My zacker-esque Bruceketball post

[Kat Kid]

I'm officially worried for the following reasons:

Soft Science:

The crowds are Wooly-esque.  Will this get better?  I cannot rightfully say.  Is it because of the football team?  I believe it is in large part.  Will anyone be as excited as last year?  I kind of doubt it.  Let me confess that I went to dinner with family and watched the replay.  I didn't even really check the score or care.  When I watched on television, the crowd looked exactly like a Colorado crowd: disengaged, relaxed and out of the game.  Maybe I am being all Peggy Noonan here, but I'm thinking this is a bad omen.

Our seniors look worse.  SAMPLE SIZE!  SAMPLE SIZE!  calm down, this is soft science.  My point is, the team looks less intense, and our seniors are leading the way.  Is it a bad sign that I have more confidence in Angel than I do JO?  Yes.  Yes it is.  I love Angel, but I was an early "hater" because of his uncontrollable passion and poor decision making.  He looks great and will clearly be the emotional leader.  But McGruder, JO and Tay are troubling.  They really, really, really have not been making the impact I would've hoped.  McGruder is probably just slumping a bit, and I have confidence he becomes our leading scorer, but JO/Tay have not shown the leaps forward that this team will rely on to meet expectations (Sweet 16).

Nino Williams must be stopped.  Seriously.  I know he's emptying the bench and letting guys play, but 14 minutes and a start?  Give me a break.  Give 6 of his minutes to DJamer/Gip and move on.  Stop trying to make "Nino" happen oscar.

Rebounding ugh.

HARD FACTS:

Angel left the game when it was tied in the 1st half, having played 5 min.  We were 9 points better over the remainder of the 1st half.  He re-entered at the start of the second half.  In the first 1:30 of the 2nd half he:  stole the ball, drew a foul, hit 2 3ptrs and drove for a layup, accounting for 8 points and extending the lead to 17.  Up 18 when he is subbed out at the under 12 media timeout.  Then the game was over and we continued the run. 

The point is, he was electric when he was on the court, but he was in foul trouble all day and for no good reason.  Our offense struggles when he is not the catalyst and I am terrified games are still going to be like this throughout the year.  15 minutes is unacceptable.  We do not have 25 minutes of PG on the bench that will survive against top half Big 12 talent.  We will get eaten alive.    It is terrifying, but until we see different, we have to assume this is who he is.  We can no more wish that McGruder can go Billy Walker beast mode of the dribble on people than hope that Angel can consistently keep his feet more active than his hands on defense.  I love him, but we need him to take on the enormous responsibility of keeping Will the hell away from the point.

DJamer is better than Nino.  There will be no more discussion of this topic.  His defense looked the best all year by the way MIR.  If you are right, then I will be overjoyed because I think his offense is coming along quite well.

THE STRAW!  God we need you more than ever.  Please don't stop being you.  Getting points from you is sweet mana from rabid Willie's crazed eyeballs.

Gip rights his ship Looked like last year.  Going to need him to be really productive and he did well.  Hopefully oscar and him have worked out whatever kept him on the bench earlier.

[steve dave]

 

[Pete]

True story, I did not know we played last night until looking at Scorecenter on my phone this morning.   

[Pete]

What are the chances that this team has more talent on it than any team Weber ever has at KSU?  Pretty decent chance of that, right?

[steve dave]

What are the chances that this team has more talent on it than any team Weber ever has at KSU?  Pretty decent chance of that, right?

We have a lot of great pieces

[Pete]

What are the chances that this team has more talent on it than any team Weber ever has at KSU?  Pretty decent chance of that, right?

We have a lot of great pieces

We really do.  We should be more exited.  I am partially responsible for this.  I must do better.

[Kat Kid]

What are the chances that this team has more talent on it than any team Weber ever has at KSU?  Pretty decent chance of that, right?

This comment is at home in this thread.  It should have an address and take the paper and raise a family here.

[michigancat]

I watched the first eight minutes of the second half and man did Angel look great.

[MakeItRain]

DJamer, while still raw, will be much better offensively than I thought.  I had him at about 3 ppg, he'll be better

[Kat Kid]

DJamer, while still raw, will be much better offensively than I thought.  I had him at about 3 ppg, he'll be better

Funny thing, he's both better than we thought for different reasons!

 

[steve dave]

DJamer, while still raw, will be much better offensively than I thought.  I had him at about 3 ppg, he'll be better

Funny thing, he's both better than we thought for different reasons!

 

he is great at getting in rebounding position

[michigancat]

Even allowing for competition, DJamer is a pleasant surprise

[j-dub]

our guard play aside from angel is terrible. it's not gonna be good.

