PJfe Of"i“Q Nebraskan
L It# M jf Wednesday, February 14,1990
Turnovers continue to plague Nebraska
By Paul Domeier
Senior Reporter
The Nebraska women ’ s basketbal 1
team has four games to get a grip on
itself because in recent games players
have had problems keeping a grip on
the ball.
The Comhuskers, 10-13 and 2-8
in the conference, are averaging 25.5
turnovers per game. In five different
contests, the team has had more than
30 turnovers.
Quick guards, like Colorado’s
Annan Wilson, have been especially
troublesome, and the Huskers will
face another feisty veteran tonight
when they take a three-game losing
streak to Stillwater, Okla., to play the
Oklahoma State Cowgirls.
Liz Brown, 5-foot-5 point guard
for the Cowgirls, made the difference
in the last game between the two
teams; a 65-61 Oklahoma State vic
tory Jan. 20 in Lincoln. Playing the
entire game, Brown had 11 points,
eight assists and four steals.
Sophomore Carol Russell has
moved into Nebraska’s starting lineup
as point guard since the first game
against the Cowgirls, who are 14-8
and 7-3 in the conference. She will
bear much of the burden to get the
ball to the Huskers’ superior inside
players.
Playing the point is new to the 5
10 Russell.
‘‘I like it because I’d rather set up
people to score,” she said. “I’ve been
trying to contribute to the team.”
In four games as a starter, Russell
had 17 assists and made 19 points.
Her effort in Nebraska’s 64-60 loss to
Missouri on Saturday has been typi
cal of the entire team this season.
Huskcr coach Angela Beck de
scribed Russell’s performance after
the game.
‘ ‘Carol Russell played the last four
minutes like she’s capable of play
ing,” Beck said. ‘‘The first 36 min
utes it looked like she had never
dribbled before.”
Russell said the coach mentioned
this to her.
‘‘The whole team is like that,”
Russell said. ‘‘If we could do that
(play well) for 40 minutes, we could
show some teams.”
The Huskers have 160 minutes lcf
in the regular season, then play be
gins for the Big Eight tournament
Russell said she and her teammate;
are looking forward to the touma
ment but are thinking about momen
tum, too.
“We’re not giving up on these
nextfour games,” she said. “Itwould
be nice to win one so we can get on a
roll.”
Last season the Huskers lost, 98
67, in Stillwater. Russell said that
game was Nebraska’s worst outing of
the season.
Inexperience has been another
factor in the losses, she said.
“I don’t like to say it,” Russell
; said, “but we just haven’t played
together very long.”
Comhuskers prepare to attack complete Ob U team
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
The Byron Houston fan club keeps
growing.
“I’m really impressed with Byron
Houston,” Nebraska men’s basket
ball coach Danny Nee said. “I really
think he’s a quality player who’s vastly
underrated.”
“From what I heard about Byron
Houston, 1 expected him to be 7 feel
tall,” said UNLV forward Larry
Johnson, who watched earlier this
season as the 6-foot-7 sophomore
tallied 27 points against the Running
Rebels. "He ain’t tall, but (he) plays
like he’s 7-foot.”
Nee said Nebraska must keep
Houston’s fan club from gaining any
n . • ♦. •
nanngs, recruiting
depend on meet;
coach not Worried
By Chuck Green
Senior Reporter
Nebraska’s wrestling meet against
Minnesota on Thursday night in
Minneapolis will affect the national
rankings as well as recruiting.
Comhuskcr coach Tim Neumann
hopes those effects will be positive
ones for his team.
“We have a lot of kids from Min
nesota on cur team,’’ he said. “Be
cause of that, we’re one of Minne
sota’s biggest meets every year.
“A win can establish some kind of
superiority over them.”
Neumann said he hopes that the
superiority, if it comes, will help
Nebraska’s recruiting efforts in Min
nesota.
Intensity, Neumann said, isn’t a
mujv/i v\/iivvi *i.
“All year long, our kids have got
ten themselves ready for their compe
tition, no matter who that’s been,” he
said. “I’m not worried.”
