K-State Q&A: Why it’s time to worry, but not panic, about Wildcats basketball
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
There are lots of great questions to cover this week, so let’s jump right in. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
It seems as though I was a bit too bullish on the K-State basketball team coming into the season. I thought the Wildcats would win right around 20 games and make the NCAA Tournament with relative ease. That could certainly still happen, but I now have my doubts.
K-State has plummeted to No. 77 in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, which is 26 spots lower than any other Big 12 team. Its projected win total is now 14. Ouch. The Wildcats have played seven games and none of them have been pretty. They looked downright bad against Bradley at the Fort Myers Tip-Off.
At this very moment, the Wildcats are the worst team in the Big 12.
Some issues that I’ve noticed:
- Xavier Sneed isn’t shooting open threes or throwing down lob dunks at the rate he was last season when he had Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes getting him the ball and Dean Wade was occupying defenders. Sneed is not the type of player who creates for himself. His teammates need to help him out.
- Cartier Diarra is piling up assists, but he still seems miscast as the team’s primary point guard. Weber might want to experiment more with playing him at the two alongside David Sloan or Shaun Williams.
- DaJuan Gordon isn’t making the instant impact I thought he would. You can tell the freshman has lots of game, but the consistency isn’t there yet.
- Levi Stockard is playing way too many minutes and Makol Mawien isn’t playing enough.
- The three-point line is not their friend.
If you’re looking for a ray of sunshine, the Wildcats are undefeated with Montavious Murphy in the starting lineup. So maybe his healthy return will make a difference. K-State’s defense also looks mostly solid.
Texas Tech, Iowa State and TCU are also having some early issues, so I’m not ready to predict a last-place finish for the Wildcats. But they have plenty to work on.
Weber’s teams usually get things going by Christmas. This group could do the same. It’s not time to panic. But it might be time to worry.
Maryland did two things well against Marquette scoring extraordinaire Markus Howard last week.
1. The Terrapins put their best defender on him and then switched off screens aggressively to make sure someone always had a hand in his face.
2. Maryland challenged Howard when he was on defense and got him into foul trouble, limiting him to 32 minutes of action.
The result: Howard scored six points on 12 shots. He didn’t make a single three-pointer.
I’m not sure if the Wildcats can duplicate that strategy, but it’s worth a try. Howard scored 51 a game earlier against Southern California and 40 a game before that against Davidson.
Whatever defensive approach K-State settles on, making Howard earn his points will be important. Last year, he got to the free-throw line 21 times and scored 43 against the Wildcats.
They’re pretty good.
I like the simple look, especially on the shorts. It was kind of cool listening to Bruce Weber talk about how much he liked them earlier this week.
That being said, I like the lavenders better.
Narrowing it down to just 10 was harder than I thought it would be. Here’s my list, in no particular order:
Jacob Pullen: Leading scorer in K-State basketball history. His jersey will soon hang at Bramlage Coliseum.
Collin Klein: The best leader K-State football had this decade, and a Heisman finalist.
Peyton Williams: The rare all-conference player in two sports.
Arthur Brown: The best player Bill Snyder coached during his second stint with the Wildcats. He was like a black hole in the middle of K-State’s defense.
Rodney McGruder: Played in an Elite Eight and won a Big 12 championship.
Tyler Lockett: K-State’s best receiver since Jordy Nelson.
Dean Wade: Too bad he was only healthy for one NCAA Tournament.
Erik Kynard: Impressive high jumper who won a silver medal at the Olympics.
Barry Brown: Played in an Elite Eight and won a Big 12 championship in back-to-back seasons.
Jake Waters: No K-State quarterback has thrown for more yards in a season than Waters did as a senior.
I am proud to say I have been to every bowl in the Big 12’s current rotation, aside from the First Responder Bowl, so this question is in my wheelhouse.
Not sure which bowl will select K-State just yet, but here’s a breakdown of all the possibilities.
