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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 26, 2010, at 12:06 p.m.
Quick Hits
Just dropping a couple little notes from our intern Brandon, who was on the prowl for former Husker info in the past week. Here's a couple things he sent over for the blog, which we hope you have enjoyed this year. Make sure to drop us a note (email below) if you've found this space enjoyable so that we have some indication if we should continue it next year. And give us some ways we could improve it; you know, things you'd like to see that you haven't gotten here, so we can make it better. Thanks.
- Congrats to former Husker walk-on and fan favorite Nick Krenk. After graudating last year, he went straight into the coaching ranks, taking over as head coach for the Johnson-Brock Eagles, who recently finished the 2009-10 season with a 14-10 record, including rebounding from a 2-5 start to win 12 of their last 17 games. The Eagles won their first game of the C-4 sub-discrict, but were eliminated Tuesday night when they nearly upset No. 6 Johnson County Central (58-54). Nick was a great teammate and hard worker and I'm sure that translates well into his current gig. I've also heard from others who have seen him, he paces the sideline a lot like his mentor here at Nebraska. Awesome.
- Brandon also mentioned that a few former Huskers were in the paper this week as part of the state boys basketball all-decade team put together by the Omaha World-Herald. Wes Wilkinson, Jason Dourisseau and Tony Wilbrand enjoyed their times in Lincoln and will always be remembered as Huskers, but it's good to see their previous playing days being honored as well. Current Husker walk-on Drake Beranek, who is sitting out this season, also made the list.
- Despite the good work by the OWH, I know former media relations student assistant and current Husker Sports Network softball play by play man Nate Rohr is a bit perturbed there are no Beatrice players on the list. But that's the fun of coming up with those type of all-time or all-decade lists, the debate that surrounds them. Maybe we'll do one here on Huskers.com at some point in the future. That'd be fun for the offseason.
- I actually got an email from Jason Dourisseau the other day and it brought back good memories. He's a great guy from a great family and I look forward to hearing from him, although this one was more of a request than a "how are you doing" note. He was looking for YouTube video of the Tennessee game when the basket standard came crashing down off his dunk. His current teammates in Europe didn't believe him when he told them about it. Did you see it then? Did you believe it then? It's still one of the most fun and amazing moments in my nearly 10 years here at Nebraska. Hopefully I can find someone to get it on the Internet for him.
Don't forget to come out to the Devaney Center on Saturday for both the men's and women's game. A men's ticket gets you in free to the women's game, where you can see the league champions. Make sure to check out the women's blog as well, here at Husker Blog Jam.
Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 23, 2010, at 10:16 a.m.
This and That
While I was trying to finish my notes and get ready to hit the road today, I figured I better unjumble (is that really a word? I'll say it is for now) my mind and get a few of these numbers and notes out of my head, which I thought maybe you'd like to know. Perhaps you could even print this out and take it with you as you go get free pancakes at IHOP as our well-rounded intern Brandon has pointed out that today is National Pancake Day and there's free pancakes at IHOP. I don't mean that as an endorsement, as I obviously can't endorse it here since we have corporate partners we need to take care of, but just wanted to share the wealth of knowledge floating around our office today.
ANYWAY, here are a few nuggets I'll leave you with today before we get on the bus for the oh, so, lovely ride to Ames.
- Have you seen how red-hot Ryan Anderson has been the past two games? If not, you obviously have been in Canada watching some curling (Pat, our equipment manager, seems to be the expert on that sport around here; heard it's exciting). Ryan has been on fire, hitting 14 of his last 21 shots, including 11 of his last 14 (yes 11-of-14) from 3-point range. I'm not sure I could hit 11 of 14 attempts with an Oreo into a milk glass. That's how impressive this is. His 11 3-pointers in the last two games have moved him to within seven treys of third place on the all-time Nebraska chart. He has 174 in his career, seven behind Jaron Boone's 181. Ryan has also climbed to 24th on the all-time scoring chart (1,063 points) and is just 19 points behind Cary Cochran's total of 1,082 that ranks 23rd.
