Refreshingly honest comments on Baylor board

[Wonkster]

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http://www.baylorfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268165&s=7d34468aacbfb7c9265fb1c00ffb0f1b

 

[UcMiami]

I really like the Baylor board - partisan as any fan board should be, but a lot of critical thinkers/posters and they have some really good basketball discussions - heated but well mannered. It is also quite active and the only other fan board I visit regularly and post on occasionally. (They do not eat visitors from other boards and can be quite welcoming on occasion.)

 

[semper]

I just read it for the first time and really liked some of the posts.

 

[FairView]

I go there all the time to read and I post occasionally. It's interesting and there are lots of really nice people on the board. I recommend it.

 

[DobbsRover2]

I guess, but it's kind of easy to be refreshingly honest when your team is gliding on the #327 schedule and hasn't played anyone south of the #170 mark. No wonder the Bear posters think their freshman are marvels against that competition.

And please tell me how Odyssey Sims can win the ESPN Player of the Week award when her team is beating up on patsies? Shouldn't the Bears have to beat somebody? I didn't see any refreshingly honest comments about that subject, just that Sims was clearly the best player in the nation. To win the award Sims led her team to wins over #171 Rice, #237 Northwestern St., #305 Savannah St., and #204 UTSA. I guess the criteria is quantity over quality for ESPN, as usual.

 

[sarals24]

I don't have a problem with Baylor fans thinking Sims is the best player in the country. She's certainly top three, no matter who they play. Same with EDD last year.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Sure, Sims is known to be very good. But again the question would be if UConn had played all teams like Monmouth and St. Bonaventure, would you then feel justified in claiming say Stewie was the best player in the country based on what she did against them? Sims was with the best player in the country last year along with some solid senior veterans and her team got knocked out in the Sweet 16. So she is being acclaimed as the best player in the country this year by her fans off of a schedule that is one of the worst in the country without one even modestly decent team so far. Honestly, that sounds crazy. But I guess others feel differently.

 

[jdubct]

I agree that Baylor's schedule so far this year has been unchallenging to say the least. However, as shown over her entire college career, Sims is an excellent player. She's expected to be the first guard to go in the upcoming WNBA draft.

 

[hjoerring]

Let us be fair, it's not who you are playing but how you play when you are on the floor. A good basketball player will seek out opportunities to excel regardless of the competition. That is how we tell the good players/teams from the rest. (Simply paraphrasing Geno) Whether Sims is the best or not- time will tell. I doubt it has much to do with you they have played.

 

[UcMiami]

I guess, but it's kind of easy to be refreshingly honest when your team is gliding on the #327 schedule and hasn't played anyone south of the #170 mark. No wonder the Bear posters think their freshman are marvels against that competition.

And please tell me how Odyssey Sims can win the ESPN Player of the Week award when her team is beating up on patsies? Shouldn't the Bears have to beat somebody? I didn't see any refreshingly honest comments about that subject, just that Sims was clearly the best player in the nation. To win the award Sims led her team to wins over #171 Rice, #237 Northwestern St., #305 Savannah St., and #204 UTSA. I guess the criteria is quantity over quality for ESPN, as usual.

Most of the weekly awards during the season are based on stats and not competition - there just isn't a whole lot of 'competition' across the country in the OOC schedule so that is doubly true in November and December.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Most of the weekly awards during the season are based on stats and not competition - there just isn't a whole lot of 'competition' across the country in the OOC schedule so that is doubly true in November and December.

Oh sure, I know ESPN has slim pickings for anointing the top player, and most players never are on a team that wins four games in a week during their career. The big question for me is boosting her to the top player in the country role based on the sad schedule to date. Sure DT back in 2003 was the best player in the country, but if UConn fans had tried to state that fact to UTenn or Duke fans off a schedule of Monmouths, they would have had some pretty evil stuff to say about the brains of UConn fans. Instead DT had played decent teams like NC State, Hawaii (out in Hawaii, #82 that year), and the previous year's NC sparring mate Oklahoma. I know Sims had 22 points in 26 minutes versus poor #305 Savannah State, but I'm just not ready to call her the best player in the country off of that. Others are, and I guess that's fine.

Once Sims starts chewing up the KY, UConn and B12 slate, I'll be ready to acknowledge all elevations of stature, but the San Jose State-McNeese State-Houston Baptist-Mississippi (#226) along with the one toughie of that Wildcats tester to end off the year just makes me want to be refreshingly honest about certain happy proclamations.

