LINCOLN, Neb.—Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better, or at least Nebraska coach Doc Sadler hopes.
The Cornhuskers are going to have perhaps the smallest lineup in the Big 12 this season, but Sadler thinks he can make it work.
He hearkens back to his days coaching junior college ball at Arkansas-Fort Smith, when one year his tallest player was all of 6-foot-1.
“This year he might be 6-5,” Sadler said, laughing. “If you look across the league, I’m not sure it will be as big as it’s been, either. It can be fun.”
The Huskers are not short on experience. Ade Dagunduro and Steve Hurley are among four returning starters. Four players who redshirted last season will make their debuts. So will Eshaunte “Bear” Jones, the best of the incoming freshmen.
Sadler said his four seniors make up the foundation for a team that finished 20-13 overall last season and tied for seventh in the Big 12 at 7-9. The third-year coach doesn’t rule out the Huskers finishing in the top half of the conference standings for only the second time in 10 years.
The great unknown is how Nebraska will operate without Aleks Maric, the all-conference center who ranks among the program’s all-time leaders in scoring and rebounding.
“You’re going to see a lot of up-and-down basketball,” Dagunduro said. “Last year we were kind of slow and methodical trying to get Al the ball, working inside-out. Now we’re going to be working outside-in. So it’s going to be more fast-paced, more up-tempo.”
The Huskers will play with five guards on the floor frequently, Sadler said. That doesn’t mean the Huskers plan to fire up 3-point shots at will, though Ryan Anderson and Paul Velander are capable from long range.
Sadler said there will be a premium on penetration, especially with the 3-point line moving back a foot to 20-9.
“A good offense is an offense that gets to the free throw line,” he said. “It’s going to give us an opportunity to drive the basketball. We do have some guys that can shoot, but we’ve also got some guys that their strength is not necessarily the 3-point shot but driving. I will not anticipate shooting any more 3s than we normally have.”
Nebraska also will try to increase defensive intensity, even though it allowed a Big 12-low 60.7 points a game last season. Sadler said he’ll use the press more often, with the hope of converting turnovers into easy baskets.
“It’s going to give us a chance to be competitive with our size,” he said.
The major concern, Sadler said, is rebounding. The Huskers were sixth in the Big 12 in rebounding margin, and that was with Maric averaging more than 10 a game. Take Maric out of the equation and the Huskers could be hurting.
Dagunduro and Harley made the league’s all-newcomer team last season, but this isn’t a team of big names.
Dagunduro is the top defensive player, and he’s shown flashes offensively. He averaged 8.9 points and 1.7 assists.
“He can defend the other teams best perimeter player,” Sadler said, “and we will need him to bring a more consistent offensive effort this year.”
Harley averaged more than 12 points and shot 50 percent over the final 10 games. A third senior, Paul Velander, has hit 38-percent of his career 3-point shots.
Junior Ryan Anderson started all 33 games last season and shot 43.2 percent on 3s and averaged 4.8 rebounds. Sek Henry, who has played in all 64 games Sadler has coached at Nebraska, is one of the team’s best penetrators. He averaged 8.8 points over a stretch of eight Big 12 games and 5.9 points for the season.
Cookie Miller, a 5-7 sophomore who averaged 6.1 points and 3.6 assists, will share point guard duties with Henry.
Sadler is hoping Jones, a 6-4 freshman guard, can see action sometime during the nonconference portion of the schedule. Jones has been battling hand and foot injuries this fall and missed considerable practice time.
Jones averaged 28 points his senior season at North Side High in Fort Wayne, Ind. Jones, who originally signed with Oregon State in 2007, played at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia last season, averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds.
Also expected to help out eventually is the 6-9 Alex Chapman, who has been slow to come off offseason knee surgery. It’s hoped he can help out inside, but the transfer from Sheridan College in Wyoming also has shown nice touch from the perimeter.
“I really do like our basketball team,” Sadler said. “It’s been the hardest-working basketball team that I’ve ever coached or been associated with. We’ve got that quality of people who are willing to come in and give their best each and every day.”
