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By David Wilson
I Senior Reporter
I When he couldn’t find Troy
■ Piatkowski in the weight room after
I practice one day last week, Tyronn
■ Lue became concerned. He yelled
■T throughout the Bob Devaney Sports
ill ^enter’ ^ut Piatkowski was no where
B'- to be found>
IB “I thought he walked out of the
11jlfl weight room without lifting,” Lue
IH. said. “I thought he was skipping
B TBat’s exactly what Nebraska
Coach Danny Nee likes about Lue,
NU’s junior point guard.
“He’s responsible for himself and
he’s also responsible for helping die
other players on the team be better,”
Nee said. “He knows for us to be suc
cessful this year, he has to make
everyone on the court that he’s play
ing with a better player.”
Last year, Lue shared leadership
responsibilities with seniors Bernard
Gamer and Mikki Moore, but this
year, the Cornhuskefs boast no
seniors in the starting rotation. That
leavfes Lue with a lot of pressure on
his shoulders. ~
“Nah,” he said with a shrug.
A second-team All-Big 12 selec
tion by The Associated Press, Lue led
Nebraska in scoring last season as a
sophomore with 603 points - the
third best scoring performance in NU
history.
But this season, Lue is not look
ing to improve his numbers, Nee said.
“Tyronn doesn’t have to improve
his statistics,” Nee said. “He doesn’t
have to score more points than he did
last year. The only statistic that mat
ters to him and should matter to
everyone on this team is our win and
loss statistic. He has to lead us to
make us a better program and a bet
ter team. And he’s doing that. He’s
doing a great job.”
jrm u uuv uvjnniau upvumg uiv
1995-96 season, Lue was thrown
into the fire and finished with 296
points and a 69 percent shooting per
centage. Lue laughed when asked
how much he has improved in just
two seasons at Nebraska.
“I’ve improved a great deal,” Lue
said. “It’s just probably more the
mental partthananythipg” '
Most of the Huskers appreciate
Lue’s talent, but probably none more
than his distant cousin and shooting
guard, Cookie Belcher. The 6-foot-3
sophomore, who attended the same
elementary school as Lue in Mexico,
Mo., said he has seen Lue improve
every year.
“He conies and he practices hard
every day and even if he has a bad
practice, it’s good to us just because
he’s so good,” Belcher said. “Last
year, there were a couple of seniors
that also woe leaders, but this year,
it’s just him. I think he knows that.
He wants to be more focused and
make the team his.”
Along with Nee, Lue is helping
this year’s Husker squad develop a
winning attitude, which has not been
the team’s strength over die past few
seasons. Five freshmen enter into the
picture this season to fill the shoes of
five lettermen that do not return.
Lue said he went to Nee at the
end of last season with a few sugges
tions.
“He’s a nice guy, but I just
thought he had to take a different
approach and be harder on us so we
can have the self-discipline and
maturity to execute down the
stretch,” Lue said.
And Nee has responded.
Along with Nee’s new approach,
Lue has added a few new tricks of his
own. Aside from being the team
leader, Lue has improved his play on
the court, aided by a stint with the
USA Basketball 22 & Under World
Championship Team last summer.
Under Coach Rick Majereus, the
University of Utah head coach, Lue
and the USA team finished 4-2 in the
FILA Summer Pro League against
tough competition that included
some NBA players.
“He was mean and strict, but I
guess that’s the way he is,” Lue said
of Majereus. “He kept drilling us, but
I learned a great deal. It’s kind of
funny that I learned so much in two
weeks, but I did.”
/aii uuiaieu peroneal nerve in ms
right knee - caused by icing - sent '
Lue home early, as the rest of the
team traveled to Australia to compete
Championship. But the experience
was well worth it, Lue said.
With his knee back to 100 per
cent, Lue will take die court this sea
son as a contender for All-America
honors. His quick road to success
doesn’t surprise Nee, who said Lue is
the best all-around player he has ever
coached.
“I think players grow into star
dom,” Nee said. “Eric Piatkowski
(now with the Los Angeles Clippers)
came as a redshirt, played a little bit
as a freshman, started as a sopho
more, was an All-Conference player
as a junior and an All-Star as a senior
and a first-round draft choice. It took
him five years.
“lyronn Lue has become this in
three. He’s a star. He’s not one of die
best players in the conference, he’s
one of the premier players in the
country.”
But Lue said Nebraska fans don’t
need to worry about losing him to the
NBA after this season.
“I’ll be here next year,” Lue said.
“I’ll be here.”
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