 

[sarals24]

Well, I think they are also basing it off her play last season. She was pretty dominant and basically single-handedly brought Baylor back against Louisville in the second half. She was pretty great this summer also with the WUG team. I definitely think she's one of the best players in the country; it's not her fault that KMR didn't schedule anybody good to start the season.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Well, I think they are also basing it off her play last season. She was pretty dominant and basically single-handedly brought Baylor back against Louisville in the second half. She was pretty great this summer also with the WUG team. I definitely think she's one of the best players in the country; it's not her fault that KMR didn't schedule anybody good to start the season.

But if you have the best and likely then another top 5 and now the top player on your team, you don't get knocked out in a Sweet 16 game. That would be like UConn with Maya and Tina getting knocked out by Iowa State in the third round in 2010 instead of beating them 74-36. The top two-five players in the country do not let the other team hang around if they are that good and have a solid cast behind them (which the Bears did).

No one would ever say it's a player's fault for the early schedule they play, but I would not anoint any UConn player as having shown herself to be the best in the country for helping to put up 100 points on Monmouth and such caliber teams unless she was hitting 3/4 court heaves with her back to the basket and called all the ones that banked in. Sims hasn't shown me that she can do that yet.

 

[johnnyc]

Once Sims starts chewing up the KY, UConn and B12 slate, I'll be ready to acknowledge all elevations of stature,

Elevation of stature? Sims was one of the best players in the country last year.

 

[sarals24]

Well, EDD was probably the best (if not, then 2nd best) player in the country last season, and they got knocked out. The Baylor loss was a crazy mix of incredible shooting by Louisville, a lot of missed calls by the officials, and poor decision making by Mulkey. Sims played her heart out and did a great job in that game, she was much better than Griner. On talent alone she's top three, and it has nothing to do with who they play. She's an incredible point guard, and I have no issue with Baylor fans thinking she's one of the best players in the country. She was an AA last season, so obviously more people than just Baylor fans think so as well.

 

[EricLA]

I will admit the Baylor recruits are better than I thought (what KM has done the past 2 years in recruiting), but I still think Baylor is in the 15-20 range and making it to the sweet 16 is about as far as I see them going. BUT there is a ton of BBall to be played and any team like Baylor, ND, and UNC who rely on Freshmen and/or sophomores, has a fair amount of room for improvement by the end of the season...

 

[DobbsRover2]

Elevation of stature? Sims was one of the best players in the country last year.

Um, right, as she is this year. We are talking about the Bears fans' comments that she is the BEST player in the country. If you move from around 4 to 7 in the ratings last year to be #1, is that not an elevation, a move upward? Thought that was the way numbers worked, or is there another system you are referring to? If you say she gets the spot by default because BG, EDD, and Diggins have moved onward, okay, but I would just say there are other players in contention who have played some real teams this year.

And Sarals, you aren't seriously saying that EDD was in the same situation and that Delaware was on par with Baylor last year? There were many BYers who thought Delaware shouldn't be ranked in the top 20 because they were a "one-player team." As it was she was still able to lead her team to a close Sweet 16 loss, and unless I'm mistaking what you're saying, Baylor had two players in that top elite where EDD was. Sure, we can make all sorts of excuses for BG and Sims and the Bears team last year, and I'm sure the stars weren't in the right position either. But a Maya and Tina team wins by 38 in that position, and a BG and Sims team loses. That means something to me, but we can all disagree about what the credentials for the #1 player in the nation should be. I just like mine to be more like a Maya's or a Tina's. You can be the best player in the nation (arguably an EDD for some) and be on an average team otherwise and not necessarily be expected to get to the Elite 8 or Final 4, but if you have a Tina-Maya situation, you damn well better deliver a solid win if you want to be acclaimed the best player in the nation.

 

[sarals24]

I don't think there is a clear "Best" player in the nation this year. With KML's injury, she's out of the running for now...as a UConn fan I think Stewie is, but as Baylor fans I'm sure they think Sims is. She's definitely in contention.

 

[johnnyc]

Um, right, as she is this year. We are talking about the Bears fans' comments that she is the BEST player in the country. If you move from around 4 to 7 in the ratings last year to be #1, is that not an elevation, a move upward? Thought that was the way numbers worked, or is there another system you are referring to? If you say she gets the spot by default because BG, EDD, and Diggins have moved onward, okay, but I would just say there are other players in contention who have played some real teams this year.

Fair enough.....all I know is she is a great player regardless of who the opponent is. She is certainly in the talk for best in the country.

 

[Wonkster]

... I know Sims had 22 points in 26 minutes versus poor #305 Savannah State, but I'm just not ready to call her the best player in the country off of that. Others are, and I guess that's fine ...

Savannah State was once the holder of the NCAA record fewest points in a game, and has been The Punching Bag of the Southeast in WCBB for a long time.