- Another little note about Ryan: His hot hand has helped him move into a tie for the lead in Big 12-only games for 3-point percentage. In conference play, Ryan is now shooting 47.4 percent (yes, nearly one-half of his shots are falling in) from long range. Wow.
- Obviously everyone has talked at times about redshirt freshman Jorge Brian Daiz's scoring and shot blocking ability, but he's quietly posted a solid season on the boards compared to other freshmen. Diaz needs just nine rebounds to move onto the Nebraska freshman top 10 chart. His modest 4.0 rebounds per game has translated to 107 boards this season, trailing only Rickey Harris' 116 rebounds on the freshman chart. It may not seem like a ton, but let's remember, he is in his first year playing at this level. And only 10 freshmen at Nebraska have ever done better. That's pretty good.
- Moving away from the stats, here is a little video clip from Doc's show with senior Ben Nelson. You won't find a harder worker anywhere than Ben, who Doc has said time and again is one of the best leaders on the team. He knows his role, embraces it, and comes to work every day with the idea of making himself and his teammates better. You want kids like that on your side. Anyway, check out Ben with host Lane Grindle here.
Wish us luck in Hilton Coliseum and watch the Huskers on Wednesday. Remember, it's a little earlier tipoff than normal, starting at 6:35 p.m. It will be on FS Midwest in the state with Greg Sharpe and Eric Piatkowski. It's also on around the country on ESPN FullCourt.
Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 19, 2010, at 9:16 p.m.
Numbers Game
My job requires a lot of numbers work. We in media relations tend to make it a priority to know all the numbers inside and out regarding individual statistics, team stats, school records, NCAA marks and all of the like so that we can pass it along in an instance to any media who may ask. In other words, we're stat nerds. And we're okay with that.
With this as an understood part of the job, it's no wonder that I found myself scrounging around ESPN.com today and looking at the numbers. Here's what I believe they had to say....
According to the Friday, Feb. 19, edition of ESPN.com's IndsideRPI, the Huskers head into this weekend against RPI No. 39 Missouri with the following:
- Nebraska's conference-only strength of schedule is No. 2 in the country, behind only Boston College. The league is No. 1 in conference RPI. Nebraska's non-conference RPI is 261, giving NU a No. 123 RPI overall.
- Nebraska is 0-7 against teams with RPI 1-25. The only teams in the country with more games against top-25 RPI teams to date are Georgetown (5-3) and DePaul (1-7), and Seton Hall (1-6) is the only other team with at least seven games against 1-25 RPI teams.
- Nebraska is 0-2 vs. 26-50 RPI and 3-1 vs. 51-100 RPI teams, meaning half of the team's games to date (13 total, 3-10 record) have been against top 100 RPI teams.
Take it for what you want. They're just numbers, but man, to me, they really say something. And that's this: Simply put, it's a damn tough league this year.
- On a separate note, happy belated birthday to Quincy Hankins-Cole on Thursday, Feb. 18. The junior college transfer turned, um, yeah, amazingly he just turned 20 this week. He is the youngest junior in the Big 12 Conference this season.
- Also a happy birthday to former Husker John Turek today, Feb. 19.
- In case you didn't notice it, whenever I've mentioned Saturday's opponent -- Missouri -- this week in game notes, the blog, Twitter, etc., there has not been a number in front of the name. That's because Saturday's game -- that's Saturday, Feb. 20 -- will be the first time this month that the Huskers are playing an unranked team. NU had played a school-record five straight ranked teams, including four against top-15 squads. But there's no slacking off here as the Tigers, who defeated NU 70-53 earlier this year in Columbia, already have 19 wins this year and are tied for third in league play entering the weekend. That's a brutal schedule.
Well, that's all I've got for today. Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 19, 2010, at 3:05 p.m.
Doubleheader Days at the Devaney
On the next two Saturdays, Feb. 20 and Feb. 27, fans will be able to take part in a "Doubleheader Day at Devaney" as the Nebraska Men's and Women's Basketball Teams both have home games at the Devaney Center. For those dates, fans with a men's basketball game ticket will receive a free general admission seat in the C-section (row 19 and above) at the women's basketball game on that same date. Seating will all be first-come, first-served.
