I'm sure there are a few people still left that still want to talk K-State basketball. A discussion about key areas this team needs to improve seems appropriate at the end of a disappointing season. Feel free to add topics/stats as you see fit.
Topic #1: 2PT%; both sides of the ball.
This is logical as the biggest concern to be fixed because a) half the points in college basketball are scored on 2s and b) K-State was so bad this past year, both offensively and defensively.
This was a problem in the noncon, then the Cats corrected it early in the Big 12, but at the end of the season slipped back to being really bad (besides the KU/ISU week). The defense allowed opponents to shoot 49.5% on 2s for the season, the worst for any oscar coached team by 3%. In Big 12 play it was a slightly better at 48.7%, but still a bad number and only good for 8th in the league. We knew this was a concern when DJamer went out, but there was still some hope at the beginning of the year that maybe Bolden or Hurt could protect the rim, which neither was able to do. Last year's team allowed opponents to shoot only 45.9% (45.7% Big 12) and the only major losses were Southwell and Spradling, so there was reason to believe even without a major shot blocker that we could be decent. However, this simply didn’t happen and as a result K-State ended allowing 49.7% eFG%, the worst we’ve seen at K-State since 2005 and oscar’s worst since he was at Southern Illinois.
The offensive 2PT% was just as bad. The Cats only shot 46.8% on 2s (44.6% in Big 12), the worst for any oscar coached team. Of course, for some reason oscar's K-State teams haven't been great at 2PT% in any season, shooting 46.8% and 48.3% his first 2 years here. His Illinois teams generally shot in the 50s for 2PT% and often finished in the Top 50 nationally. The -2.7% differential in 2PT% this year is the only season a oscar coached team finished in the red on 2PT%. Again, this impacted eFG% and oscar finished with his worst shooting team ever at 47.7%.
Shooting and defending this poorly on 2s when over 65% of the shots and half the points come from these categories has to be corrected for any hope of improvement next year. Unfortunately, the bigs for K-State are up in the air at best and a complete mess at worst. Guys like Edwards and Westicles along with the new guards will have to be much better at both getting to the rim and finishing once they get there. Statistically, this past year looks like a statistical anomaly when you compare to the rest of the years oscar has been a head coach; generally offensive or defensive 2PT% (if not both) are strengths of the system he coaches. However, the negative trend of 2PT% on offense along with the lack of bigs or a legit rim protector continue to make this a major area of concern going into next season.
