Baylor Gone

[SECbbfan24]

But, they should not have been viewed like that. Take a look at their body of work, and it doesn't come close to screaming #1 seed.

Baylor is a good team but they were pretty suspect for half the year. No significant OOC wins, they got hot for a period of time (like Kentucky) at the back end of Big 12 play then came back to reality their last few games.

Baylor's strength are their bigs but they prefer to jack up a bunch of 3's instead

 

[maple]

I enjoyed this SO much. Love SD and how they play the game.

Friend of mine is from South Dakota and she loves SDSU (and subsequently hates USD). Our friendship is on the rocks now because I was forced to pull for USD today. I didn’t think they could do it, but it was a nice upset win.

 

[southie]

Baylor is a good team but they were pretty suspect for half the year. No significant OOC wins, they got hot for a period of time (like Kentucky) at the back end of Big 12 play then came back to reality their last few games.

Baylor's strength are their bigs but they prefer to jack up a bunch of 3's instead

Eh. Kentucky beat Top 10 LSU, Top 15 Tennessee, and #1 South Carolina in a span of 3 days.

Baylor had nothing close to that unless you count back-to-back wins over Texas which I don't think is comparable. And, even though they went on a 10 game winning streak after their second lost to Oklahoma in the regular season, their rout at outmatched Iowa State seemed to be what had folks fawning over them.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Eh. Kentucky beat Top 10 LSU, Top 15 Tennessee, and #1 South Carolina in a span of 3 days.

Baylor had nothing close to that unless you count back-to-back wins over Texas which I don't think is comparable. And, even though they went on a 10 game winning streak after their second lost to Oklahoma in the regular season, their rout at outmatched Iowa State seemed to be what had folks fawning over them.

Didnt say it was comparable but there was a period where they shot the ball well and seemed to be clicking but for the most part this year it didn't feel like a traditional Baylor team.

But I guess its not surprising to see them clunky this year given they lost Kim and there was a lot of changes in the program the last year. Will Collen keep be able to keep Baylor among the elite? Time will tell...

 

[Big12wbbFan]

Baylor is a good team but they were pretty suspect for half the year. No significant OOC wins, they got hot for a period of time (like Kentucky) at the back end of Big 12 play then came back to reality their last few games.

Baylor's strength are their bigs but they prefer to jack up a bunch of 3's instead

Baylor’s biggest problem this year was depth. It is very difficult to play entire season and post season of very physical games with 7 players. Andrews has been playing with hurt wrist for a month. Owens rolled her ankle in today’s game. Nalyssa has been sick did not practice for last for last few days and didn’t play for much of first half of Saturday game. With no back ups to rest players it is very difficult.

That being said, SD certainly deserved to win. They are a very good team and were definitely the better team today. I think will win more games in tournament.

 

[shiverz45]

I thought this was one of the worst coaching performances by Baylor. There was no late game management, and the players didn't seem to understand the urgency of getting quick scores. Wasted too much time the last few minutes. However, South Dakota played marvelously, and deserve all the credit in the world. Seeing a pattern emerging with the Creighton, Princeton, and now South Dakota wins!

I don't know about Princeton and Creighton but South Dakota is an old veteran team that have played together for a long time. S. Dakota center has to be 24 or 25 years old. SC has played them for the last 3 years and the first 2 years were competitive. They don't look like the same team that SC beat by 30 points earlier this season. That covid year and the portal have leveled the playing field for mid majors.

 

[UcMiami]

Actually pretty impressed with the Baylor coach - first time I've seen a presser:


Good analysis and nice references to her players.
I wasn't impressed in the last minutes of the game, but seemed like everyone had run out of gas.

 

[Mulder]

 

[UcMiami]

I agree - 2016 was the strangest final 4 with Uconn (1) Oregon State (2) Syracuse (4) and Washington State (7) but the carnage that year was in the second weekend not the first.

Actually according to ESPN I was wrong - the carnage in 2016 began the first weekend with two #2 seeds going down:
The Bears' early exit marks the first time since 2016 that two or more top-two seeds lost in the first two rounds of the tournament. That year, Maryland and Arizona State, both 2-seeds, lost in the second round. It is also the first time since 2018 that two double-digit seeds made the Sweet 16 (Central Michigan and Buffalo did so that year).

