‘Everyone needs to do more’: Coleman Hawkins sounds off after K-State basketball loss
Coleman Hawkins wanted to get something off his chest after the Kansas State men’s basketball team lost a frustrating game against Oklahoma State 79-66 on Tuesday inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
If the Wildcats hope to turnaround their disappointing season he thinks they need to start taking things more seriously.
“I feel like everyone needs to do more, as far as taking care of responsibilities,” Hawkins said. “Whether that’s on the court or off the court. It’s as little as the way we warm up and how serious we take it. When we go back into the locker room are you walking or running, just little details like that. We need to take the game of basketball serious.
“Today we didn’t warm up well enough. I feel like we came out flat and with no energy. At times we just don’t take the pregame and warm up stuff like that serious. I think everyone needs to take a bigger jump of discipline as far as just being being better in those perspectives.”
Hawkins earned the right to ask for more from his teammates after he led the Wildcats with 18 points in a losing effort against the Cowboys.
K-State (7-7, 1-2 Big 12) is off to a disappointing start, and the Wildcats will need to play much better basketball if they hope to pick up wins against an upcoming schedule that features a gauntlet of games against Houston, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor and West Virginia.
But Hawkins has played well over the past few weeks. Both he and senior forward David N’Guessan have proven themselves as the most consistent players on the roster. N’Guessan gave K-State his second straight double-double on Tuesday. Each of those players care about the future of this team.
Perhaps that is why K-State won the second half against Oklahoma State after trailing by as many as 21 points.
“I felt like we had just a little bit more energy,” Hawkins said. “But it shouldn’t take being down 20 points for that to happen.”
K-State basketball coach Jerome Tang hopes that kind of passion will rub off on his teammates as the Wildcats transition into the hardest part of their schedule.
Even though this team has dug itself an early hole in Big 12 play, Tang remains confident in this group. Maybe a more serious approach will lead to better results.
“It’s three (conference) games,” Tang said. “I don’t know why hopes would be down or anything. And both of the losses were on the road. The goal is to win games at home and try to steal some on the road. That’s how you do it. We missed out on one at TCU and (Oklahoma State) didn’t give us a chance today. Now we go back home, we get to play in front of our fans and it’s another game. We wash it and we move on.”