K-State Q&A: Basketball injuries, lavender uniforms and bad calls from Big 12 refs
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Our first mailbag of the new year is filled with fun topics like the worst officiating calls in Big 12 history, K-State basketball, recruiting and a little football. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
My loyal readers will probably love the fact that the two basketball examples that popped into my head both occurred at Allen Fieldhouse.
The first is former Missouri guard Keyon Dooling’s eye-popping dunk (no wait, it was a charge) play at KU. If I posterized someone like that and the refs said I committed a foul I can honestly say I would never play basketball again.
As a defender, if you try to draw a charge and your opponent still successfully dunks on you then you deserve a blocking foul. End of discussion.
The other was the time Svi Mykhailiuk stopped dribbling at the three-point line and beat K-State with a driving layup as time expired.
For football purposes, it’s hard to beat the time Oregon recovered an onside kick against Oklahoma despite illegally touching the ball before it went 10 yards AND not recovering the loose ball. The play ended with Oklahoma players holding the ball and officials for some reason saying it belonged to Oregon.
We can all scoff at Big 12 refs slapping Seryee Lewis with a technical foul earlier this week for screaming the words “and one” after making a layup against Texas Tech. But sometimes officials call that stuff to keep emotions from running too high in a game.
I vividly remember a Texas player getting a technical for yelling “yeah” a little too enthusiastically after a dunk at Bramlage Coliseum last season. Soft? Absolutely. But it’s not necessarily bad officiating.
At least not compared to the plays above.
It certainly seems like that’s the way things are headed right now.
That’s unfortunate, because it seemed like Montavious Murphy had turned a corner and was ready to slowly work his way back into playing meaningful minutes when he took the court against TCU last weekend. But his injured knee was apparently in too much pain to play against Texas Tech, and if that was the case after playing a grand total of seven minutes over the past month, well, it’s probably best for him to shut it down and try to come back healthy next season.
Weber said Thursday that Murphy will likely undergo a surgical procedure to fix the injury. That currently seems like a better option than playing spot minutes every few games through pain.
His absence is a significant loss for the Wildcats, no matter how long he is out. Murphy was K-State’s most solid freshman a year ago, and he could really help inside on defense right now.
I have seen big improvement from Bruce Weber’s team since that infamous loss to Fort Hays State in early December.
The Wildcats have wisely begun to lean on their freshmen, which has allowed the team to win four of its past seven games after a disastrous 1-4 start.
If K-State had a few mulligans and could play Fort Hays again, here’s guessing the Wildcats would win the rematch. I think they would beat UNLV and maybe even Drake (though the Bulldogs are 13-0, so maybe not). But they don’t get to play those games over. Instead, they get to play an unforgiving Big 12 schedule as young underdogs.
Nijel Pack, Selton Miguel and Davion Bradford have all looked terrific at times over the past month. So has sophomore guard DaJuan Gordon. Problem is, they aren’t very consistent and there is no depth for Weber to rely on when they have down games.
Weber pointed out that K-State played four freshmen at the same time against Texas Tech on Tuesday, and that’s not a recipe for success.
The closest thing K-State has to a consistent player right now is Mike McGuirl, who is having a nice senior season. But he’s not the type of bucket-getter that can bail out the offense at the end of the shot clock like Barry Brown once was.
When all five members of K-State’s starting five play their best, and they get a little help off the bench, good things have happened. But when any of them get in foul trouble or have bad shooting nights, well, the Wildcats typically lose.
Maybe getting Antonio Gordon and Kaosi Ezeagu back will help later this month. Adding Luke Kasubke will also help.
Still, defense is also an adventure for this team. This is, by far, the worst defensive team Weber has coached during his time in Manhattan, and that has negated much of this group’s offensive upside.
In a sign of the times, K-State’s offense (146) ranks ahead of K-State’s defense (166) in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency ratings.
That hasn’t happened in a long time.
