Found this in my in-box a little while ago:
“Why is it that the writer for K State doesn’t even know that they will still probably get the fourth seed if they beat CU? OU beats O State at home. KU beats UT at home. K State beats CU at home. Three very likely events and KSU is the fourth seed. You need to do your homework. Or better yet, take two weeks off and then retire. You’re the worst.”
Yep, I made a mistake in today’s game story, suggesting the loss cost the Wildcats the No. 4 seed. I admit my mistake, and I’m not going to make any excuses. Shouldn’t have happened.
Anyway, I thought the Wildcats played well Tuesday, no doubt. But don’t you have to close that game out, especially if you’re making the case you belong in the NCAA Tournament field? Not piling on the Wildcats, or kicking them when they’re down, but that game was for the taking. They showed unbelievable poise for 36 minutes – I was fascinated watching every time Oklahoma State made a run, K-State calmly answered with a spurt to cut the deficit to a point or two – and then everything came undone.
This won’t make me popular, I’m sure, but since I’m contemplating following the gentleman’s advice above and retiring at the ripe age of 34, it shouldn’t matter – the Wildcats aren’t there yet. What was it that Frank Martin was saying after Tuesday’s game? He commended Byron Eaton, who played a fantastic game, for being a four-year starter.
Experience is a major factor, which Martin has been preaching since he became the head coach last year. That’s what’s missing – not actual on-court action, but the knowledge of winning games in those situations, of winning in those situations on the road, etc.
Don’t get wrong – this is a fun team. When Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen both have it going, K-State is tough to deal with. And the Wildcats still might do some damage in Oklahoma City. But I felt Tuesday conveniently encapsulated everything that is great about this team and also everything that is lacking.
And with that, I’m off to do my homework.
14 Comments
maybe i’m wrong…but assuming those 3 scenarios occur won’t the Cats be the 5th seed. OSU, UT and KSU at 9-7 with KSU tiebreaker over UT but OSU tiebreaker over KSU…or does UT’s better record against the South give them the tiebreaker over OSU and that takes presidence and then the Cats get the 4th seed? This seems too much like calculus for my liking.
you thought the wildcats played well, I thought they sleepwalked through the game. no intensity. frank went away from his transition game and somehow came to the conclusion while gameplanning that we had some semblence of a a post game. stupid coaching and little effort from the players.
overall a terrible excuse for an effort by all sides in a must win game.
OSU is terrible and we let them get over on us.
Ties between teams in the same division are broken first, then ties between teams outside of the division. In the proposed scenario sent to JMart, per Big XII tie breaking procedures, Texas would get the tie-break over OSU, and then KSU would get the tie-break over Texas since KSU beat them head to head.
Don’t let the bastards get you down.
Our team is very dumb. but like jmart said, hopefully it is just inexperience.
If both teams lose, then Texas would break the tie based on their in-division record. UT split with Oklahoma, and OK-State would be (hopefully) swept by Oklahoma. Also, UT swept Baylor and OSU split the series. UT lost more games to the North than OSU did.
It actually looks like we (KSU) have the best shot left to make the 4 seed based on the next opponent. We get Colorado at home and both UT and OSU have to travel, and they face the top two teams in the conference.
Here is the website that has the official Big 12 tie-breaking rules:
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1520897
Why when I open this do we have to see Bill Self and the Rock Chalk card.
Jeff,
Don’t let some mistake in your article make you feel bad. You are not the worst as the poster said. You have done some good work.
Good stuff J-Mart, always enjoy your work! I have to say though that I don’t really think the Cats ever really lost poise. Even when they fell down by 7 with a little over two minutes left, they pulled with in two to then only let it slip away with about a minute left when Anderson canned that three… They are fun to watch, I think they’ll make some noise in OKC, and I believe Jacob Pullen said it best… “We just have to get over that hump…” Eventually, these guys will…
Jeff, we discussed the potential 9-7 tie break, like, 2 weeks ago. sys brought cupcakes for f-sakes. You HAVE to remember this!
Reality can be a real pain in the rear sometimes, and it sounds like the harsh bite of reality was chomping on whomever sent you that email. I remember one time when I leveled unfair criticism at you, too. Don’t let that guy get you down. Mistakes happen.
As for those who discount what our players did, they have probably forgotten the huge shot Fred Brown made in Austin or the huge shots Brown and Jacob Pullen made in College Station. We’ve made big plays down the stretch before, we just didn’t make them last night. It hurts and it’s frustrating, but it happens. Onward, sir.
Anyone who is angry at the basketball team or has a problem with the direction the program is taking clearly wasn’t paying attention to what was going on during the Tom Asbury days. Bowling for cheerleaders anyone?
It took nearly a decade, and three head coaches to dig the program out of the hole it found itself in by 1999. Now it’s happening, and we just can’t be happy about it, can we? We just can’t enjoy the ride.
If you want to be an angry fan, then go buy a ticket. It’s pathetic that a 20-win team can’t have a decent turnout at home games. How is it that the women receive that support? They play below the rim and lose every important game, yet the men can’t get the same love?
As far as writing hate-mail to JMart, did you tell your mother what a jerk she was for cooking you dinner tonight? Clearly you are a child who is only biting the hand that feeds you the critical Wildcat knowledge we all crave. Sure, he’s a human being and will make a mistake now and then. But this isn’t claiming Gary Patterson is the next football coach, this is missing a possible, hypothetical scenario. Trust me, it’s tough to even catch any news on KSU sports outside the state of Kansas, you don’t want to anger anyone who is working as hard as JMart is to bring you the level of coverage he provides. His high quality of work will always be in demand, you should appreciate that. I think the majority of us do.
JMart we all love reading your stories, you do a great job don’t let some jerk do that to you……he must be a KU fan