K-State's gamble on Frank Martin likely won't pay off in the long run
With loss to Wisconsin, speculation begins on what future holds for Beasley and Walker
OMAHA, Neb. | Michael Beasley and Bill Walker did their jobs.
Borrowed from AAU teams and loaned to Kansas State by the NBA’s new standards for draft eligibility, Beasley and Walker snapped two embarrassing streaks, leading K-State to a home victory over Kansas and into the NCAA Tournament.
Good job, fellas. Saturday afternoon’s embarrassing 72-55 loss to Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA Tournament doesn’t tarnish Walker and Beasley’s legacy.
Nope, it simply adds pressure to the shoulders of school president Jon Wefald and the substitute coach he committed to out of desperation, Frank Martin. It’s their job to build a basketball program, and they’ll eventually determine the success or failure of the Beasley acquisition.
Right now, I’m betting on failure.
Two nights don’t justify the kind of risk K-State’s administration took when it empowered Martin and Beasley’s nanny Dalonte Hill as head coach and associate head coach, respectively.
As good as it felt to beat Kansas inside Bramlage Coliseum on Jan. 30 and slap USC in the first round of the tournament, those memories won’t deliver one big-time recruit to Manhattan or in any way change the national perception of K-State basketball. There are no shortcuts. There are only fleeting memories that will very quickly be replaced by a lasting reality.
K-State has the least-qualified coaching staff in the Big 12 Conference.
Is that an insurmountable flaw? No. Qualifications don’t always indicate talent and work ethic. K-State needs to get lucky. Very lucky based on what we saw Saturday at the Qwest Center.
Two days after appearing to have found an identity, rhythm and composure in a thumping of USC, the Wildcats reverted to the wild, direction-less mess that almost cost them a tournament bid.
From the get-go, you could see and sense that things would be different. Martin was cranky and out of his seat early and hair-trigger quick with his substitutions. He had a zero-tolerance policy for on-court mistakes. And whatever faith and playing time a K-State player might have thought he earned with good play on Thursday was rendered irrelevant by Martin’s desire to substitute.
Heck, Ron Anderson, a 10-point, eight-rebound star on Thursday, was K-State’s ninth man on Saturday. He didn’t get any real minutes until 4 minutes remained in the first half and the Cats were down double digits.
OK, let’s make no mistake, Kansas State couldn’t beat anyone left in the tournament the way its players shot the ball from the perimeter. The Wildcats missed the 13 three-point shots they launched. But you don’t develop shooting confidence yo-yoing in and out of the lineup.
Bo Ryan’s Badgers, champions of the Big Ten, hit K-State with a precise offense and a physical defense, and the Wildcats panicked. Martin had no counter. He ran players into the lineup without a defined purpose. Guard Fred Brown, a little-used streak shooter, played 10 minutes in the second half. He never took a shot.
K-State pressed and trapped in the second half. The strategy never produced a turnover. As best as I can remember, Martin tried everything except a zone defense and leaving a lineup on the court — the two options I preferred.
Martin will be a better coach next season. He’ll improve. The talent he coaches won’t. Beasley is likely to leave for the NBA. He has no choice. He’s too good. Someone smart will convince Walker to drop 20 pounds over the next couple of months, enter his name into the draft and work out for scouts. Those workouts will determine whether Walker leaves. At a legit 225 pounds and blessed with all of his natural explosiveness, Walker is a potential first-round pick and NBA defensive stopper.
Without Beasley and Walker, what returns to K-State is a squad capable of finishing last in the Big 12. Martin doesn’t seem to like his two best players, Jacob Pullen and Ron Anderson. The rest of the returning cast — sans Darren Kent — is unskilled energy players.
Was it worth it?
So far, only if K-State’s basketball standards are so low that two nights satisfy a fan base that has waited two decades for a return to glory.
