Watching our Team

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Bakersdozen
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9:28a, 12/6/23
What a fun and exciting team. We have some guys playing the best basketball of their career (Josh/Caleb/Love) and some new impact players like our freshman starters. Nunn needs to take his shot but overall the transfers look terrific.

Not sure I like our defense and those who are offensive minded will dismiss. We can't outscore the best teams in the NCAA in March, at least in my opinion. Today, we are missing adequate post defense. We are missing the big inside stopper on this team. Our overall defensive intensity is missing. I expected us to get more steals and more stops. Lastly, Drew is a great coach and we may not be able to match up with the bigs we have but I prefer to switch than try to beat the screen over the top. Seems like other teams are getting into the lane too easily.

Some great moments last night against SH, but we had two times in the game when we fell asleep and allowed them to come back Boy, this team is talented and I look forward to watching it grow!

is this the most talented roster in Baylor history?
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Bakersdozen • 9:44a, 12/6/23
Bakersdozen said:
What a fun and exciting team. We have some guys playing the best basketball of their career (Josh/Caleb/Love) and some new impact players like our freshman starters. Nunn needs to take his shot but overall the transfers look terrific.

Not sure I like our defense and those who are offensive minded will dismiss. We can't outscore the best teams in the NCAA in March, at least in my opinion. Today, we are missing adequate post defense. We are missing the big inside stopper on this team. Our overall defensive intensity is missing. I expected us to get more steals and more stops. Lastly, Drew is a great coach and we may not be able to match up with the bigs we have but I prefer to switch than try to beat the screen over the top. Seems like other teams are getting into the lane too easily.

Some great moments last night against SH, but we had two times in the game when we fell asleep and allowed them to come back Boy, this team is talented and I look forward to watching it grow!

is this the most talented roster in Baylor history?
We all have to get used to the fact Mark Vital and Davion won't be walking through that door anytime soon. Never again will a defensive team be that dominant. But we can be adequate. Defensively we have to go with what we have. I think Missi and Josh are improving each and every game. Already both are huge upgrades over Thamba. There is a learning curve for them but they are improving. Our perimeter D has to help them a bit more by preventing penetration. I noticed Nunn and Kobe are playing guys way too close and guys are penetrating and getting around them. We really struggle when Bridges is out of the game, he continues to be criminally underrated. Overall I don't see a lack of defensive effort or intensity, I see a lack of execution and cohesion at times especially in transition D. It will take time to gel which is to be expected with so many new pieces. I put my $$ on CSD getting us there by March. This is a final 4 or national title caliber team.
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EvilTroyAndAbed
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9:58a, 12/6/23
Our defense was so good that year mostly because of the talent and coaching we had but also because they had played together for two full years. If this group could play together for two years, think of what we would be like at the end of 2025. But I'll take what I can get.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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10:05a, 12/6/23
The worries about the Baylor post defenders is somewhat exaggerated.

Baylor's continually adapting No Middle D requires the primary post defender to shade, help, flex, and show quite a bunch. That means constant movement away from and back towards the primary defensive assignment. Even one or two misaligned steps can result in a foul or bucket for the other team. We ask a ton defensively from our bigs.

They are getting better each game. It is visible. It is tangible.

At the current rate of improvement, both Missi and Ojianwuna will be solid defensively [very solid] by mid conference play. Will they still face hurdles? Sure. Each new O scheme brings new learning curves. But the improvement between game 1 and game 9 has been substantial. That rate of improvement is despite some of those opposing teams running some O schemes that Baylor is unlikely to see again.

Ojianwuna has a better handle on the rotations but Missi is simply an insane athlete which covers up more mistakes. Throw in EJ for minutes when needed and that three headed monster will be more than serviceable.

We won a national championship with Flo Thamba starting.

Will Baylor be Top Ten defensively? No. Can the team be a solid D team? Yes. Performing at a Top 25 D level is within their grasp. Not reaching Top 25……the early results make that unlikely. But at that level by the 2nd half of conference? Yes.

And a Top 25 level D combined with a Top 1 level O can go REALLY far.
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WA Jim
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10:11a, 12/6/23
I agree with the concerns regarding defense against the better teams - but from what I am seeing from the eye ball test is a lack of intensity and want to on the defensive glass - we seem to be giving up a lot of second chance opportunities- I will admit I have not seen the stats on it though
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to WA Jim • 10:14a, 12/6/23
A lot of defensive rebounding is when our bigs are forced to help (by design) they are often out of position to get the rebound. Especially when Missi is selling out for blocks, he will not be in position to get the rebound. Not making excuses for them, but I'm not seeing a lack of effort or intensity.
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DallasBear9902
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10:21a, 12/6/23
This is a great fun team. I LOVE it's potential. This may be the most unselfish offense we've ever had. Areas to improve:

1. I was surprised the press gave us heartburn.

2. Vital, Flo and even Mayer could play big and thump. We're missing that on the interior D. Missi makes up for it athletically. Against a team that is big inside we'll need to either punish them on perimeter O or Loehner will have to step up.

