Baylor....fairly close...East Texas got details?

[Blakeon18]

In what passes for a competitive game for #1, Baylor beat Iowa State 66-51 in Ames.
I don't know the details....maybe ISU closed in a rush from 30 down....but just based on the final score the Cyclones hung in there. ISU is ranked around #25. I wonder if Geno might look at some tape from this one to see what worked for ISU to prevent the usual rout.

Note: in Griner's frosh year ISU crushed Baylor in Ames in one game....maybe winning by 25 or so.
They tend to be a smart team with some good trey shooters....they lack athleticism oftentimes which prevents deep runs in The Dance.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think the game started out at 24-8 after about 15 mins. Baylor may have been on cruise control after that.

 

[pap49cba]

Griner with another dunk....

 

[GrizBear]

First of all, Ames has great fan support and is a tough place to play. Baylor was up by 24 with less than 3:00 to play. Mass substitutions and did not score again. I think Mulkey hates to have the bench lose that much of a lead but secretly loves to be able to ride them hard in practice even after a comfortable win.

 

[EricLA]

First of all, Ames has great fan support and is a tough place to play. Baylor was up by 24 with less than 3:00 to play. Mass substitutions and did not score again. I think Mulkey hates to have the bench lose that much of a lead but secretly loves to be able to ride them hard in practice even after a comfortable win.

that sounds remarkably similar to some recent UCONN games - big leads, put the reserves in at the 4 to 8 minute mark left in the game, and watch the other team go on a variation of a +10 run.

Griz - are you a Baylor fan? I'm curious where you think the team will be next year (i realize it's way early to speculate)... but you are looking at a roster of

SR; Chandler, Makenzie, Sims
JR; Agbuke
SO; Brown, Fuqua, Higgins, Johnson, Prince
FR; Wright, Hayden, Davis, Cave

Sims is obviously a top 10 kid, Chandler maybe (last on the team in scoring and minutes - injured?), Prince top 15, but that's about it. you lose 5 out of your top 6 scorers and your incoming class isn't terribly heralded. I think Baylor struggles to be in the top 20 but i have no idea where the rest of WCBB will be next year. thoughts?

 

[magical2]

that sounds remarkably similar to some recent UCONN games - big leads, put the reserves in at the 4 to 8 minute mark left in the game, and watch the other team go on a variation of a +10 run.

Eric exactly my thoughts when I read that
IRA

 

[UConnCat]

Griner with another dunk....

ISU coach Bill Fennelly did not like Griner's dunk. At all. Sounds like it was more a case of Fennelly not liking the fact that his team was on the receiving end of one of her dunks.

“I probably can’t say what I really want to say,” Fennelly said about his reaction to being on the sideline for one of her dunks. “Because my language would be bad. It upset me a lot. I mean, no offense but, Iowa State’s going to be on ESPN tonight, Brittney Griner dunking on us. That’s unacceptable.

“She’s a great player, but no. I don’t like it. I still don’t like it. No, sorry. Probably shouldn’t say that. It’s probably like, ‘Hey, it’s great for the game.’ It’s not.

“We’ll be on the list, her 10 dunks or whatever. So no, I’m not happy.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130123/SPORTS/301230089/?odyssey=nav|head

 

[Kibitzer]

Griner with another dunk....

Big deal.

 

[GrizBear]

that sounds remarkably similar to some recent UCONN games - big leads, put the reserves in at the 4 to 8 minute mark left in the game, and watch the other team go on a variation of a +10 run.

Griz - are you a Baylor fan? I'm curious where you think the team will be next year (i realize it's way early to speculate)... but you are looking at a roster of

SR; Chandler, Makenzie, Sims
JR; Agbuke
SO; Brown, Fuqua, Higgins, Johnson, Prince
FR; Wright, Hayden, Davis, Cave

Sims is obviously a top 10 kid, Chandler maybe (last on the team in scoring and minutes - injured?), Prince top 15, but that's about it. you lose 5 out of your top 6 scorers and your incoming class isn't terribly heralded. I think Baylor struggles to be in the top 20 but i have no idea where the rest of WCBB will be next year. thoughts?

Yes, I'm a Baylor fan. Some fellow Baylor fans wouldn't appreciate my opinions on some of the players but I won't powder puff my opinions.

SR; Plain and simple, I think Chandler is a bust. She's the last to get subbed in even after the freshmen. Mulkey is always loyal to kids who work hard so she won't boot her but I'll be shocked if she ever contributes. Makenzie is better than I thought she would be but will never be big-time. She's smart and can shoot the three but can't hang with the big dogs. I think most everyone knows that Sims is amazing.
JR; I thought Agbuke was more impressive as a frosh. Mulkey likes gritty players and Agbuke is fairly athletic so she could do some damage.
SO; Brown was kicked off the team, don't know why. Fuqua is going to be good. Very athletic, Jordan Madden type player and Kim likes that type. Higgins is a big 6'5" center with a fairly soft touch who could use a year with the athletic trainer, IMO. Johnson is a PG and McDonald's AA from Florida who will have a very successful career at Baylor, IMO. She's already playing some with Sims moving to two guard. She's athletic, tough and can shoot. Prince should be the best of the bunch. Has been dealing with a stress reaction that has set her back this year but can play guard at 6'2", has 3-point range and is a great passer. Prince was MVP of McDonald's AA game and was 3-4 on 3-pointers against Iowa State last night.
FR; I'm only going by scouting reports and what I've seen on video on these kids. Wright is most highly recruited and plays shooting guard. Reports are Hayden could be better than her sister Nae Nae. Davis is another athlete of the type Mulkey likes. Cave is a barely recruited but athletic post who, I think, Mulkey took over some of the better rated players.