 

[veryolddog]

Go South Dakota. Great game. They sure dropped the 3's, got the rebounds and had he ball go their way.

Baylor's loss should be a sound message for upper seeded teams. Baylor lost because their arrogance got in their heads. Baylor tthought that they were so good that litttle South Dakota could not even come close. WRONF!

 

[topogigio]

They got slapped around the entire game. The worst part to me was out defeated the team was, horrible body language all around and Nicki seemed like she had zero control of the team.

There was a time out late in the game, Nicki was drawing up a play in the huddle and Smith was off to the side not even paying attention. That spoke volumes!

 

[southie]

Go South Dakota. Great game. They sure dropped the 3's, got the rebounds and had he ball go their way.

Baylor's loss should be a sound message for upper seeded teams. Baylor lost because their arrogance got in their heads. Baylor tthought that they were so good that litttle South Dakota could not even come close. WRONF!

Tough to know what the players' mindset was coming into the game. SD jumped on them so early, and didn't seem like Baylor knew how to respond; SD threw out the first punches, and it took Baylor more than a quarter and a half to decide they were capable of punching back. Perhaps the players expected their offensive leader, NaLyssa Smith to take over, and she couldn't produce like she had all season.

 

[LoTrader]

Baylor was the most overrated team in the tournament, and it showed. Charlie Creme hyped them all year to a #2 seed. This team's ranking was riding on the history of past Baylor teams.

 

[southie]

Baylor was the most overrated team in the tournament, and it showed. Charlie Creme hyped them all year to a #2 seed. This team's ranking was riding on the history of past Baylor teams.

That Creme lovefest for Baylor seemed to start on February 28 after they demolished Iowa State on the road. Immediately before that game, they had struggled to beat Kansas at home, and on the road at Oklahoma State. Come Big 12 tourney time, Baylor demolished Oklahoma State (non-tourney team), and got revenge on Oklahoma (Top 16). At that point, Creme switched Baylor to a #1 seed instead of Louisville.

I do think Baylor should have been a #2 seed as they had 2 wins over Texas and Iowa State (both Top 10 NET teams); not many schools had better wins than those. But, they should not have been the highest #2 seed, or even in discussion for a #1 seed, IMO.

Best non-conference wins: Arizona State and Missouri; neither made the NCAA tournament.

Best non-conference losses: Michigan and Maryland.

2021-22 Women's Basketball Schedule - Baylor

The official 2021-22 Women's Basketball schedule for the Baylor Bears

baylorbears.com

 

[Txhoopsalot]

Yes, as Southie had said a number of times, the body of work was not that great. But Baylor did win Big 12 regular season. And the Big 12 was/is good this season.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I watched the game and it wasn't the prettiest I've ever seen, but Baylor didn't play with any sense of urgency in the 4th quarter despite being down. South Dakota looked shaky as well during that stretch but managed to hold on.

I was surprised Ole Miss lost to South Dakota but missed the game. After seeing their performance against the Bears I can see how the Rebels didn't win. So far the tournament has been a good one. I am excited for the next batch of games.

 

[cancontent]

Tough to know what the players' mindset was coming into the game. SD jumped on them so early, and didn't seem like Baylor knew how to respond; SD threw out the first punches, and it took Baylor more than a quarter and a half to decide they were capable of punching back. Perhaps the players expected their offensive leader, NaLyssa Smith to take over, and she couldn't produce like she had all season.

A friend and I were texting during the game and the word "shocked" came up. Especially in the fourth when SD was able to keep ahead no matter what Baylor did to get back into the game.

 

[Zinethar]

Hopefully they can make up for the dollars I lost (yes literally 3 bucks) on 3 different parlays. Thanks to Iowa and Baylor.


Either way. I'm loving this tournament.

Hopefully for tax purposes that will help offset the money you win when UConn wins it all

 

[LoTrader]

Not to take anything away from South Dakota, they are a fine team.