Best wishes from Waco

[baylorprof]

As for your game tonight, good health and having fun--what it should always be about first and foremost (of course we all know the history that somewhere along the way Geno added a third "and winning national championships" to the mix on a rather regular basis.)

Congratulations to your seniors and best wishes for their having fun on the court and graduating if they have not already done so at the undergrad level. BLESSINGS on their graduations! Blessings, I say!

At the Ferrell Center we enjoyed seeing out 3 seniors take a victory lap, with only Niya Johnson (PG) being a starter and of the other two, neither has been given significant minutes this year.

Our mixed blessings and grief over graduation day will come next year when Davis, Jones, and Prince have to give it up.

In a perfect world, given this years version of ladybear bball is Mulkey's best team EVER (a much better TEAM than the Griner or Sims teams), and that we seem to have a legit chance to make it to Indy, we would see your guys and Stewart in her last go-round in the FINALS in Indy. The goddesses of women's bball have seen fit to make any such contest a semi-final matchup (if chalk holds) however. Either way,

Play on, play well, have fun . . . . and hurry up and graduate those seniors of yours!

 

[CocoHusky]

As for your game tonight, good health and having fun--what it should always be about first and foremost (of course we all know the history that somewhere along the way Geno added a third "and winning national championships" to the mix on a rather regular basis.)

Congratulations to your seniors and best wishes for their having fun on the court and graduating if they have not already done so at the undergrad level. BLESSINGS on their graduations! Blessings, I say!

At the Ferrell Center we enjoyed seeing out 3 seniors take a victory lap, with only Niya Johnson (PG) being a starter and of the other two, neither has been given significant minutes this year.

Our mixed blessings and grief over graduation day will come next year when Davis, Jones, and Prince have to give it up.

In a perfect world, given this years version of ladybear bball is Mulkey's best team EVER (a much better TEAM than the Griner or Sims teams), and that we seem to have a legit chance to make it to Indy, we would see your guys and Stewart in her last go-round in the FINALS in Indy. The goddesses of women's bball have seen fit to make any such contest a semi-final matchup (if chalk holds) however. Either way,

Play on, play well, have fun . . . . and hurry up and graduate those seniors of yours!

Professor really? Come On
2012 Baylor Team went 40 and 0 and played an out of conference schedule that included #2 UCONN, #2 ND , & #7 TN. This year's Baylor out of conference schedule included exactly 1 team in the top 20 (South Florida) a 3 point win at home. 2012 Baylor team does not lose to OSU!

 

[ctfjr]

Methinks the takeaway from the op's post is he wishes our seniors well and graduation can't come soon enough for him (and every other wbb team)

 

[toadfoot]

Professor really? Come On
2012 Baylor Team went 40 and 0 and played an out of conference schedule that included #2 UCONN, #2 ND , & #7 TN. This year's Baylor out of conference schedule included exactly 1 team in the top 20 (South Florida) a 3 point win at home. 2012 Baylor team does not lose to OSU!

One minor point... as easttexastrash correctly pointed out to me in another thread, the USF game was on a neutral floor. The remainder of your post is spot on however.

 

[UcMiami]

BaylorProf - great to see you over here! And best wishes for your team as well until we meet. Baylor is certainly playing an exciting brand of basketball - I too would demur, the 40-0 version was a better team, but you may be correct that this team is a more complete team relying less on a pair of superstars and therefore a harder team to defense.

It is indeed a joy to follow a college sport where the best players stick around to graduate and are in fact student athletes.

 

[baylorprof]

I'd take this year's team vs. Griner jr/Griner sr/Sims sr teams in 2 outta 3 in a heart beat. Those teams underachieved because they were one-dimensional. When TAM and/or Louisville took away Griner's game, we stalled out. Sims' sr. year she could score 30, shut down any point guard defensively, but she didn't have the supporting cast of scorers. This team is much more pliable, and deep enough to lose any starter and still compete at about the same level (except at PG where we are bench thin).