This is my personal opinion but I think Mulkey recruits differently than other top-flight coaches. She'd be happy to get the players Geno gets but, at the same time, she seems to be more interested in hard-working, defensive minded team players than highly rated prima donas. The recruiting services seemed to think Baylor had a shot at Shoni Schimmel but I can't imagine a player who wants to freelance like that getting any real interest from Mulkey.

I guess what I'm saying is you can't necessarily compare the star ratings of Mulkey's roster with the star ratings of Tennessee's roster and project where Baylor will be ranked compared to Tennessee. With the exception of Griner/Sims, Mulkey has developed some exceptional teams in the past with rosters with very few highly rated recruits. The 2005 NC team had no McDonald's AA's and almost no nationally highly rated recruits. Some would say she got lucky by getting Sophia Young and Abi Wabara but I would counter by saying she's one of those people who sure get lucky a lot. Mulkey knows what she's doing and her teams most often wind up being much better than they look on paper. It will probably take a little time to adjust to life after Griner.

 

[baylorprof]

I read Fennelly's comments to be more of his agitation about his own team than his being offended at BU/Griner. His post game comments when they were here that sounded very much like that were aimed at "the people back home who won't like this . . . " kind of attitude.

Fennelly and Kim are genuine friends, not just handshake colleagues. Fennelly came really close to losing his job last year. Though someone would pick him up at a mid-major, I bet Kim would love to have him here on our staff should our #2 guy leave us for a head coaching job.

And, the dunk the other night was one of the rare occasions when Brittney stole a cross court pass on the defensive end and had the time to dribble the entire court and get her body in position to dunk. It might surprise most, but Brittney really isn't in to dunking (she didn't do the hang on the rim and sway that most guys do when two-handing it). When a freshman she thought it was cool. But she gets much more energized over blocks than dunks. She probably has passed by 10-12 occasions where she could have dunked, but backed off instead. She's not thick in her legs, and she is SO much taller than most who are snipping at her that she doesn't like getting her feet too far off the ground not knowing if the landing is clear.

Odd problem to have, but a real one.

 

[easttexastrash]

I did not get to see the ISU game, but I do know that ISU is always a tough game for Baylor. Fennelly is a great coach and always has a good game plan.

In response to GrizBear, I have a few disagreements.

Mackenzie can't really shoot the 3. If you take away the one good game against Hawaii, she is shooting 23% for the year, to follow up on her 22% from last year. She is frequently on the floor, isn't fast enough to play defense against good athletes and rarely does anything more than give starters a chance to take a rest. If Chandler got the minutes that Mackenzie gets I am convinced that she would contribute much more because she is a much better athlete. I am befuddled by Mulkey's decision to not put Chandler in the game, other than the fact that she plays the same position of Pope and Williams, who are both incredible talents at the 4 position. I still think that Chandler has the makings of a very good player.

Agbuke, IMO, is not really a good athlete and will never be more than a mop-up time player. She usually fumbles the ball when it is passed to her. I think that she has probably already tapped her potential.

As far as the freshmen are concerned, Johnson is going to be a steady PG but probably never explosive due to her lack of speed. Fuqua is going to be a very good player, maybe by her junior year. Prince is an incredible athlete and shooter. Her shooting percentage is trending up and she finally looks willing to be aggressive on offense and take her shot. She was very hesitant early in the year but seems to be developing confidence. Higgins, IMO, is going to be a big time post player. She has good hands, is big and strong and can finish around the basket. I like her size...she runs the floor very well and her big body doesn't seem to slow her down any. As long as she can play a lot of minutes at that size I hope she doesn't lose any weight. She is a bit like Dolson, who ran the floor very well last year even before her body transformation.

I have no idea what next year's freshmen will bring to the table as I have not seen them play. I would like to see Baylor land Jessica Jackson as we need additional talent in the paint. I suspect that Higgins will be the starting center but I also am guessing that she will be in foul trouble a lot until she has more time playing at the college level.

 

[baylorprof]

ET Trash speaks with straight tongue.

Higgins will be a nationally known name after a full year of two. She already has the footwork that most bigs don't have until their senior year, if ever. She played high school ball in El Paso. Does anyone know how really poor the competition is that far out in the desert? She just needs time on the floor against some other bona fide bigs.

As for Chandler, I don't call her a bust. I just know she's faced some tough obstacles of injuries and rehab and getting caught up in numbers. I have little doubt that had there not been Madden, Hayden, Pope, Williams and Griner already in the rotation, she would have been a great off-the-bench role player. She's just caught up in a #4 body that can't break through the two #4s ahead of her. All that said. If class and attitude count for anything, she's a first-teamer all the way. She could have claimed a uniform last year and gotten a ring as a player rather than a redshirt. But she chose to keep rehabbing, hopeing for a chance in the rotation this year, but most importantly, getting a fifth year to get the master's degree that she wants. I'm a big fan of hers, despite the fact she has not contributed much on the floor.

Johnson, Prince, and Higgins will keep us at the top of the conference for the next few years. But not sure we have national star power in tow as of yet. We'll sweet 16 it for a few years and by then we'll know just how badly KMulkey wants to keep coaching. I predict she's out of the profession sooner instead of later. She has no desire to move "up" anywhere, since she now considers Baylor as an "UP".

And she genuinely means it when she says her kids come first. Her son just signed to play shortstop at LSU. Kim has made many late night flights to watch him play football in high school. She'll do the same to watch him play baseball for LSU--thus our missing link to remaining nationally legit may not be players as much as it probably will be "Who's the Coach at Baylor?"

Sorry to take up so much time as a visitor. Tenn vs. Notre Dame twn minutes away. Time to go.