Gameday Thread: No. 25 Baylor Travels to Face No. 2 Iowa State

Wright 0-5 2 fouls. Need production from him

IowaBear said:

---

We have a true PG on the roster. Arguably aside from Omier our best player. Why Rob Wright doesn't start and play 35 plus is an absolute mystery and makes zero sense. Move VJ to the bench and slide Roach to the 2. Bet we look worlds better offensively. We're going to regardless on defense

---

The problem is he's the only point guard on the roster. And He's playing almost 28 minutes a game already. That's a ton for a freshman.

I'm here, Omier has been our best player today. Edge doing his usual 0 fer so far. Par for the course against good teams

3-14, basically 21% from 3.

Foul trouble now... and they will make their free throws. Going to get ugly here leading up to the half...

But that's on Drew… this is just piss poor roster construction. I know you're not supposed to question Drew on here or you get scolded. But it's absolutely fair to question the crap roster construction lately

bear2be2 said:

---

IowaBear said:

---

We have a true PG on the roster. Arguably aside from Omier our best player. Why Rob Wright doesn't start and play 35 plus is an absolute mystery and makes zero sense. Move VJ to the bench and slide Roach to the 2. Bet we look worlds better offensively. We're going to regardless on defense

---

The problem is he's the only point guard on the roster. And He's playing almost 28 minutes a game already. That's a ton for a freshman.

---

Scary to think where we'd be if he hadn't been ready to contribute significantly as a freshman!

Iowa State is just way better than we are this year. It's really not worth getting worked up about. This Baylor team will likely be an 8 or 9 seed and we'll killed in the round of the 32.

If we're on the 8/9 line there's a good chance we get killed 1st round.

We are so bad on the offensive end. Bad shots, missed shots, turnovers, bad passes, bad spacing...

IowaBear said:

---

If we're on the 8/9 line there's a good chance as get killed 1st round.

---

We don't typically get killed by good, not great teams. It's only the really good ones typically that make us look like we don't belong.

Our games against Arkansas, Saint John's and UConn show that we can compete with the types of teams we'd play in the opening round. But we're not good enough to compete with top 10-15 teams this year.

Just no fun watching Baylor bb anymore .. how do u recruit a team that can't shoot or play defense ,,

This game was gonna be tough regardless, but wow. We are making it really hard on ourselves.

Under 10 at the half. I'll take it.

bear2be2 said:

---

Iowa State is just way better than we are this year. It's really not worth getting worked up about. This Baylor team will likely be an 8 or 9 seed and we'll killed in the round of the 32.

---

Yep. I've finally accepted we are a #4 to #8 finisher in the Big 12, will probably pull off an upset or two over a team above us in the standings, will make the NCAA tournament and most likely make an early exit. Maybe it will help me enjoy this much more instead of getting all worked up.

Edge playing great D and is our only plus defender on a team that desperately needs it. Terrific rebounder and passer. The talk of benching him and other criticism of him is laughable.

Beautiful play by Wright.

Lucky only to be down 8

Best thing about today is this really is the toughest game left. There's tons of very winnable games on the schedule ahead. The B12 imo is pretty weak this year after you get past ISU and KU (who themselves have some glaring weaknesses)

I never said bench him. I simply stated what our best lineup is. Wright, Roach, Nunn, Omier, Josh O is our best lineup.
Edge no shows offensively against good teams. I know you're a 5 star 5 star 5 star guy and that's fine. Doesn't mean they should automatically start

We've taken 9 more shots (32-23) and trail by 8. That's a stat you don't see every day. Our PPP is, um, ugly.

Iowa St shooting 48% from the field, 40% from 3
We're shooting 28% from the field and 21% from 3.

Guitarbiscuit said:

---

bear2be2 said:

---

Guitarbiscuit said:

---

I'm not sure Edgecombe should be starting for Baylor at this point in his development. Just too much of a liability offensively. If you can't make jump shots from the free throw line, that's not good.

---

Edgecombe is a guy who will look great against teams he can overwhelm athletically and disappear into the background against really good teams.

He just doesn't have the skill set yet to be an impact player in games where skill is needed to succeed.

---

So is there any reason we are starting him at this time? Do we not have players that can make a more positive impact? Because if we don't, I just don't see much happening for the team this year. I can't recall a time that we were so inept shooting.

---

On offense maybe not but otherwise yes. Now I understand the staff didn't necessarily bring him in for that but he's our best contributor for small things on the court over the last month.

On offense he doesn't fit our spread, break down, and kick system well and its going to be volatile.. thats on Drew. But he's the best defender on the team now, the second best rebounder, has kept 5+ possessions alive with tips/back taps, and has passed really well today and would have 5+ assists if our roster could make good looks.

Crawfoso1973 said:

---

Edge playing great D and is our only plus defender on a team that desperately needs it. Terrific rebounder and passer. The talk of benching him and other criticism of him is laughable.

