K-State Q&A: Will Bruce Weber and the Wildcats win another basketball game this year?
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
I wrote nearly 2,000 words in response to your fabulous questions this week, so there is no need for an elaborate intro. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
I am starting to have my doubts on this topic.
In previous mailbags, I have steadfastly predicted that the K-State men’s basketball team would not only win again this season but do so multiple times. Basketball upsets happen every day, after all. Even truly awful teams occasionally find ways to beat good teams over the course of a long season. The law of averages seemed to favor K-State.
At least that’s what I thought.
But now that the Wildcats squandered a terrific performance from Nijel Pack in a winnable game against Texas A&M and are back to losing by 20-plus in the Big 12, I’m starting to think we may have witnessed our final hoops victory of the season on Dec. 29 when Selton Miguel hit a game-winner against Omaha.
The Wildcats finish against Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas, TCU, Oklahoma and West Virginia. None of those games will be easy. Their highest win probability in any of them is at TCU (19% per Ken Pomeroy).
It might all come down to whether the Big 12 is gracious enough to reschedule K-State’s game against Iowa State at the end of the regular season. On paper, that is by far this team’s best hope of another victory. Otherwise, it will take a big upset.
Far as I can tell, the longest losing streak in K-State history is 11 games. A record might be on the way.
How dare you suggest that the Big 12 Tournament would be better off without Kansas State and Iowa State.
Depriving the Cyclones of a trip to Kansas City is a crime in both Iowa and Missouri. I’m pretty sure you are now on the Most Wanted List in two states.
And how in the world can you stage a conference tournament without its defending champion? That team is K-State, by the way, based on its season-ending victory over TCU in KC last season.
In all seriousness, the best reason to invite every team to the Big 12 Tournament is TV inventory. The conference loses significant money every time it has to cancel a game, and calling off two more is not desirable. That’s why I think the league finds a way for K-State and Iowa State to have their battle for not last in early March.
Also, I would argue K-State and Iowa State have the same odds at winning the Big 12 Tournament as most other teams in the conference. They are all just waiting to lose to Baylor.
This team has a solid nucleus of young talent. There is no denying that.
Nijel Pack looks like he could mature into one of the best guards Bruce Weber has recruited at K-State. He was lights out last week when he scored 26 points against Texas A&M. Davion Bradford is already the best true center the Wildcats have had in years. How high is his ceiling?
Problem is, things get less exciting in a hurry when you move onto the rest of the roster.
Let’s go down the list.
Mike McGuirl deserves to go out with a better surrounding cast. Will he want to return as a super senior?
DaJuan Gordon is a great hustle player and an ideal person to bring off the bench as a sixth man. Problem is, there’s nobody better to start on the wing.
Selton Miguel has flashed potential, but he won’t truly be a difference-maker until he learns to dribble and shoot with his left hand.
Montavious Murphy has been solid as a rock ... on the rare occasions he’s healthy enough to play.
Antonio Gordon is a serviceable four man when he isn’t shooting three-pointers.
Kaosi Ezeagu is better than most of the big men Weber has recruited in recent years. I know that’s not saying much, but at least it’s something.
Luke Kasubke could end up being really good, but he is playing catch up right now.
Believe it or not, I like what Seryee Lewis brings off the bench. Even though it’s been a quiet season for him, he could mature into a solid front-court player.
I’m not sure what to make of Rudi Williams. He’s looked great at times and, well, not so great at times. On the plus side, K-State could get two more years out of his a junior-college transfer.
Carlton Linguard has a nice shooting touch, but his skills in the post clearly need improvement.
It’s cool that Joe Petrakis earned a scholarship for one semester.
From where I’m sitting, the Wildcats have two players that fans should feel really excited about, two players that will likely have bright futures, four players that are total wild cards and five players that will probably leave fans wanting more.
Moving forward, the Wildcats need an upgrade at point guard to help free up Pack and they really need a bucket-getter that can rise up and create offense when nothing easy is there. Their defensive issues are more likely to be solved by simple experience.
I don’t think that is much of an issue.
The one player I worry about in the “spirit” department is Mike McGuirl. It can’t be easy for him to lose this much after the way his first two years went in Manhattan. But even he keeps insisting that he is “blessed” to be playing college basketball right now.
Reserves still get energized after big plays on the bench and starters seem to be playing hard. This doesn’t look like a checked out team to me. The Wildcats just aren’t very good.
