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After a hugely disappointing regular season, the offseason for the K-State men's basketball team was thought to be about regrouping. That thought quickly changed as Marcus Foster, Tre Harris, and Malek Harris were all dismissed, while Jevon Thomas, and Nigel Johnson decided the transfer. Those departures turned the thoughts from regrouping to BURN IT DOWN.
However, with John Currie clearly supporting his embattled head coach, Bruce Weber was in no hurry to explain how this roster turnover happened. Over this past month there were reports that Weber had turned down multiple requests for interviews, but finally earlier today, Weber addressed the media. Let's examine what he said, and what it means for this team moving forward.
Bruce Weber: "We just felt we had to make some changes. I think it is pretty obvious why we had to make those changes."
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) April 22, 2015
Bruce Weber extremely upbeat about K-State's huge incoming class: "We are excited about our signees. We got guys that have won."
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) April 22, 2015
These are the first two tweets from Kellis Robinett following the press conference's conclusion. None of them really tell us anything. Clearly, Weber realized that the current roster makeup was not working and he made the changes he felt necessary. We'll have more on the new recruits coming into Kansas State later, but for now it's safe to say Weber had better love every single player and expect them to be able to contribute right away. Only three of the team's top 10 scorers on the team are returning, so players like Dean Wade, and Barry Brown will need to provide solid scoring punch in order to be competitive next season.
Weber went onto say that he expects "Guys that want to be here and play K-State basketball, play their butts off, act right". Clearly those are attributes that were lacking last season and that Weber is trying to address in the offseason. Weber even went so far as to address the lack of cohesion last season saying:
Bruce Weber said he considered dismissing players mid season, but held off in order to give them every opportunity to fix the situation.
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) April 22, 2015
Bruce Weber said he considered dismissing players mid season, but held off in order to give them every opportunity to fix the situation.
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) April 22, 2015
And here's my biggest problem with the offseason dismissals. It was clearly a problem throughout the whole season that players weren't buying in, and were basically doing whatever they wanted, so why not dismiss them during the season? Last season was a train wreck anyway and dismissing the problem players would have sent a clear message to the other players that you had better get in line with the expectations of the program. It also gives you a chance to recruit more players, since the pool of uncommitted players is much bigger during the season, as opposed to the offseason when many players have already signed.
Clearly many players were to blame for not buying in and not giving 100% to the basketball team, and their teammates, and those players are now gone. However, I also find fault with Bruce Weber for not taking care of the situation quickly and sending the message early on that this type of behavior is not acceptable.
Let's end with this:
Bruce Weber does not care about expectations. Says his only request is that if you set high expectations you also work hard to back them up.
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) April 22, 2015
Main takeaway from today was Bruce Weber didn't seem bothered at all by roster attrition. Went so far as to say next year could be special.
— Kellis Robinett (@KellisRobinett) April 22, 2015
These two tweets perfectly summarize Bruce Weber. He has lowered expectations to a level where many fans will accept simply playing hard and being competitive. Which is absurd. Bruce Weber brought this past season upon himself and this upcoming season we should expect no less than a postseason debut, and massive improvement over this season. Anything less and there may need to be a different kind of turnover in the basketball program.