Head Coach Bruce Weber Previews Kansas Game
Feb 01, 2021 | Men's Basketball
The Wildcats and Jayhawks to meet for the 294th time on Tuesday night
MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State head coach Bruce Weber met with members of the media via Zoom on Monday morning, as the Wildcats continue preparations for Tuesday's game at No. 23 Kansas (11-6, 5-4 Big 12) at 7 p.m., CT at Allen Fieldhouse. The game will air nationally on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Kansas State (5-13, 1-8 Big 12) opens the month of February with a short trip down I-70 to renew its longstanding rivalry with Kansas in the 294th edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. It is the sixth-most played rivalry (293) and eighth-most continuously played (114) in NCAA Division I history.
Kansas is 11-6 on the season after dropping an 80-61 decision to No. 18/17 Tennessee on Saturday.
HEAD COACH BRUCE WEBER
On the status of DaJuan Gordon...
"Not the worst, but not the best. Not anything severe, but definitely it's going to be probably longer than quicker, the recovery. It was not a Jones fracture, which was our first fear when they did their first examination which is good. Knowing him, we didn't think last time he would come back like he did and as quick as he did. This is the other foot. He's got a great drive and good pain tolerance. He already put a lot of time in with (athletic trainer) Luke (Sauber) yesterday and this morning. He wants sooner than later, but we'll just have to see how he responds. It's a different injury than just a sprain."
On how the team responded without DaJuan Gordon…
"I think they did fine. He leads us on the play hard, not only leads us, but I think it's 30-40 for the next one and probably 50 over the other guys. We miss his energy. He's our leading rebounder. We'll miss that, but I thought the other guys came in. He's got more experience than maybe Luke (Kasubke) and Selton (Miguel), but we had a chance to win the game. We battled. We did a lot of good things. I really thought it we held them in the 50's that we would've won the game. That was our goal. They got 44 in the second half. We had some breakdowns on the defensive end. They made some shots, and they made free throws. They usually shoot 65 percent or less, and they went 22-of-26. Chandler stepped up and made some 3's. Obviously a tough loss, a tough loss for our guys. At least I thought we made some progress as a team and did some good things. Now can we keep going forward even though we have another setback without DaJuan?"
On the Kansas Jayhawks…
"It's pretty obvious. They've had their struggles also. Not as severe as ours, but they've lost four of five. For them, that's not a normal thing. They've had some shooting woes, and that's what worries me. If they don't shoot it well, obviously that's to our benefit. I think the big thing is that we have to stay in front of them and keep them out of the paint. Obviously (Marcus) Garrett is really good at getting into the paint. They have started throwing it inside a lot to (David) McCormack. They've been going to their big guy more with more confidence with him trying to find some scoring because they haven't shot it well. We've gotta do a great job with preparation on some of their quick hitters where they feed the post that they've been really good at in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out some kind of gimmick defense. He's ran triangle and two and box and one, and he's used zone against us. They need a win. We need a win. Both teams will come in a special rivalry, come and get after it."
On the lineup without DaJuan (Gordon)…
"Selton (Miguel) would move back in. Antonio (Gordon) had a good stretch for us and gave us a nice boost. We just need some consistency out of both those guys. Luke (Kasubke) is going to play. I don't think you can play big against them. They really play small most of the game. If they would go big, we would be able to match it with Kaosi (Ezeagu), Davion (Bradford), Carlton (Linguard) and Seryee (Lewis). It's a little different game. We thought the other day we could play some big even though they went little, and they took advantage of us a little bit when they went litte. Miller and Flagg had some points at one stretch that was maybe one of the differences in the game. Luke's gotta play. Luke played the other night, I think 15 or 16 minutes. Very, very solid. Did a nice job on defense. There's not a whole lot of choices, to be honest. Hopefully, those guys will stay out of foul trouble, and a couple other guys have to make some shots. When you study the stats, it's pretty obvious. One, do we be more patient, get to the free throw line and get the ball inside the paint? Two, if we're going to shoot 3's, we need to step up and make them."
On Nijel Pack's shooting adjustments…
"We've worked with him obviously. We put a lot of time into shooting. It hasn't shown, and I think we're better shooters than we have shown. I think some of it is confidence. I know with Rudi (Williams) and Luke (Kasubke), some of it is experience and getting out there. Selton (Miguel), I think I mentioned the other day, he was in the 40's in high school, and we need some of those guys to make some of those open shots to spread the defense and allow us to get in the paint. Antonio would be nice, too. With Nijel, we were talking about one of his workouts in his return to play, and he hit 80 out of 100 3's. We tracked the shots in his return to play, how many shots he's allowed each day and pushing himself. One of them, he made 80 out of 100, so we've talked a lot with him about footwork. We've talked a lot about using his legs and that follow through at the end. Obviously he had a special night the other night, just would've been nice to have a win."
