Kansas St. 12/30 7:00 CBSSN

[zykarious]

I also thought given the lackluster or inconsistent effort from several guys last night I would have like to see Reed get a chance. He's not flashy but he works hard on defense and rebounds in addtion to the occasional 3 pt basket.

I'm curious what has happened with Josh. I remember on the radio show after the Villinova loss, Wes said Reed was the only guy who graded out positively on defense. Since then he's all but disappeared. We switched Simas to the 4 to try to hide him on defense, but it seems the thought of maybe seeing what Reed could do instead never crossed Wes's mind.

He showed last year he can come in and defend at a high level, will give it his all and fight for every loose ball and rebound. At the very least you trust him more to buy minutes than Betsey/Hickman. I don't understand why Hickman is still getting minutes, he's small, can't rebound and has been worthless on O all season.

I wonder if Wes last year felt like he went too deep in the bench, now he's swinging to the other extreme of just trusting 6 guys to play as many minutes as they possibly can. So much for our supposed superior depth or not wearing guys down during the season.

[Gmann]

Wes does seem to be much more accepting of having one or two guys who don't give all out effort every game. Simas, Landers, Davenport, Reynolds are some of the guys who stood out as simply lazy in game at times.

I wonder how much that impacts the culture, how hard it is to listen to Wes demand you give more while watching film where Simas doesn't even try to box out.

It's hard to demand as much out of top offensive players, even Mick had Cumberland. But Wes seems to accept a lot of slacking off out of a few key guys.

Felt like last night would have been a chance to give Reed some run, Simas wasn't doing anything on offense, was targeted (and beat) by KSU on defense, but Wes seemed to have no thoughts about benching him.

I also thought given the lackluster or inconsistent effort from several guys last night I would have like to see Reed get a chance. He's not flashy but he works hard on defense and rebounds in addtion to the occasional 3 pt basket.

[KevMan1976]

I just watched the post-game presser, and it was clear that CWM was not happy, and specifically called out what sounded like all the right reasons for disappointment (e.g. fouls, turnovers, missed open-court opportunities, etc.). That said, I think Saturday's game against Arizona may show us a lot about this team's overall makeup and grit. On paper, Arizona appears to be on a similar level to Kansas State, so hoping to see our boys come out with some fire in the belly, looking to beat someone badly.

I remember the days of (almost) feeling sorry for the next opponent following a loss. Coach Miller looked pissed after last night's game. I'm eager to see how well he can imbue that in his team.

[London 'Cat]

not to be disagreeable but DS leaned way too forward and if his hands were like the UCLA player no way could he had reached over. The hands would have been locked in. AS CWM said they were rebounding with one hand. Skillings game in rebounding is pursuit and not boxing out.

I do agree with the rebounding with one hand. Had Skillings had his left arm up to grab the ball, the refs would have definitely called over the back. But, it was still over the back by KSU. The refs missed it or deliberately did not call it.

[zykarious]

Wes does seem to be much more accepting of having one or two guys who don't give all out effort every game. Simas, Landers, Davenport, Reynolds are some of the guys who stood out as simply lazy in game at times.

I wonder how much that impacts the culture, how hard it is to listen to Wes demand you give more while watching film where Simas doesn't even try to box out.

It's hard to demand as much out of top offensive players, even Mick had Cumberland. But Wes seems to accept a lot of slacking off out of a few key guys.

Felt like last night would have been a chance to give Reed some run, Simas wasn't doing anything on offense, was targeted (and beat) by KSU on defense, but Wes seemed to have no thoughts about benching him.

[leo from jersey]

That was pretty much what Skillings did. The KSU player went over his back and the refs did not call it. You can’t blame Skillings for a missed call.

The ‘Cats lost the game because they could not guard without fouling. 16-20 FTs for KSU while UC went 4-7. In a 3 point margin of victory, 12 points at the FT line is more than enough of a difference. In almost every statistical category, the ‘Cats were the better team, losing TOs, points scored off TOs and the FT line.

not to be disagreeable but DS leaned way too forward and if his hands were like the UCLA player no way could he had reached over. The hands would have been locked in. AS CWM said they were rebounding with one hand. Skillings game in rebounding is pursuit and not boxing out.

