Baylor Bears

[HuskyFan1125]

I have to admit that I thought maybe Baylor might slide down next season out of the top10 but after watching the WUG I may have to reconsider.

If Odyssey Sims can get any help from 1-2 players I think Baylor may be just fine next season. There are moments that I see Sims with the look in her eye that no one is going to take the ball away from her and/or she is going to swipe the ball from you.

I feel like she is the type of a player that can will her Bears to victory.

Cant wait for the 2013-2014 season to start.

 

[stwainfan]

Having Sims back will help them. She is one of the best players in WCBB. The main difference this year will be how other teams play against Baylor. Since there is no Griner to worry about. They do have some talented players like Prince.

 

[msf22b]

Reminds me a little of how denuded ND was supposed to be last year.
They'll be fine.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Reminds me a little of how denuded ND was supposed to be last year.
They'll be fine.

Yes and no. I was one of the few on the board--and you may have been as well--who said not so fast a year ago regarding ND. But Baylor is losing a whole lot more than ND lost. In favor of the Baylor will be fine view, you could make a comparison to UConn in 2002-3 when they lost Bird, Cash, Jones, Williams and Dee managed to will them to a repeat. But, first off, although I think very, very highly of Sims, she's not Dee. Also, I think the competition was lighter in 2003 for the Huskies than it will be next year for the Bears. And, finally, UConn had to catch a lot of breaks. I just have a hard time seeing Baylor making it to the Final Four next year. They could sneak in but it's a long shot IMO.

That said, many folks have gone too far, arguing that they'll struggle to be a top 20 team. I don't see that either. Around #10 is a reasonable expectation.

 

[01Neaggrad02]

Sims appeared to be an "all about me" type of player. She took shots that were ill advised and missed open players. She is losing Griner. Her loss is too big. They will be a good team but nowhere near the dominate team they had been.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Good points. The truth is that Baylor doesn't have to make the Final 4 to have a very good season. As some of you enjoy pointing out, they didn't make it last year.

I think the current standard for them is "elite 8". I think different teams have different reasonable expectations - not goals, expectations. UConn is one of the very few schools that can consider the Final 4 an "expectation" most season. For schools like Stanford and Notre Dame they have seasons where the Final 4 is an expectation, but it is far from every season. At RU, we never had that expectation - hope and goal, sure but expectation no. Usually, the Sweet 16 has been a reasonable expectation for Rutgers teams.

 

[huskyblooz]

There are a few First Team All-American players coming back and UCONN doesn't have any of them. So, I don't know how we're going to win it all again?

 

[katiecrum1992]

Obviously losing griner is big but they lost their entire starting lineup minus sims. Prince was really their only strong bench player. I don't think that's enough to get them farther than they did this year. We'll have to see how their freshmen do.

 

[EricLA]

Sims is fantastic. However, I will be surprised if Baylor is in the top 10 by the end of the season. I really think they will be 15-20. They literally lost 4 out of their 5 starters as well as the first player off the bench. I can't think of a similar example in Whoops in the past where a team lost so much.

ND lost a lot, but had Diggins, McBride, and Achonwa coming back, who was on the Canadian national team. They also had uber-freshman Jewel Loyd. I think ND had much more coming back and lost far less than Baylor in terms of comparison. But we will see. I may well be wrong.

 

[John Glass]

Baylor lost 5 or 6 of their top players, and Prince is still developing........ at best a top 25 team

 

[jsloanjr]

IMO, both Baylor and ND will be ok in their conferences. When they play outside the warts will show..........ACC and the B 12 are fair this season........See what happens when they are on the road.........Road games show up their weakness.

 

[triaddukefan]

IMO, both Baylor and ND will be ok in their conferences. When they play outside the warts will show..........ACC and the B 12 are fair this season........See what happens when they are on the road.........Road games show up their weakness.

 

[Sonny44]

They'll win 18 - 20 games, all because of Sims.

 

[triaddukefan]

They'll win 18 - 20 games, all because of Sims.

I'd say at least 25. Other than Oklahoma and Okie State....... they dont really have any competition in the Big 12.

 

[chrissaran]

If Baylor was so dominant, why did they win just one championship in Griner's four years? I remember Geno talking about people saying that Baylor wouldn't lose a game with Griner. That didn't happen. My hope is that UConn goes 40-0, so that they can tie for the record for most wins in a season. I know Geno only cares about his players playing the right way, but I don't like Baylor's coach or her attitude toward her best player. Sims didn't seem to be too happy last year either.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

If Baylor was so dominant, why did they win just one championship in Griner's four years? I remember Geno talking about people saying that Baylor wouldn't lose a game with Griner. That didn't happen. My hope is that UConn goes 40-0, so that they can tie for the record for most wins in a season. I know Geno only cares about his players playing the right way, but I don't like Baylor's coach or her attitude toward her best player. Sims didn't seem to be too happy last year either.

Um, for one season, Baylor was dominant. And not to shabby for a couple of other seasons. Any moron who predicted they wouldn't lose a game with Griner was just that - a moron. And almost certainly did not include the Baylor coaching staff.

As a UConn fan you should be rooting for a 40-0 season, having nothing to do with equaling the Baylor record.

As to Mulkey, well, she isn't always likable for sure, but I find her a bit complex; she often says the "right" thing, mixed with a few emotional eruptions from time to time.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I have to admit that I thought maybe Baylor might slide down next season out of the top10 but after watching the WUG I may have to reconsider.

If Odyssey Sims can get any help from 1-2 players I think Baylor may be just fine next season. There are moments that I see Sims with the look in her eye that no one is going to take the ball away from her and/or she is going to swipe the ball from you.