[CHONGS]

1-0 is one and o

[kso_FAN]

Because I can see/hear nearly everything from the elite seats of KK I will share this poignant observation; when Angel picked up his 4th (silly) foul, oscar pulled Angel over and explained quietly what the issue was. Then Angel started to walk back toward midcourt and oscar say emphatically in his squeaky voice "Angel, (Angel turns back to look) I NEED YOU on the FLOOR!". Angel gave a soft smile, sort of to say "don't worry coach" and jogged back on the floor.

But yeah, this team needs Angel like the footballers need Klein. (and oscar has no #life on the bench)

[MakeItRain]

How long do we have to put up with Will starting at the two, its ridiculous?

[Spaces]

How long do we have to put up with Will starting at the two, its ridiculous?

I hate everything about Will.

[Dugout DickStone]

How long do we have to put up with Will starting at the two, its ridiculous?

Until further notice.

[felix rex]

True story, I did not know we played last night until looking at Scorecenter on my phone this morning.   

Yeah. I was surprised by how quickly I started not caring. I didn't know we played until I saw this thread.

[0.42]

True story, I did not know we played last night until looking at Scorecenter on my phone this morning.   

Yeah. I was surprised by how quickly I started not caring. I didn't know we played until I saw this thread.

me too, except substitute twitter for this thread

[eastcat]

I was at the game and Gip played ridiculous, the dude has no body control down low and was throwing up absurd shots. 

[Trim]

Because I can see/hear nearly everything from the elite seats of KK I will share this poignant observation; when Angel picked up his 4th (silly) foul, oscar pulled Angel over and explained quietly what the issue was. Then Angel started to walk back toward midcourt and oscar say emphatically in his squeaky voice "Angel, (Angel turns back to look) I NEED YOU on the FLOOR!". Angel gave a soft smile, sort of to say "don't worry coach" and jogged back on the floor.

But yeah, this team needs Angel like the footballers need Klein. (and oscar has no #life on the bench)

[SeanSnyder4Prez]

Angel is in one of my classes. Academic stud 

[Trim]

It's written on the grease board in the practice gym, and the phrase from coach oscar Weber has echoed throughout the same gym: "It's time to take the next step."

Yes, Kansas State is 3-0 two weeks into the season, but those wins have been over the very beatable foes North Dakota, Lamar and Alabama-Huntsville by an average of 39 points per game.

Now, against 1-2 North Florida today at 1 p.m., in Bramlage Coliseum, and next week in New York City at the NIT Preseason Final Four against Delaware and then either Pittsburgh or Michigan, "It's time to take the next step."

Weber says, "To our credit, we have played impressively and we feel good about what we've done," but he also knows that life is about to get tougher.   

What the early wins have done is aid in building a trust factor with the Wildcat players and the new system that concerned Weber prior to the start of the season.

"I'm not saying they're fighting the system, but things just haven't become a habit yet. There still needs to be more of a trust factor of believing that things can be done a different way," said Weber. "I'm not saying a better way, but we're just trying to tweak some habits into a different way of doing things."

Part of that transition continues to be in getting better acquainted with Weber's "motion" offense. At times, the Wildcat coach says, "We get very stagnant. I want ball movement and want to make people guard us. We need to get better, but honestly, it might take a while."

That starts, but doesn't necessarily end, with point guard Angel Rodriguez.

"He needs to break some high school habits," said Weber. "You watch high school point guards and they pass it and then stand until they get it back. He has to get more involved because we have other guys who can post-feed guys with a pass. Will (Spradling) can do that, Shane (Southwell) is a good passer, and Martavious (Irving) can do it."

On defense, there are other changes from last year when Martin had the `Cats playing with great intensity.

"We want to be aggressive, but our way is also keeping the ball in front of you," said Weber. "In the past, they really focused on individual defensive play. We're trying to become more of a team defense."

Defensive stoppers trying to emerge starts with Rodney McGruder on the perimeter.

"He wants to be that guy," said Weber of McGruder. "He has good size and good mobility, and he takes pride in it. But the big thing is who else wants to play that role? If Rodney gets in foul trouble, then who else do we have who can come in and shut someone down?"

Inside, Weber admits, "I'm a little worried about it. If we go real big, are we going to be mobile enough in dealing with ball screens and dealing with smaller line-ups. We're still waiting to see who steps up on the defensive end."

While adjustments are still being made, Weber says, "When we go to practice, it's our team. The relationship between our coaches and our players is good."

[sys]

In the past, they really focused on individual defensive play.

i've focused more on the notion that is weber is intentionally evil.  i may have unfairly neglected the hypothesis that he's just really, really stupid.