Season 3 ala Big 12 Tournament got underway yesterday for the men. See, generally teams break down their year into short seasons so you have your Season 1: Non-conference games, Season 2: Conference games, Season 3: Conference Tournament, Season 4: Post season play (luckily for us we'll get to see Pullen play in the post season....I'll admit I was worried when "the statement" was made that we might not see K-State potentially all-time leading scorer play in the post season)
Lets go back...Season 1: All was pretty with a 9-1 record with wins over Va Tech, Gonzaga, and Wash St and the only loss coming to Duke the #1 team in the nation at the time. Then we went to Florida and the downturn started. Shot 15-55 FG for 27% and 3-19 3pt FG for 15.8%, not the home coming Coach Martin was looking for. To make matters worse, Kelly and Pullen get suspended for impermissible benefits a few days later and can't play in the return home game for K-State great, Coach Lon Kruger of UNLV. 40 minutes and 14-26 FTs later and we're headed back to the drawing board with a 63-59 loss. This is the point people are saying K-State might not be "who we thought they were" (Dennis Green reference). All said and done Season 1 finishes which a 12-3 mark and I would way a B+ Grade.
Season 2: Preseason Big 12 Champs looked like a bottom 4 team in the Big 12 sitting at 0-2 after the 74-66 loss to Colorado. Twenty minutes after the Colorado game the quote was said..."I'm not going to the NIT. I won't play basketball in the NIT. I'm saying that now. If we lose and we have to go to the NIT, I will not play." It was at this time K-State was being looked at as a contender....for the NIT. Season 2 had one of two ways to go. Either Pullen was going to be remembered as a good player who couldn't lead his team to live up to the hype or one of K-State's all-time best leaders who carried a struggling team on his back to right the ship. Like it or not, "the statement" had to be made. Overnight Jacob Pullen became the most talked about player in nation besides Jimmer Fredette. Overnight K-State's Season 2, better yet year 2010-2011, was salvaged.
Half a month later and we're sitting at 2-5 following a 90-66 loss at KU. "The statement" becomes the laughing stock. Some people even going as far as saying "Will Pullen play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI)? That's where K-State is headed." Honestly, I�m not even sure if the CBI still exists nor do I care. 1 Player, 1 Quote, 32 words. No one understood the significance of this besides Pullen. He knew he had a chance to be remembered at K-State for something better than a NIT finish. He knew he could live up to "the statement." He knew K-State had the talent to turn things around. He knew it was up to him to get it done. He knew what he was doing. The tide was turning...
Many people believe the KU win at home was Pullen's shining moment or the turning point. Let's go back a few to the ISU game in Ames. Yeah ISU is the worst team in the Big 12 and we squeaked by with an 86-85 win. But this is the game that Jacob Pullen became well, Jacob Pullen. Hostile crowd, down 1 with the ball less than 10 seconds left. When you're down by one, with the game on the line, who you gonna call? GhostBust...sorry, Jacob Pullen. See, all too often you see guys say one thing and then not back it up. Jacob wanted the ball. He wanted to take the last shot. He's always wanted to be called on in the final seconds. This is where he shines. Flashback: 2008 at Oklahoma (first Big 12 game), there's Jacob Pullen aka Rookie, a scrawny little freshman. The game is tied 82-82 with 13 seconds left. With seniors, myself and Blake Young in the lineup it's Pullen who gets the ball as a ball screen is set by Bill Walker. Pullen weaves his way into the lane and finds Beasley roaming the baseline for the game winning dunk with 3 seconds left. When a play has to be made, Pullen wants the ball. Flash forward: 2011 at Ames, his driving layup with 2.6 seconds left is the moment "the statement" became real. He wasn't going to let this team settle for the NIT. He believed in so much more.
A close loss at Colorado (I still think we won...I think the clock was started a half second early...just saying) and everyone could feel K-State was about to get it going. KU and Texas still loomed on the schedule which let us to control our own fate. Win one of those game plus the other 4 and we would finish on a 5-1 high note. Why beat KU and not beat Texas, or beat Texas but not KU? Why be a bubble team and leave it up to the committee or have to win 1 or 2 games in the Big 12 Tournament? "I will not play in the NIT." Boom goes the dynamite, 6-0 finish in Season 2 with wins over KU, Texas, and let's throw Missouri in there for good measure. Hello NCAA Tournament.
Season 3: Start with Colorado today in what could be considered a meaningless game for K-State and a meaningful game for Colorado who is sitting at the last 4 in. They beat us and they definitely have nothing to worry about. They lose and some heroics happen in other conference tournaments and then there bubble gets a little tighter. As a player, you never like to lose. As a player, you never like to lose twice to Colorado. As a player, you hope to get a third shot. Thank you Colorado for beating ISU. This is the matchup we wanted. Key: don't worry about Alec Burks...he's going to score because he's a good player. LEVI KNUTSON is the one we have to shut down. I've said this before, but he had 20 points, 0 rebs, 0 assts, 0 Turnovers, 0 stls, 0 everything else when we played then the first time. In Big 12 play when he scored 13 or more points Colorado was 7-3 and 1-5 when he scored less than 13 points. Easy formula...keep him under 13 and we'll hopefully be seeing a rematch with KU in the semis. Kansas State vs. KU in Kansas City is like the city died and went to heaven. Everyone would like to see the matchup.
Season 4: I know one thing...."WE will not play in the NIT!"
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