 with about five
> minutes to play in the first half.  Unfortunately,
> the Huskers were done scoring in the first half
> while A&M scored the last nine to make it 32-24 at
> the break.  Anderson hit four treys and accounted
> for 18 of his team's 24 points (Jamel White and
> Marcus Perry each hit a first-half 3-pointer).
>  
> A&M is a team that's going to be all over my NCAA
> bracket.  I don't think they played particularly
> well last night.  But they do bring the defensive
> intensity on a regular basis and Carter really went
> off -- the third game this year where he's hit eight
> 3s.  Gillispie is a heckuva' coach and what he's
> done there is mind-boggling.  A very physically and
> mentally tough team.
>  
> Center Aleks Maric scored all 15 of his points in
> the second half.  His disappearing act in the first
> half of recent games is not a good trend.  He's
> getting beat up in there but he's got to finish on
> offense better than he has been. 
>  
> Sadler was asked on his radio show last night if he
> takes solace in his under-sized, out-manned team
> "gutting it out" and playing a team like A&M tough. 
> He responded with a very pronounced "... that's an
> excuse.  And we're not about making excuses.  We
> play with what we have and we expect to win."  
>  
> He was obviously not happy with the way Jamel White,
> Sek Henry and Jay-R Strowbridge were playing on D
> last night.  He played Paul Velander and Mike Smith
> (that's getting towards the end of the bench)
> instead of putting these guys in who he was upset
> with.  It's going to be his way or the highway. 
> Sadler has a steadfast belief in his way of doing
> things, he's disciplined and he expects his players
> to be the same.  And he's not going to tolerate
> anything that deviates.  I've rambled on in the past
> about how impressed I am with Sadler, but
> reinforcements keep on occurring.  
>  
> Before the season started, the "experts/pundits"
> were saying that 9 to 11 wins were in store for NU. 
> If Sadler could get this squad to 17 or 18, I think
> that would be quite an accomplishment.  But there's
> a lot of season left ... they might not get there
> (or they may eclipse it).
>  
> Tuesday night's game against Kansas State in Lincoln
> (7 p.m. tip-off carried statewide on Fox Sports Net)
> is critical in that, it's winnable (but also
> loseable).  NU has lost three straight at home to
> arguably the best three teams in the league (Texas,
> KU and A&M).  Kansas State is arguably the fourth
> best team in the Big XII right now.  They got
> drilled by 27 in Lawrence last week, but they've
> been playing great ball for about the past month
> under first-year coach Bob Huggins (if Gillispie
> doesn't win Big XII Coach of the Year honors,
> Huggins probably will).
>  
> The K-State game is huge.  Nebraska REALLY needs a
> win prior to going to Lawrence next Saturday where,
> well ... 
>  
> But the Huskers finish after that with a trip to
> Baylor, then home to face Mizzou and Iowa State,
> then at Colorado before coming home to play the
> rescheduled Oklahoma State game.  The Big XII
> Tourney follows that.
>  
> Sadler accepts no excuses.  He wants wins.  He
> doesn't want to talk about the future and he's not
> impressed with himself or the way an over-matched,
> under-sized team (NU's tallest starter during two
> stretches of the second half was 6-foot-4!!) plays
> with fire and with a passion for what they're doing.
>  
>  
> I, however, am.
>  
> Dave Norris
>
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