It’s Friday! That means 10 big stories in 10 little bites. We hit Lavonte and Alfonzo, Altman and McDermott, Eustachy and Weber, a chess coach and a kicker. But first, the Darin Erstad era begins at Nebraska.
Tonight at 8, the Huskers face Gonzaga in the desert. I sense it will take Erstad at least a while to establish his blue-collar culture. The thing I’ll be watching closely the next few weeks is what Erstad (and Ted Silva) can do with Nebraska pitchers. Are there more talented arms on the staff than we think? Can NU build a consistent rotation?
Zach Hirsch, a big lefty from Illinois, takes the mound first. It’s his first career start.
>> I wish Greg McDermott would take a second look at how he handles second fouls. When a Bluejay picks up No. 2 before halftime, McDermott consistently puts him on the bench the remainder of the half.
Sometimes it doesn’t hurt Creighton — like when McDermott sat his son, Doug, most of the first half against Northwestern and Southern Illinois. Sometimes it does hurt Creighton — like against Wichita State, when Grant Gibbs sat the 8 minutes and Wichita State went on a big run.
McDermott shouldn’t treat a second foul before halftime like a ticket to the bench. Often, teams would be better off having a player foul out with 3-4 minutes left in the game than sitting him for 10 minutes in the first half.
More important: the philosophy produces a passive defensive player. Let’s say Doug picks up a charging foul two minutes into the game. How aggressively is he going to defend if he knows a second foul plants him on the bench for 18 minutes?
>> You know who would be a very interesting replacement for Doc Sadler? Larry Eustachy. The former Iowa State coach has Southern Mississippi 22-4 and 10th in the RPI. But I’m guessing Tom Osborne (like most ADs) wouldn’t hire Eustachy, who has a history of alcohol abuse.
>> The Oklahoma City Thunder are more popular than Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Not surprising, right? But it illustrates one of Nebraska’s advantages in building a basketball program. There is very little competition for attention here. That should be one of Tom Osborne’s selling points to a prospective coach.
>> If Dana Altman misses the NCAA tournament — which he probably will — he will look back on Thursday’s game as the one that broke his hopes. Oregon led the Pac-12 leader, Cal, 73-65 with 5 minutes left, then collapsed down the stretch. Oregon finished with 22 turnovers. The Ducks are now fifth in the league. They’ll have to win the Pac-12 tournament to get into the NCAAs.
>> Luke Winn of Sports Illustrated always has a different take on college hoops. Read his power rankings.
>> Duke rallied from 18 down in the final 8 minutes last night to beat North Carolina State. What a comeback by Duke. What a meltdown by N.C. State. I have never seen the Blue Devils so vulnerable at Cameron. The biggest difference this year is defense. Duke is last in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense. Unheard of for a Coach K team.
>> Tell me if this sounds familiar. A top-notch college coach moved his entire program to a small school in St. Louis. This isn’t Mike Denney. This is a chess coach from Texas Tech.
>> Tom Verducci’s obit on Gary Carter. Good stuff.
>> Don’t worry about Carmelo fitting in with Jeremy Lin, says this NY columnist. I can’t help it. I worry. In fact, I wonder if there will come a point when Knicks fans are calling for Anthony to be traded.
>> Bruce Weber is about to get fired. Aside from Doc Sadler, that should be the only pink slip handed out in the Big Ten.
>> Sports by Brooks has been relentless in its pursuit of Craig James.
>> Has LeBron changed for the better? Really? Gregg Doyel says yes.
>> Drake grad Billy Cundiff says teammates have helped him through a difficult time.
>> Finally, the NFL combine starts next week. We know that Alfonzo Dennard is likely the Husker highest on the board. But which Blackshirt (Dennard, Jared Crick or Lavonte David) turns into the best NFL player? My head says Dennard, my heart says David. What do you think?
>> I’ll be back Tuesday. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading.
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Which blackshirt will be the better pro?
I’d say Dennard. If he goes to a team that runs a lot of zone then he’ll thrive. A team like New England or Chicago would be greet for him.
As a Bears fan, I’d love to see him there.
David. Every step of the way, people have doubted; every step of the way, he’s proved people wrong.
Agree with you Dirk on the sitting out remainders of 1st halfs with 2 fouls, never agreed with it, let them play, often digs big holes to try to crawl out of. Late in the half it is absolutely the right thing to do in not picking up a 3rd foul right before the half, but sitting long periods, like the ones you mentioned, often backfire.
