What to watch for in Washburn exhibition

Kansas State unofficially begins the Jerome Tang era on Tuesday night against Washburn in an exhibition game played at Bramlage Coliseum.

Tuesday night’s game is the first time that Kansas State will officially take the court with Tang as the Wildcats' head coach after being hired to replace Bruce Weber who resigned following the 2021-22 season.

The 2022-23 Wildcats return just two players from last season’s team, Markquis Nowell and Ismael Massoud. But the Wildcats do bring in some potentially exciting transfers including Florida transfer Keyontae Johnson, Arkansas State transfer Desi Sills and JUCO product Nae’Qwan Tomlin.

EMAW Online’s Alec Busse highlights five things to watch for in the Wildcats exhibition vs. Washburn on Tuesday night.

On Monday when Tang met with the press to preview the Wildcats exhibition game, he said that he hadn’t come to a conclusion on who would be in the starting lineup for the Cats, which also means he’s still likely putting the final touches on his rotation.

It’s likely fair to assume that Johnson, Sills, Nowell and Tomlin are going to be in the starting lineup considering their past pedigree and how much the Wildcat coaching staff has talked up the talents of Tomlin.

Massoud could be the Wildcats' fifth starter on Tuesday night, but at Big 12 Media Days, Tang said that Massoud was being asked to rebound more than he was in practice. But last season, he played 24.3 minutes per game and shot 33.3 percent from three. While Massoud will be asked to shoot a higher percentage from deep, he could be a strength for the Wildcat offense.

But the Wildcats do need Massoud to be a better defender than he was a year ago. Abayomi Iyola and David N’Guessan, two transfers, could also factor into the starting five.

The most glaring tone Tang touched on Monday was turnovers, and it sounds like the Wildcats may have struggled with controlling possession when playing against Southern Illinois in the Wildcats' secret scrimmage.

“What we need to work on is our turnovers,” Tang said. “We had the kind of turnovers that we have been highlighting in practice that we have to get better at these things. The first live-action, guys reverted back to their old habits in the first half. In the second half, we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball.

“What I like is that when the other team made a run, they actually took the lead on us a little bit. We didn’t panic. We settled down, regrouped and kept doing what we do. Was able to push the lead back to double digits in the second half. That kind of maturity, I like seeing that from our guys.”

Nowell is expected to have the ball in his hands to initiate the offense quite a bit, but he struggled at times a year ago with turnovers averaging more than 2.5 a game. In 2020-21 while playing at Little Rock, Nowell had more than 3.0 turnovers a game. Sills is also going to have the role of initiating the offense for K-State. Last season, he turned it over 2.5 times a game, a career-high, and about 17.4 percent of the time.

Both likely need to improve on their ability to effectively handle the ball for the K-State offense to get into a flow offensively.

Tang spent 19 seasons at Baylor, and the last few seasons have been marked by having athletic bigs that are able to effectively run the floor in transition. On Monday, Tang publicly said that he wants to see his bigs run the floor because it will open the floor up for shooters.

“I want them to put pressure on the offense by rim running,” Tang said. “Rim running in transition and then I want them to set really great screens and rim run. If they will rim run, they will impact the defense by making a second defender have to help. If a second defender has to help, it’s going to create an opening for somebody else. So, they’re doing that. Catch and finish. It sounds simple, but it’s hard to do. We are going to do simple better.”

Tomlin’s skillset should fit that style. At an athletically built 6-foot-10, Tomlin has the ability to be effective in transition on both offense and defense. He owns an impressive wingspan, and he’s strong with the ball in his hands.

Iyola has the ability to effectively run the floor too, but he’s also strong in the halfcourt with his ability to switch and guard on the perimeter. Look for Iyola to be a weapon on the defensive end for the Wildcats.

It’s been nearly two years since Johnson last played a competitive basketball game because of a heart condition that kept him from being cleared by doctors at Florida. Tuesday, the former SEC Preseason Player of the Year, returns to game action.

Johnson likely faces some rust as returns to action, but he’s athletic, bouncy and skilled – and if K-State is going to find success this season in the Big 12, Johnson is going to have to be one of the Wildcats' best players.

At Big 12 Media Days, Tang hinted that Johnson still needs to get a bit used to the conditioning aspect and understanding that his lungs are being worked – not his heart. But he’s also started to find some confidence in himself.

During his time at Baylor, Tang became known for standing on the sidelines and providing instruction to the Bears’ players. Now as a head coach, it will be interesting to follow Tang’s temperament.

How active is he going to be when providing instruction? What kind of attitude does Tang employ when calling timeouts? How does he handle instructing players?

These questions and much more are going to be interesting to follow through the flow of the game.