By comparison, K-State’s offense (177) lagged way behind K-State’s defense (40) last season. It was the same story two years ago, when the Wildcats were better on offense (98) and way better on defense (three).
An 82-71 loss at Texas Tech earlier this week was a microcosm of the season. K-State averaged an impressive 1.06 points per possession and scored more in regulation against the Red Raiders’ elite defense than any other team this season. But Texas Tech, which is average at best on offense, scored almost at will for 1.22 points per possession.
Until that changes, wins will be hard to come by for this team.
I’m not sure about everything K-State needs to do to improve on defense, but it seems like help-side defenders are often out of position. Young post players Carlton Linguard and Bradford also routinely show their age on the defensive end.
Weber and his coaching staff have always gotten K-State to defend, so you’ve got to think this group will improve as the season goes on. A few more healthy players would also help in the pursuit of becoming average.
EMAIL QUESTION: Now that Kansas State has been wearing head-to-toe lavender uniforms for a year, what do you think of the look? Good, bad or ugly? - Andrew B.
I don’t like them as much as I thought I would.
The old school lavender tops and plum bottoms were delightfully different and I enjoyed watching the Wildcats break NCAA uniform rules (no two-tone unis allowed!) by wearing them. They were a nice throwback look that left K-State fans nodding in approval and had opposing fans wondering what in the world K-State was wearing.
Switching to an all-lavender look was a great way for K-State to wear the color more often. But I just don’t dig this look as much as the other one. Some colors aren’t meant to be worn head to toe and lavender is one of them.
I love it when the coaching staff wears lavender quarter-zips and black or gray pants on the sideline. But I don’t love an all-lavender look.
Don’t get me wrong. They’re not awful. I think they’re fine. I like them better than the old gray uniforms that showed every drop of sweat on every players’ body, but I’m not in love with them either.
One thing is for sure: they should never be worn again when K-State is playing TCU.
Yikes. That was way too much purple on the court at one time.
Logan Landers, a 6-foot-9 forward from Wisconsin, inked with the Wildcats during the early signing period. He’s a three-star recruit that had a very impressive offer list.
Houston, Iowa, Kansas, Miami, Missouri, TCU, Texas A&M and USC all showed enough interest to extend a scholarship. So he seems to have some potential.
It’s unclear what the Wildcats will do with their other available scholarship.
They pushed hard for five-star guard Aminu Mohammed, but he chose Georgetown.
It seems like Weber and his staff will wait and explore their options during the spring. Maybe a transfer would make sense.
With frozen eligibility, the Wildcats may not need to add anyone else. Their entire team could theoretically come back next season.
For anyone that needs to be caught up to speed, here is a list of the K-State football seniors that have announced their future plans.
Returning for an extra season:
- Skylar Thomspon, QB
- Bronson Massie, DE
- Jahron McPherson, DB
Not returning for an extra season:
- Briley Moore, TE
- Justin Hughes, LB
- Elijah Sullivan, LB
- Kiondre Thomas, DB
- Harry Trotter, RB
- A.J. Parker, DB
- Blake Lynch, PK
- Wykeen Gill, WR (transfer)
- Brock Monty, DB
Notable undecided seniors:
- Tyler Burns, RB
- Drew Wiley, DT
- D.J. Render, WR
- Cody Fletcher, LB
- Noah Johnson, OL
Of that final group, the only player I have heard significant chatter about returning is Johnson. The senior offensive lineman has expressed interest in coming back for another season as K-State’s starting center, and the Wildcats would love to have him back. But he hasn’t made an announcement on his decision yet, so maybe he’s still weighing his options.
Here’s guessing Fletcher and Wiley both move on and start working professional jobs outside of football. I haven’t heard much of anything on Burns or Render.
Which departing senior will K-State miss the most? I will say Moore, because it’s hard to find a plug-and-play tight end with his kind of versatility. But the Cats will also miss their veteran linebackers.