I still haven’t made sense of last night’s game. Bill’s comment about “48 hours” cracks me up, but I can’t help but think there might be substance to what he’s saying. I don’t question K-State’s mental toughness - these kids are fierce, man. But I wonder about the focus. I mean, Frank Martin has been preaching about winning on the road since the moment he was hired, maybe longer.
What I found interesting, though, was Mike missing 14 shots and Bill making 11 of 14. You would have thought those lines were mixed up.
I don’t think it’s the end of the world. A bad loss, sure, but not as bad as Missouri. Winning out at home remains a strong possibility, but now you have to wonder about trips to Lincoln and Waco, trips that seemed like solid opportunities for wins. Can’t be so sure now…
I’m on the road, driving back from Lubbock. Don’t ask - I like driving better than flying. I filed this from a McDonald’s - now that’s dedication. Anyway, I won’t be back until 3 p.m. or so, which is when I’ll post the new “Mama Sayz,” which is complete with photos. Make sure you check back later in the day for that. And tomorrow, I’ve got a “Five” with my Dad. If you’ve got questions, type them in below.
14 Comments
damn, that’s a horrible drive. Wierd game, very woolyesque first half.
I will say, if the kids weren’t mentally tough, they wouldn’t have fought back. Beas makes the 3 late to pull within 1 and…
wierd game.
Weird game indeed, but not a weird outcome. We looked horrible in our offensive sets for 2/3rds of the game. Just couldn’t find any rhythm at all. When I look back on the game, starting Merriewether was very damaging - 4 on 5 offense. It led to us having to force shots early, put us on the defensive and allowed TT to gain the much needed confidence they’ve been missing.
We should have started off
Pullen
Stew
Young
Walker
Beaseley
Penetrate, dish and finish….penetrate, dish and finish. We never really forced them to pick up the penetration until late in the 2nd half. That’s when Walker started going off. We were just way too happy throwing the ball around the perimeter and forcing bad shots down low.
Strange game indeed.
Disappointing, disappointing indeed.
Our help defense on dribble drive penetration has been bad all year and really bad since the 2nd half of the KU game. Teams are not afraid to go inside on us because a) Beasley and Walker are foul conscious b) the help defense is either late or not there period. As much as I cringe when Colon is in the game I would have loved to have seen him battle the TT Euro giants and put the hammer down on Zeno his first trip or two into the paint last night. Using up those 5 fouls in about 5 minutes of playing time may have helped. Defense will determine how far this team will go. Right now the ceiling looks to be 11-5 in conference if the defense doesn’t improve. Not having Sutton or even Gilbert to defend on the perimeter hurts. No disrespect to C. Merriwether, Blake, or Stew, but there is no way Voskuil scores 30 with Sutton hounding him for 20-25 minutes. I agree with the previous posters - wierd game, but happy to see that we had the heart to at least battle back in the second half. Keep your chins up Cats, don’t let this game beat you twice.
Ask your dad if he knows of any SLTHs available in football. Also, ask him what he likes best about KSU. Also, ask him what KSU’s image is back east and if people know the difference between KU & KSU. Also, ask him what is better: Michael Beasley or VT maple syrup.
mmmm maple syrup.
Was it just me or did Hightower have it out for Walker and Beasley last night? That tech Mike got was horrible. The guy undercut him and flopped for crying out loud. Voskul undercut Kent on a rebound and they called Kent for traveling. I’m not one to blame the refs, but 36 foul shots for the home team? Come on.
I do agree with ICTCAT in that Merriewether should’ve been on the bench. He passed up a 1/2 a dozen wide open looks. Some were so bad, he could’ve dribbled in 3 steps and still been open.
Another winable game down the tubes. Got to put it behind us and move on.
Any time frame on Sutton and Gilbert coming back? We miss those guys more than most think.
frank is still proving his point with gilbert and i think it is costing us. 5 games is enough. merriwhether, i hate to bag on, but even my clueless wife wondered why he was playing so much if he couldn’t hit a jumper. could chris not hit a jump shot in high school either? at least play brown more, he actually has an upside.
or get anderson some more minutes, he isn’t the best at defense, but at least he has some offensive skills.
Chris Merriewether killed us in the first half.
Zero Offense & little Defense. In that regards,
I blame the coach for this blunder, probably
cost us the game. If this is all we have to play
with, we are in big trouble the rest of the way!
The reason KSU lost was because the guys played like Frank’s definition of “girls”, defensively and on the boards. They looked like the NIT team I thought they looked like post Xavier, pre OU. Anways, for your Pops….
1 - Had he ever heard of KSU prior to you covering them?
2 - Does he think Walker plays good defense?
3 - What’s his expectations for the Wildcats the rest of the way?
4 - What did he think when you told him you wanted to be a beat/sports writer?
5 - Has he or would he ever Wabash?
That was a disappointing loss, even though I was concerned about it all along (Mizzou completely surprised me). I thought when we got back to 4, here’s a real chance for this team to grow again. Turned out to be too big of a hurdle.
Still, winning 2 of the last 4 road games and winning all the home games is doable, and would be a step forward from last year.
JMART–McDonald’s, come on man, that better have been your only choice. That’s disgusting. I thought you were getting chubby. Shoulda at least went to McDowell’s. No seeds man.
questions for mr. martin:
1. do you find watching bill walker exhilarating or frustrating?
2. are you currently coaching any players that the ksu staff should be recruiting (more ksu vermonters please!)?
3. what changes would you make to the ksu defense and offense if you were coaching them?
4. which do you love more, your son, jeffrey, or ksu bball? follow up: when did this first change?
5. describe young jeffrey martin’s bball education, and discuss his current bball iq.
I’m not so sure this loss falls solely on Frank Martins shoulders. First off, shooting was really poor, from the field and the foul line. If Pullen & Beasley shoot like we’re used to seeing, we win. Sometimes shots don’t fall.
I think the defense was the key. The entire team, not just Merriweather, was very flat footed and slow in the first half which just fed confidence to Tech. Otherwise this Voskuil brat never goes for 30 freakin’ points (anybody but him!!).
Hey, at least I know who my least favorite team in the Big 12 is now. This Pat Knight guy doesn’t look like he belongs coaching college basketball. He was so nervous, he couldn’t bear to watch the game. I thought he was going to puke a few times when the camera cut to him. I also don’t like the demeanor of TT players, but I won’t get in to that at risk of sounding like sour grapes. For now, I’ll give them credit for making K-State look very mediocre.