K-StateFans.com • By Fans, For Fans of Kansas State University

Sorry, I couldn't link it. In short, I about came unglued when they asked Dean if the fan talk about him needing to be more aggressive on offense and shoot more annoyed him in his time here. He said, "Yes, it did" , but went on to say that now he understands they were right and he did need to be more aggressive.

The kid recognizes now, but I seriously still question the lack of emphasis put on him being "the guy". I questioned it often when he was here (and received much criticism from some on here for it). I will always question it.

I'm glad Cleveland is having success in getting the message through. I'm also glad Dean get's it, because he is good. NBA good.

Yes he is. I'm finally going to pay attention to at least a little of the NBA.

Exactly, he(and the coaching staff) did get a lot of criticism. Was tough to see him defer to his teammates so much. But glad things are changing now in the NBA.

Wanting Dean to shoot it more was an emphasis amongst the coaches but it wasn’t insisted on or emphasized enough to Dean and the team.

Puffdad wrote: ↑

July 25th, 2020, 11:30 pm

Wanting Dean to shoot it more was an emphasis amongst the coaches but it wasn’t insisted on or emphasized enough to Dean and the team.

I always thought that (didn't know, just suspected through 4 years of observation), and I was very critical of it, as when you have a player like Dean, you gotta ride that horse a little more. Hearing the interview and Dean saying how Coach Weber addressed it, usually with a walk by, "Shoot the ball", just confirmed what I thought all along. it wasn't communicated as an expectation, but more of a "please?" Dean's talents were not maximized by this staff, imo.

I got blasted on here by a few for saying that, but I fully believed it, and still do.

I know the players love Bruce (why wouldn't they? Great guy) and he has had his share of success, but if you want to be elite, you have to have your elite players more involved. I didnt see nearly enough sets for Dean for my liking, and often 3-4 possessions in a row without a touch. Thats when I would be yelling at the TV, "Get the damn ball to Dean.

I'm still scratching my head how in 4 years, you don't sit him down, look him in the eye, and say, "Dean, I dont think I'm getting through to you. You are a difference maker. You have NBA potential. Your teammates know it and will not be offended if you take over a game, and if they are, too damn bad. Most nights, you are the best player on the floor and for us to be great, we MUST increase your looks at the basket. This isn't a request, this is what HAS to happen." Then, go out to practice and enforce the expectation to everyone that if Dean gets 4-5 more shots a game, we are going to be better for it because he is the best shooter and player on this team.

Sometimes a coach has to be very direct and very demanding of their expectations of their players. I know you are very aware of this Puff. When expectations are set, the players will try like heck to meet them, but when it's only addressed in a walk by at the end of the half, and it's allowed to continue, players subconsciously don't think it's really that big of a deal. Not only that, the other players are in the dark.

It's all water under the bridge now and I'm extremely happy for Dean, but this interview just stirred up past emotions that boggled my mind with the coaching staff during his 4 years here.

Every staff has some weaknesses, and imo, developing roles is an area that could be improved with this staff. I could name other players who clearly were confused by their roles in the past few years, but I think you probably have a good idea of what I'm getting at.

Having said all of that, I am excited about this incoming class and the future. Wish I could be more excited to watch the NBA, as I won't, but I will follow Dean's progress and always wish nothing but success for him because he is a great person and great representative of KSU and the state of Kansas.

I think the recurring injuries had a large effect on Dean never hitting his stride, When he was healthy he was very good.

A couple of other thoughts. First, Dean from day 1 played with guards that came in with him and it is usually easier for guards to adjust to college hoops right away, so from day 1, he was playing with Barry, Kam and Wes handling the ball most of the time. Wes was a distributor, but I would say Barry was wired to be ball-dominate and Kam was a shoot-first guard, so from day 1, those guys were looking to score in a time when college basketball is dominated by ball-dominant guards. By the time Dean was ready to step forward and be a dominant player, Barry and Kam felt like they were go-to guys as well, and guess what, they had the ball in their hands most of the time. Dean was not going to orchestrate offense with the ball in his hands a whole lot, so he was reliant on those guys getting him the ball, and how often did we holler at those guys for shooting with not a lot of other people touching it?

Second, I think Weber and Co. had some scar tissue from the mass exodus with Foster and Co. and honestly, they knew if Kam and Barry left, they were in big trouble, so I think they tried to keep them as happy as possible, which was not a terrible idea, however, that probably kept the coaches from being quite as adamant about them making Dean the main offensive weapon.

Honestly, although they reached some great heights, if we wanted to see Dean as a dominate, first option weapon, it would probably have been better for him to be playing with new guards when he was a junior and a senior. for example, lets say Dean was coming back for his junior or senior season THIS year, with Pack, Ruesdale, etc. all coming in fresh and new. The coaches could tell those guys from day 1, "Dean is our #1 option, if you want minutes, everything runs through him." HOWEVER, with Kam and Barry, I'm sure they felt they were just as important, if not more, than Dean was.

And most importantly, it would have been nice had they not wanted him to pack on so much weight and hopefully that would have kept him healthy. I wish they would have realized that a guy like Dean just needed to lift and be in great condition and didn't need to try and add a bunch of weight. Maybe that would have kept him healthy. It seems to be working for him now.

I agree with much of what you are saying, but that reasoning would be unacceptable in a lot of programs that EXPECT to compete year in and year out. There is more to coaching than X's and O's. I think Bruce is endearing to his players. I think he is a good teacher of the game, but I think he is lacking in the communication department. Im just saying, this staff has a history of its best players repeating detrimental on court behaviors by their best players, whether it be attitude or just displaying inconsistent understanding of their strengths as a player. This points clearly to lack of communicating precise expectations and defined roles, imo.

We have much young talent coming in and I hope this staff has learned some things. Just listening to Dean, whom I trust as an honest person, confirmed to me everything about this subject that I suspected tracing all the way back to the Marcus circus.

Many people just watch the games, but if you truly observe body language and player habits/patterns as I do, its noticeable that many of our players under Bruce seem unaware of role expectations.

Yes, Dean had health issues, but when he was healthy, I remember multiple games where he would go 2-3 straight possessions doing nothing but setting ball screens at 23 feet and zero touches when we were struggling to score. Mind boggling. I had "let go" of these frustrations until hearing Dean's KSO interview. He didnt come right out and say it, but it's what he didn't say...

Maybe some blame on the coaches. Maybe quite a bit of blame on injuries.
But Dean got the ball in his hands a lot. Lots of two man games set up with he and Kam, he and Barry and he and Sneed. And he easily could have put up more open shots. Fans were screaming at him to shoot the ball. They were not screaming at Kam and Barry to get him the ball.
But the fact he did not play while fully healthy may have been more of a factor than we know.

Another new highlight video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9dD6iQI-N0