On if Nijel Pack has a quicker release…
"I think just being ready and legs. Legs, feet, footwork, that's what shooting is and that's what we've really tried to emphasize. I think he had to go through it. He's said it. I've said it. What he's told me before on the media is that it's an adjustment. You don't realize how quick, athletic and physical the college game is. Carlton was on our radio show the other day. He said he watched the games last year and thought he could be alright playing against these guys. Then you get here and find out this is a whole different level. You gotta adjust and learn and grow, and that's what those guys are going through."
On what has caused Kansas issues this season…
"I think shooting is one of the things. You look at their stats overall, shooting has dropped overall since they got into conference. Obviously the conference is really good. They don't have that true, experienced point guard. You think about (Devon) Dotson and (Frank) Mason, they're NBA players. When you have that and then you have big fellas inside, how do you form a team? You get a point guard and leader. You get a big man inside. It's the old Al McGuire and Dick Vitale, get your leader and general, get your aircraft carrier and battleship inside, and they've had that. Then they've mixed in very talented players around them that make them effective. (Marcus) Garrett is a really good player, and when they had Garrett and Dotson last year, they had two point guards and both of them were creating. It made them so effective. They have some young and good guards coming up. They're just freshmen, and when you look at Frank Mason when he was a freshman, Bill did not like playing him. Man, he's good, but then he'd make a mistake. The same with Dotson. Obviously, he had Mason there, but those guys will get better. They've hit a bit of a dip here, but I'm sure they'll have a good finish to the season."
On how the team responded against Texas A&M…
"I was happy and I was sad. I wanted it so badly for our guys. We've gone through so much. When you talk about being tested everyday, it's hard and it makes it tough. I thought they came back with great energy and battled their tails off. That's all we can ask for. It was really good for Nijel. We put a lot of pressure on him. We didn't want to put so much pressure on him coming back. I had hoped the other day to keep him in the 20's and build up to 30. Playing him 37-38 minutes and there were a couple times where he was popped and we had to use our timeouts just to give a little bit of rest. He stepped up, and he was pretty good."
On Davion Bradford's extended minutes on the bench against A&M…
"Just to keep him fresh, and Kaosi went in and got a couple of things done. We wanted to rotate. We had played him a lot of minutes. They went little. Kaosi is a little bit better probably on the perimeter than he is."
On keeping cool heads against KU…
"I was watching our game last year, and it hit me late last night that I need to make sure to talk to them about what happened last year. It was not the right way to have any game finish, whether it's against them or anyone else. We gotta make sure we keep our poise and play the right way and act the right way."
Kansas State (5-13, 1-8 Big 12) opens the month of February with a short trip down I-70 to renew its longstanding rivalry with Kansas in the 294th edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. It is the sixth-most played rivalry (293) and eighth-most continuously played (114) in NCAA Division I history.
Kansas is 11-6 on the season after dropping an 80-61 decision to No. 18/17 Tennessee on Saturday.
HEAD COACH BRUCE WEBER
On the status of DaJuan Gordon...
"Not the worst, but not the best. Not anything severe, but definitely it's going to be probably longer than quicker, the recovery. It was not a Jones fracture, which was our first fear when they did their first examination which is good. Knowing him, we didn't think last time he would come back like he did and as quick as he did. This is the other foot. He's got a great drive and good pain tolerance. He already put a lot of time in with (athletic trainer) Luke (Sauber) yesterday and this morning. He wants sooner than later, but we'll just have to see how he responds. It's a different injury than just a sprain."
On how the team responded without DaJuan Gordon…
"I think they did fine. He leads us on the play hard, not only leads us, but I think it's 30-40 for the next one and probably 50 over the other guys. We miss his energy. He's our leading rebounder. We'll miss that, but I thought the other guys came in. He's got more experience than maybe Luke (Kasubke) and Selton (Miguel), but we had a chance to win the game. We battled. We did a lot of good things. I really thought it we held them in the 50's that we would've won the game. That was our goal. They got 44 in the second half. We had some breakdowns on the defensive end. They made some shots, and they made free throws. They usually shoot 65 percent or less, and they went 22-of-26. Chandler stepped up and made some 3's. Obviously a tough loss, a tough loss for our guys. At least I thought we made some progress as a team and did some good things. Now can we keep going forward even though we have another setback without DaJuan?"
On the Kansas Jayhawks…
"It's pretty obvious. They've had their struggles also. Not as severe as ours, but they've lost four of five. For them, that's not a normal thing. They've had some shooting woes, and that's what worries me. If they don't shoot it well, obviously that's to our benefit. I think the big thing is that we have to stay in front of them and keep them out of the paint. Obviously (Marcus) Garrett is really good at getting into the paint. They have started throwing it inside a lot to (David) McCormack. They've been going to their big guy more with more confidence with him trying to find some scoring because they haven't shot it well. We've gotta do a great job with preparation on some of their quick hitters where they feed the post that they've been really good at in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out some kind of gimmick defense. He's ran triangle and two and box and one, and he's used zone against us. They need a win. We need a win. Both teams will come in a special rivalry, come and get after it."