One aspect Neumann is worried
about is fatigue -- especially after
Nebraska’s 26-10 win against North
ern Iowa Saturday night.
Against the Panthers, the Huskers
showed signs of fatigue, Neumann
said, “which is an easy way out for a
wrestler.”
“But we had a talk about it with
our guys, and everything’s fine,” he
said. “Our goal in this meet is to be
more technically sound.”
Minnesota’s wrestling style, Neu
mann said, resembles Northern Iowa’s
style.
“They’re really physical,” he said.
“They’ll be real intense. But since
we know it, we’ll be able to prepare
for it.” . „ ...
Nebraska will lace sixth-ranked
Oklahoma on Saturday at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center. Neumann said
that facing two lop-10 teams less than
a month before the Big Eight champi
onships won’t affect his team nega
tively.
“Actually, it’s just the opposite,”
he said. “Having two quality duals
like this trains our guys to concen
trate. Lots of coaches schedule good
teams around conference champion
ship time.”
additional members when the Com
huskcrs face Oklahoma State tonight.
The game, which will be broadcast by
KRNU (90.3 FM), begins at 7:35 at
the Bob Devancy Sports Center.
Nee said Nebraska must contain
Houston, fellow forward “Rolls”
Royce Jeffries and center Manias
Sahlstrom in order to defeat the
Cowboys. He said the Comhuskcrs
did not do a good job of playing low
post defense during then 107-85 loss
to Missouri on Saturday, as Tiger
forward Doug Smith tallied44 points.
Nee said Nebraska, now 9-12 overall
and 2-6 in the Big Eight, cannot af
ford to sec a repeat of Smith’s per
formance. He said two keys will pre
vent a relapse from occurring.
“One is pressure on the basket
ball,” Nec said during his weekly
press conference. “The other is not
allow ing the ball to go in the low post.
“1 don’t think we could have
stopped Smith from doing what he
was doing, but I do think we could
have made it more difficult for him to
catch the ball.”
Nec said Nebraska needs to attack
Oklahoma State’s post game because
Sahlsirom is ailing. The 6-10 junior
from Stockholm, Sweden, worc a brace
op his left knee during the Cowboys’
100-84 loss to UNLV on Saturday,
and Nec said it has affected his mobil
ity.
“He’s not running as well,” Nee
said. “It looks like he’s dragging a
little bit.”
Nee said Sahlsirom’s injury is the
only question mark for Oklahoma
State, which enters tonight’s game
with 13-9 and 4-5 marks. He said the
Cowboys are a complete team.
“They got the outside shooting,
the penetration,’’ Nee said. “They
got the game in the box.
“I think they’re a very physical,
hard-nosed basketball team.’’
Nee said he isn ’t sure what starting
lineup he will use against Oklahoma
Stale because he doesn’t know who
will start at center. Rich King, a 7-2
junior, and Richard van Poelgccst, a
6-9 senior, have spent the year alter
nating that position.
Van Poclgccst has started the last
four games in place of King, who is
Nebraska’s leading scorer with an
average of 16.7 points per game. Nee
said if he docs make a change, it will
be for a good reason.
“I’m not going to change for change
sake,” he said. “I’m going to look
and sec what’s best for our basketball
team.”
Nee said it would definitely be in
the best interest of Nebraska to get
forward Carl Hayes back in his scor
ing groove. The 6-8 sophomore is
averaging 14 points per Big Eight
contest, but tallied only six points
against Missouri.
Nee said Hayes needs to learn to
adjust.
‘ ‘ He has to mature and understand
that.” Nee said. “You have to adjust
your game. I don’t think he com
pletely understands it.”