[London 'Cat]

yes we wanted him gone, but he expected effort like this. No over the back when you box as this. https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/up...y=70&auto=webp

That was pretty much what Skillings did. The KSU player went over his back and the refs did not call it. You can’t blame Skillings for a missed call.

The ‘Cats lost the game because they could not guard without fouling. 16-20 FTs for KSU while UC went 4-7. In a 3 point margin of victory, 12 points at the FT line is more than enough of a difference. In almost every statistical category, the ‘Cats were the better team, losing TOs, points scored off TOs and the FT line.

[GoBearcats31]

That was a fun game -- can't believe it was seven years ago

KSU is in the middle of winter break, so hopefully having limited students on campus will dull the otherwise crowded arena

I am sure I will regret saying this, but I have always felt Coleman Hawkins was "overrated" and definitely seems that he is having a down year compared to a respectable season a year ago at Illinois.

Yep, sorry guys and gals

[leo from jersey]

yes we wanted him gone, but he expected effort like this. No over the back when you box as this. https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/up...y=70&auto=webp

[leo from jersey]

Terry Nelson confronted CWM that the team did nothing to get SL his shot and that KState played it their advantage. Terry said that was the deciding factor in the loss. CWM only comment was that they didn't do anything for anyone. Surely CWM saw the same game as Terry. Didn't he bench Jizzle for a long time after inability to see and fight through screens as well as pathetic passing if even attempting? What I saw was four guys basically standing around waiting in hopes of getting the ball so they could get their shot off. There was very little communication on the defensive side especially on rebounding. Many rebounds lost due to teammates boxing out each other and half heartedly boxing out. CWM described it twice as one armed attempts at rebounding. Will someone pay Eric Hicks or some real Bearcats to come coach down low. I don't know Chuck. Refs were bad but that couldn't be changed. Self-glorifying hero ball and half efforts could have been.

[Rufus]

To be honest I don't believe we deserve to be there to start with. I have never seen a team completely get disoriented to start the conference schedule. We obtained a false sense of security beating up on cupcakes before the league play.It's like as soon as they reached Manhattan each one decide they were gonna be the game MVP. I'll admit I'm no coach but if you go an entire half without stopping just two guys from scoring at will you have to readjust, find someone else to guard, go to a zone to keep McDaniels from repeatedly driving to the rim uncontested, I don't know anything but continuing with the same.I would be willing to bet that we had more turnovers than team assists. Can't wait to see what Sedz' superstatistics have to bear.

[Jeff Burk]

That’s all efffort and as such, speaks
to coaching. We may be heading to a 4 game skid with AZ, Baylor, & Kansas in the next 3 games. Page looks lost. Coming into this season, I thought depth was a real strength, but now I’m seeing a pretty steep
drop off in talent from first 5 to next 5.

I understand what you are saying and agree with with most of your post. I do think this team is stronger and deeper than any team in recent years. Way too many turnovers but not sure that is coaching. I also do not think that KS is that bad of a team. It is always hard to win on the road.

[Bearcat93]

Dan Skillings, 32 minutes, 2 rebounds.
Arrinten Page, 8 minutes, 0 rebounds
Simas, 4 points, 2 rebounds

Ouch.

That’s all efffort and as such, speaks
to coaching. We may be heading to a 4 game skid with AZ, Baylor, & Kansas in the next 3 games. Page looks lost. Coming into this season, I thought depth was a real strength, but now I’m seeing a pretty steep
drop off in talent from first 5 to next 5.

[London 'Cat]

Dan Skillings, 32 minutes, 2 rebounds.
Arrinten Page, 8 minutes, 0 rebounds
Simas, 4 points, 2 rebounds

Ouch.

Yet UC wins the rebounding stats 36-30. The game was lost at the FT line. Can’t let the opponent make twice as many FTs as you attempt.

[Bearcat9796]

8 actually. UC shoots 4-7 from the line but fouled KSU so often that it shot 16-20.

3 were on purpose to waste time