[Husker] Texas A&M 66, Nebraska 55

Tue Feb 13 08:55:15 CST 2007

I know it is pointless to borrow trouble and speculate, but this could be a 
case of Dave Van Horn redux. Maybe we are a farm team for Arkansas.

Gerald
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <nustlnorris at aol.com>
To: <husker at tssi.com>
Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 10:05 PM
Subject: Fwd: [Husker] Texas A&M 66, Nebraska 55

  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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