And yes, Kim plays a bunch of nobody's in pre-season. That's her style. People don't like it? Fine. Play Sherri Coale's schedule; I love it. I'm a fan. But when March roles around, both Baylor and OU are typically primed and ready--via differing scheduling routes, but ready. Kim is as honest as the day is long. Pre-conference is not for the purpose of rankings but for the purpose of finding out which of her young'uns are ready to play the game HER way. Critics have to look for other reasons for our early exits in March than any soft pre-conference schedule we play. Big 12 play will get any team ready that has talent and coaching. Pre-conference is for conditioning and experimenting with varying team chemistries.

This year Kim has put beat-downs on the entire Big 12 like no team before---not even the OU Courtney Paris teams won in such dominating style, nor did the BU Griner/Sims teams--and that's an 18-game grind. It's an argument that will never be settled, but just as in football, with a round-robin conference schedule (no divisions) there are not many "off" nights once we hit conference. We play everybody in the Big 12. So Kim simply decides to use pre-conference schedules to see what she's got. She gets criticized for it, but it's not without merit. Except for you and Notre Dame (and the old school Tennessee) can anybody in the nation hang more skins?

Griner made the 40-0. But there wasn't much T E A M going on during those years. Griner also lost to TAM her soph year and Louisville her senior year when she got shut down.. Sims was ALMOST good enough the next year. She just didn't have the supporting cast of scorers to go with her. I'm pretty certain Kim will never let herself ever get so one dimensional again.

The 2016 version is the most unselfish we've had; AND they are all capable of scoring. Half of them YOUNG and RAW, but they understand TEAM scoring. Our offense no longer goes "through" anyone. It's almost a game for our ladies to check their "assists" stats as much as their points and turnovers. It's built to find the open player who's in position to take the shot. Looks a lot like what Geno does when Stewart has to take a seat. Team play. Done right it's a lot of fun to watch.

April 3 in Indy; game on, hopefully.

 

[JoePgh]

Prof -

I agree that your team is probably a bigger threat to UConn's aspirations for a four-peat than either South Carolina or Notre Dame. The fact that they haven't played during the year adds to the mystery and the interest (although I would have preferred to see an in-season game, and apparently we will for the next two years).

I would take issue with your statement that Baylor's offense "looks a lot like what Geno does when Stewart has to take a seat." Have you checked Stewie's assist totals? Or Morgan's? Or Kia's on Lou's? I believe at least 4 of the 5 starters are near or over 100 assists for the season. A couple of years ago all 5 starters had over 100 assists. Ball distribution doesn't stop when Stewie is on the floor -- I believe she averages only about 15 shots per game. Geno recently commented on how Rachel Banham of Minnesota had surpassed Stewie's scoring totals this year, but only by taking a couple hundred more shots.

Efficiency is the primary principle of the UConn offense, and I think the same could be said of Notre Dame's offense. I hadn't observed it about Baylor's offense, but maybe this year is different.

All of us would really like to see them play a good team before they play UConn. I'm not sure that Oregon State is that team.

 

[UcMiami]

BaylorProf - agree about the one dimensionality (really two) of the Griner/Sims teams and my one criticism of Kim's coaching was that she didn't stretch Griner's game during her four years. Griner with a 15 footer is unguardable and with the ability to pass to others in the low post would make the team unguardable, but Griner almost never took that shot in the Baylor offense so her defender could hang back. Kim seemed to settle for 'what worked' rather than find out just how creative those teams could be - I think it cost her one or two NCs.
With the current team it appears to be a much more creative offense.
And the only issue we have in really judging this team in a B12 that I think is a shadow of its former self, with what I think is a suspect TX team still learning how to compete. I will be curious to see how TX does against a pretty poor Missouri team, and I suspect if they win they will struggle with whoever greets them in the S16 game.

 

[FairView]

I saw bits and pieces of the Baylor game and what worried me was that there were times when Baylor's team play was quite crisp. I don't like that in an opponent. But I still like our chances.

 

[baylorprof]

Joe, clarification. Whey Stewart is not on your court ALL players are valuing the assist, and whoever gets the open shot takes it rather than creating shots as efficiently and creatively as Steward does (and no one else in the nation is so capable)

Kim is JUST NOW selling that to our team. That an assist is a part of a basket as much as is the shot. Because we've been "super-star" oriented, Kim has always started her offense by "get the ball to the (Griner/Sims/whomever) (points for proper use of objective "whomever????) and then the offense starts. This year FINALLY, we do not wait to set up half court or for our offense "starter" to get into position. Any of our five can start the offense; any of our five can take the shot. It's the ball movement waiting to find the open shot that reminds me of our team this year and your team which, can't we agree? GOES THROUGH Stewart initially and THEN to your capable others whos passing game to the open look is exceptional?
Maybe I don't see enough of your games; but that's how I see our teams as similar since we don't have a Stewart that is almost always THE first option unless there are uncontested open shots or you are running and Stewart is not in the first wave.

