We were fortunate enough to track down Panjandrum of BringOntheCats, a really well done Kansas State Wildcat blog.  It's the type of blog that we here at the Review aspire to, but shall never attain.  On with the show.

Ollie: Outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, where they've named several churches after him, most of the country sees Bob Huggins as a sleazy coach who's willing to sacrifice integrity for wins.  After his one-and-done in Manhattan, how do you feel about "Huggie Bear"?

PJ: Personally, I am thankful for Huggins' time in Manhattan.  If it weren't for that perfect storm of events that lead to his short stay, we would never have had Frank Martin as our coach, Michael Beasley and Bill Walker as players, and there's a good chance someone we had never heard of would be the head coach at Kansas State.

Now, I'm not exactly thrilled at how Huggins left, nor are many K-State fans.  However, I think most of those that are cognizant of how close KSU basketball was to being permanently irrelevant know that he was the guy administering the shock paddles when our program was coding at the end of the Wooldridge era.

Ollie: Wally Judge came in with a mountain of hype yet he's getting limited play.  Why the shortage of minutes?  What type of player do you think he'll be by the end of the season.

PJ: Wally Judge isn't getting a lot of minutes because he's sitting behind former 5-star player, Jordan All-American, and UConn transfer, Curtis Kelly.  After his two-year (unproductive) stay at UConn, he decided he needed a change in scenery, and he chose Kansas State.  At this point in time, he's probably our best post player, and he's taking minutes from Wally.  The other starter on the blocks, freshman Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, is a seven-foot tall shot blocker with a 7'6" wingspan who can run the floor.  Judge is getting better with every game, but he's going to have to earn his minutes because we do have solid, veteran post players in front of him.

By the end of the season, I think he'll become the seventh man off of the bench (behind swingman Jamar Samuels), and he'll provide a much needed spark of athleticism when the need calls for it.

Ollie: I imagine you have a love/hate relationship with your back court.  Both are capable of huge games, but the shot selection has to be vexing at times.  How do you feel about Pullen and Clemente?

PJ: Personally, I like them both, but I think they need to switch roles.  Clemente is a "score first" point guard, and Pullen, a decent scorer himself, is much better at running sets and driving into the lane to create opportunities for our post players.  Clemente can score in bunches, but if he's not feeling it, he needs to get out of the way of the other players.  Last year, he needed to be focal point of the offense, but this year, he's not the best offensive option, so he should defer more to his teammates.  Unfortunately, he's not the kind of player to do that.

I'm a huge Frank Martin fan, but he sees something in Denis Clemente as a point guard that a lot of us don't see.  I think he'd make an excellent off guard, but it's been apparent over the last couple of years that he's not an ideal point guard.  Pullen is a better passer and a more controlled player; I think the backcourt would be much better if they just reversed roles.

Ollie: Curtis White looks like a man on a mission, is there any way to stop him?  What are your expectations for him the rest of the season, and how important is he to your program?

PJ: Curtis Kelly is a huge addition to this team, and as he shakes the rust off from his transfer year, he's going to get better and better.  His game is somewhat unconventional; he's not your normal post man.  He's got horrible footwork, his shot is ugly, and even though he works hard on the blocks and on the boards, he always has the appearance that he's not really trying.  But even with all of that, the guy knows how to put the ball in the basket, and he knows how to come down with a rebound.  Kelly is also an excellent interior passer.  He's reminiscent of a recent KSU player, Jeremiah Massey, that's currently doing very well for himself in the Euroleague.

Guys like Kelly are really hard to defend because you can't guard them in a conventional manner.  You think you're doing a good job on defense, but they somehow throw up some disgusting looking hook shot over you that finds it's way into the bucket.  He's also really, really pesky in the way that he just knows where to be in the paint to get junk points.  He's definitely a big part of this offense, and if KSU wants to compete in the Big 12 and go back to the NCAA tournament, he's going to have to continue to get better.

Ollie: Frank Martin has been involved in his share of controversy, though never actually accused, how do you feel about his connections to DC Assault, his dismissal at Miami High, and his future with the program?

PJ: Frank isn't the one that actually has connections to DC Assault; our top assistant, Delonte Hill, actually used to be a part of the organization and was instrumental in bringing a lot of current and former Assault players.  I think over time, Frank has established that connection, but it's Hill that's really made that pipeline what it is.  Frank's connections are down in South Florida, specifically with the Miami Tropics AAU organization run by his friend, Art Alvarez.  That pipeline brought us Denis Clemente, Luis Colon, and new commit, Freddy Asprilla (who just fled Hurricane Isiah down at FIU).

As far as what happened down at Miami Senior, I don't really care.  That may sound flippant, but as long as he keeps his nose clean here, I've got no problems with him.  The FHSAA (or whatever that organization is called) absolved him of any wrongdoing, so I guess I don't really have that much to get worried about.

Ollie: Kansas State has a lot of talent returning from a pretty good team last year.  What are your expectations for this team?

PJ: In terms of the future, I think there are a lot of KSU fans that would like to see Martin at Kansas State for a long time.  In his first two years, we've had two post-season appearances, which is two more than we had in the previous decade.  I think the expectation this year is a trip to the NCAA tournament, so if KSU doesn't get that far, maybe there will be some rumblings, but for the most part, KSU fans are very excited about the future with Frank Martin due to the fact that the only coach in school history with a better record after two years is Lon Kruger.

As I said, I think the expectation is a trip to the NCAA tournament.  KSU has finished in the upper third of the Big 12 standings the last three years, and we'd like to see that continue this year.  I think that can happen, but this team needs to continue to get comfortable with each other.  KSU lost one scholarship player last year to graduation, and three to transfer, but we have five new players getting heavy minutes in the rotation, so this team is still a little in flux right now.  As the year goes on, I expect them to tighten it up a bit and surprise some teams in the Big 12.

Well, there you have it.  You and I are now more informed citizens.  And again, thanks to PJ at BringOntheCats for making me appear to be a competent poster.