I never hated on him, but I did criticize him for basically being a highly touted portal pickup that was non-existent for the first part of the season and unable to throw it in the ocean from a boat - especially at 3 point range. He has absolutely turned it around starting with the WVU game and is hitting a nice percentage from 3 over that time period, including some clutch ones when we had to have it like the late game ones he hit today. If he can keep it up it's huge to have another weapon for opponents to have to worry about and to be able to step up when our guards are off (like the OU game especially including KG).

Didn't see this coming but I'm certainly glad it did.

I was hoping that Bridges would turn the corner & give us some of what he did when he played for WVU. He's been doing that lately. If his development & improvement continues along this trajectory we will be dangerous, assuming everyone else steps up & does their part.

Been as hard as anyone on Bridges but he's really coming around. Don't think it's a coincidence that we're starting to stack wins with his improved play

IowaBear said:

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Been as hard as anyone on Bridges but he's really coming around. Don't think it's a coincidence that we're starting to stack wins with his improved play

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It helps that his improved play has coincided with LJ Cryer's return, though Cryer had a rough one today. Those two have been really important for us.

I think most people were hard on his 3 point shooting, but hopefully he's turned the corner.

11 points, 8 boards, and 0 TOs in only 25 minutes.

His three from the corner was absolutely beautiful.

Bridges is playing great. Totally different player starting a few weeks ago. To win a game with George and Cryer struggling badly is huge.

He was not good to start the season, there's no denying that.

Now that the easy part of the schedule is over, can he continue to contribute?
Surely hope so because the guards cant do it alone.

*Easy part of conference schedule

Fre3dombear said:

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He's actually literally won a couple of games for us this year.

Today he was ice

And flag with the dag

Picked it up when keynote didn't have it today

A ton of guys have hated on bridges but he's earned the respect. He to be feeling the heat. Poetic to win it with 3's from him

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Agree.

Basketball team today, but Baylor Bear for life!

There is no easy part of conference schedule.

Not sure what you mean by true PG. Our system under Drew is designed to have combo guards who can all score and distribute. Flagler has improved his handle, vision, and playmaking exponentially from this time last year. Key looked under the weather, was sloppy and lethargic in OU game, but leading up to OU game had made tremendous improvements in protecting the ball. Even Cryer has shown improvements he had a key penetration move and assist to Bridges for the corner 3.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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There is no easy part of conference schedule.

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True. But the 4 games we won were against the last 4 teams in the conference. None are ranked so relatively speaking….

Those 4 teams are a combined 6-22 in conference… at some point you are what your record says you are. And right now 3 of those 4 aren't NCAA teams (OSU is a fringe NCAA team). There's a clear divide between the top and bottom of the league and we have a tough stretch against the top of the league ahead.

Not so sure those teams won't be in. Per Lunardi, OU and WVU are among the last 4 in, while OSU is a bubble team among the last 4 out. And OSU just knocked off ISU yesterday....
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-2023-march-madness-men-field-predictions

Call me when Lunardi is correct on his projections… WV is 1-6 in league play… OSU 3-4 with zero good non con wins. WV isn't getting in I'll bet the house on that. OU and Tech aren't either. And OSU needs to go 8-10 in league play.

When every team is good is they are in the big 12, mathematically some teams will lose more games than others.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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Bottom 4 teams in conference, current NET ranking:

WVU - 30
OSU - 45
OU - 57
Tech - 72

We just beat 3 of those teams on the road.

Basically every conference game is against a team better than anyone we'll see in the first round of the tourney, even Texas Tech despite their 0-7 conference record. And we just beat 3 of them at their place....

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Exactly. The Big 12 is the best conference in the country. No other is even close. All 10 members are potential tournament teams, although it's likely that 1-3 will be left out.

And if for some reason folks don't value NET rankings as a metric, looking at BPI rankings of those bottom 4:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/view/overview/group/8

WVU - 29
OSU - 34
Tech - 42
OSU -43

Bottom line, this conference is NASTY top to bottom. Every single win is huge, especially road wins.

Jalen Bridges knocks down three dagger 3s to help the Bears defeat the Sooners 62-60. Three straight road wins for the Bears. Bridges finishes with 11 points and 8 rebounds and no turnovers #baylor #sicem pic.twitter.com/bDdQmrIs38

— Ashley Hodge (@ahsicem365) January 21, 2023

Crawfoso1973 said:

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And if for some reason folks don't value NET rankings as a metric, looking at BPI rankings of those bottom 4:

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bpi/_/view/overview/group/8

WVU - 29
OSU - 34
Tech - 42
OSU -43

Bottom line, this conference is NASTY top to bottom. Every single win is huge, especially road wins.

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While i find NET and BPI rankings of value… it seems the total win count is valued more.

Big12 teams
20 wins - IN
19 wins - high NET / BPi - Heavy maybe
18 wins - possible, but rare

I hate this simplistic view, but because we all have to play each other twice, an eighth team getting in is very hard. The top 4 teams (KU) throwing a game or two to the bottom few (OSU) make it happen.

Crawfoso1973 said:

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Not sure what you mean by true PG. Our system under Drew is designed to have combo guards who can all score and distribute. Flagler has improved his handle, vision, and playmaking exponentially from this time last year. Key looked under the weather, was sloppy and lethargic in OU game, but leading up to OU game had made tremendous improvements in protecting the ball. Even Cryer has shown improvements he had a key penetration move and assist to Bridges for the corner 3.

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Like Chery or PJ for example.

It is better than the Walton year though

Whatever your take is on the schedule toughness, Bridges has been much better as of late. He has to continue to contribute if we want to win the conference. If we are left with 1 to 3 scoring options only: middle of the pack here we come.

Bridges haters look dumb after the last several games.

I wasn't a hater, but objectively he wasn't good on either end of the floor until conference play. Amazing how quickly he redefined his game, becoming the glue guy we desperately needed.

Jalen has become what we all hoped he would be. It has taken a lot of time but he's doing great things at the right time.

He's playing with so much confidence right now. I wonder how much of his early struggles were a product of being/playing hesitant as part of a new team.

Whatever it is, he's looked like a different player since Big 12 play began. He's legitimately one of the most valuable players on this team. Flagler is the only player I'd rank ahead of him.