K-State Q&A: Markquis Nowell, John Calipari, Sweet 16 analysis from New York and more
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
The Wildcats play the Michigan State Spartans in the Sweet 16 at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Here’s my analysis and my prediction for the game. Most of your questions this week are about this matchup and K-State’s impressive start in the NCAA Tournament. No time for a long introduction. Let’s dive in!
I think the whole incident was overblown.
If Markquis Nowell was a power forward and John Calipari had called him “the big kid” I doubt anyone would have complained. But Nowell is 5-foot-8, Calipari called him “the little kid” and that sounds demeaning.
Calipari was extremely complimentary of Nowell before the game. So what changed? Well, it is sometimes hard for coaches and players to praise opposing players after they lose against them. I think that is what happened here.
Nowell not only led K-State to a victory over Kentucky, but he turned to the UK bench and taunted them with various hand gestures after each of his big shots in the second half. I didn’t have a problem with that. But I also didn’t have a problem with Calipari possibly not liking that and dialing back his praise after the game was over.
It’s kind of like a short handshake between coaches after a close game. Sometimes even the best of friends don’t want to talk in that moment.
Could he have handled things better? Absolutely. In a perfect world, Calipari would have referred to Nowell by name and he would have said some nice things about the way he played.
That didn’t happen. Too bad. But I don’t think what Calipari did was unforgivable, even if some beat him up on the Internet for it.
I’m glad he called Nowell to apologize and there is no bad blood between them.
I doubt it.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin is clearly a pro prospect. He has a great body and incredible amounts of athleticism. K-State coaches did tremendous work finding him out of the junior college ranks.
But he is not currently a projected draft pick. If he left right now he would probably be looking at a spot in the G-League, at best.
He would be better off staying in school and developing for an extra year, in my opinion.
That being said, he may choose to test the NBA Draft waters this summer. Why not?
It’s too early to say the Big 12 has underachieved in this NCAA Tournament.
If K-State or Texas end up winning a national championship no one is going to care that the conference only sent two teams to the Sweet 16.
But the results have been underwhelming thus far. Iowa State scoring what felt like seven points in a game against Pittsburgh was embarrassing. Kansas falling in the Round of 32 was disappointing, even without Bill Self. Baylor was a paper tiger. West Virginia flopped. TCU was the only losing team that played to its seed.
The Big 12 should have sent more teams to the Sweet 16 than any other conference instead of the Big East and SEC. But they can still win the whole thing.
Yes, and he will be holding the play-hard chart while he watches from a seat in the front row.
As Shane Southwell pointed out yesterday in my story about how he recruited Markquis Nowell and Ismael Massoud to campus, Weber deserves some credit for getting those guys to K-State.
Alas, it is also more clear than ever that his time as a head coach needed to end because he couldn’t even guide the Wildcats to a winning record with Markquis Nowell and Nijel Pack in the same back court.
Maybe?
Kansas State is a No. 3 seed, but it has only been favored in one game in this NCAA Tournament. Since winning as a favorite of 8 1/2 points against Montana State the Wildcats have been underdogs against Kentucky and Michigan State. If they beat the Spartans they will likely be favored against Florida Atlantic and an underdog against Tennessee.
So there is a chance it will only be favored once in the entire event
That is definitely a little unusual.
Unfortunately, there simply isn’t much time for that kind of stuff on these NCAA Tournament trips.
The New York natives on the roster were allowed to visit their homes and the entire team had an opportunity to goof off in Time Square (with a curfew) this week. But spending a day at Rucker Park is out of the question.
Nowell was supposed to visit his high school yesterday and meet with current players on the team but had to cancel because there wasn’t enough open space on his schedule.
The focus is on March Madness.
Zero.
You might as well ask how much it’s crushing me that Florida Atlantic is in the Sweet 16 while Drake has been eliminated. I think I can continue on my day without a box of tissues.
The last time I was at Madison Square Garden was for a game between K-State and Michigan. The Wolverines had way more fans in the Big Apple that day.
I assume the Spartans will also benefit from a crowd advantage. Michigan State is much closer to New York than K-State. I doubt this game feels like Bramlage Coliseum East, even with all the New York players on the roster.
Now, I’m not expecting a sea of green in the stands like we saw last week in Greensboro when Kentucky fans packed the place. I’m expecting more of a neutral feel.
A few highlight passes from Nowell could get neutral fans on K-State’s side. The crowd went nuts last week when he hit Keyontae Johnson with a behind-the-back pass. K-State fans have been seeing that all year, but it was brand new for those fans.
Before one of his assists to Nae’Qwan Tomlin earlier this season, Markquis Nowell did a spin move like a figure skater. That was probably my favorite pass from him. But there have been many to choose from.
I go out of my way to wear neutral colors to every game I cover as a journalist.
For this trip, that meant nothing with purple, green, orange or red made it into my suitcase.
The pee towel was a power move from Bill Walker, but the neck brace from Jim Wooldridge remains much more memorable.
Has any other coach worked a game while wearing one of those? They are an iconic duo. It’s too bad Wooldridge didn’t win more games. He would have been a dream candidate to sponsor those things in a neck brace commercial.
A raise and a contract extension at the end of this season will be a nice start.
Both will happen. So money and job security won’t be much of a problem.
As long as K-State continues to support Tang and fans keep filling Bramlage Coliseum the way they did this season it is going to be hard for him to leave.