3. I really like Love, but the ball can become stagnant at times. He's good as long as he's moving towards the goal, but a little too much stationary dribbling.

And since the comparison will always be to 2021, this team can field lineups that have 5 legitimate scoring threats on the floor. That is creating crazy spacing whereas in 2021 we always had one guy on the floor (sometimes 2) where defense could sag off.
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Bakersdozen
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11:07a, 12/6/23
There are teams that play elite defense year in and year out like Virginia. Last year our defensive effort was terrible. Whether by design or not, we had to outscore the other team to win usually, unless against lesser teams.

I will wait and see how this variant of Middle D works but so far it has been a work-in-progress. Let's see what happens when we play the top 10. It will be fun to watch.

These are the two top big men tandem we have had. Agreed and that will give team fits, I think.

Flo started on the National Championship team but Vital played the 5 most of the time with four guards. At least that was our best lineup. We did have elite defenders that year but I also felt like they had the intensity/desire to play defense and got better. Let's see about this team.

In the last three years, including this year, we haven't seen great defense from a true freshman. I get it - we probably won't but AAU doesn't really play defense but then neither does the NBA - both games are set up for offense. I hope our two starting freshman commit to it and this may another natty.

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MashedPotatoes
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12:20p, 12/6/23
What's the deal with Nunn? He looks a little helter skelter right now with the ball. Of the 5 starters, he seems to be making the least impact at the moment.
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CST Bear
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12:45p, 12/6/23
This team is gonna be special. The first 8 minutes last night looked like we might run away by 40...then SH pressed and we got sloppy, lazy maybe even sleepy.

It was clear to me that when we needed to turn it on, we did. Not a characteristic I love necessarily...but man the upside of this team...

I still think Bridges is such an impact and contagious player. When he's locked in on both sides of the court, we're the best version of ourselves.

I can't ever remember a BU team that had this much depth, explosiveness and were as balanced as this one.

Hope the kids get lots of rest and are hungry for the big road tests in two weeks!
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Johnny Bear
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1:01p, 12/6/23
If you're any kind of a BU fan, how could you possibly not like this team? Still need improvement on the defensive end and for players like Missi improvement at the FT line, but man these guys rival our Natty team as far as being fun to watch.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to Bakersdozen • 1:25p, 12/6/23
Bakersdozen said:


Flo started on the National Championship team but Vital played the 5 most of the time with four guards.

That statement isn't even in the same time zone as being correct. Vital at the 5 rarely occurred.
Not never, but rarely.

That team logged 1205 minutes over the entire season.
EJ logged 559.
Thamba logged 450.
Loveday logged 57.
That total 1066.
None of those 3 players played at the same time.
That leaves only 139 minutes where one of them wasn't on the floor.
Vital only logged 702 minutes. Even if he got all of those 139 [he didn't, some of those minutes were mop up minutes without any big] it isn't close to being "most of the time".

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Chamberman
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1:40p, 12/6/23
Here are the key defensive stats compared to the Championship season. We weren't the stifling defensive team from a stat standpoint back in 2021. Yes, I do believe that we can improve, but in some respects this team is better at rebounding, but need to increase forced turnovers.

23-24 Bears - 9 games played

Defensive rebounds per game - 26.2 - rank 165th
Blocks per game - 5.1 - rank 40th
Scoring defense - 67.6 - rank 102nd
Turnovers forced - 13.2 - rank 145th

20-21 Bears - 30 games played

Defensive rebounds per game - 23.2 - rank 303rd
Blocks per game - 3.7 - rank 97th
Scoring defense - 65.5 - rank 51st
Turnovers forced - 17 - rank 10th
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Crawfoso1973
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In reply to Adriacus Peratuun • 3:12p, 12/6/23
I agree, my memory was EJ and Thamba split the 5 pretty much 50/50. Vital got all his minutes pretty exclusively at the 4 playing next to Flo or EJ. Mayer got the minutes at small ball 4 when Vital was out of the game.
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Quinton
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 6:52p, 12/6/23
Crawfoso1973 said:
Bakersdozen said:
What a fun and exciting team. We have some guys playing the best basketball of their career (Josh/Caleb/Love) and some new impact players like our freshman starters. Nunn needs to take his shot but overall the transfers look terrific.

Not sure I like our defense and those who are offensive minded will dismiss. We can't outscore the best teams in the NCAA in March, at least in my opinion. Today, we are missing adequate post defense. We are missing the big inside stopper on this team. Our overall defensive intensity is missing. I expected us to get more steals and more stops. Lastly, Drew is a great coach and we may not be able to match up with the bigs we have but I prefer to switch than try to beat the screen over the top. Seems like other teams are getting into the lane too easily.

Some great moments last night against SH, but we had two times in the game when we fell asleep and allowed them to come back Boy, this team is talented and I look forward to watching it grow!

is this the most talented roster in Baylor history?
Overall I don't see a lack of defensive effort or intensity, I see a lack of execution and cohesion at times especially in transition D. It will take time to gel which is to be expected with so many new pieces.
It isn't effort. But I will say there is a lull in concentration. It should get better. Would make it easier on the team as Seton Hall was ready to go but we let them back in it. We get loose with the ball too when playing with the lead.

