He scored over 2,000 points in his career. He averaged over 20 points per game this season on his way to being an All-American for several publications. The numbers and accolades are all there celebrating Jacob Pullen's performance for a stellar Kansas State career, yet on draft night, Pullen wasn't celebrated anymore. And that's what head coach Frank Martin cannot understand.
Taking his case to his Twitter account, Martin has been busy blowing steam and stating the reality as he sees it. The rants started this morning with Martin saying, "I don't work 4 the NBA nor do I understand the NBA but I do understand winning. Look back at Jacob Pullen's record vs. The guys that got Drafted. You will find that he won a lot and also had a better game from a matchup standpoint. Some people like team pictures I like winning."
Several minutes later, Martin picked up the Twitter account and started in again saying, "A couple of things on Jacob, he led the Big 12 in scoring in league play, top 5 in assists, only player that was a unanimous pick 4 all def team. His team won over 50 games his last 2 yrs, his team finished in top 4 of Big 12 every yr. However he is 6' not 6'3" so he is not good enough. Give me a break..jacob stay strong and keep ur faith u will succeed. I've said the same things 2 Haslem and Barea. U r a winner."
Several other people are weighing in and thanking Martin for passionately defending his player and rightfully so. That's what a coach should do. The knock against Pullen goes beyond his size, however, as Chad Ford predicted he would be a possibly undrafted player. He listed not only his lack of size but a poor shot selection and only average athleticism as some of the weaknesses.
Certainly Pullen has enough talent to warrant several draft camp invitations and he now has the motivation to go out and prove that 30 front offices were wrong to pass him over. The NBA has several inspiring stories just like Pullen's so anything is still possible for Pullen.