I feel like she is the type of a player that can will her Bears to victory.

Cant wait for the 2013-2014 season to start.

I agree that she's a bulldog with major talent but there are a lot of really talented players and a lot of them have a much much better supporting cast. That means something. If you're surrounded by mediocrity, no matter how talented you are, your team will suffer. There's only so much compensation you can give them. I don't think Sims is in the same tier that Della Donna was and she (Della Donna) barely managed to get her cast into the top 20. Then too, the reason that they even made it that far is because they played in an inferior league and bulked up on lesser teams. Baylor plays some pretty good (not great) teams in their conference and their position in the top 10 would be predicated on having a superior won loss record which probably won't happen as a result of Baylor's solid conference. Not too too many bunnies to prey upon, plus they'll probably have a pretty decent out of conference schedule that could mean additional losses. That's why I feel they won't be anything special for a while. When Sims leaves, there will be an even bigger drop off because I don't see any superior player on the near horizon to take her place.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Good points. The truth is that Baylor doesn't have to make the Final 4 to have a very good season. As some of you enjoy pointing out, they didn't make it last year.

I think the current standard for them is "elite 8". I think different teams have different reasonable expectations - not goals, expectations. UConn is one of the very few schools that can consider the Final 4 an "expectation" most season. For schools like Stanford and Notre Dame they have seasons where the Final 4 is an expectation, but it is far from every season. At RU, we never had that expectation - hope and goal, sure but expectation no. Usually, the Sweet 16 has been a reasonable expectation for Rutgers teams.

I would be stunned if they make it to the Elite Eight again, this year. They'd probably have to beat a legitimate Top 10 team and I don't think they have the ponies to do that. Another thing is what if Sims were to get hurt. It happens and if it did, then what???? Sims would have to carry the team on her back this year anyway but if the burden lead her to an injury, they might not be a top 40 team.

 

[Buzzyboy]

If Baylor was so dominant, why did they win just one championship in Griner's four years? I remember Geno talking about people saying that Baylor wouldn't lose a game with Griner. That didn't happen. My hope is that UConn goes 40-0, so that they can tie for the record for most wins in a season. I know Geno only cares about his players playing the right way, but I don't like Baylor's coach or her attitude toward her best player. Sims didn't seem to be too happy last year either.

I know it gnaws at people that Baylor ended up playing an extra game two years ago, allowing them to go 40-0 but I think the four Geno undefeated teams including the two back to back undefeated seasons trumps anything that Baylor and her coach will ever ever do. I believe Griner's height and athleticism took a pretty decent team and made them an undefeated team. I would have loved to have had another crack at them last year in the finals but unfortunately we lost to Notre Dame. I think we had the ability to maybe stop them but we'll never know. I know it wouldn't have been easy but I've always said that if Griner were a few inches shorter she'd be just a pretty good center but those extra inches and those long arms created a lot of opportunities for chippies and blocked shots that totally intimidated all but a few of the people she ever played against. Just my humble opinon.

 

[Icebear]

Sims has a lot going for her but I am not impressed with her ability to run an offense or a team. Nothing in the WUG games changed that.

 

[UCONNfan1]

I agree that she's a bulldog with major talent but there are a lot of really talented players and a lot of them have a much much better supporting cast. That means something. If you're surrounded by mediocrity, no matter how talented you are, your team will suffer. There's only so much compensation you can give them. I don't think Sims is in the same tier that Della Donna was and she (Della Donna) barely managed to get her cast into the top 20. Then too, the reason that they even made it that far is because they played in an inferior league and bulked up on lesser teams. Baylor plays some pretty good (not great) teams in their conference and their position in the top 10 would be predicated on having a superior won loss record which probably won't happen as a result of Baylor's solid conference. Not too too many bunnies to prey upon, plus they'll probably have a pretty decent out of conference schedule that could mean additional losses. That's why I feel they won't be anything special for a while. When Sims leaves, there will be an even bigger drop off because I don't see any superior player on the near horizon to take her place.

To be fair, and I agree Simms is not as good overall as DDonne, she has a much stronger supporting cast that DDonne ever had. I don't think a single player at Delaware was a top 50 kid, and Baylor will have several. Prince was a top 10 kid and Brown a top 50 kid. Wright and Davis from 2013 (freshmen) are right around the 50 mark in ratings.

DDonne did lead her team of juniors (2012) and seniors in 2013 as far as she could. I think the sweet 16 would be a very good accomplishment for Baylor this year.

 

[meganmatthews]

I'm not worried about Baylor. I'm not worried about anyone. I have decided to approach next season with the HULK mentality. In other words, UCONN SMASH!

 

[easttexastrash]

Baylor will have four McDAAs: Sims, Prince, Johnson and Small. Wright was ranked around 30 and Davis around 50. And don't forget the "vastly under rated" Higgins, who is a legit 6-5 with a big body. She got very few minutes backing up Griner but I think will surprise a lot of folks. Chandler will be going into her senior year and I still think has a lot to offer at the 4.

I predict Elite Eight.

 

[katiecrum1992]

Baylor will have four McDAAs: Sims, Prince, Johnson and Small. Wright was ranked around 30 and Davis around 50. And don't forget the "vastly under rated" Higgins, who is a legit 6-5 with a big body. She got very few minutes backing up Griner but I think will surprise a lot of folks. Chandler will be going into her senior year and I still think has a lot to offer at the 4.

I predict Elite Eight.

I think pretty much everyone else besides Prince and Destiny Williams got limited minutes last year.