Even Pullen's beard drawing K-State criticism

By: Curtis Kitchen, 810whb.com senior writer


KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Surfing through various message boards and recaps concerning the Kansas State men’s basketball team, one thread in particular caught my attention.  It seems junior guard Jacob Pullen’s unruly chin weave isn’t up to snuff for one guy.

You know expectations are high when even a beard gets criticized.

That is where K-State finds itself - coming off a 2-1, third-place showing over the weekend at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, including a sturdy 83-75 win against Top 25 Dayton on Sunday; a great bounce-back performance after struggling Friday in a loss against Mississippi.

The Wildcats are now 4-1, have six players averaging double figures, saw junior Curtis Kelly step up with a double-double performance against Ole Miss, witnessed freshman Wally Judge respond favorably to better competition and still it isn’t enough for some.

It isn’t enough that K-State’s frontline, which was expected to be improved, is showing flashes of being dominant at times, especially defensively.  It isn’t enough that despite truly struggling shooting early this season (going a combined 45-of-121 from the field (37.2 percent) and 16-of-50 (32 percent) from 3-point range), guards Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen are still averaging 13.6 and 16.4 points, respectively.

It isn’t enough that eight guys, including three freshmen, are averaging at least 14 minutes per game and still learning roles.

If all of that isn’t living up to expectation, it begs the question: What would be sufficient? This isn’t the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls, folks. It is a team that upgraded talent, yes, but in reality had just two players (Clemente and Pullen) who were integral pieces to an NIT-team last year (Jamar Samuels is learning a new position, Luis Colon has yet to play and Dominique Sutton was too inconsistent).  It is going to take more than 200 minutes of live basketball for all of what this team has to come together. 

Was the Dayton game pretty?  Not by a long shot.  The Wildcats had to hold off a late-charging Flyers bunch that suddenly couldn’t miss. And, there was the really unfortunate decision by Jamar Samuels to kick the Flyers’ Kurt Huelsman in the head*.   But, they did it and by the time March rolls around, nobody is going to remember how K-State won that game.   All that will matter is that there is a “W” next to the game and not an “L”.

*Samuels is the last guy I would ever expect to see this from.  He’s affable and a great quote.  I get heat-of-the-moment things, but after seeing the replay, he should have been ejected from the game no questions asked – especially after a technical foul was assessed. Samuels said afterward that the incident was unintentional.  I wish I could believe that.

Really, if K-State pans out to the level fans say they “expect” this team can achieve, a win against Dayton will wind up being trivial, not key, to a Wildcats NCAA berth.  But, those same fans’ inability to let simply let go of a win and move on is an indictment on just how successful they really believe the Wildcats will be.

Every game is important, no doubt.  But, every game, especially the fifth game of the season, isn’t the make-or-break type that some are making it out to be.  Had the Wildcats gone 0-3 in Puerto Rico, then there would be cause for concern.  But, they didn’t.  They won. Twice.

Frank Martin’s team is fine, besides its free throws* and occasional trips down the floor where it seems someone said going inside the 3-point line was illegal.

*Among guys with at least 12 attempts, Pullen is the best at 76.9 percent.  Clemente is an inexplicable 60.9 percent shooter, and three guys (Judge, Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, and Sutton) are in the 40s! 

Still, this team is okay.

The same can’t be said for portions of the Wildcats fanbase, which seem almost as unruly, but not nearly as cool, as pieces of Pullen’s chinstrap.

What’s a beard to do?


Send your comments to curtiskitchen@810whb.com.  Also, follow him @curtiskitchen on Twitter, where you can get real-time reporting on game days and other sports news during the week!