And for you and the other posters, I could be dead wrong, but after the beat down we put on UT twice, I think they are a myth. Now, if they are playing later in March/April than we are, I'm dead wrong, admittedly. Boyette is just tall. She got married this past summer and her focus seems (appropriately?) not as intense on dominating or even in playing the game.

 

[Sonny44]

I would have to bet that Baylor presents the biggest apprehension (not fear) to most of us BY'ers at this point.

 

[UcMiami]

BaylorProf - Uconn really doesn't have a first option on offense except for the rare occasions when they run a specific play on an inbounds or at the end of a quarter or half. It is why this year 4 starters will likely end with 100+ assists. Instead of 'plays' the offense runs set motion and ball movement, that morphs all the time by how the defense reacts as the motion continues. Moriah probably spends a far smaller percentage of the time with the ball in half court sets than any of the other really good PGs on good teams in D1 WCBB - she frequently makes the first pass to Morgan or Stewart at the top of the key or to any of the four at the start of the 'weave' and then never touches the ball again as she cycles around the court and sets screens. Stewart or Tuck or Lou or Kia each become the initiator of the next phase, and each in turn as they receive the pass. It really becomes a very difficult offense to defend as each recipient of a pass can become either the scorer or the assister.
I do see Baylor becoming more complex in that way offensively, but the team still depends very heavily on Johnson to be THE assister so the ball continually comes back to her throughout each possession.

 

[easttexastrash]

Our mixed blessings and grief over graduation day will come next year when Davis, Jones, and Prince have to give it up.

You forgot Cave.

 

[baylorprof]

Cave is a junior.

 

[easttexastrash]

Cave is a junior.

Exactly. Which was the reason I mentioned her as you left her off your list with Davis, Jones and Prince, also juniors.

 

[TheGOAT23]

BaylorProf - agree about the one dimensionality (really two) of the Griner/Sims teams and my one criticism of Kim's coaching was that she didn't stretch Griner's game during her four years. Griner with a 15 footer is unguardable and with the ability to pass to others in the low post would make the team unguardable, but Griner almost never took that shot in the Baylor offense so her defender could hang back. Kim seemed to settle for 'what worked' rather than find out just how creative those teams could be - I think it cost her one or two NCs.
With the current team it appears to be a much more creative offense.
And the only issue we have in really judging this team in a B12 that I think is a shadow of its former self, with what I think is a suspect TX team still learning how to compete. I will be curious to see how TX does against a pretty poor Missouri team, and I suspect if they win they will struggle with whoever greets them in the S16 game.

I'm also surprised that Kim didn't stretch Niya Johnson's game for her four years. Niya with a 15 footer would have put them in the Final Four this weekend. I'm glad that Geno didn't stunt Mo's growth. Mo is multi-dimensional (penetration, mid range, and the 3 pointer). That's why she is the best PG in the country. She progressed each season. You can see it in Gabby as well. Her range has increased this season.

 

[easttexastrash]

I'm also surprised that Kim didn't stretch Niya Johnson's game for her four years. Niya with a 15 footer would have put them in the Final Four this weekend. I'm glad that Geno didn't stunt Mo's growth. Mo is multi-dimensional (penetration, mid range, and the 3 pointer). That's why she is the best PG in the country. She progressed each season. You can see it in Gabby as well. Her range has increased this season.

Niya actually knocked down that 15 footer all season but for some reason lost her confidence when the NCAA tourney started and I was surprised at how bad some of her shots were. I was shaking my head almost every time she shot wondering "where did your shot go."

I think the Baylor offense will be better next season when Jones is at the point and Wallace, Prince and Chou are on the wings ready to shoot. I certainly hope we don't see Jones dominating the ball like we saw with Johnson this year. And hopefully Cox comes in ready to shoot the ball from the high post, an aspect that none of the other post players currently can do consistently.