Why Can't Kim Mulkey get past Elite 8

[trb123]

Why can't Kim Mulkey's Baylor Bears get past the Elite Eight?

The state of Big 12 men's basketball gets precedence over Kim Mulkey in this article.
The title raises a question but the answer is not there.

 

[Sonny44]

She needs a few more 6&1/2 footers?

 

[Waquoit]

Good teams get beat. That's another reason the streak is so incredible.

 

[Stinger92860]

I watched her demeanor on the sidelines and she yells at her players a lot. I understand Geno and most coaches will get mad, but she seems to take it another level. Any mistake will get you a tongue lasting. Pat Summitt would yell on the sidelines, but in a huddle she was composed and tactical.

 

[CL82]

I watched her demeanor on the sidelines and she yells at her players a lot. I understand Geno and most coaches will get mad, but she seems to take it another level. Any mistake will get you a tongue lasting. Pat Summitt would yell on the sidelines, but in a huddle she was composed and tactical.

I was thinking the same thing. For the most part, Geno is pretty composed on the sideline. Now that could be because he's got a group of kids who were doing more or less what he wants them to do in the game is going as he has foreseen. Kim is very animated on the sidelines, which is fine, but her body language seems to suggest that every mistake is a tragedy. I'm not saying that is the differential for each coach's record but I would think it would be a contributing factor to a team's composure, court.

 

[DefenseBB]

I watched her demeanor on the sidelines and she yells at her players a lot. I understand Geno and most coaches will get mad, but she seems to take it another level. Any mistake will get you a tongue lasting. Pat Summitt would yell on the sidelines, but in a huddle she was composed and tactical.

Actually that's a pretty interesting comparison. CPS always is noted for "the glare" but she always seemed to get her team to rise at the needed moment. I think Mulkey self-inflicts with her behavior based on the pressure she puts on herself and the team. Just review all the tight games she had this year, was there 1 that they actually won? She needs to re-evaluate in order to clear that hurdle. She has the most talent south of NY...

 

[Mdoggie]

Kim Mulkey is bad for WCBB.

 

[Nuyoika]

Simple. She is one of the most reluctant coaches I have ever seen when it comes in game adjustments. When tourney time hits you have to have moves and counter moves. Morgan William was LIGHTING THEM UP... never adjusted. Also, she tends to make her teams overly reliant on 1 player. She did it with Griner, Sims, & N. Johnson. This years team was far more balanced by the end of the year than in the beginning of the year but I almost wonder if that was primarily because Jones had to be out for so long. Had she not would this team once again have been overly reliant? She got out coached but that happened last year, and the year before, and the year before, and the year before. She has to be willing to change the plan if something isn't working otherwise why do you have all those assistants and 97 centers?

 

[bizarro aj]

She's a lousy coach! Any coach that wins only one nc with griner on their team isn't that good. Even geno said if he had griner for 4yrs it would've been unfair to the rest of wcbb.

 

[JoePgh]

I was thinking the same thing. For the most part, Geno is pretty composed on the sideline. Now that could be because he's got a group of kids who were doing more or less what he wants them to do in the game is going as he has foreseen. Kim is very animated on the sidelines, which is fine, but her body language seems to suggest that every mistake is a tragedy. I'm not saying that is the differential for each coach's record but I would think it would be a contributing factor to a team's composure, court.

Look back at the clips of Geno during the Florida State game that opened the season. I would say he was yelling, and I wouldn't say he was composed. Some of his comments, as we have observed, pushed the envelope of the acceptable. It isn't typical (this year) because games like FSU are not typical.

But if UConn gets behind in the second half against anyone in Dallas, I think you will find that the FSU Geno will be resurrected. And it will probably work.

 

[Icebear]

The Geno to fear is not the manic yelling one. It is the one sitting on the bench arms folded across his chest or sweeping his hair back and saying absolutely nothing. Every generation of players including Di and Sue have said this.

 

[huskeynut]

Kim is a decent coach, but that's about it. She makes no in-game adjustments. She is also married to a fading offensive philosophy of having a lot of bigs and just dumping the ball inside. Her bigs are slow and do not have a variety of shots. This makes defending them a little easier. The women's game is growing away from that.

 

[Tonyc]

Thats an easy question. Poor ball handlers. To many bigs that are big and slow.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

If I may:

Kim can get past the E8. She has won 2 national titles, same number as Tara, who went 11 straight years without making the F4 although I don't recall her teams enough to know if any of those were as talent at this Baylor squad.

As far as composure, Geno is far more sedate now, which may be part of the aging process, but he hasn't needed to be animated. Since the start of the 08-09 season, only ND with Diggins, Baylor with Griner, and Stanford has beaten his team that I can recall. I know Geno and his team work their tails off so when people say they make it look easy I just shake my head. No practice, game preparation or win hasn't come with a lot of effort and energy.

I don't really care for Mulkeys attitude sometimes, but she isn't a bad coach.

 

[sarals24]

They also lost to St. John's!

 

[oldude]

Having watched Baylor fold late in a number of games, I think it's pretty clear, that Kim does not do a very good job late, in one possession type games. She is a great recruiter who is revered in Waco, but when I watch Baylor play it strikes me that if they don't overwhelm you with their size, depth and talent, they don't know how to win tight games.

