MBB: Baylor (0-0) vs Texas Southern (0-0) Preview & Game Thread

boognish_bear said:

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For a little perspective....in 2014 Texas Southern beat Tom Izzo's #25 at the time Mich St team early in the season.

Mich St that year went on to post a 27-12 record and reached the Final Four before losing to eventual champ Duke.

Not saying we have the FF in our future...but suffering an early season upset is no reason to panic.

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I agree with this. People are freaking out and treating it like losing to Liberty in football, which it is certainly not. This is not 10% of your season - you have 30+ games to show who you really are as a team. Izzo was and is a great coach and Drew is a way better coach than what we could expect to have, especially for this long. Would you rather Mack bring dirty Kelvin on up the road? I guarantee you that's what would happen if we lost Drew for any reason.

The main difference between us and MSU '14 is that we are not #25, and there will be no final 4 nor will there be even a sweet 16 run and that was the expectation even before this game. We were picked to finish near the bottom of the conference and our version of that turnaround would be just to make the NCAA tournament. This game doesn't change the expectation that this probably won't happen.

But no matter how you spin it, it's sucks to lose at home as a 25 point favorite to a SWAC school that probably doesn't have a single player we would have offered.

BaylorOkie said:

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Kegler and Mason not playing is much more concerning to me than the loss. Losing to a TSU is rrally bad, but doesn't doom the season, not even close. This is the type of team that will grow up a lot through the season. Lots of new faces. We've seen Drew teams hit their stride during February too many times to throw in the towel at 0-1.

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I'm with you, Okie. This success of this season was always going to depend on the ability of Kegler and Mason to stay healthy and on the court. All we learned the other night is basically what we already knew: We're not a very good team without those guys -- especially when we miss a boatload of free throws and lose our two best bigs for most of the second half to foul trouble.

This team has a lot of work to do, but the team we saw Tuesday isn't the one that's going to be playing come conference time. And if Kegler and Mason can't find their way to the court by then, it doesn't much matter anyway.

Bear8084 said:

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Timbear said:

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Hey, BULarry. Hold your Daddy Drew accountable. He blows a big lead, more TO's than assts, still cannot effectively inbounds the ball under pressure (go get a coaching book) , the team can't make even half their free throws. He's the Head Coach for crying out loud. These were the problems last year that you thought would just magically go away. So,I ask, what's Drew doing in practice?I analyze while you and 8084 just call people dumb.

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Some on here have analyzed it, and Drew isn't immune to criticism. What you are doing is acting like this loss is commonplace to low teams like this and using it to bash Drew like he's done nothing of value here. ("Drew's so great." Ummmm yeah, for us he is.) And as boognish has pointed out, a Final 4 MSU team lost to TSU early in the season in 2014. Is Izzo a terrible coach? No and neither is Drew. The loss sucks no doubt and things need to get fixed and get fixed fast, but it does not define Drew or his career here at Baylor as a whole.

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Perspective is not a common trait of this or most fan boards, but our first Elite Eight team needed a long jumper from Ekpe Udoh at the buzzer to avoid going to overtime with an 8-22 Hartford team early in the 2009-10 season. I'm not saying this team has that ceiling, but early-season basketball can be pretty ugly.

contrario said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

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I wasn't joking. I laughed, but I wasn't joking. You are one of the biggest drama queens on here. I can't imagine the roller coaster of emotions you are constantly on in real life. I can't stand that sht.

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And it's the same thing every ... freaking ... season.

It's hard to take someone seriously when it's the same fatalistic bull**** year after year after year. Especially when most of those years end in the tournament and several with deep runs.

Timbear said:

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I hope everyone will honestly appraise Drew this year to see If the same mistakes and team deficiencies continue throughout this year, as they did last year. With BB, the way you practice, and are coached will absolutely manifest itself in games.

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And do what? Call for his firing?

I don't know what it is some of you people want. But Drew is the only reason any expectations exist at all for this program. He's earned more than a down year or two to get the ship righted. And given his track record here, there's a decent chance we'll look back at this game in March and view it as the outlier it is.

I missed the game but it sure looks like defense was the big problem. New guys learning a zone can spell disaster, especially considering how Drew likes to morph between two different types of them. I wouldn't say to worry this year about results. Miss the tournament next year, though, and then it's time to worry.

Drew really needs to land a bigtimer this recruiting class.

bear2be2 said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

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Do you want Drew fired? If so, come out and say it. If not, put your big boy pants on and see how rest of the year plays out.

Either way, Drew's not going anywhere. He's earned a very long leash to get things headed back in a positive direction.

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I want accountability

EGOTbear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

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Do you want Drew fired? If so, come out and say it. If not, put your big boy pants on and see how rest of the year plays out.