All you need to do is show your men's ticket at the door for entry to the women's game that same day. Again, seating may be limited and fans will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that the arena will be cleared out on both days and fans will need to re-enter the arena for the second game.
Below are the two Doubleheader Days and tip-off times:
Saturday, February 20
1:05 p.m. Nebraska Women vs. Colorado
5:05 p.m. Nebraska Men vs. Missouri
Saturday, February 27
3:01 p.m. Nebraska Men vs. Texas Tech
7:05 p.m. Nebraska Women vs. Missouri
Fans who come to the women's game on Saturday, Feb. 20, can purchase a ticket for admission to the men's game later that afternoon and use it for admission to the women's contest. Tickets for men's games against Missouri start at $20.
Well, that's all I've got for today. Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 16, 2010, at 11:46 a.m.
Another Little Post on a Big Man
I posted here last month with an update on Husker signee Andre Almeida, who is having a nice season in his second year of junior college ball and is garnering a fair amount of attention from the media, as well as professional scouts, from what I hear. There's no question he will be a "big" addition for the Huskers next year, and for proof, I just have to turn to my most recent copy of Basketball Times magazine.
While I'll readily admit I prefer doing my reading online, we still get a copy of the magazine in our office and I browse through it on road trips. When we were on our way to Texas last weekend, I noticed a little blurb by Tony Jimenez, who primarily writes about junior college players in his monthly column in the magazine. Tony gave his Mid-Season Report and posted his "Five Fabulous Sophomores." Unfortunately Andre wasn't in there, but he was among "Another Dandy Dozen" with this tidbit:
"Andre Almeida, 6-10, Arizona Western...Nebraska signed a dandy in this 315-pound man-mountain."
Okay, so it's not a lengthy essay on his great play, but still, to be included in the magazines' top 17 junior college players at mid-season is something to hang your hat on. And don't forget, he was a preseason All-American, so there's obviously that honor that could be waiting at the end of the year.
Well, that's all I've got for today. Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 12, 2010, at 10:40 a.m.
TV Update
Just a quick update on the TV schedule for this weekend. The Huskers play at No. 14 Texas with tipoff at 3:01 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13. The following is from the Big 12 Conference office for the listing of channels around the country that are carrying the Big 12 Network game involving NU this weekend.
|
SAT 2/13/2010 4:00 PM NEBRASKA-TEXAS |
|||
|
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs |
AR |
KFTA |
FOX |
|
Little Rock-Pine Bluff |
AR |
KARZ |
MNT |
|
Denver |
CO |
ALTITUDE |
RSN |
|
Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota |
FL |
BRIGHTHOUSE |
RSN |
|
Cedar Rapids-Waterloo & Dubq |
IA |
KFXA |
FOX |
|
Des Moines-Ames |
IA |
WOI |
ABC |
|
Ottumwa-Kirksville |
IA |
KYOU |
FOX |
|
Sioux City |
IA |
KPTH |
FOX |
|
Joplin-Pittsburg |
KS |
KFJX |
FOX |
|
Wichita-Hutchinson Plus |
KS |
KSAS |
FOX |
|
Paducah-C. Girardeau-Harrbg-Mt VN |
KY |
WDKA |
MNT |
|
Baltimore |
MD |
MASN |
RSN |
|
Columbia-Jefferson City |
MO |
KQFX |
ABC |
|
Kansas City |
MO |
KMCI |
IND |
|
Springfield |
MO |
KYTV |
NBC |
|
St. Louis |
MO |
WRBU |
MNT |
|
Lincoln & Hstngs-KrnyPlus |
NE |
KLKN |
ABC |
|
North Platte |
NE |
KIIT |
FOX |
|
Omaha |
NE |
KXVO |
CW |
|
New York |
NY |
YES |
RSN |
|
Oklahoma City |
OK |
KOCB |
CW |
|
Tulsa |
OK |
KQCW |
CW |
|
Abilene-Sweetwater |
TX |
KIDZ |
FOX |
|
Amarillo |
TX |
KCPN |
MNT |
|
Austin |
TX |
KBVO |
MNT |
|
Beaumont-Port Arthur |
TX |
KBTV |
NBC |
|
Corpus Christi |
TX |
KTOV |
MNT |
|
Dallas-Ft. Worth |
TX |
KTXA |
IND |
|
Houston |
TX |
KTBU |
IND |
|
Lubbock |
TX |
KJTV |
FOX |
|
Odessa-Midland |
TX |
KOSA |
CBS |
|
San Antonio/Austin |
TX |
KCWX-DT1 |
CW |
|
Sherman, TX-Ada. OK |
TX |
KXII |
CBS |
|
Tyler-Longview-Lfkn & Ncgd |
TX |
KFXK |
FOX |
|
Waco-Temple-Bryan |
TX |
KBTX-DT2 |
CW |
|
La Crosse-Eau Claire |
WI |
KQEG |
Fam Net |
Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 10, 2010, at 10:36 a.m.
