Gottlieb article summary?

[KSUBrad]

Anybody with insider want to give a summary?  I definitely like the start of it.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4836162&name=ncbexperts&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fentryID%3d4836162%26name%3dncbexperts

[Pete]

K-State looking like a dangerous team in Big 12

Monday, January 18, 2010 | Print Entry

Posted by Doug Gottlieb
Times have changed dramatically in the Big 12, especially where Kansas State is concerned.

After getting a chance to call the Texas A&M-Kansas State game last week, I continue to shake my head in amazement at the difference in watching a game in an arena like Bramlage Coliseum, where the students show up and truly care about the product on the floor.

• Enlarge

Kansas State

Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images

Is Kansas State a player in the Big 12 title race? A matchup with Texas tonight may go a long way toward answering that question.

K-State is one of the historic programs in the Big 12 going back to its Big 8 days. With a long list of coaches like Jack Hartman, Tex Winter, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Lon Kruger and even Dana Altman, the Lil Apple has long been a wellspring of uniquely talented coaches. Yet when the program moved away from historic ( and ridiculously loud) Ahearn Field House in 1988 and when Altman -- whose style and win total struggled to match up with his predecessor, Kruger -- decided to leave for Creighton, K-State hit the bottom of the proverbial barrel.

I am here to report that there is a change in the winds in the Big 12. Kansas State is a very sound, deep, physical and mature team that will punish you on the glass and in the halfcourt defensively. When you take into account the offensive exploits of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, you realize the Wildcats are one offensive weapon away from being a legit threat to crack the code and win the Big 12.

Curtis Kelly has the talent, but can be a bit of an enigma. Jamar Samuels is starting to figure out his role and succeeding within it and Dominique Sutton is a talented former center who is learning to be a perimeter player on the fly. If the 'Cats can get one more go-to scorer, anything is possible.

It is even more impressive when you think of how down KSU has been over the past 15 years, beginning with former Kansas State coach Tom Asbury. Asbury, a very good man and solid coach, made an unsuccessful move from Pepperdine (where he has since returned) to The Plains. Asbury had suffered an intense personal tragedy while still at Pepperdine, as his daughter had died from an eating disorder in his Malibu home, and moved to K-State in an effort to be closer to his wife's family and rid his mind of the tragic memories. To be blunt, it did not work. Though his teams made one NCAA tourney and 2 NITs, K-State fired Asbury after six seasons in which his teams were 29-63 in conference play.

Jim Wooldridge was next. He arrived with the blessing of Winter, as he was an assistant under Tim Floyd with the Bulls. Wooldridge brought the promise of the "Triangle," which was actually the "Triple Post" offense when Tex Winter led KSU to two Final Fours, and the hope was that the offense that has now accrued 10 NBA titles would revive the 'Cats.

Unfortunately for Wooldridge, despite having stud Cartier Martin, he did not get to coach a senior-laden team. In 2006, the administration brought in Bob Huggins after a one-year hiatus following his ouster at Cincinnati. Huggins immediately energized the fan base and their recruiting efforts and at one time his lone recruiting class featured O.J. Mayo, Michael Beasley, Bill Walker, Herb Pope and D.J. Kennedy. While Walker and Beasley were the only ones to make it to campus, Huggins and staff had recruited a different level of athlete to surround the two future NBA draft picks all while landing Denis Clemente upon his transfer from Miami.

The Wildcats' recent resurgence has been guided by current coach Frank Martin, who was an incredibly successful high school coach in Miami before riding the coattails of another Puerto Rican star, Jose Juan Barea, while an assistant at Northeastern.

I have played in Bramlage twice -- both during the Asbury era -- and both times I walked away wondering what it would be like at full capacity and alive. After watching KSU dismantle Texas A&M, I have my answer. While most of the great buildings from the heyday of old-time college hoops have been torn down and replaced by NBA style arenas, Bramlage, nicknamed the "Octagon of Doom" by the students, is a very simple layout in which there are no frills, no concessions, no restrooms, and no bad seats. You'll find 13,600 fans right on top of you and with Texas coming tonight and Kansas, who is 20-1 in the building, coming for GameDay at the end of the month, the road to the Big 12 title, unlike at any point since the league's formation, runs directly through the Little Apple.

[JohnnyUtah]

DOOM reference, gotta love it

[bfred]

oh my god I love gottlieb so much right now  

[ednksu]

chills.

[Rick Daris]

 

[TheMadCatter]

No concessions and no restrooms? Huh? Either way, awesome shout out.

Gottlieb = 

[catfan28]

No concessions and no restrooms?

No wonder we're so angry.   

[Pexikan0023]

What the hell happened to Doug Gottlieb?? ChicagoCat drops the "OoD" to him at the Holiday Inn when Doug was lost looking for his hotel, and then all of a sudden we're like his frickin' go-to team. Has he even written about another program in the last week?  Now some of greatest basketball minds are picking us to win tonight. Bob Knight is in the building. Primetime ESPN slot.  Basketball fans from Cali to Miami are tuning in.  No pressure EMAW'rs, but if we win tonight, we are at the center of the college basketball world with less than 2 weeks away from ku in the 'gon.  We lose, and we will make very powerful enemies.  This goodwill, which is deserved, can be taken away faster than it took to create it.

[Stupid Fitz]

He was talking football on his radio show tonight and said "if you want great atmospheres for fans, next Saturday at the dome for Vikes and Saints, and tonight 8pm in Manhattan KS at what they call the Octogon of Doom.

It made me so happy I wanted to smash into the car next to me.