K-State 73, Virginia Tech 57
by TB on Nov 16, 2010 7:01 PM CST
in Men's Basketball
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PrintK-State didn't waste any time jumping into the meat of its schedule with today's game against Virginia Tech. With Curtis Kelly out and Jacob Pullen limited due to foul trouble, Wildcat fans had reason to worry about the outcome. But K-State, behind impressive performances from Will Spradling (solid minutes spelling Pullen), Jordan Henriquez-Roberts (10 points, eight rebounds) and Rodney McGruder (13 points, nine rebounds), dropped the No. 24 Hokies, 73-57.
One thing that has been talked about a lot already in this young season is free throws. K-State was 14-28 from the line today, so I shouldn't have to calculate the percentage for you. On the other hand, Virginia Tech was 14-21. In the James Madison game, K-State was 17-32 from the charity stripe, while the Dukes made 15-24. So in two games, the Wildcats are 31-60 shooting free throws, whereas their opponents are 29-45. Added up, K-State has outscored its opponents from the free throw line, albeit only by two. I'd like to see K-State make more free throws, too, but if you're not going to make very many, at least make sure you attempt more than the other guys.
But let's not focus too much on the negatives. K-State just beat a top-25 team, picked to finish second in the ACC, by 16. The Wildcats are 2-0 heading into Thursday's matchup with Presbyterian. Next week, the CBE and matchups with Gonzage and either Duke or Marquette loom.
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I posted this on the game thread but...
This game got me so pumped up for the rest of the season. If you missed it you should really get on espn3.com and watch the replay. It will seriously get you pumped up for the season.
quotes
quotes from the post game.
The time for calm and rational discourse is past, now is the time for senseless bickering -Anonymous the Younger
by Anon_the_younger on Nov 16, 2010 7:15 PM CST reply actions
Nice
Having to listen to the game (and read BOTC comments) while working makes this interesting for me as I have yet to see the Cats play this year. And since I was working, I didn’t pay as much attention as I wanted to the game.
I think the players have bought into the HCFM system of 110% effort. And that I think is what this season will require more than anything. We have a tough non-conference schedule followed by the ‘Big Xii’ war of attrition; which means never letting up and always pushing for better performance by each player.
And I like what I’m hearing as the game played. Yep, it ain’t gonna be pretty all the time but I’d rather have an ugly win than a beautiful loss. I especially like what I heard about the underclassmen as the game progressed.
Thanks Coaches and team for another good effort.
The time for calm and rational discourse is past, now is the time for senseless bickering -Anonymous the Younger
by Anon_the_younger on Nov 16, 2010 7:24 PM CST reply actions
On the subject of "winning ugly"...
We know what we have in this team and this program by now. No, it’s not the smooth, fluid offense of Roy Williams at North Carolina or Bobby Knight’s teams at Indiana. But what we do have is a bunch of great athletes who work together and find a way to win. A combination of individual athleticism, good shooting (we finally have some true shooters on this team), getting to the free throw line, and above all rebounding and defense are going to win a lot of games this year. It won’t be pretty and there are those who will hate it, but that’s fine.
We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats
by TB on Nov 16, 2010 7:31 PM CST up reply actions
think back ...
to great K-State teams, always scrappy. I’m thinking of Lon Kruger and Steve Henson particularly. But there were many players on the 1986-1990 teams that qualified as scrappy players who did what was needed to win.
I remember a game where Henson was ejected … he was on the bench for the rest of the game waving a towel and egging the crowd on. Each time the crowd would pause, he would be up waving the towel.
The time for calm and rational discourse is past, now is the time for senseless bickering -Anonymous the Younger
by Anon_the_younger on Nov 16, 2010 7:48 PM CST up reply actions
I think this is high praise from Coach Greenburg about KSU
“"Their defense impresses me the most. I think that they still develop offensively even without (Denis) Clemente. I think that they are going to live off of their defense because they make it hard to run an offense. You have to spread it out and use ball screens unless you run a Princeton-esque offense where it is so spread out. You have to be able to move the ball and then make a play. Defensively they remind me a little bit of Duke and that would be the one thing that stands out in my mind."”
Fire Chris Cosh!
I enjoy this little stat---
“K-State’s bench outscored its starting lineup, 37-36, in the contest, while it outscored the Hokies’ bench by 27. "
Pullen Fast Fact
Pullen needs just 7 points to pass Cartier Martin for sixth place in K-State history.
What is the all-time record?
I know he’s within striking distance of it.
MIke Evans
with 2,115.
Pullen has 1,540… I think.
If we play the same number of games as last season
Jake needs to average about 16.5/game to pass Evans.
Definitely possible,
Considering he averaged almost 20 a game last year, and he has scored double digits at least in every game going back to the start of the season last year.
30 games left for sure
So I am coming up with 19.2 per game. And that would give him 2,116. Evans is one of the best but this is something that I really hope Jake does!!!
Now, 30 is an absolute minimum.
That figures getting eliminated in the first round of the Big 12 tournament and making no postseason play.
Actually, 32 is the absolute minimum.
Non-con = 15
Conference = 16
Conference Tournament = 1
Assuming that we’re a lock for post-season, then the minimum he could play rises to 33. Realistically, the number he’s going to play will be somewhere between 35 and 37.
"Coaching a football team is the most engrossing thing in the world. It is playing chess with human pawns." --Walter Camp
by K. Scott Bailey on Nov 17, 2010 10:25 AM CST up reply actions
Just realized you were saying a minimum of 30 are LEFT. My bad.
