Posted on Thu, Mar. 20, 2008 10:15 PM
Walker comes up big for the Wildcats
OMAHA, Neb. | Bill Walker has been a wild card all year. Thursday night, he was the ace of clubs. Thursday night, he scored 17 points in the first half. He dominated his old friend O.J. Mayo. He carried and dragged and shot Kansas State to a 10-point halftime lead while Southern California’s trick defenses and overzealous officials temporarily smothered the best player in the country, Michael Beasley.
When Bill Walker’s good, there are not many in the country better.
More, when Bill Walker’s good, there are not many teams in the country better than Kansas State. Thursday night, the 11th-seeded Wildcats did more than upset No. 6 seed USC 80-67. They overpowered the Trojans. They crushed USC’s spirit. They outrebounded, outhustled, outmanned. College basketball and all those fans with busted brackets were put on notice. This Kansas State team is one scary bunch.
The questions are: Can the Wildcats be this team again on Saturday? Can they repeat that intensity? Can they go after rebounds and loose balls with that sort of manic fierceness? And perhaps most of all, can freshman Bill Walker be this good again? He’s been a fascinating and frustrating player to watch this year. The numbers point to consistency — he averaged about 16 points and six rebounds per game, excellent numbers for a freshman — but the look of those numbers might deceive you. He scored 31 points at Baylor and one point the next game at home against Texas. He grabbed seven offensive rebounds at home against Nebraska, two offensive rebounds at Lincoln against the same team. He made six of 22 shots at home against Oklahoma State and came back three days later and made 11 of 14 at Texas Tech.
His mood swung up and down with his performance, too. He could be an unstoppable force, and he could be a negative force, depending on how he was feeling and playing that day. Some games, he was the best player on the floor — Michael Beasley included. Nobody I’ve seen could pour points in the basket like a hot Bill Walker — he’s like a college version of the old NBA scoring machine, the Microwave Vinnie Johnson (Walker’s a sort of College Dorm Room Microwave).
Other games … well, he had the unfortunate bodily function towel incident early in the year, and he has on occasion zoned out and not run back on defense, and one Big 12 coach says he “elbows someone in the head every game.” He’s volatile, no doubt.
With Walker, it comes down to those emotions. They are always bubbling right at the surface. When he’s locked in and focused, as he was Thursday night, he is the team’s life. When not, he can suck the life out of the team. He is, in his own way, as important at Beasley to this team. The team seems to be powered by energy, for good and for bad.
“He’s a lot like me,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. “He’s stubborn. He’s emotional. But he’s a winner. And at the end of the day, that’s the most important quality that young man has.”
Walker was something else against USC on Thursday. He was ready at the tip. It made sense. He was playing against his old high school teammate, Mayo, who had overshadowed him for so long. He was playing in the NCAA Tournament, a huge game. He talked about playing with a chip on his shoulder. He had something to prove.
And right away, Kansas State needed him. Early in the first half, Beasley picked up his second foul. Martin craftily managed to get 11 minutes out of Beasley in the first half, even with those two fouls. But USC blanketed Beasley with a box-and-one defense and collapsing zones, and Beasley took only two shots.
