By Corbin McGuire
The season might be a marathon but the start of it is closer to a sprint for the K-State men's and women's basketball teams.
Both Wildcat teams open their regular season on Friday in a doubleheader of action at Bramlage Coliseum, with the women facing Stephen F. Austin at 5:30 p.m., while the men will take on American at 8 p.m.
For K-State's women, with seven newcomers and five true freshmen, Friday will start a stretch of four games in 10 days. Head coach
Jeff Mittie said the key for his youthful team would be how well it embraces the grind of practices during this early stretch.
"So far they've been pretty solid at that. Even if they've come in a little bit relaxed, I've been able to turn that around in practice," he said. "The challenge will be the different styles of play, people doing different things against us, how quickly we can make adjustments during the game and how mature can we be if things aren't going our way."
For the men, its battle with American marks the first of six games in 15 days.
"We'll learn a lot about our team," K-State men's head coach
Bruce Weber said. "If we get on a roll, it should be a fun two weeks."
K-State's exhibition schedules, which included three games for the men and two for the women, served as the first display of improvements made in the offseason. They also indicated areas in need of growth.
One positive Weber has already noticed is how his team's summer focus has translated into his team's collective work ethic.
"One of our themes this summer was character and our strength coach (
Ben O'Donnell) talked a lot about being a man, being accountable, being responsible, leadership, and there's no doubt that's there," Weber said. "We have a great group. They come every day and we don't have to fight them to practice hard. They come and compete. They stay extra. They come early. They're doing the extra stuff that they need to get better."
Weber said having a mostly healthy roster has played a large role in upping the competitiveness at practice. Already, he said it's carried over into games, especially defensively. The Wildcats limited their three exhibition opponents, including Missouri State, which was picked to win the Missouri Valley, to an average of 54 points on 33 percent shooting.
"Having Cartier (Diarra), having Xavier (Sneed), having Amaad (Wainright), it's made those other guys guard in practice," Weber said. "Every day they're getting better in practice at defending."
With a high number of freshmen and newcomers being thrust into sizable roles, Mittie said he wants to see how quickly the team matures on the court.
"The general answer for a young player if things aren't going well is, 'If I score, everything's good.' We have to get that mentality of going to do other things because I think scoring is going to be fleeting for that group at times," he said. "If I'm watching film of past games and I may not remember the stats, but I'm looking on the floor and I can't tell if they're having a bad game or a good game, that's maturity.
"This team is a young team in that. Right now, we wear our emotions right there on our sleeve. You can tell if things are going well or if things are going bad. We've got to be a more mature basketball team as we get into the season."
So far, senior
Kaylee Page said the newcomers have taken significant strides. She expects more of the same as the season gets rolling.
"They're really honing in their skills and figuring out what they're good at and what to bring to the team and what their roles are," she said. "Once the games hit, everything gets so much more exciting and it honestly will give our younger ones a purpose to the practices. You get into those four weeks of just straight practice and it's just a grind. Now, we're actually preparing for somebody."
For both Wildcat teams, Friday ends the long-awaited arrival of games that count.
"This is what we've been practicing for," junior forward
Dean Wade said. "Spring workouts, 6 a.m. lifts, this is what we've been working towards. It's finally here."
The women's game on Friday will be available live and for free on K-StateHD.TV. The men's season-opener will be broadcast on Fox Sports Kansas City. It will also be streamed live on ESPN3 and for free on K-StateHD.TV.
