Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A look at Michael Beasley makes it easy to forget about last year’s Big 12 player of the year, Kevin Durant. After all, this year’s Big 12 freshman phenom is practically the perfect post player.
Beasley’s mountainous upper body and sturdy legs have “NBA future” written all over them. The Kansas State forward can rebound — his 12.7 rebounds per game are best in the Big 12. He can defend — his 1.8 blocks per game are third in the conference. Beasley can score in a variety of ways — he’s scoring 26 points per game and shooting 38 percent from three-point range.
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Comparing college basketball’s most sensational freshman of the last two years
FG% 3FG% Minutes Blocks Steals Rebounds Points
Kevin Durant (2006-2007) 47% 40% 35.9 1.9 1.9 11.1 25.8
Michael Beasley (2007-2008) 56% 38% 29.6 1.7 1.3 12.7 25.3
Kansas coach Bill Self, who has proven to be an exceptional evaluator of basketball talent, is a Beasley believer.
“Some guys just know how to score, some guys just know how to use their body better than others — to initiate contact, get to the free throw line — and he’s really good with either hand around the basket,” Self said. “He’s a terrific prospect, one of the best prospects that college basketball has seen in many, many years.”
But to merely glance at Beasley’s gaudy stat line and rugged physique and declare Kansas State on par with teams such as Kansas and Memphis would be an egregious oversight. Sure, Beasley dominates the game, but he dominates because he has to. No other player on his team is willing — or perhaps able — to play at an elite level.
Bill Walker, Kansas State forward, is a nice all-around player, but his 46 percent field goal shooting and 6-foot-6 frame don’t stack up as well at the power forward position as they did when he played on the perimeter. Besides Beasley and Walker, the names on the Wildcat roster just don’t pass the smell test.
There is Clent Stewart, the point guard who has twice as many turnovers as steals. There is Jacob Pullen, the freshman guard who is shooting an unimpressive 24 percent from beyond the arc (he’s attempted nearly as many three-pointers as Mario Chalmers has). There is Blake Young, who is just cracking 33 percent from the field this year.
nutgraf
Kansas coach Bill Self, who has proven to be an exceptional evaluator of basketball talent, is a Beasley believer.
Take a look at the bench, and things start to get very ugly. Andre Gilbert, the Wildcats’ top wing reserve, has made 29 percent of his three-pointers. Post backups Ron Anderson and Darren Kent aren’t threats to scoring or blocking.
Standing in stark contrast to Kansas State’s one-man show is Kansas’ dangerous, multi-pronged attack. Darrell Arthur doesn’t post Beasley-esque numbers because he doesn’t need to; Darnell Jackson helps him clean the boards and fill the stat sheet. Beasley plays nearly 30 minutes per game. Neither Jackson nor Arthur plays more than 25 minutes per game because Kansas coach Bill Self has a capable reinforcement in the form of defender-extraordinaire Sasha Kaun.
The Jayhawk backcourt is exceptionally balanced, very talented and quietly productive. Mario Chalmers can seemingly shoot from anywhere (48 percent on three-pointers), Brandon Rush isn’t too shabby himself (44 percent), and how about Russell Robinson’s defense? Robinson and Chalmers have 98 steals combined to help the Jayhawks to the best steal-per-possession figure in the nation.
Kansas has backcourt reserves in spades. Sherron Collins, who would start at about 330 of the nation’s 341 Division-I programs, is only playing 22 minutes per game and is on his way back to full health. Rodrick Stewart, who was once a starter at USC, has emerged as a good defender and decent offensive option.
If Kansas State’s roster were ripe with McDonald’s All-Americans, Beasley wouldn’t be taking 35 percent of his team’s shots or racking up ridiculous rebounding numbers. If the Jayhawks pieced together a patchwork bunch around a single star, Arthur’s statistics might look a little better. But a cast of ultra-talented players willing to fill modest roles is what makes a conference champion — Kansas fans have seen that up close each of the last two years.
Make no mistake about it: Michael Beasley will be the best player on the floor Wednesday night.
But he won’t be playing for the better team.
— Edited by Katherine Loeck
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Comments
Fusco: Kansas State’s one-man show
Pretty amazing attitude considering that Danny Manning was a one man show as well for ku in 1988, and I think you could also argue the supporting cast currently at K State is as good or better than the supporting cast at ku.
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