The Beasley-Led Wildcats in the Final Four???
I don't know how many of you saw the Kansas/K-State game last night, but I gained a whole new respect for Michael Beasley. Not because K-State upset the #2 team in the country. Not because Kansas lost to the Wildcats for the first time since Jimmy Carter was in office. Not because Beasley scored 25 and grabbed 6 rebounds. It's the way he impacted the game offensively AND defensively.
Bill Self and the Mighty Rock-Chalks threw everything they had at the kid. I'm talkin zones, double teams, triple teams, Half-Court Presses, Full-Court Presses, Half-Court Traps...the whole nine. Some of these strategies worked initially, but Beasley adjusted to every defensive look they gave him. Bottom line...the kid is too big, too strong, too agile, too versatile and just TOO DAMN GOOD.
After that performance, I think Beasley has what it takes to lead K-State to the Final Four. He'd crush the competition in the first two rounds and wouldn't face another premier, post player until the 3rd round. At that point, Billy "Sky" Walker spreads his wings and shows his lottery-pick potential. If K-State gets into a bracket with Duke or Kansas, I would expect Beasley to make reservations for San Antonio. Your thoughts?????
really don't see it happening...
I think you're still in a haze over his performance and I respect that, but I'd also caution you to be wary of what was at stake...
Kansas State had lost over 20 straight games in Manhattan to KU. For K-State youngsters Beasley and Walker, this was a chance to make a major statement. For Kansas, this was just another winnable game.
Also, Kansas State was at home. This can't be overstated. Even though the program had struggled mightily at home against KU, Walker and Beasley had not. And for young players, playing on the road in a hostile environment is much more difficult than playing at home. In other words, in spite of the monumentous occasion of breaking the losing streak, I'd have been much more impressed if K-State had won at Phog Allen.
The win was unquestionably big for the program and for Beasley and Walker individually. Beasley is the best player in America and Walker is a lottery pick. But the NCAA Tournament is a different story altogether. Kansas State could easily win a game or two in the tourney, but the Wildcats are still far from a Final Four contender right now.
The letdown...
And then they go on the road to Missouri and the classic letdown happens. Inevitably, more times than not you see a team waste all of their emotional energy on one game. It's exactly what happened to K-State. On paper they should have rolled Missouri and covered that generous 8 point spread. Missouri's basketball program right now is going through turmoil. How do you go from losing to Nebraska a couple of nights before to beating the hottest team in the country? By doing the same thing K-State did to KU. The Tigers banded together with an us vs. the rest of the world mentality; they never gave up and totally dominated the second half.
And here's the ironic thing... Missouri travels to Lawrence today to take on KU and I'll be damned if the Jayhawks don't smoke these guys and win by 24 points for the very same reason as I stated above. 19 point spread? What 19 point spread...