■ i
What the sides are propos
ing in the baseball labor ne
gotiations:
OWNERS
Revenue sharing
Players would be guaranteed, in
salary and benefits. 48% of the
money from ticket sales and broad
cast contracts
Pay for performance
Players with less than six years of
major-league service would be paid
on one-year, non-guaranteed con
tracts according to statistical formu
las Each team would pay 1 /26th of
the total tor these players Mul
tiyear contracts for these players
would not be allowed Twenty %
limit on salary cuts would be elimi
nated
Participation level
Teams going above determined
payroll levels could not sign free
agents from other clubs
Source: Omaha World-Herald
PLAYERS
Salary arbitration
Eligibility restored to players with
between two and three years of
service The union gave this up in
the 1985 settlement
Rosters
Restored to 25 players In the 1985
settlement, the union agreed to
lower limit to 24 minimum
Minimum salary
A raise from $68,000 to between
$100,000 and $125,000
Free agency
Players removed from 40 man ros
ter and sent to minors on outright
assignments would become free
agents Five-year restriction on
repeat free agents would be elimi
nated Draft pick compensation for
free agents would be eliminated
Collusion
Automatic penalties for collusion
and language that would protect
union against future collusion
Benefits
A rise tied to the new television
contracts, keeping the formula of
about 33%
Coach: Strike acceptable
if it leads to compromise
By Jeff Apel
Senior Editor
Major League baseball owners
and players should proceed with a
planned strike if it leads to a quick
compromise, Nebraska baseball
coach John Sanders said.
Sanders said he is in favor of the
strike if both sides could resolve
their issues in a fair, orderly man
ner. Owners have vowed not to
start spring training Thursday and
subsequently delay the start of the
season unless the two sides can
agree on nine proposals.
Those proposals include reve
nue sharing, performance pay,
participation level and salary arbi
tration. They also include roster
limits, minimum salary require
ments, free agency rules, benefits
and collusion or rules prohibiting
secret agreements.
The two sides appeared to be
anything but close to settling their
differences Tuesday, as no prog
ress was reported. Owners and
players even left their meeting in
New York,doubung that a strike
could be avoided.
Sanders said he is in favor of the
strike if a quick, long-term agree
ment can be reached.
“I don’t like strikes. They af
fect everyone involved,” Sanders
said. ”Bul if something positive
could be resolved from it, it would
serve a purpose.”
Sanders said his main concern
about the planned strike is its fu
ture impact. He said it could be
financially devastating to young
players who are trying to make
major league rosters, and also could
prompt owners or players to seek
retaliation in future negotiations.
The strike would not affect play
ers on minor league rosters, who
will report for spring training. But
it would have an impact on all
major league players, who would
be barred from using their respec
tive team’s training sites until an
agreement is reached.
Sanders said he hopes every
thing works out.
‘‘1 want to see everything re
solved positively,” Sanders said.
‘‘We don’t want to see it resolved
with a backlash effect, where
someone says, ‘You got your way
this time, and we’re going to get
ours the next.’
“We don’t want any paybacks.”
Sanders said he does not agree
with the owners’ salary proposal
even though several potential free
agents signed contracts earlier this
year that paid them annual salaries
of at least $3 million. Those play
ers included Minnesota Twins
outfielder Kirby Puckett, Oakland
Athletics pitcher Dave Stewart an d
Kansas City Royals pitcher Mark
Davis.
The owners want to try and curb
future multimillion-dollar contracts
by awarding players with less than
six years of major league service
one-year, non-guarantced contracts
that are based on statistical formu
las, Twenty percent limits on sal
ary cuts also would be eliminated.
Sanders said the players are not
to blame for baseball’s escalating
salary structure. He said television,
which annually pays millions of
dollars for broadcast rights, has
pushed salaries up.
Sanders, a former player with
the Athletics, said he doesn’t down
grade the players because of their
high salaries.
‘‘It’s not what comes through
the gates that pays for it,” he said.
“It’s media money.”
Sanders said it is unfair to criti
cize baseball players because they
make more money than individu
als in other more important posi
tions.
“1 do-*’t think it’s fair to com
pare a baseball salary versus a
neurosurgeon,” he said, “because
neurosurgeons don’t do it in front
of 10 million people.
“That’s not a knock on neuro
surgeons or the medical profes
sion. It’s just they don’t have the
audience baseball does.”