---

Edgecombe does a lot of good hustle things. But with this roster as currently constructed we need him to be an impact player, and he's not up to that task.

He is an extremely limited offensive player. His skill set is frankly pretty terrible for a guy with his pedigree.

Big12Fan2024 said:

---

3-14, basically 21% from 3.

---

And virtually all 14 attempts have been open looks.

Crawfoso1973 said:

---

Edge playing great D and is our only plus defender on a team that desperately needs it. Terrific rebounder and passer. The talk of benching him and other criticism of him is laughable.

---

This time.. we agree. I don't understand benching a guy who is obviously the only guy who doesn't get cooked everytime the ball is near him, has a ton of deflections/disruptions that don't show on the official stats, is a really good rebounder, and an underrated passer (would show if anyone on this team could hit a good look).

He isn't a great fit if we don't get out in transistion consistenly. He would be doing okay offensively in another system. That is on the staff. Still think he'll improve.

Quinton said:

---

Crawfoso1973 said:

---

Edge playing great D and is our only plus defender on a team that desperately needs it. Terrific rebounder and passer. The talk of benching him and other criticism of him is laughable.

---

This time.. we agree. I don't understand benching a guy who is obviously the only guy who doesn't get cooked everytime the ball is near him, has a ton of deflections/disruptions that don't show on the official stats, is a really good rebounder, and an underrated passer (would show if anyone on this team could hit a good look).

He isn't a great fit if we don't get out in transistion consistenly. He would be doing okay offensively in another system. That is on the staff. Still think he'll improve.

---

If you're only offensive skill is finishing layups and dunks in transition, you wouldn't thrive in any offensive system. He's got to improve his offensive skill set and rapidly to be the type of player everyone told us when we were getting when he committed.

I like a lot about his game. He's a really good hustle player. But we devoted too much of our NIL budget and have dedicated too much playing time to him to be a guy that does all his work behind the scenes. He's got to be able to be a threat offensively. And he just hasn't been able to against the best teams on our schedule.

I disagree his offensive skillset is terrible. His shot is inconsistent but is not broken. Watch his free throws he actually has beautiful form. He plays within himself and does all the little things to help a team win. A 5 star doesn't have to carry a team offensively to make a positive impact.

bear2be2 said:

---

Crawfoso1973 said:

---

Edge playing great D and is our only plus defender on a team that desperately needs it. Terrific rebounder and passer. The talk of benching him and other criticism of him is laughable.

---

Edgecombe does a lot of good hustle things. But with this roster as currently constructed we need him to be an impact player, and he's not up to that task.

He is an extremely limited offensive player. His skill set is frankly pretty terrible for a guy with his pedigree.

---

That's a staff issue. He is doing all the little things as well as Castle was for UConn last year.. which I'm surprised about. This is the same staff that is relying on an undersized, still phyiscally developing freshman, to break down a D by himself in this system. Asking to fail from the jump.

Gotta start fast the 2nd half and put a little pressure on the Clones to execute. 8 is do-able. Time to shock CBB world.

To me Edge would be great as a perfect complimentary player because he does a lot of things (other than outside shooting) really well. Like others have said, though, our deficiencies are making him play more as an impact player and he's just not that. He's an old style junk guy who picks up 10-14 points with offensive putbacks, short drives, tip ins, etc.

We have no shooters or true offensive go-to guys on this roster who can take over a game, which is both troublesome and surprising. And unfortunately we have 3 of the bottom quarter of defenders in the entire Big 12 for players who average more than 18 minutes a game per multiple different defensive efficiency ratings.

Crawfoso1973 said:

---

I disagree his offensive skillset is terrible. His shot is inconsistent but is not broken. Watch his free throws he actually has beautiful form. He plays within himself and does all the little things to help a team win. A 5 star doesn't have to carry a team offensively to make a positive impact.

---

A 5 star has to be a threat. And Edgecombe isn't right now. He's a wallflower every time we play a good team. He doesn't do a bunch of bad or dumb stuff offensively. He just completely disappears.

someone earlier in the thread said bench him, which is an assininine take.

Hey Norchad, you're open for a reason. Stop shooting 3s, man.

It's recruiting. The type of 5 star we've been recruiting it's the Uber athletic incredibly unpolished type. That trend will continue as Tounde (next year 5 star) is arguably the most unpolished of all the 5 stars of recent memory.

Norchad is my favorite player on the roster but at some point someone's gotta tell the guy shooting 23% from 3 to stop chucking the damn ball and get in the paint.

IowaBear said:

---

It's recruiting. The type of 5 star we've been recruiting it's the Uber athletic incredibly unpolished type. That trend will continue as Tounde (next year 5 star) is arguably the most unpolished of all the 5 stars of recent memory.

---

George and Walter were both pretty polished players, and neither was an exceptional athlete, so I don't think there's a type. We've just gotten enamored by the one-and-done freshman in general, and those guys usually aren't ready to be top-three players on any good team.