Last night was rough. At least you all could change the channel.
What were your impressions of the game? Obviously, K-State didn’t match Xavier’s intensity and - here’s a news flash - the Musketeers are rather good. Drew Lavender is the newest member of my all-Man Crush team. He has replaced Acie Law as the starting point guard. But I digress - my point is, this team isn’t quite there yet to beat quality non-conference foes, which is obvious based on K-State’s four losses. But those teams - George Mason (9-3), Oregon (9-3), Notre Dame (10-2) and Xavier (10-3) - aren’t exactly scrubs. And all but the Oregon game was played at a neutral site (that U.S. Bank Arena is considered neutral is a joke, by the way), and the Wildcats extended the Ducks in overtime before falling.
My point? This team is admittedly flawed. But there are a lot of things to like. I’ve maintained that, you, the fans, give the Wildcats an absurd lift at Bramlage Coliseum and because of that, I’d be surprised if K-State lost more than one game at home this season. Why that matters, of course, is when you start looking at postseason scenarios.
So allow me to toss this out there - is this an NCAA team, on Jan. 1?
When conference begins, K-State will be 10-4. Sixteen Big 12 games follow. By my own logic - which might be suspect, but bear with me - if the Wildcats get seven at home, that’s 17 wins. If the Big 12 is as strong as we’ve been led to believe - as of this morning, the conference was ranked No. 2 in RPI, behind the ACC, according to collegerpi.com - then eight or nine wins in such a rugged league should yield a NCAA tourney bid, right?
Basically, the next two and a half months will decide K-State’s fate. Nothing has been settled yet, other than the fact that Michael Beasley is still one of the best players in the country. You have to be encouraged by what Clent Stewart has strung together, which is four consecutive games in double figures. You have to be thrilled by what Fred Brown did last night, but you probably need to see more before jumping to any conclusions. And you know Bill Walker is going to get his shots.
I’m thrilled to see what happens. How about you? By the way, I’d be remiss if I didn’t wish everyone a Happy New Year. Did you all have fun? As Jim Wooldridge once said, “Did you get after it?” I spent considerable time in Covington, Ky., out and about with gopowercat.com’s Rob Cassidy, a good dude from the East Coast. A good time was had by all, and we tried to finish the night at the Waffle House but the line was too long.
RP would have been proud… OK, no more digs. That’s one of my resolutions, believe it or not. Kinder and gentler in the New Year, but we’ll see how long that lasts.
12 Comments
Holy cow, if that wasn’t the most sunshine pumping i’ve read since my masterful defense of Ron Prince at the end of the football season.
Felize New Years!
Jeff, as of Jan 1 this is a NIT team. And judging the rest of the conference, it will be an NIT in march as well. What’s most disappointing to me is that Clent still plays like a freshman (his turnovers in transition are the worst) and Young has been fairly terrible as well…so then it all gets shoved onto a bunch of freshman….Pullen isn’t ready for it, Sutton doesn’t know what he’s doing, Fred Brown just had his Maybank game, and Anderson gets shoved around more than Lawrence Phillips’ girlfriend. Beasley is great, but has to get tougher or the Big 12 (at least the good teams) will eat him up and Walker gave up as many points as he scored.
do all the football questions/comments in the middle of the bball and bball recruiting seasons bother you? i imagine they probably get pretty annoying.
i wonder what evans and witherspoon think about ksu’s tourney chances? i wonder if brumbaugh, mcdonald and calhoun are staying up nights looking at the wildcat schedule? i wonder if hill is calling malone for tips on teaching the entry pass?
maybe you could have levi call and check.
please relegate the use of “all-anything” teams to your private blog. just imo.
nice analysis on the ncaa options though, not sure i agree but i need some sunshine today, it’s cold.
It’s cold, windy, sucky bball team, and wretched hangover.
when is the spring signing period?
NCAA tourney? Please. This KSU team will be lucky to make it through the Big XII season with as few as three conference losses at home and four more on the road. They’re probably a lock for the NIT but barring significant and rapid improvement there’s no way they’re going to the big dance.
I’m lowering my pre-conference over/under on Big XII wins from the previous 9.5 to 7.5; 8-8 sounds about right in the Big XII though I can see it being worse than that if the level of play doesn’t improve quite a bit.
8-8 wouldn’t be a disaster if the big 12 remains top 2 rpi.
Its the ride not the destination… right?
I’ll give this team some losses they are all Freshman and you know what Xavior is a sweet 16 team. They took it to Indiana. I agree they will need to grow up a lot as they looked like a junior high team at moments last night, and I can see why Martin would want the Drop the F-bomb a few times I know I did. There will be some frustration, but when and or if they get everything clicking I have no doubt this team can beat anyone in the nation!
It’s a long and winding road, but they did look terrible on Monday night. NIT looks like more of an option at this point, but there is time to get it done if they can learn from this and not let it beat them again and again.
It’s a long and winding road, but they did look terrible on Monday night. NIT looks like more of an option at this point, but there is time to get it done if they can learn from this and not let it beat them again and again.
“The ride and note the destination.” Ah, the sweet sound of rationalization of major suckage. That sort of thing is the mantra of losers everywhere.