D
Derek Young
Guest
This will be my postgame basketball story version of Four Downs that I used for football. So, with that said, I'll dive into tonight's loss in Austin.
Sometimes, that is needed. Sometimes a team needs to be dealt a heavy dose of reality. Regardless of the opponent, multiple narrow defeats can make one believe that they are very, very close to figuring it out. It can cover up some warts and some flaws.
And maybe they aren’t all that far away. But, in any event, a reset and some more engagement is a good thing regardless of how it comes to be.
When dealt with a humbling defeat, especially in regard to college-aged players, it can be more of an eye-opener than anything anyone tells them. Narrow losses, or repeated competitiveness can give oneself a false sense of security.
Kansas State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton even shared it at one of his annual Thursday press conferences this past season. Sometimes being humbled is the best teaching tool. It sometimes has to come from a different direction. Kids don’t always listen to their parents or fully understand or grasp what they’re supposed to know or do, or at least turn a blind eye to it.
The same can be said from a coach-player standpoint. The message can resonate more if it comes from somewhere else.
Winning, or the sense that you’re close, doesn’t always force a team or its players to recognize where improvements need to be made. They feel like they’re on the right track and keep it moving.
Sometimes, you need beat, handily. Sometimes we all need a wake-up call to return to form or steer the boat the appropriate way. The process of being forced to understand that you’re in major need of reforming is brutal, whether it be in sports performance or just human behavior. It’s not fun. Realizing that you’re far from good enough is uncomfortable.
K-State players likely needed this uncomfortable experience. They needed that brutal loss, like everyone does from time to time. Like they say, it has to get worse before it gets better. This may be that bottom that forces the change in behavior, or performance, that is needed.
That’s not to mean that this will spark forward progression seen in tangible results. It can, however, inspire growth in younger players that realize how much more it will take. That experience and process can speed up growth and maturation, and some of that won’t manifest until later. It’s paramount in dictating future performance.
The Wildcats suffered their worst loss of the year. A struggling Texas squad knocked them off in Austin by a score of 64-50. In all honesty, the score isn’t indicative of how ugly the second half became. To their credit, and deservedly so, it was only that tight due to the Wildcats’ fight and refusal to quit, even when the lead turned into something that was seemingly insurmountable. That is baked into the fabric of the program in Manhattan created by Bruce Weber, in which a culture of effort is the foundation.
After only trailing by four points at halftime, they didn’t score their first points of the second half until eight minutes had passed. With 6:15 left in the second half, they still had only scored five points. They weren’t very competitive at all in the second frame and never threatened to turn it around for the first time all year.
And with that being all said, it may be the best thing that has happened to them.
Bruce Weber and company won’t feel great about it, at all. And I understand that. However, the well-decorated and accomplished head coach for Kansas State may stand to benefit from this type of performance. That’s the type of loss that catches everyone’s attention and should motivate them to be drastically better.
This loss might not help this season’s record, either. It might be something to remember a year or two from now as what became a tone-setter for some. Some painful losses in the past under Weber were the beginning steps of a process that bred very positive results. This, and possibly others this season, could be those stages again for the Wildcats. They are rebuilding more than they are reloading.
Sometimes, that is needed. Sometimes a team needs to be dealt a heavy dose of reality. Regardless of the opponent, multiple narrow defeats can make one believe that they are very, very close to figuring it out. It can cover up some warts and some flaws.
And maybe they aren’t all that far away. But, in any event, a reset and some more engagement is a good thing regardless of how it comes to be.
When dealt with a humbling defeat, especially in regard to college-aged players, it can be more of an eye-opener than anything anyone tells them. Narrow losses, or repeated competitiveness can give oneself a false sense of security.
Kansas State defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton even shared it at one of his annual Thursday press conferences this past season. Sometimes being humbled is the best teaching tool. It sometimes has to come from a different direction. Kids don’t always listen to their parents or fully understand or grasp what they’re supposed to know or do, or at least turn a blind eye to it.
The same can be said from a coach-player standpoint. The message can resonate more if it comes from somewhere else.
Winning, or the sense that you’re close, doesn’t always force a team or its players to recognize where improvements need to be made. They feel like they’re on the right track and keep it moving.
Sometimes, you need beat, handily. Sometimes we all need a wake-up call to return to form or steer the boat the appropriate way. The process of being forced to understand that you’re in major need of reforming is brutal, whether it be in sports performance or just human behavior. It’s not fun. Realizing that you’re far from good enough is uncomfortable.
K-State players likely needed this uncomfortable experience. They needed that brutal loss, like everyone does from time to time. Like they say, it has to get worse before it gets better. This may be that bottom that forces the change in behavior, or performance, that is needed.
That’s not to mean that this will spark forward progression seen in tangible results. It can, however, inspire growth in younger players that realize how much more it will take. That experience and process can speed up growth and maturation, and some of that won’t manifest until later. It’s paramount in dictating future performance.
The Wildcats suffered their worst loss of the year. A struggling Texas squad knocked them off in Austin by a score of 64-50. In all honesty, the score isn’t indicative of how ugly the second half became. To their credit, and deservedly so, it was only that tight due to the Wildcats’ fight and refusal to quit, even when the lead turned into something that was seemingly insurmountable. That is baked into the fabric of the program in Manhattan created by Bruce Weber, in which a culture of effort is the foundation.
After only trailing by four points at halftime, they didn’t score their first points of the second half until eight minutes had passed. With 6:15 left in the second half, they still had only scored five points. They weren’t very competitive at all in the second frame and never threatened to turn it around for the first time all year.
And with that being all said, it may be the best thing that has happened to them.
Bruce Weber and company won’t feel great about it, at all. And I understand that. However, the well-decorated and accomplished head coach for Kansas State may stand to benefit from this type of performance. That’s the type of loss that catches everyone’s attention and should motivate them to be drastically better.
This loss might not help this season’s record, either. It might be something to remember a year or two from now as what became a tone-setter for some. Some painful losses in the past under Weber were the beginning steps of a process that bred very positive results. This, and possibly others this season, could be those stages again for the Wildcats. They are rebuilding more than they are reloading.
