There has been lots of talk/debate on here about expectations for this year and how Bruce and this team's success should be measured. I understand the viewpoint that success for this year should not be based solely on wins a losses as it wouldn't be a realistic expectation for a team with this many new faces to accumulate a ton of league wins. (And I don't want this to turn into an argument of whose fault it is we have this many new faces.)
However, I would hope that everyone would agree that this year should serve as a foundation for future success. One advantage for a coach having this many new players should be that he has the opportunity to mold the program and establish a winning culture. And to this point I don't believe Bruce has done that.
There needs to be a culture that Kansas State basketball is about outworking the opponent, playing with passion, and being tough. I want to watch us play and be able to say that we just want it more than the other team. Is his team lazy? No I don't believe they are. But there is a huge difference between not being lazy when you play and playing with passion and flat out getting after it.
During the one year Huggins was here we weren't a great team. We didn't make the NCAA tournament. But about halfway through the year you could start to see a noticeable different. We played a lot harder. We became tougher. We played with more passion. We competed.
Guys like Wes and Justin have been here for 3 years and they still don't do that consistently, and they should be he ones setting the tone with their energy and passion. Sure there are stretches where they both do. During the 2nd half yesterday Justin really got after it on both ends but he was a no show the first half. Against West Virginia I tough we played hard and played tough but I thought Justin stuck out because he didn't. DJ is about the only guy who you know what you are going to get from an energy standpoint every time out. It should be the other way around. A night when one guy doesn't bring it should be the surprise.
I was extremely happy we beat Tech. I'm happy anytime we win. But we won because we shot 7 of 9 from the 3 point line, which isn't going to happen very often. At one point in the 2nd half we had given up 17 offensive rebounds. That is a lack of attention to detail. That is a lack of toughness. That is a lack of pride in seeing the other team is dominating you in one area of the game and doing something about it.
Then yesterday we had a chance to get a win against a ranked team, get back to 2-3 in the league, and get squarely back into the middle of NCAA tournament talk. You would have though this team would have come out with their hair on fire. Instead we came out with absolutely no fire or passion.
Going forward I want to see this team compete every time out. Sure I want us to win games but more than that I want to see the way we play during the games. I want to be able to see Bruce establish the right culture for this program. How hard we compete during practice, how much time gets put in on their own, and the amount of passion we play with in games needs to become the norm, the standard. It can't happen one game and not the next. It can't be for one 10 minute stretch during a game. It has to be consistent, every time out. Once I start to see that I will have a lot more faith this program is headed in the right direction and Bruce can be successful here over the long haul.
However, I would hope that everyone would agree that this year should serve as a foundation for future success. One advantage for a coach having this many new players should be that he has the opportunity to mold the program and establish a winning culture. And to this point I don't believe Bruce has done that.
There needs to be a culture that Kansas State basketball is about outworking the opponent, playing with passion, and being tough. I want to watch us play and be able to say that we just want it more than the other team. Is his team lazy? No I don't believe they are. But there is a huge difference between not being lazy when you play and playing with passion and flat out getting after it.
During the one year Huggins was here we weren't a great team. We didn't make the NCAA tournament. But about halfway through the year you could start to see a noticeable different. We played a lot harder. We became tougher. We played with more passion. We competed.
Guys like Wes and Justin have been here for 3 years and they still don't do that consistently, and they should be he ones setting the tone with their energy and passion. Sure there are stretches where they both do. During the 2nd half yesterday Justin really got after it on both ends but he was a no show the first half. Against West Virginia I tough we played hard and played tough but I thought Justin stuck out because he didn't. DJ is about the only guy who you know what you are going to get from an energy standpoint every time out. It should be the other way around. A night when one guy doesn't bring it should be the surprise.
I was extremely happy we beat Tech. I'm happy anytime we win. But we won because we shot 7 of 9 from the 3 point line, which isn't going to happen very often. At one point in the 2nd half we had given up 17 offensive rebounds. That is a lack of attention to detail. That is a lack of toughness. That is a lack of pride in seeing the other team is dominating you in one area of the game and doing something about it.
Then yesterday we had a chance to get a win against a ranked team, get back to 2-3 in the league, and get squarely back into the middle of NCAA tournament talk. You would have though this team would have come out with their hair on fire. Instead we came out with absolutely no fire or passion.
Going forward I want to see this team compete every time out. Sure I want us to win games but more than that I want to see the way we play during the games. I want to be able to see Bruce establish the right culture for this program. How hard we compete during practice, how much time gets put in on their own, and the amount of passion we play with in games needs to become the norm, the standard. It can't happen one game and not the next. It can't be for one 10 minute stretch during a game. It has to be consistent, every time out. Once I start to see that I will have a lot more faith this program is headed in the right direction and Bruce can be successful here over the long haul.