Again, I agree this team has elite upside. Only 2 - 3 teams I see have the upside this one does and none of those are in the big 12. Doesn't mean they will hit it but they can be a lot better defensively. I see we aren't playing a full on no middle all the time which is good. I think they can get there. Just a little more time.
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Bakersdozen
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 9:01p, 12/6/23
Crawfoso1973 said:
I agree, my memory was EJ and Thamba split the 5 pretty much 50/50. Vital got all his minutes pretty exclusively at the 4 playing next to Flo or EJ. Mayer got the minutes at small ball 4 when Vital was out of the game.
Ok, I was never a Flo fan and will admit that it clouds my judgment.

If I remember correctly, our defense for that national championship team was really good...and then someone would get sick or a game was canceled...I don't exactly remember but we were a bit hot and cold all season but when we put it all together we were terrific offensively and defensively. We had so many easy baskets off steals and rebounds, as I recall.
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Adriacus Peratuun
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In reply to Bakersdozen • 9:07p, 12/6/23
Bakersdozen said:
Crawfoso1973 said:
I agree, my memory was EJ and Thamba split the 5 pretty much 50/50. Vital got all his minutes pretty exclusively at the 4 playing next to Flo or EJ. Mayer got the minutes at small ball 4 when Vital was out of the game.
Ok, I was never a Flo fan and will admit that it clouds my judgment.

If I remember correctly, our defense for that national championship team was really good...and then someone would get sick or a game was canceled...I don't exactly remember but we were a bit hot and cold all season but when we put it all together we were terrific offensively and defensively. We had so many easy baskets off steals and rebounds, as I recall.
"A bit hot and cold all season"?

That team started the season in the top five, never left it, and finished as National Champions.
Lost two games. Two.
One against Kansas after the COVID pause. One against OSU in the B12 Tourney after the B12 pushed a huge number of games into a short end of conference window to make up for the COVID pause.

At no point in the season [much less the whole season] was the team "hot and cold". It was hot & scorching.
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Bakersdozen
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11:11p, 12/7/23
With regards to the defense they ended with. You are right - they were elite all season.
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Yogi
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8:07a, 12/8/23
This team hasn't gelled, yet.
"Smarter than the Average Bear."
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BearnMI
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In reply to Crawfoso1973 • 2:10p, 12/8/23
Crawfoso1973 said:
Bakersdozen said:
What a fun and exciting team. We have some guys playing the best basketball of their career (Josh/Caleb/Love) and some new impact players like our freshman starters. Nunn needs to take his shot but overall the transfers look terrific.

Not sure I like our defense and those who are offensive minded will dismiss. We can't outscore the best teams in the NCAA in March, at least in my opinion. Today, we are missing adequate post defense. We are missing the big inside stopper on this team. Our overall defensive intensity is missing. I expected us to get more steals and more stops. Lastly, Drew is a great coach and we may not be able to match up with the bigs we have but I prefer to switch than try to beat the screen over the top. Seems like other teams are getting into the lane too easily.

Some great moments last night against SH, but we had two times in the game when we fell asleep and allowed them to come back Boy, this team is talented and I look forward to watching it grow!

is this the most talented roster in Baylor history?
We all have to get used to the fact Mark Vital and Davion won't be walking through that door anytime soon. Never again will a defensive team be that dominant. But we can be adequate. Defensively we have to go with what we have. I think Missi and Josh are improving each and every game. Already both are huge upgrades over Thamba. There is a learning curve for them but they are improving. Our perimeter D has to help them a bit more by preventing penetration. I noticed Nunn and Kobe are playing guys way too close and guys are penetrating and getting around them. We really struggle when Bridges is out of the game, he continues to be criminally underrated. Overall I don't see a lack of defensive effort or intensity, I see a lack of execution and cohesion at times especially in transition D. It will take time to gel which is to be expected with so many new pieces. I put my $$ on CSD getting us there by March. This is a final 4 or national title caliber team.
It would be different if our roster would stay 2-3 years. Having the best system takes more time than just a season.
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historian
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In reply to WA Jim • 8:20a, 12/9/23
WA Jim said:
I agree with the concerns regarding defense against the better teams - but from what I am seeing from the eye ball test is a lack of intensity and want to on the defensive glass - we seem to be giving up a lot of second chance opportunities- I will admit I have not seen the stats on it though

I've recently watched some of the games again & I've noticed again that there are a few lapses when the guys let the opposing player get right by them for an easy bucket. Maybe they were tired, distracted, fooled, or something else. It's a bit concerning but these were momentary lapses and the coaches responded effectively. We cannot argue with the results!
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BaylorLit 01
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5:08p, 12/9/23
Why did we only have 1 game this week?
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Hotsauce
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In reply to BaylorLit 01 • 5:40p, 12/9/23
Finals
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historian
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In reply to Hotsauce • 8:27p, 12/9/23
Same for WBB

I'm eager for them to play again but I appreciate the focus on academics.
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