SE: Offseason Training Makes K-State More Selfless, Ready to Win Close Games
Oct 02, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
Get out of yourself.
The K-State men's basketball team heard those four words often this offseason. This message can be summed up by an exercise the Wildcats performed to finish one of the hardest workouts and more difficult weeks of training this summer.
In it, some Wildcats held a bar of weight above their head. Others pushed a sled stacked with weight. The kicker? Those holding the weight high could not let it down until their partner finished pushing the sled its required distance.
"So the guy that's on the sled is in a lot of pain. The guy that's holding the bar over his head is in a lot of pain. But the guy that's on the sled, he can easily slow down and push it at his own pace, but if he chooses to do that, he's choosing to think about himself and not thinking about his teammate, who's drastically suffering while he's pushing that sled," K-State's second-year strength and conditioning coach Ben O'Donnell said. "That workout was specifically designed to help them not think about themselves and think about how their teammates are suffering too."
Each week this summer, O'Donnell emphasized a different word, or pair of words, such as selfless, respect, mental toughness, integrity, humility, work hard and love. All of them are taped to his office window in the Ice Family Basketball Center, below the overarching theme of: "The Real Man," which O'Donnell gradually defined with his word of the week.
"Hopefully that carries into a great culture," he said. "That's what you want in a team. It doesn't matter who scores 20 that night as long as we win."
Winning, specifically winning more close games, was another emphasis this offseason. Junior guard Barry Brown said O'Donnell's program has prepared this team to do so.
"Ben has helped us be ready for late in games. I feel like the running and conditioning and the weights, all that stuff we do with him is helping us with the late-game situations. It's going to help us be able to push through in overtime," Brown said. "We're just trying to get our minds right so that when are in those close games, we can win more than we lost last year."
Last season, 17 of K-State's 35 games were decided by single digits. This included nine of the Wildcats' 14 losses. It's not a number K-State has buried or shied away from either.
"We've talked about it a lot, actually, as a team and as a staff, that we lost a lot of close games last year and that is something we're determined to change this year," senior Mason Schoen said. "I would say that we competed very heavily this summer and spring. The coaches incorporated a lot of competition with us because when you walk in the Big 12, you can't just expect wins. You have to go work for it.
"There's going to be close games this year that I think that competition in the spring and summer is really going to help us out with that."
In games decided by five points or less, K-State went 5-5 last season. Junior guard Kamau Stokes said the lessons from those losses, on top of the mental growth from this offseason, should lead to better results in tight games.
"It starts in the weight room. It starts on the court," Stokes said. "It starts with me, Barry, Dean (Wade), anybody that was here last year, because we experienced it so we know what we had to get better at and we hopefully won't make that mistake this year."
Coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance, K-State head coach Bruce Weber said he has seen the returners take their work effort to a new level that the Wildcats' seven newcomers have embraced as well.
"I know it has helped push them to a new gear and another level of intensity from the spring, into the summer and to the fall," said Weber, whose team's first practice was on Friday, with the first exhibition game set for October 29 against Fort Hays State. "Our whole summer theme has been about character, being accountable, being responsible and tough, toughness to win those close games, character to make the right play, and to do the right thing for your teammates. We have talked a lot about competitiveness. I think that is going to be one of our strengths.
"We want our guys to have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. Our little quote for the summer was, 'If you never wake up with something to prove, you will never improve.' We have talked about that all summer, and to me there is no doubt they have improved."
The K-State men's basketball team heard those four words often this offseason. This message can be summed up by an exercise the Wildcats performed to finish one of the hardest workouts and more difficult weeks of training this summer.
In it, some Wildcats held a bar of weight above their head. Others pushed a sled stacked with weight. The kicker? Those holding the weight high could not let it down until their partner finished pushing the sled its required distance.
"So the guy that's on the sled is in a lot of pain. The guy that's holding the bar over his head is in a lot of pain. But the guy that's on the sled, he can easily slow down and push it at his own pace, but if he chooses to do that, he's choosing to think about himself and not thinking about his teammate, who's drastically suffering while he's pushing that sled," K-State's second-year strength and conditioning coach Ben O'Donnell said. "That workout was specifically designed to help them not think about themselves and think about how their teammates are suffering too."
Each week this summer, O'Donnell emphasized a different word, or pair of words, such as selfless, respect, mental toughness, integrity, humility, work hard and love. All of them are taped to his office window in the Ice Family Basketball Center, below the overarching theme of: "The Real Man," which O'Donnell gradually defined with his word of the week.
"Hopefully that carries into a great culture," he said. "That's what you want in a team. It doesn't matter who scores 20 that night as long as we win."
Winning, specifically winning more close games, was another emphasis this offseason. Junior guard Barry Brown said O'Donnell's program has prepared this team to do so.
"Ben has helped us be ready for late in games. I feel like the running and conditioning and the weights, all that stuff we do with him is helping us with the late-game situations. It's going to help us be able to push through in overtime," Brown said. "We're just trying to get our minds right so that when are in those close games, we can win more than we lost last year."
Last season, 17 of K-State's 35 games were decided by single digits. This included nine of the Wildcats' 14 losses. It's not a number K-State has buried or shied away from either.
"We've talked about it a lot, actually, as a team and as a staff, that we lost a lot of close games last year and that is something we're determined to change this year," senior Mason Schoen said. "I would say that we competed very heavily this summer and spring. The coaches incorporated a lot of competition with us because when you walk in the Big 12, you can't just expect wins. You have to go work for it.
"There's going to be close games this year that I think that competition in the spring and summer is really going to help us out with that."
In games decided by five points or less, K-State went 5-5 last season. Junior guard Kamau Stokes said the lessons from those losses, on top of the mental growth from this offseason, should lead to better results in tight games.
"It starts in the weight room. It starts on the court," Stokes said. "It starts with me, Barry, Dean (Wade), anybody that was here last year, because we experienced it so we know what we had to get better at and we hopefully won't make that mistake this year."
Coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance, K-State head coach Bruce Weber said he has seen the returners take their work effort to a new level that the Wildcats' seven newcomers have embraced as well.
"I know it has helped push them to a new gear and another level of intensity from the spring, into the summer and to the fall," said Weber, whose team's first practice was on Friday, with the first exhibition game set for October 29 against Fort Hays State. "Our whole summer theme has been about character, being accountable, being responsible and tough, toughness to win those close games, character to make the right play, and to do the right thing for your teammates. We have talked a lot about competitiveness. I think that is going to be one of our strengths.
"We want our guys to have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. Our little quote for the summer was, 'If you never wake up with something to prove, you will never improve.' We have talked about that all summer, and to me there is no doubt they have improved."
Players Mentioned
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