What is worse, Kim seems to panic or freeze in tight games. That's why she throws her jackets, yells at her team and makes sometimes incomprehensible substitutions late in games. Against MS St, where maybe a timeout and some focused strategy would have been in order, they showed Kim on the bench with the absolute look of a deer in the headlights as her team was systematically falling apart.

Thinking back to the UConn game, Baylor was very much in the game well into the 4th qtr, but down the stretch UConn executed and Baylor did not.

 

[topogigio]

Kim Mulkey's game time sideline stiick is very similar to Jim Calhoun's. Very short fuse, yelling and screaming at player's and officials alike. Players are yanked for almost any mistake. With some teams this may work, obviously, with this years' team, it doesn't.

 

[stwainfan]

I think Baylor misses a pg like Sims. Thats what I think was missing from this team.

 

[oldude]

Look back at the clips of Geno during the Florida State game that opened the season. I would say he was yelling, and I wouldn't say he was composed. Some of his comments, as we have observed, pushed the envelope of the acceptable. It isn't typical (this year) because games like FSU are not typical.

But if UConn gets behind in the second half against anyone in Dallas, I think you will find that the FSU Geno will be resurrected. And it will probably work.

I suspect that Geno himself would tell you he could have done a better job at FSU.. He didn't clearly communicate the "fouling" strategy and seemed to be less than his best.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

They also lost to St. John's!

You are correct, my mistake.

 

[sarals24]

I was at the Elite Eight game in Dallas in 2011 when Baylor lost to A&M. It was absolutely mindblowing that Mulkey never adjusted to the way Gary Blair had his team playing. They slowed the game down, took almost the entire shot clock, and doubled and tripled Griner every possession. They threw all their bigs at her, each of them was in foul trouble, and Mulkey never changed her strategy of "throwing it to Britney down low." Her body language and demeanor got increasingly manic (a trend I have noticed in each of their losses) and her players tensed up, played tight and looked like they were scared of getting yanked or yelled at.

Nothing has changed in six years. The players play as they are coached. Kim is not cool, calm and collected in late game situation, so they aren't cool, calm and collected. They have enough talent to compete for Final Fours every year, but unless they get another otherwordly player like Griner, I don't know if she will reach the top again.

 

[JordyG]

It's not a coincidence that whenever Mulkey's teams reach a certain juncture it's guards, aggressive, penetrating guards, that are her downfall. Just this season against UConn it was Crystal Dangerfield. Of course previously also Schimmel and now Williams. It's because Mulkey doesn't scheme effective defensive backup plans. She stated this year during the tourney that when her team had to play a 2/3 it would be difficult for the team because "We haven't practiced a 2/3". Which also means they hadn't practiced any of its variants: Box and 1, 3/2, diamond etc. A box and 1 is a nice way to slow down a guard that's shooting well. You have to mix you defenses to slow down a guard having a good day. But Mulkey doesn't practice those things. So what exactly do their defensive practices consist of? Stay in front of your man and switch here not here? As opposed to UConn players who are prepared for every eventuality. To me this is bad coaching. Mulkey recruits loads of fine players and it seems she feels it's enough to just overwhelm others teams with talent and depth. It isn't.

The difference between a good coach and a great one isn't a fine line, it's a very broad step. Like players you have to improve, which means facing up to your weaknesses as a coach. Look at Schaefer last year. When his team got crushed by UConn remember his statement referring to UConn, "We're chasing THAT team". Soon after he had a sit down with Geno who told him that in order to win a championship you need a championship level offense. Schaefer took those words and Geno's offensive suggestions to heart. But the converse is also true. In order to win a championship you need a championship level defense. Schaefer was open minded enough to realize his shortcomings. So far Mulkey has not been.

 

[UCFanRon]

Why can't Kim Mulkey's Baylor Bears get past the Elite Eight?

The state of Big 12 men's basketball gets precedence over Kim Mulkey in this article.
The title raises a question but the answer is not there.

I know this thread is about Mulkey but there were mentions of Geno.... Back a lot of years I did an overnight tape session with a UConn grad at ESPN who said she hated Geno. She said he always yelled at and belittled his team so she was not a fan of his. Recently I think I saw a story with Geno and him saying he had mellowed so I take that as him being somewhat softer these days....

 

[UConn66]

Having watched Baylor fold late in a number of games, I think it's pretty clear, that Kim does not do a very good job late, in one possession type games. She is a great recruiter who is revered in Waco, but when I watch Baylor play it strikes me that if they don't overwhelm you with their size, depth and talent, they don't know how to win tight games.

What is worse, Kim seems to panic or freeze in tight games. That's why she throws her jackets, yells at her team and makes sometimes incomprehensible substitutions late in games. Against MS St, where maybe a timeout and some focused strategy would have been in order, they showed Kim on the bench with the absolute look of a deer in the headlights as her team was systematically falling apart.

Thinking back to the UConn game, Baylor was very much in the game well into the 4th qtr, but down the stretch UConn executed and Baylor did not.

She is also an inveterate moaner, crying out in agony as games become closer, especially at the end of games. Doesn't help with the refs. I think she chokes under pressure.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

She needs a few more 6&1/2 footers?

For the last few years I've watch Mulkey add bulk and lose speed. One ball hog chick in the middle is no cure for slow.