Big things expected from Martin, Kansas State this season in Big 12
Brian Smith - FOXSportsSouthwest.com
Watch any Kansas State basketball game and one thing becomes very apparent: Frank Martin is a passionate guy.
The Wildcats' head coach, who took over in 2007 after Bob Huggins' sudden departure shocked the program, wears his emotions on his sleeve and doesn't hold anything back on the court.
He'll break clip boards, scream until his voice is hoarse, and generally do whatever is necessary to keep his kids playing at a level he believes is acceptable. That level is the top of the Big 12, and according to the other coaches in the conferences, Martin has reached it. His team was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Big 12.
But Martin doesn't believe hype, because hype wears off as soon as the opening tip-off happens.
His teams will battle, bump and bruise their way to blue-collar victories. No matter how high the Wildcats are ranked, they will remain humble, driven and passionate.
Frank Martin will see to that. The head coach of the Wildcats talked about last season's success and his outlook for this year with FOXSportsSouthwest.com
Last season seemed to be a defining year for your program. At what point did you know you had something special on your hands?
We liked our team all preseason, but you just never know how good you are until you start competing with people. We lost to Ole Miss down in Puerto Rico, and that next day, without us coaches having to say a word, we probably had the most competitive, enthusiastic practice that I've ever been a part of. And at that moment, I went back to my hotel and I kind of figured that we had a chance. This team cares, and they want to compete and they want to get better. Then we went out the next day and beat a very good Dayton team, and it was a double-digit win. They obviously went on to win the NIT and were a very good basketball team. At that time was the first time I felt that we had a chance to be a good team.
You started last season unranked, but receiving votes in both polls. Did you feel like your team played with a bit of a chip on its shoulder throughout last season?
I don't know. I kind of laugh at that "overachieving, chip on the shoulder" stuff. I feel like you either play and compete to maximize who you are, or you underachieve. That's the way I look at things. If you're not doing the best that you can do everytime you go out there, then you're not doing your job. If people want to call that a chip on your shoulder, that's fine.
Your team beat Xavier in double overtime during the Sweet 16 in what was a grueling, great basketball game. You then lost to Butler just two days later. Do you think that fatigue had anything to do with your team losing?
I'm sure it had something to do with it, but Butler outplayed it. We didn't play as well as they did. They beat us. That Xavier game was great. That's what the NCAA Tournament is all about. That's why that tournament is unlike any other tournament in sports, because you don't get to play the same team best-of-three or best-of-five. Everytime you line up, you understand there's a chance your season's going to end. There's a different set of emotions you have to deal with. You're basically playing six game sevens is what you're doing.
After going through fall practices and the preseason, can you give us your general impressions on your team and how you feel about their progress so far?
I like our team a lot. They've been great. They work, they've been phenomenal. We've got ten freshmen and sophomores, so we're trying to get those guys up to speed. We're trying to get those guys as much experience and as prepared as we can to go play the schedule, because the schedule's hard.
You mentioned the youth of your team. Which of the younger guys have impressed you so far?
I think Wally Judge has been really good all preseason. I think he had a great summer and a heck of a preseason. He's gone out and really done some things that I'm excited about in those two exhibition games. More importantly, just how consistent he's been in practice. Wally's a sophomore, and all those newcomers got their feet wet. Willis Bradley and Shane Southwell, they've both gotten some game experience and they've both done some real good things and they've also had freshman moments. Freddy Asprilla, he hardly played at all last year at junior college, so getting his feet back under him and back on the floor is good for him. The one thing I've seen is a growth from the first game to the second game, and as a coach that's what you're looking for.
What, if anything, can you take away from the two preseason games you played? The competition obviously isn't division one caliber, but it is a chance to get your younger guys experience.
That's what those games are for: throw some guys out there, play in front of television cameras, 13,000 people, referees, a team in another uniform, and to have them adapt to how to handle emotions in those kinds of settings. It's really all to prepare for Friday, when it's our first our real test.
The loss of Denis Clemente is big for your team. How will you replace him as a scorer?
I don't know. You recruit players and you bring guys in that you think are talented enough to do their jobs when their numbers are called. It's kind of our job to have things in place. We lost Michael Beasley who scored 26, 27 points a game and we had more points the following year without him. The most difficult thing to replace is not numbers. It's not stats: points, rebounds, assists. You better be able to replace that. The most difficult thing to replace is leadership, and that's what we have to do. We're replacing Denis, Colon, Merrieweather, Dominique Sutton. They were all grown men. They had grown in our program. They understood what we stood for. We're losing them and now we've got freshmen and sophomores. And getting those guys up to speed, that's our challenge.
Rodney McGruder had a great game against Washburn in your final exhibition, scoring 18 points and making all five of his three-point attempts. Will he be a key in trying to fill the void left by Clemente?
He's definitely part of a solution. Rodney works his tail off, Rodney's an unbelievable young man. He embraces work. He embraces coaching. He's about the right things, and I fully expect him to have a real good year for us.
Curtis Kelly had a solid season for you last year and was a preseason all-conference pick by the coaches this season.
I don't run around worrying about individual guys. I worry about preparing our team to win games. I assume he's okay. I don't foresee him not being where he needs to be. I tried to play some guys in an exhibition games, and leading into that game, those were the guys that I felt were the most prepared to play. That's kind of the way I do business. What you did last year was great, but that doesn't correllate to success this year. That doesn't just go for him; that goes for everyone on the team as a whole.
You have a tough out-of-conference slate: Virginia Tech, Florida, Gonzaga, UNLV...but you went through a very similar pre-conference schedule last year. Did you feel like going through that slate last season helped better prepare your team for Big 12 and postseason play?
Yeah, absolutely. It's about challeging your team. It's not about tricking people, it's not about surprising people. It's about challenging your team. It's about holding your players, your staff, and everyone in your organization accountable to do their job everyday. The only way you can do that is by constantly challenging your people. That's what we try to do. Winning a game in the Big 12 is almost impossible. Competing for the Big 12 championship is very hard. So we have to prepare our team. We have to be mentally tough. We have to understand how to handle being knocked down, and learn how to get up and how to do it again. It's all part of the process.
Your teams are usually very strong on the boards. Last year, Kansas State was one of the best teams in the country in terms of offensive rebounding. Do you feel like rebounding is all heart and hustle, or are there particular skills your players need to have to excel on the glass?
We tell our guys, "Go rebound. If you don't rebound, you don't play." I don't mean to sound simplistic, but that's the bottom line with us. We demand that our guys go rebound the basketball. I think when someone shoots, if the other player's not rebounding, that's as selfish a play as there is in the game of basketball. When you shoot, the other guys go rebound, so when someone else shoots, you go rebound. It's about being unselfish, it's about committing yourselves to winning. And the way you win is to by winning more possessions than your opponents. Offensive rebounds get you extra possessions which helps you win possessions. That's just kind of the way we go about it.
Whenever a coach takes over a program, he tries to pattern it after his own image. What kind of image do you hope to project at Kansas State, not only this year but long-term?
Passion. Commitment to your job. Pride. When people see us play, I would hope that when the game's over, those are the kinds of words that come to their minds.