Either way, Drew's not going anywhere. He's earned a very long leash to get things headed back in a positive direction.

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I want accountability

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Are you ranked in the Top 5 in your line of work? If not....how do you hold yourself accountable?

EGOTbear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

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Do you want Drew fired? If so, come out and say it. If not, put your big boy pants on and see how rest of the year plays out.

Either way, Drew's not going anywhere. He's earned a very long leash to get things headed back in a positive direction.

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I want accountability

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You need a nap.

EGOTbear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

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Do you want Drew fired? If so, come out and say it. If not, put your big boy pants on and see how rest of the year plays out.

Either way, Drew's not going anywhere. He's earned a very long leash to get things headed back in a positive direction.

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I want accountability

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What does this mean exactly? What would you do to the staff if you were in command, precisely, after Tuesday?

This year, after a bad '17-'18, I would write down all Big 12 team's percentages of FT made, Turnovers per game, assists per game, 3pt %, shooting %, fouls per game , smooth inbounds play under pressure(just Baylor) fast break points, scoring success after a timeout, ball movement inside 2 minutes(just Baylor). At the end of this season, I, as AD, would analyze all of these numbers , of course including W/L record,and , after an annual review with Drew, determine if our team is improving. If not, that would be a trend. I would then evaluate his practice regimen and together we would set goals and standards for the '19-'20 season. If no improvement is made, that would be 3 straight years of under performance leading to a make it or break it '20-'21 season.

rudylaw said:

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EGOTbear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

---

Do you want Drew fired? If so, come out and say it. If not, put your big boy pants on and see how rest of the year plays out.

Either way, Drew's not going anywhere. He's earned a very long leash to get things headed back in a positive direction.

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I want accountability

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What does this mean exactly? What would you do to the staff if you were in command, precisely, after Tuesday?

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From the fanbase. After every poor result, there are always excuses and handwaving. Never any external pressure for Drew to do better. People are satisfied by under .500 conference records and poor recruiting.

EGOTbear said:

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rudylaw said:

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EGOTbear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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EGOTbear said:

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Ah I see the resident wanna-be comedians are here to make corny jokes and hand wave away **** results.

But there's always next year for Drew!

---

Do you want Drew fired? If so, come out and say it. If not, put your big boy pants on and see how rest of the year plays out.

Either way, Drew's not going anywhere. He's earned a very long leash to get things headed back in a positive direction.

---

I want accountability

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What does this mean exactly? What would you do to the staff if you were in command, precisely, after Tuesday?

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From the fanbase. After every poor result, there are always excuses and handwaving. Never any external pressure for Drew to do better. People are satisfied by under .500 conference records and poor recruiting.

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First, Drew's recruiting isn't poor. It's been average for a few years, but he did ok this last haul. He just hasn't landed a 5* in a long time and resorts to taking transfers. But, I'd also like to see him do better in conference. These are well worn topics. Essentially what you really want is a coach with a different coaching style, but that's just not going to happen until Drew leaves or retires.

Timbear said:

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This year, after a bad '17-'18, I would write down all Big 12 team's percentages of FT made, Turnovers per game, assists per game, 3pt %, shooting %, fouls per game , smooth inbounds play under pressure(just Baylor) fast break points, scoring success after a timeout, ball movement inside 2 minutes(just Baylor). At the end of this season, I, as AD, would analyze all of these numbers , of course including W/L record,and , after an annual review with Drew, determine if our team is improving. If not, that would be a trend. I would then evaluate his practice regimen and together we would set goals and standards for the '19-'20 season. If no improvement is made, that would be 3 straight years of under performance leading to a make it or break it '20-'21 season.

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And he would tell you to go fly a kite, (or similar) once you, (as AD, of course) got as far as telling him your plan.

possible12 said:

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Timbear said:

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This year, after a bad '17-'18, I would write down all Big 12 team's percentages of FT made, Turnovers per game, assists per game, 3pt %, shooting %, fouls per game , smooth inbounds play under pressure(just Baylor) fast break points, scoring success after a timeout, ball movement inside 2 minutes(just Baylor). At the end of this season, I, as AD, would analyze all of these numbers , of course including W/L record,and , after an annual review with Drew, determine if our team is improving. If not, that would be a trend. I would then evaluate his practice regimen and together we would set goals and standards for the '19-'20 season. If no improvement is made, that would be 3 straight years of under performance leading to a make it or break it '20-'21 season.

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And he would tell you to go fly a kite, (or similar) once you, (as AD, of course) got as far as telling him your plan.

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Exactly. That plan is pretty much How to run off your best Men's Basketball coach ever 101.

Well, that and several other reasons.

And several more after those several.