"Coaching a football team is the most engrossing thing in the world. It is playing chess with human pawns." --Walter Camp
by K. Scott Bailey on Nov 17, 2010 10:25 AM CST up reply actions
Speaking of Cartier...
I saw him doing some scoring in a regular season NBA game the other night, didn’t I? I know they mentioned his name – it was either the VERY end of the pre-season or start of the regular season. Mentioned on an ESPN highlight a couple times or more – I was happy to hear his name in the NBA again.
'Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.' --Jim Halpert
He's playing behind Wall and the "shooter" Arenas on Washington
Sounds like he’s getting the same amount of playing time as Bill Walker on the Knicks. I think Cartier had a big game off the bench early in the season (with like 17 points or so) but hasn’t played much since.
Beasley, on the other hand, has had some monster games.
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
Sounds like Curt will be playing on Thursday...
From Haskin’s writeup:
“You didn’t see Jacob and Curt sitting on the bench pouting and moaning,” Martin said, “because Curt’s mad at me or because Jacob’s got his own situation on ESPN and they call two fouls on him right away. You saw those guys coaching their tails off on the sideline. That’s what it’s all about.”
Thats good news to put it at the least
"I refuse to write on the chalkboard because I refuse to rock chalk, at all times." -The Forum
The user formerly known as EMAWrising
I would totally go gay for Will Spradling...
27 minutes, 0 turnovers.
swoons
screw this, I should be sleeping anyway.
Greatest stat of the night really...
"I refuse to write on the chalkboard because I refuse to rock chalk, at all times." -The Forum
The user formerly known as EMAWrising
Can anyone tell me?
Whats the point of the “regional rounds” of the CBE classic, lets say if we were to lose to Presbyterian, would they get to go to KC for the finals? Otherwise I don’t understand the point.
"I refuse to write on the chalkboard because I refuse to rock chalk, at all times." -The Forum
The user formerly known as EMAWrising
Money...
The CBE Classic is not even pretending it isn’t about the ‘preferred’ matchups and money. However, the teams with no chance for advancing due to their stature/prestige as a program get more money from the games at places like K-State, Duke, Gonzaga, etc that it is still worth their time. And this way everyone can see the K-State/Duke or KSU/Marquette etc matchups no matter what.
At least I have had it explained to me that way and I would agree after looking into it a bit.
'Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.' --Jim Halpert
Sounds about right
It’s really only a 4-team tournament with some smaller schools being invited to play with the bigger schools.
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
I actually really like the format.
It gives Cinderella an early-season shot at a resume-making win, while maintaining the marquee matchups that they want to see.
"Coaching a football team is the most engrossing thing in the world. It is playing chess with human pawns." --Walter Camp
by K. Scott Bailey on Nov 17, 2010 10:28 AM CST up reply actions
Great game today...
but we have to increase our FT% or we will lose to Duke. We need to strive for around 70% for as often as we see the charity stripe. We may have one of the top 2 deepest benches in all of college basketball this year. This is going to be one hell of a ride.
Ugly win, but
We would have lost this game the way we played today. This year is special. I can feel it. You don’t just get 2 minutes out of your best two players on the team in the first half and win – that just shouldn’t happen.
This sophomore class has the potential to do some nasty things. We aren’t leaving the top 15 in the next 3 years. Mark my word.
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
*Would have lost this game LAST YEAR....the way we played today...
Surgeon General's Warning: K-State-Mizzou basketball may increase the risk of high blood pressure. Please consult your doctor prior to watching any of these games.
Like you said...
Nasty: Which can be used in a good term and a bad term…but in this case good.
"I refuse to write on the chalkboard because I refuse to rock chalk, at all times." -The Forum
The user formerly known as EMAWrising
Mmmmmmmmmm...
good-nasty.
'Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.' --Jim Halpert
Buck Nasty
"I refuse to write on the chalkboard because I refuse to rock chalk, at all times." -The Forum
The user formerly known as EMAWrising
Free throws bother the hell out of me.
Without Pullen’s four made technical free throws, we’re 10-24, 42%. We can’t keep doing that and expect to win.
While making any shot is impotant
and I was once in the camp of “Oh no we didn’t hit 70% FT as a team for (this game/that game/season/etc) – just shoot free throws until you can!”. However, some time spent on BOTC and reading what TB (or is it Pan?) has to say on the topic… if we shoot so many more free throws than the opponent due to athletic ability, talent, and scheme(s) that our inferior percentage still leaves us out-pacing or equaling the opposition in FT made, well, I’m A-OK with shooting a lower-end FT%.
Obviously, a better FT% would be optimal, but working on defense and offensive scheme/coordination would trump EXTRA FT practice as a team. Would be nice to see the individuals get on their FT practice for themselves…
'Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.' --Jim Halpert
It isn't a huge issue
Until we play a deep team that can give a lot of fouls, and they foul everyone but Jake. Being a horrible FT team gives opponents an extra strategy option.
Exactly.
The bottom line is that the only time this really matters is if we’re winning a close game late. If we’re winning a blowout, it’s irrelevant. If we’re losing a close game late, the other team’s not going to be fouling us.
Having said that, if we shot free throws this poorly last March, we wouldn’t have made it to the second weekend.
My new blog: Those Other Guys. Critiques welcome.
Ugly Nasty
"I refuse to write on the chalkboard because I refuse to rock chalk, at all times." -The Forum
The user formerly known as EMAWrising
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