Coaches always do this and then a player ends the game with 3 fouls. Makes no sense to me. It’s not like you have some closer like Melo out there that you absolutely have to have at the end of a game. Trust me, refs know when a guy has 4 and tries to avoid that 5th if possible.
I was just talking with a friend in Lincoln about Larry Eustachy. He would be a tremendous fit in the Big 10 and has done a great job at Southern Mississippi. Being an Ames, IA native, I was a huge fan of his fiery coaching style and am familiar with how his career unraveled (early facebook days) but am curious to know more about your claims of ‘history of alcohol abuse’. I have no recent information about his behavior so I can’t really comment. Would love to hear what you’ve been able to find out! Thanks!
McDermott and Gibbs average 31 and 30 minutes per game. In Creighton’s 5 losses, they’ve averaged 35 and 32 minutes a game. I don’t think second foul situation has really been that big of an issue in regards to their minutes and productivity.
Sitting Gibbs the last 8 minutes of the 1st half against Wichita wasn’t going to matter, Wichita was so much better that day. Also, the philosophy that it creates a passive player isn’t the problem, Creighton’s defense has bigger issues than guys playing passively with a foul.
Gregg McDermott does a lot of things in a predictable set way as do his players and the opposing coaches anticipate this and take advantage of it. I don’t think it made any difference in the Wichita State game, however, since they were knocking down everything they threw up including three point shots from their seven footer and reverse left hand finger rolls off the glass. All the damage was compounded by a record crowd and tv coverage on hand. I hope they have the novena candles lit tomorrow (along with the Talumud, Koran, Book of Confucius, and any other religious and/or mind over matter source of intervention they can muster)to avoid a similar debacle on ESPN. The LA paper is just praising LONG BEACH STATE to high heaven as the only NCAA worthy program in the area this year. How I hope they are sent home on a long, silent jet ride back to the coast. But logic dictates a loss for the Jays. LB is almost a carbon copy of WSU.
Nebraska is just terrible, I see a decline similar to 2002 coming this fall… you heard it here first.
Baseball? Basketball? What are you referencing?
Yes.
You aren’t first. NUCORNDEVIL has been hollering that for over a year.
So much in the NFL depends on opportunity and system. I think all three will have very productive NFL careers. Crick has unbelievable speed and burst for a guy his size, hope he can completely recover from his injuries.
The best Husker in the draft this year? Dennard has the best talent and size for his position. David is the most reliable, getting to the play at the best time(but lacks size). Crick could still come out the best if he rehabs and builds himself into good enough condition. My guess is Dennard can be a solid corner in the NFL with coaches putting him in the right spots. That applies to David and Crick also; but they will have to be in just the right place- Dennard is closer to the prototype for corners.
Dirk ” Pocket protector ” Chatelain…. is trying to give us his theory. Wow ! So lets say Doug picks up a third foul with 1 1/2 minutes left in the first half. With 13 minutes left in the game and CU up by 3 in an NCAA Tournament game Dougie picks up a 4th foul, and CU loses by 5. The next day Dirk “Pocket Protector” Chatelain ask, ” Why was Dougie allowed to play after he picked up his second foul ” OOOH the beauty of being an armchair coach…. Why don’t we let Doug Sr. do what he gets paid to do. And Dirk why don’t you go down to Lincoln and interview Bo about your opinion on how horrible Taylor is as a QB…..Make sure you take a camera with you. I want to see the fireworks as Bo rips that Pocket Protector from your pocket….That would warm us up on a cold winter day.
Nice troll comment there. Were you more interested in making your point or in name-calling?
not sure their Bud but I think I made my point. Let Mac Sr. coach
Might want to take on Old Gold’s comments while you’re at it.
Again maybe you let the coach, coach and you do what you do best…be a fan.
Grant Gibbs is overrated. He may have good assist numbers, but that’s because all he does is feed McDermott. Often times, he holds the ball too long, telegraphing the pass, and it gets stolen or he turns it over. He probably leads the team in turnovers.
There have been a few times this season when he had the ball and nothing was happening offensively except Wragge being wide open for a 3. Gibbs looks right at him and doesn’t pass him the ball. Plus, he’s not very athletic which means he’s weak defensively.
Carl Pelini rumors are true, you all know this… btw… that is his wife, not daughter