I’m sure confidence levels could be higher. But “spirit” isn’t at the top of my list of basketball concerns right now.
As far as transfers go: I haven’t heard any rumblings. But this is 2021. Every team deals with transfers.
The simple fact that you’re asking this question suggests it’s worth exploring some type of change in the way K-State basketball approaches that kind of stuff.
If K-State’s string of basketball injuries is nothing more than bad luck, Bruce Weber should start a side hustle as a cooler in any of the state’s new casinos.
It’s hard to put a rating on him, because things seemed to be going pretty well until this athletic year when losing streaks began falling on football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball like an avalanche.
The football team is on a five-game losing streak.
The men’s basketball team has lost nine a row.
The women’s basketball team has lost eight in a row.
For K-State, this athletic year has been the opposite of 2012-13 when the Wildcats won Big 12 championships in baseball, men’s basketball and football.
It’s hard to say how much on-field performance reflects on an athletic director in any given year, especially when that year is ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
This seems like a situation where you have to wait and let things play out before rushing to judgment. Taylor has got a big decision coming up on Bruce Weber. Will he make the right call? He also recently gave Chris Klieman an extension. Was that a mistake?
It’s too early to say. But those questions seem more important than this athletic year, even if it has been a nightmare.
If I could make any change to the EA Sports college football video game, it would be an extra difficulty setting.
The last time I played the game, I remember being able to beat Alabama with Kansas on hard (or whatever the setting was actually called) but then when I cranked the difficulty up to expert (or whatever the setting was actually called) I couldn’t beat Kansas with Alabama.
I need a happy medium!
My only other request would be to jazz up recruiting somehow on dynasty mode. That could sure get boring.
Initially, I don’t think a new college game will impact players. It sounds like the first edition of the game will feature generic rosters that don’t resemble actual college players or their likenesses in any way.
My hope is that down the road they can sign a group licensing deal with college football players so they can make a little extra money and the game will feel more realistic.
Bruce Weber: Stop shooting so many threes.
Gene Taylor: Good Luck.
Brad Underwood: Miss you.
Skylar Thompson: One more year!
One of the things that always makes me laugh about this job is the importance we sometimes put on trivial things.
Oh my gosh, this coach got a new haircut!
Holy cow, so and so is wearing sleeves on the basketball court!
Stop the presses, a player has decided to switch numbers!
Somebody order extra servers for the website, the team is wearing new uniforms!
Full disclosure, I am 100% guilty of making a big deal out of all of those things. I think they are fun and interesting and worthy of discussion, but, if we’re being honest, none of that stuff really matters.
Personally, I think it is cool that Thompson decided to switch from the No. 10 to the No. 7. He provided some heartfelt answers on the topic this week. It’s a special number for him and it’s a historic number for K-State quarterbacks.
If it makes him happy, I’m glad he went ahead and made the switch.
But a new number isn’t going to give him magical powers or help him become an unstoppable quarterback next season.
That’s all I’m trying to say.
Chris Klieman ended up signing 16 high school recruits and five transfers during the 2021 cycle. That leaves the K-State football team with four more openings it can use between now and the start of summer workouts.
But the Wildcats could also stand pat.
This is a smaller recruiting class than usual. There are a few reasons for that. COVID-19 is the biggest factor. Five “super seniors” are coming back for an extra season, and every freshman on last season’s roster still has four full years of eligibility remaining.
There is no need to sign 25 recruits just to sign 25 recruits right now. That would create more of a roster logjam than there already is.
I also think Klieman took special care with this recruiting class and only signed players that he felt were going to be hard workers and a good fit for the locker room. The Wildcats had some bad fits on the team last year, and that’s why so many players opted out and fled to the transfer portal as the team lost its final five games.
He wants more leaders moving forward.
Based on the conversations we have already had with K-State’s newest freshmen and transfers, they seem to be more mature than some of Klieman’s first batches of recruits. Jake Rubley said he was looking forward to a redshirt year, despite coming in as a touted prospect. Brayden Wood said he chose K-State because he wanted to play for coaches that were going to be hard on him.
That had to be music to Klieman’s ears.
“I’ve never been around a team that does silly stuff off the field, whether it’s class work or nutrition, strength and conditioning, and have been lights out on the field,” Klieman said earlier this week. “It just doesn’t work that way. The way you do one thing is the way you do everything. If you do things well off the field, it usually translates into success on the field.”