MANHATTAN, Kan. — Once the court storm was over and Jerome Tang finished his media responsibilities late Tuesday night, he was pulled aside and asked about that final play call again — the one where Keyontae Johnson posted up, spun and Markquis Nowell threw him the alley-oop to beat Kansas State’s Goliath rival 83-82 in overtime in Tang’s first try as head coach.
It takes courage to make that call in that situation against that opponent.
That’s Tang: all faith, confidence and no excuses.
This is his program, and fear of anyone, especially his neighbors to the east, is not an option.
“This is not an anomaly, right?” he said. “This is who we are going to be moving forward.”
This past summer Tang looked me in the eyes and told me he expected to make an NCAA tournament. When he sensed just the slightest bit of skepticism, he repeated it again, knowing those words would be printed and that he was creating an expectation most coaches avoid in Year 1, especially when taking over a program in which he would retain just two players.
Part of the job to be done was remaking what his fans believed could be accomplished. One big draw to Kansas State was the fans and the atmosphere he’d seen when the Wildcats were good. It’s hard to win in the way he wanted to win without that kind of support. But great programs rarely celebrate with court storms.
“I told y’all you get one court storm,” Tang said postgame, standing on the scorer’s table. “From here on out, expect to win.”
Tang has won just about every day since he took the job. He won the press conference, and then he got to work convincing a group of young men that they could dream much bigger than they ever had. His gift is an unbelievable presence that makes people believers.
“It’s about the bigger picture, and knowing that you’re supposed to have success,” Nowell said. It should be noted that no one from the outside really believed, because K-State was picked 10th in the Big 12 in the preseason.
“That’s what he’s been trying to emphasize, we’re supposed to win these type of games,” Nowell said. “We’re supposed to win national championships.”
It sounded crazy a few months ago, but no one is looking side-eyed at these Wildcats anymore, especially after they put 116 points on Texas and won at Baylor in a four-day stretch.
Kansas was just the next beast to slay.
Kansas State proved all night that it could go blow for blow with the defending national champs. But that’s not uncommon in this bear of a conference. The hard part is finishing off the second-ranked Jayhawks. When it’s close in the end, they always seem to win. In just the last three weeks, KU had won twice in games it trailed by double digits and three games that came down to the final possession. KU already won in overtime this season. It won last year in this building when trailing by 17. It won a national championship after trailing North Carolina by 15.
KU coach Bill Self would say after this one that he absolutely would have taken a scenario where his team had the ball twice with a chance to win. That’s because his team seems to always get the shot it wants in those scenarios, and its opponent rarely does.
Kansas State’s Keyontae Johnson drives to the basket against Kansas’ Kevin McCullar Jr. (Peter Aiken / Getty Images)
On this night, KU wouldn’t even get a shot on either of those possessions.
The Wildcats, almost to their detriment, were a little too predictable down the stretch. They repeatedly isolated Johnson and hoped he would go win the game for them. Over the final five minutes of regulation, Johnson missed all four of his shot attempts, three of which were isolation post-ups.
K-State diversified in overtime, moving the ball again and playing off one another. But Tang is a believer in going to your star in the biggest moment, as most coaches are.
“A guy at Baylor named Bill Peterson, terrific coach, he would tell me, ‘Jerome, a coach is a good coach when he gets his best players the most shots.’”
Tang looked down at the stat sheet: KU star Jalen Wilson, who scored 38 points, attempted 25 shots; Johnson attempted 17.
Of course, basketball coaches are sort of predictable in the biggest moments. Usually, they’re going to go to their star, and usually, there’s a fear to complicate things too much. Simply get out of the way and let him make a shot.
But the best coaches will find a way to make it easier on their stars. Maybe create deception or get him to his favored hand in space.
Before that final offensive possession of overtime, Tang called timeout and the play he designed appeared to be exactly what KU was expecting: a right-block iso to Johnson. But he had a twist.
If KU overplayed, Johnson had the option to spin and Nowell was to throw the lob. It’s a high-degree-of-difficulty play. It seems a little crazy at game point to even give your players that option.
Johnson told Nowell he thought Wilson would overplay it, so be ready. Wilson tried to take the pass away and had both feet above Johnson’s, so he went for it.
“These dudes are dudes,” Tang said. “When the game is on the line, big-time players got to make big-time plays in big-time moments.”
But in that moment?
Tang, again, sensed a sliver of doubt, and the guy knows how to drop a mic.
“Doesn’t Bill Self run lobs at game point?” he asked before answering his own question. “All the time.”
(Top photo of K-State coach Jerome Tang with players celebrating their overtime win: Peter Aiken / Getty Images)