On the lineup without DaJuan (Gordon)…
"Selton (Miguel) would move back in. Antonio (Gordon) had a good stretch for us and gave us a nice boost. We just need some consistency out of both those guys. Luke (Kasubke) is going to play. I don't think you can play big against them. They really play small most of the game. If they would go big, we would be able to match it with Kaosi (Ezeagu), Davion (Bradford), Carlton (Linguard) and Seryee (Lewis). It's a little different game. We thought the other day we could play some big even though they went little, and they took advantage of us a little bit when they went litte. Miller and Flagg had some points at one stretch that was maybe one of the differences in the game. Luke's gotta play. Luke played the other night, I think 15 or 16 minutes. Very, very solid. Did a nice job on defense. There's not a whole lot of choices, to be honest. Hopefully, those guys will stay out of foul trouble, and a couple other guys have to make some shots. When you study the stats, it's pretty obvious. One, do we be more patient, get to the free throw line and get the ball inside the paint? Two, if we're going to shoot 3's, we need to step up and make them."
On Nijel Pack's shooting adjustments…
"We've worked with him obviously. We put a lot of time into shooting. It hasn't shown, and I think we're better shooters than we have shown. I think some of it is confidence. I know with Rudi (Williams) and Luke (Kasubke), some of it is experience and getting out there. Selton (Miguel), I think I mentioned the other day, he was in the 40's in high school, and we need some of those guys to make some of those open shots to spread the defense and allow us to get in the paint. Antonio would be nice, too. With Nijel, we were talking about one of his workouts in his return to play, and he hit 80 out of 100 3's. We tracked the shots in his return to play, how many shots he's allowed each day and pushing himself. One of them, he made 80 out of 100, so we've talked a lot with him about footwork. We've talked a lot about using his legs and that follow through at the end. Obviously he had a special night the other night, just would've been nice to have a win."
On if Nijel Pack has a quicker release…
"I think just being ready and legs. Legs, feet, footwork, that's what shooting is and that's what we've really tried to emphasize. I think he had to go through it. He's said it. I've said it. What he's told me before on the media is that it's an adjustment. You don't realize how quick, athletic and physical the college game is. Carlton was on our radio show the other day. He said he watched the games last year and thought he could be alright playing against these guys. Then you get here and find out this is a whole different level. You gotta adjust and learn and grow, and that's what those guys are going through."
On what has caused Kansas issues this season…
"I think shooting is one of the things. You look at their stats overall, shooting has dropped overall since they got into conference. Obviously the conference is really good. They don't have that true, experienced point guard. You think about (Devon) Dotson and (Frank) Mason, they're NBA players. When you have that and then you have big fellas inside, how do you form a team? You get a point guard and leader. You get a big man inside. It's the old Al McGuire and Dick Vitale, get your leader and general, get your aircraft carrier and battleship inside, and they've had that. Then they've mixed in very talented players around them that make them effective. (Marcus) Garrett is a really good player, and when they had Garrett and Dotson last year, they had two point guards and both of them were creating. It made them so effective. They have some young and good guards coming up. They're just freshmen, and when you look at Frank Mason when he was a freshman, Bill did not like playing him. Man, he's good, but then he'd make a mistake. The same with Dotson. Obviously, he had Mason there, but those guys will get better. They've hit a bit of a dip here, but I'm sure they'll have a good finish to the season."
On how the team responded against Texas A&M…
"I was happy and I was sad. I wanted it so badly for our guys. We've gone through so much. When you talk about being tested everyday, it's hard and it makes it tough. I thought they came back with great energy and battled their tails off. That's all we can ask for. It was really good for Nijel. We put a lot of pressure on him. We didn't want to put so much pressure on him coming back. I had hoped the other day to keep him in the 20's and build up to 30. Playing him 37-38 minutes and there were a couple times where he was popped and we had to use our timeouts just to give a little bit of rest. He stepped up, and he was pretty good."
On Davion Bradford's extended minutes on the bench against A&M…
"Just to keep him fresh, and Kaosi went in and got a couple of things done. We wanted to rotate. We had played him a lot of minutes. They went little. Kaosi is a little bit better probably on the perimeter than he is."
On keeping cool heads against KU…
"I was watching our game last year, and it hit me late last night that I need to make sure to talk to them about what happened last year. It was not the right way to have any game finish, whether it's against them or anyone else. We gotta make sure we keep our poise and play the right way and act the right way."
Players Mentioned
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