Let’s start with the best bowls and work our way down.
Alamo: Four Christmas Trees.
San Antonio is awesome. You’ve got the Riverwalk right across the street from the Alamodome and there are great Mexican restaurants everywhere you look. You want to get there early. The game is indoors and it’s always against a good Pac-12 team. This year’s game is on New Year’s Eve, which is less than ideal. Central Texas also doesn’t get all that warm in late Decemeber. Those are the only down sides.
Camping World Bowl: Four Christmas Trees.
If you like going to amusement parks and watching K-State play an opponent it wouldn’t otherwise schedule, this is the bowl for you. Orlando is a long way from Manhattan, but K-State has never played a bowl game in Florida. So this game gets extra points for being a new experience.
Cheez-It Bowl: Three Christmas Trees.
It’s very unlikely K-State returns to Phoenix this year, but this is a fun bowl. The weather is great, there’s lots to do and the Wildcats almost always win when they’re invited here. Too bad game time is too close to Christmas for many fans.
Texas Bowl: Two Christmas Trees.
Houston is close enough for K-State fans to fly or drive in for the game. The weather is usually good and the Texas Bowl features a SEC opponent. There’s plenty to do before kickoff. I enjoyed my last trip there.
Liberty Bowl: One Christmas Tree.
Beale Street isn’t enough to make up for the decrepit stadium or the cold weather in Memphis. But K-State fans can drive there.
The first quarterback off the bench will probably still be Nick Ast next season. The walk-on from Cimarron impressed coaches enough to beat John Holcombe for the backup job this year and he puts in as much practice time as anyone at his position.
But if the Wildcats had to turn to someone other than Skylar Thompson for a long period of time next season, they might prefer to throw Jaren Lewis out there so he can learn by doing. He seems to have a higher ceiling, while Ast provides a safer floor.
It’s too early to predict who K-State’s quarterback of the future is for 2021 and beyond. It could be Ast or Lewis. It could also be Chris Herron, incoming recruit Will Howard or someone else entirely. There’s not an heir apparent at the moment.
One obvious name to keep an eye on when it comes to the transfer portal is Lucas Krull. The 6-foot-6 tight end is looking for a fresh start after spending the past two years at Florida.
K-State recruited him before he committed to the Gators, and he is from Shawnee. He could help the Wildcats next year as a graduate transfer.
Chris Klieman might also look to add a veteran offensive lineman to the roster. He likes the young blockers K-State is currently developing, but all five starters are departing seniors. It could probably use a plug-and-play transfer lineman somewhere up front.
It’s too early for me to give you an accurate starting offensive line for the 2020 season, but I can tell you which players will be in the mix.
Josh Rivas will almost certainly lead the way at one of the guard positions. He has played significant snaps this season and seems ready to step into a bigger role.
The coaches will probably look to Kaitori Leveston, Christian Duffie and some incoming recruits at tackle. I have heard good things about Cooper Beebe, Noah Johnson, Ben Adler and Taylor Poitier.
K-State will look much different up front next season, but it has some young talent.
I am expecting them both back next season.
But other schools could certainly look to hire defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton if he keeps doing what he did this year. K-State punched above its weight class on defense, allowing 21.5 points and 364 yards per game.
The Wildcats played above expectations on that side of the ball despite serious injury problems.
I am not opposed to them.
The right sticker, like a sledgehammer or cats paw or sunflower would add a fun new element to the helmets.
I wrote about K-State performance coach Ben Newman earlier this year after he introduced the term “Pound the Stone” to the team and gifted them a sledgehammer.
Hopefully that article will answer any questions you have about him and his friendship with Chris Klieman.
Full-fledged performance coaches are a tad on the rare side. Most coaches prefer to bring in motivational speakers or former players from time to time to share a special message.
Newman works with K-State and Alabama and a few other teams/players from year to year. Some of the stuff he puts out there seems corny. You can’t argue with the results, though.