Gameday, and Classroom Effort, Too
Wow. I didn't realize it'd been a week since we posted here. My bad. Despite work and road games, etc., I will try to not let that happen again as I'm sure there are some of you who like these tidbits a little more frequently, as would I if I was just a fan.
Today is obviously game day with the Huskers playing their third straight ranked opponent. It will be another tough test with NU having to face Baylor's difficult zone defense. It could be a barn-burner like two years ago when the Huskers fell to the Bears by a basket, 72-70.
But let's not dwell on the past. The team played well Saturday at No. 1 Kansas and they were still working hard in practice Monday and Tuesday. Jorge Brian Diaz has been gaining confidence every day and it showed Saturday, with his 20-point, nine-rebound effort against the Jayhawks. He seems to love playing KU as he has averaged 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while hitting 16-of-27 (59.2 percent) from the floor.
Along with Diaz, the Huskers will need to see their strong outside shooting continue if they want to stretch the NU streak tonight to 10 straight years with a win over a ranked team. The Huskers have hit 40.5 percent from 3-point range this year, a mark that would set the school record if the season ended today.
Come out to the Devaney Center tonight and be loud and help them get back on the winning track.
In some other news:
- While the Huskers try to finish strong on the court, they have already proven they can finish strong in the classroom. The Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll was sent out yesterday and seven current Huskers along with a former player made the list. I'll have a full release on the web site later today, but the Husker men's basketball honorees for the fall semester included Jorge Brian Diaz, Mike Fox, Quincy Hankins-Cole, Myles Holley, Lance Jeter, Matt Karn, Brandon Ubel and former Husker Paul Velander. Congrats to each of them.
- Happy birthday to former Husker Marcus Perry today.
Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 1, 2010, at 8:36 p.m.
Two-fer Monday
I don't normally make it a habit to post twice on the blog in one day, but after going back and listening to the Big 12 Coaches Teleconference again, I had to post a couple thoughts from an opposing coach that seemed interesting to me.
First, if you want to listen to the weekly teleconference for yourself, you can always do it by going to www.big12sports.com on Monday mornings. It starts live at 10 a.m. and goes till Noon. Doc Sadler is at 11:30 a.m. Each coach is 10 minutes, max.
With that said, I know most of you don't want to spend that time listening to the coaches when you can do something else. That's where it falls to me to put it here, some place that you'd already be coming to (hopefully each day) to catch up on all the things that include the Huskers.
Anyway, after listening to Kansas State coach Frank Martin, I figured it appropriate to share his thoughts on a couple questions regarding Nebraska before tomorrow night's game.
UNSOLICITED PRAISE HERE: As a personal note, I love listening to this guy. He's a riot, and honest, and probably one of the better quotes among coaches, in my opinion. He straight out calls it like he sees it, and I love that. Other than listening to Doc, I always make it a priority to listen to coach Martin each week because you never know what you're going to get, but you know it will be fun to listen to and sincere, like it or not.
Okay, so here's what he talked about today and I think it's pretty interesting to hear what he has to say about the program and Doc. I think he's right on, but then again you probably knew that coming from me. But if you listened to coach Martin each week on the call, you wouldn't know what to expect. That's what makes this even better in my mind.
