[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Mr. Plow

Ouch.


Stolen from phog.net
From Jason King mailbag:
Email:
Nice to see you’re still a homer for Kansas, Jason. Marcus Morris is a terrible interior defender, a head-case and an average scorer. He had some great games, but didn’t exactly carry his team night in and night out. Anyone but Jacob Pullen for Big 12 Player of the Year is a laugh. He’s actually the Big 12’s leading scorer on conference games. He’s also the best defender in the conference and he isn’t surrounded by first-round talent. No-brainer.

Brian Moore
Shawnee, Kan.

Response:
I received a bunch of e-mails on this one, so I’ll give a lengthy answer just to make sure everyone understands where I was coming from. The award isn’t called Big 12 Player of the Last Three Weeks. It’s called Big 12 Player of the Year. As well as Pullen has been playing lately, it’d be irresponsible to forget about the first half of the season, when Kansas State was generally regarded as one of the biggest disappointments in all of college basketball. Analysts ranked the Wildcats No. 3 in the preseason poll mainly because of Pullen and the guidance he would supposedly bring to a squad that lost its emotional leader in Denis Clemente. Initially, Pullen failed. He missed 11 of his 12 shots in a 14-point loss to Duke and was on the court for his team’s embarrassing 44-point performance in a setback against Florida. Three days later, Pullen and Curtis Kelly were suspended for accepting impermissible benefits from a Manhattan clothing store. The suspensions led to a loss against UNLV that will eventually hurt the Wildcats’ NCAA tournament seeding. Pullen returned and not much changed, as Kansas State lost four of its first five Big 12 games. Instead of rallying his teammates, he pouted and said he’d refuse to play in the NIT if Kansas State failed to get to the NCAA tournament. It was a terrible look for Pullen and the Wildcats, who later had two players quit the team. I’m not blaming all of Kansas State’s early season troubles on Pullen, but as a senior captain, he should shoulder some of the responsibility. And just because he’s playing well now doesn’t mean we should ignore or forget about what happened in November, December and January – especially when you’re comparing him to the best player on a 28-2 team that just wrapped up its seventh straight conference title. Morris is a future first-round draft pick who Kansas’ Bill Self has labeled as the most versatile player he’s ever coached. Has he played better than Pullen during the last month? Absolutely not. But he’s had a better season that’s been free of selfish quotes and suspensions. And he hasn’t cost his team any games. From start to finish, Morris has been the best all-around player in the league. I’d love to see what kind of stats he could put up on a less-balanced team where he had the freedom to take 20 shots a game. Something, though, tells me Morris would prefer 28 wins and a conference championship to that kind of situation any day.