Is Tang’s Time Running Out In Manhattan? K-State Gets Blown Out By WSU, 84-65

The Cats are on a 3-game slide and 6-5 heading into conference play

Well, for a quick recap:

The Kansas State Wildcats traveled down to Wichita to take on the Wichita State Shockers…and are limping back to Manhattan in the aftermath of a 84-65 drubbing that, for stretches, was actually closer score-wise than the performance on the floor would have indicated.

Make no mistake, Wichita State was the better team in this one, nearly from tip to horn.

K-State got off to their “signature” slow start, building a nice little two-bedroom brick bungalow on the offensive end of the floor, and giving up methodical, easy points in the paint on defense, before finally connecting on a couple of outside shots and cutting an eight-point WSU lead down and eventually taking a four-point lead into the locker room at the half, 33-29.

The Cats also got off to nearly the same start, coughing up that four-point lead in the two immediate possessions after half. They managed to punch back-and-forth with the Shockers for a bit in the second half, making it to 48-all with about 12 minutes left in the half. From that point, the Shockers would outscore the Cats 36-17 on the way in.

If you’re mathematically inclined, you’ve probably already noted that K-State gave up 55 points in the second half to a team that just got beat by UMKC by 10 earlier in the week.

Buddy Rich – the same Buddy Rich that never saw the floor on Tuesday against Drake – had a career night, coming off the bench to tally 20 points.

Brendan Hausen still connected at a 50% clip, putting up 13 points on 4-8 shooting.

Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase Coleman Hawkins managed a tremendous triple-single, with 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

Frosh David Castillo, a relatively ballyhooed commit coming into this season, got his second straight start, and laid this impressive turd: 0-8 FG, 0-7 3PFG, 1reb, 1ast, 2TO, in 21 minutes of “action”.

K-State shot 40 [redacted] percent from the FT line for the evening.

WSU was led by Xavier Ball, who scored 24 on 9-17 shooting with 5 rebounds. Four Shockers scored double-digits, with two players totaling double-doubles.

With that out of the way, on to why I’m penning this one tonight:

For the much of the game, we saw the same ol’ K-State team we’ve become accustomed to over the past season and a half: Poor offensive execution in the half-court, an excessive reliance on three-point attempts, and hair-pullingly bad interior defense.

With K-State having what was supposed to be a decent amount of talent on the floor this year, the Cats, at 6-5, are sliding face-first into the Big 12 conference slate on a three-game losing streak, the last two to non-Power 4 opponents.

After a mediocre season last year, and what is shaping up to be one of the worst seasons in the recent era of K-State basketball so far, it’s fair to ask the question:

Is Tang’s Time Up in Manhattan?

With a quick h/t to ksu_FAN on X:

Take a look at the similarities between these two slates. Neither team could beat an opponent with a pulse. That 2001-2002 squad, under the neck-braced tutelage of one Jim Wooldridge, finished 13-16, 6-10 in conference. They would follow up the next season 13-17/4-12, then 14-14/6-10.

Is that where we’re headed?

Look – you might be hard-pressed to find someone that has been a bigger fan of HC Jerome Tang than me. His first season in 2022-2023, pulling a group of folks together to rally around Markquis Nowell and Ish Massoud, was magical, resulting in an Elite Eight run and plenty of memories for all of us. But looking back, some troubling signs were there. Rough half-court offensive execution, poor shooting and/or shot selection. What that team had going for it was two NBA players (Nowell and transfer Keyontae Johnson), and a third that was borderline (Nae’Qwan Tomlin). They had guys that genuinely could figure out how to go win a game when you just roll the ball out there. That team also had passion. No one was ever wondering if they actually cared about the result.

But from that season, into the next, and now into this, it feels the direction is regressing.

Continuity has proven to be an issue. More than half of the roster has turned over year-to-year, including only 3 holdovers this year from last (N’Guessan, Rich, Taj Manning), following only 3 holdovers from the previous (Cam Carter, N’Guessan, Dorian Finister). You’ll notice two of them are gone now, despite having eligibility remaining into this year.

Team behavior/decorum has also proven to be an issue. Say what you will about specific circumstances, but we’ve seen Tomlin be dismissed from the team last season, and newcomer Achor Achor dismissed less than 10 games into this season. We’ve brought in another player in Dug McDaniel, who was suspended for some time last season at Michigan due to academic issues, and now finds himself in and out of the doghouse with Tang in Manhattan, so much as to be the focus of rumor that he was also dismissed around the same time as Achor (a rumor obviously false).

This roster feels like mercenaries. Very little passion, very little enjoyment…pay me my money, and I’ll show up to the job. It looks like little more than simply an engagement for many of them, most of all, Coleman Hawkins. The preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year has been anything but special this year, and might actually be leading the conference in worst NIL value as we get into conference play. He’s borderline stealing from our NIL community.

Here’s the thing, Coleman – once you’re paid, this actually does become a job. You’ve been paid handsomely. So its high time you started [redacted] doing yours to the level we paid you. You want the big bucks? We expect performance…not checking your social media accounts before you even get into a press conference after a game where you fell behind by twenty.

You see, the talent is there. I can see that every player, well…maybe not Castillo right now, but every other upperclassman, has skill. They have a solid level of ability. It’s never been more obvious in the past three seasons – these guys aren’t being put in a position to be successful. We actually do have guys that can make shots. We have guys that can rebound. We have guys that can pass. We have guys that can defend. It’s just not being aligned with one another.

All of this – every single little bit – falls on the coach.

Tang is one hell of a motivator. He’s fun. He’s excitable. He’s excited. He’s passionate. “Hang with Tang”? Jumping into the crowd for the Wabash? Somehow, getting our students to stop the “F-KU” chant for at least non-KU games? Proper motivation can get you to run through a wall. But what simple motivation doesn’t do, is tell you how to run through that wall effectively. Or what to do when you bust through that wall.

Despite the motivation, and given the results – not just W/L, but how we get there – I’m not sure Tang, or anyone on this staff, is actually a coach. And without a coach, this team isn’t going anywhere.

Just two seasons ago, it was “Tang Time” in Manhattan.

But unless we start seeing the results of some actual coaching, are we close to Tang’s time being up in Manhattan?