So, here you go. Kansas State head coach Frank Martin on the Feb. 1 Big 12 Teleconference:
Media question: What's your impression of Nebraska's team this season?
KSU coach Frank Martin: "It's a Doc Sadler-coached team. The team is going to fight you for 40 minutes. They play offense at a high pace, an unbelievably efficient rate. Then defensively, they give you nothing easily. Then the part that as a coach in the league I don't get excited about at all is seeing how young they are and how well they are playing, and understanding you're going to have to go up against these guys the next two and three years. I think Doc has got guys who are going to represent that school at a high, high level over the next couple years."
Media question: What does it say about a team that had not won a league game, and then beat OU by the margin that it did this weekend?
KSU coach Frank Martin: "We've gone up there to Lincoln in my previous three years here, and we got embarrassed last year; with Hugs (coach Bob Huggins), we never had a chance to win the game; and then my first year, we missed a layup to try to tie the game to force overtime. Doc does an unbelievable job. Doc understands. Doc's not going to get wrapped up in the fact of what his team's record is. Doc is going to get wrapped up in making sure his team competes and plays the right way to win the next game on the schedule. He's tremendous at that. That's how they play. A couple years ago, they had Murder's Row to start the season, I think they went 0-3, 0-4, and before you could realize it, he was right back in the middle of the pack. He's one of the better guys in the country, not just this league, at preparing his teams to play every single game. It's going to be a handful for us. We have had no success going into that building and I think the way Doc prepares his team is a big reason why."
Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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Posted by: Jerry Trickie
Feb. 1, 2010, at 4:31 p.m.
Monday Recap
Today's Monday Recap comes from intern Brandon Gries, who talked with center Jorge Brian Diaz today, one of four interviews the big guy has had the past two days after his solid performance against Oklahoma. Here's what he had to say:
Redshirt freshman Jorge Brian Diaz raised some eyebrows Saturday night at the Devaney Center, showing the aggressiveness and talent Husker fans have been eager to see. Diaz finished Nebraska's 63-46 win with 10 points and seven rebounds, but the impact off a first-half slam on a fast break and a second-half two-handed putback dunk off a missed 3-pointer gave the Huskers some offensive boost in a defensive battle.
NU Hoops Blog: Before Saturday's game, how did you guys stay positive coming off the loss at Colorado and the slow start to the conference season?
Jorge Brian Diaz: "I think because the next game was at home, we knew we had to come out and play good. We know we can't lose any more at home. We have to start winning these games. We just came to the next practice with a lot of energy, so we could look toward winning that game on Saturday."
NU Hoops Blog: How were the Thursday and Friday practices and how did that carry over to the Oklahoma game?
JBD: "Yeah, that helped us out. We played really hard in practice. It went good. We know that when we come hard and play with energy, good things will happen."
NU Hoops Blog: How much more difficult is it to play against the big men in the Big 12 compared to what you faced in the non-conference season?
JBD: "There is a big difference. These guys are bigger, have incredible ways to score and everything. It is a big difference.zz I just tell myself to play good and be aggressive every game."
NU Hoops Blog: You had more success on Saturday night with a couple dunks and nice offensive plays. Did you do anything different or is that what's always been there but just hasn't been shown yet?
JBD: "For some reason, before the game I was just thinking to myself that I need to be more aggressive in the game, no matter if I'm playing good or bad. I need to be more aggressive, be positive and play with a lot of energy. Do that, and good things will happen. Which it did."
NU Hoops Blog: Toward the end of the game, you and Christian Stanhardinger had a nice fast break that ended with a lay-up. What's that add to have both of you on the floor at the same time?
JBD: "That's really important. We can have two tall guys in there getting rebounds and doing hustle plays like that. I think it really brings something positive to the team."
Thanks again for checking in at NU Hoops Blog this week. Don't forget that you can email us at NUhoopsblog@hotmail.com or tweet us at www.twitter.com/nuhoopsblog with your questions and comments.
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