Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang's message remains the same in good times and bad
MANHATTAN — As inconsistent as his Kansas State basketball team has been this season, and especially in the Big 12, Jerome Tang has stuck to his guns.
The way he sees it, telling the Wildcats one thing after a 4-1 conference start and then changing the message after they dropped five of their last six is not only counterproductive, but it can cause irreparable harm going forward.
"For some reason, I don't think everybody believes that we say it's a one-game season. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, we put it in a box and we move on," Tang said Thursday as the Wildcats looked forward to a pivotal 11 a.m. home game Saturday against TCU at Bramlage Coliseum. "That is how you have to (do it).
"If it changes, if my message changes throughout the season, then all the stuff we said earlier didn't matter, and the guys sense that panic and they feel it."
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Besides, Tang pointed out, at 15-9 overall with a 5-6 league record, the Wildcats are still on track to break even if they hold serve at home. And that, he insists, should be plenty good enough to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
"We're in a really good situation," Tang said. "We're where we thought we could be right now. We're 5-6, and we have four more home games. I feel like we're in a good spot.
"I really believe, and I know people have crunched numbers and did different things like that, and I don't think it matters. Nine wins in this league, and you're going to go to the NCAA Tournament, and I think there are going to be some teams in our league that have seven or eight wins that will get in also."
That may be wishful thinking, given that ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi currently does not have the Wildcats among the nine Big 12 members in the 68-team field, nor among the first four out or the next four after that. But given the fact that every conference team has at least three losses, much can change before it's all said and done.
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TCU (17-7, 6-5 Big 12) had dropped two straight games before beating 13th-place West Virginia at home Monday night. K-State took a solid Brigham Young team to the wire last Saturday, rallying from a 17-point deficit before losing, 72-66, and before that edged Kansas in overtime, 75-72, at Bramlage.
Tang saw signs in both games that the Wildcats had snapped out of a funk that seemingly bottomed out with a 20-point home loss to Oklahoma, followed by a three-point setback at last-place Oklahoma State.
"My message is, let's go 1-0. Let's go 1-0 in our film session, let's go 1-0 in practice," Tang said. "They've got school right now and I want them to go 1-0, taking care of that business.
"We'll come back (Thursday) evening and watch some more film. I want to go 1-0 then, and if we keep stacking those good 1-0s, then the results will take care of itself."
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang preaches consistency
