K-State now a zone-solving genius

By: Curtis Kitchen, 810whb.com senior writer

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – So, I’m curious how Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin became a zone-dissolving genius in two games.

Well, I guess I’m not that curious since I know.  Jacob Pullen made him one.

I didn’t see it, but it must have been there – that huge basketball IQ meter above Martin.  And, as each one of Pullen’s threes swished through the net, the next seemingly deeper than the last, the barometer kept rising until...

Voila! Great team, great coach, great players, great feeling, great you, great me, great, great, great!

K-State is good. No doubt. You don’t break a team’s 11-game home winning streak or go 4-0 against the AP Top 25 in a season without being very good.

But, appease me for a second, please. Look through the heavy smoke and funhouse mirrors an 11-of-21-from-3 night provides and let this settle: the Wildcats ran virtually the same offensive set in the team’s two-point Baylor win that it ran during the four-point Oklahoma State loss.

All it took to get an open look, time and again in both games, was a quick entry to the high post and immediate kick to a sliding wing.  From there, credit to the shooters for collectively knocking down threes at a 25-percent better clip than it did the previous game (and 33 percent better than it had in five previous Big 12 games).

It wasn’t better shot selection by K-State. In fact, I could argue that a couple of Pullen’s shots were three feet past anything resembling a solid choice. It wasn’t that Baylor was worse at executing its zone than Oklahoma State. The Bears were fine; it’s just sometimes you can’t stop a guy (like, say, James Anderson for example) while your stud (LaceDarius Dunn) has a bad day at the office.

Baylor had K-State's Saturday game.

I said the offense was virtually the same, but there were noticeable changes Tuesday that made things easier for the Wildcats offense.  After getting two extra days to practice, Curtis Kelly finally appeared comfortable going to the high post instead of taking 15 or 20 seconds to find it. And, most importantly of course, Pullen was 6-of-7 from behind the arc instead of 2-of-12.

Also, instead of getting out-rebounded, K-State out-boarded Baylor by three.  For good measure, we should notice, too, that the Wildcats went to the line 20 fewer times than its conference-play average.

Hot shooting solves everything.

For most teams, it makes one-pass zone offenses look efficient and crisp. It makes athletic teams appear unbeatable. It can steal you a road win and restore a fanbase’s faith.

For K-State, it covered up another so-so offensive night from its big men (16 total points from Kelly, Dom Sutton, Luis Colon and Jamar Samuels). It covered up Sutton’s fourth-straight game of 18 minutes or less*.

*I wrote earlier this year when Sutton is on, he’s among the nation’s best defenders.  I don’t back down from that at all.  Problem is, 73 games into his career, Sutton is as moody as he’s ever been, and when he feels slighted or put out, he folds. The difference now is Martin has a guy like Rodney McGruder, who is a better all around player, to play instead.  If the two were the same age, McGruder would have Sutton’s spot. He might be on his way anyways, not starting maybe, but getting a lot of minutes at the three. Averaging 14 minutes, 8.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting 54.5 percent from 3 in conference will do that. Sutton is getting 21 min/gm and putting up 6.3 pts/5.5 reb. over the same stretch.

Pullen, Clemente and McGruder helped mask a lot of things K-State still needs to work on (like allowing 23 rebounds to Ekpe Udoh and Anthony Jones, or giving away 14 BU steals).

What their hot night should not do is trick a 17-3 team into thinking it is something it isn’t.

In Big 12 play, even with Tuesday’s scorching performance, K-State still ranks just eighth with 6.5 3s/gm – behind both Iowa State and Nebraska – and ninth in percentage (33.9).  The team is fifth overall in field goal percentage at 42.3 percent.

This team has played nearly all of this season from the rim and then out, not the other way around, and it shouldn’t start now just because one win played out that way.  Matchups contributed to KSU shooting 50 threes in the past two games, but moving forward that number has to come way down.

K-State needs to continue guarding the perimeter (it leads Big 12 play in 3-pt FG defense at 28.7 percent) and decisively winning the rebounding battle.  The posts, the Curtis Kelly’s and Jamar Samuels, need to become consistent factors on the floor like they were against Texas.

That said, if Pullen and Clemente want to shoot 60 percent from 3 every game, then none of the other stuff matters.  Hot shooting solves everything.


Send your comments to curtiskitchen@810whb.com. Also, follow him @curtiskitchen on Twitter for in-game reports from Manhattan and other sports news during the week!