Keeping It Simple the Cornhuskers Have a New Approach to the Game, but The

Keeping It Simple The Cornhuskers have a new approach to the game, but the goal remains the same as every year – reach the postseason. To get there, first-year coach Doc Sadler has a simple plan that he is asking his players to follow: play hard every day. Period. Like every squad in the country, the Nebraska basketball team has high expectations Doc Sadler, an energetic and fiercely competitive coach who won 48 games for the 2006-07 season. This year, however, the Huskers may be gauging success in in his first two seasons at the Division I level, took over the Cornhusker program on different terms. Aug. 8. While it may seem that he has gotten up and running quickly, Sadler was still That new perspective comes on the heels of possibly the biggest summer roster assembling a staff, finishing the schedule and fine tuning the roster when school started, shake-up of any team in the country as the Huskers replaced their head coach less than a time when other new coaches around the country were beginning to lay down game a month before the start of the fall semester. plans for the season. Sadler isn't alone. He is one of six new coaches in the Big 12 Conference. The difference between them is that the other five were all hired before May and had at least six months to prepare for their first season with their new team. With Sadler’s hiring in late summer, he had just 66 days before the first official practice. But as Sadler likes to say, you play with what you are dealt. And the Huskers will be just fine playing the cards they have this season no matter how they measure success. Season Preview Season “Our only goal is to be successful," Sadler said. "We’re going to think about one thing though. I don’t care about winning games, but we have to play harder than the other team. All I want these players to concentrate on is playing hard. If that happens, they are talented enough that they’re going to win games." Nebraska returns three starters from a team that reached the postseason for the second time in three years in 2006. That squad finished sixth in the Big 12 Conference standings – its best placing since 1999 – and made a surprising run to the league tournament semifinals behind wins over Missouri and nationally ranked Oklahoma. NU entered the season with just three players with more than one year of experience at the Division I level. This year, the Huskers have two. But those two – senior point guard Charles Richardson Jr. and junior center Aleks Maric – will be key components in the Huskers’ success this season. Richardson is the elder statesman of the squad. He was the one providing invaluable guidance to the younger players during the transition between coaches and has embraced a leadership role since the team lost four seniors to graduation last year. With three years under his belt – and 35 career starts – Richardson also knows the ins and outs of the rugged Big 12 Conference and has his eye on a third postseason appearance to end his career, something that Sadler believes should be the prize the team has its focus on every season. "The state of Nebraska deserves this team to be in the NCAA Tournament and we want it to happen – not next year, not two years from now. We want it to happen now," Sadler said at his opening press conference. "Charles Richardson is graduating. He’s not going to be here next year. You think he cares about next year? He wants to play in that thing this year and that’s what we’re going to try to do." The Huskers are aiming for their first NCAA Tournament appearance in nearly a decade and will use every available tool at their disposal. With a lack of height in the front >>>Guard Charles Richardson Jr. leads Nebraska into the 2006-07 campaign looking for his third postseason appearance in four years wearing a Husker uniform. court, the Huskers will engage a fast-paced offensive approach that will allow the players to utilize their speed and conditioning. 34 2006-07 Nebraska Basketball Recruiting and Media Guide "We’re going to get it up and down the floor," Sadler said. "I’m going to ask so much of these guys on one end of the floor, they have no idea how much I’m going to ask of them. None. But because of what I'm going to ask them to do on the defensive end, we’re going to let them go as fast as they can the other way. If we get a good shot, then we’re going to shoot it quick. If we don’t, we’re going to wait until we do get a good shot. So it’s going to be baseline to baseline, 94 feet." Inexperience may be the biggest hurdle the Huskers face this season, but there are several key pieces to the puzzle – including the return of Maric, one the top post players in the conference -- that could propel Nebraska back to the postseason. “I think having Aleks back obviously gives you a starting point," Sadler said. "I don’t know that many teams in the country will have a low-post presence like Aleks. The bottom line is that we have to help him. The good news is that I think we can shoot the ball a little bit and that will take a little bit of pressure off him.” The pressure may be off Maric, but it will be on the Huskers as they face one of the most daunting schedules in program history. Unlike past years when serious competition came only during the conference slate, Nebraska takes on an ambitious non-conference schedule that includes teams from the Atlantic Coast, Pac-10, Big East and Missouri Valley conferences. Add in possible matchups in Hawaii at the Rainbow Classic against schools from Conference USA, the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10 conferences and four straight weekends on the road in December, and it's easy to see that Nebraska will be a tested squad by the time the Big 12 Conference opener comes around on Jan. 10 at Iowa State. "I can’t imagine a lot of teams in the Big 12, especially with the loss of the experience that we had from last year, having a tougher schedule," Sadler said. "Not only are the teams we’re playing very difficult, but the way it’s been set up is difficult because you’re playing back-to-back on the road. But that’s the schedule and we have to go play it, so we’ll do the best we can with it.” Season Preview Season > > > At the Point Point guard Charles Richardson Jr. could not have envisioned a better opportunity heading into his senior season. With the addition of Sadler to the Husker bench, Richardson will have a chance to >>>Junior center Aleks Maric returns in 2006-07 as the league's top rebounder and get back to the tempo of play that he grew up with on Chicago’s west side, a style that second-leading shot blocker after recording 251 rebounds and 36 blocked shots in 33 helped him become one of the top point guards in the state while pushing the ball all games last season. over the court with high school teammates and future NBA Draft picks Shannon Brown and Dee Brown. ability, keys for penetrating guards that Sadler likes to utilize. Smith has also continued Running and gunning in a new up-tempo offensive attack and applying aggressive, to work on his offensive game from 15 feet and out. smothering defensive pressure along every inch of the court is perfectly fine with Adding more depth at the point will be another first-time contributor in Jay-R Richardson. The 5-9, 165-pound speedster may lack some physical tools but he more Strowbridge. The true freshman from Ardmore, Ala., was a late addition for the Huskers than makes up for it in determination and heart, his trademarks that have been witnessed last spring after he originally signed with Murray State but chose to seek his release by the Big Red faithful over the years and helped make him a Devaney Center fan from the Racers program after a coaching change. Despite getting to know his third favorite. college head coach in one year, Strowbridge impressed his teammates in the summer The new offensive philosophy could reap great dividends for Richardson, who quietly and preseason with his offensive abilities and ball-handling skills. became one of the top floor generals in the Big 12 Conference last season. While Richardson should be the Huskers’ primary ball-handler, Strowbridge looks to While leading the team to 19 victories – its most wins in nearly a decade – Richardson provide a different dimension at the point. Strowbridge possesse a nice outside shot to finished the year ranked 10th in the conference with 3.3 assists per game and became go with a knack for getting to the basket through traffic. Strowbridge averaged nearly 19 the first Husker in four seasons to reach triple-figure assists with 100 on the year. He was points and four assists per game as a senior last year, while leading his high school team efficient at distributing the ball as his assist-to-turnover ratio (1.92:1) was rated fourth in to the state quarterfinals.

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