Baylor Basketball

Jason King: Jared Butler is the greatest all-time Baylor Basketball player

June 3, 2021
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SicEm365's MBB Analyst Jason King discusses the expectations of Baylor MBB and the greatness of Jared Butler.

Highlights from the Conversation:

  • With Coach K leaving Duke, their brand will hurt a little, but Shyer will maintain the culture.
  • Coach K wore on viewers and reports alike, but we can’t forget just how elite of a coach he was. Shyer has a big task ahead of him.
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Jason King: Jared Butler is the greatest all-time Baylor Basketball player

2,677 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by Bear2393
setshot
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I love Jared Butler and appreciate his contributions to the Baylor program. I saw Vinnie Johnson, however, and though we are comparing three years to two, Johnson was the best of breed at Baylor in my view.
RC87
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Terry Teagle.
fubar
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I'm not sure that Butler was the best player on this year's team.
Johnny Bear
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Vinnie Johnson and Terry Teagle of course played in a different era when the three point shot didn't even exist in college basketball. No doubt they were great players, but I wonder if their greatness was further magnified because of the fact that unlike Jared Butler, they were surrounded by mediocre at best talent and everybody knew they were virtually the only "go to" options for the Baylor teams they played on. Anyway, at best it's a very difficult comparison to make.
setshot
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I was present when Vinnie scored 43 points on the #1 team in the country, and had the three point rule been in place at that time, he would have had over fifty. Actually, it works the other way around....when a great scorer has relatively little help, it allows opponents to trap, double team, and collapse inside against the main threat. Vinnie was as dynamic and difficult to contain with Detroit as he was with the Bears, though his role was different, and Detroit had some fine offensive players on the floor with him.
SSadler
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Since 1967 when I first started tracking/watching Baylor basketball, I have never seen anyone inch for inch, pound for pound have a more outrageously athletic vertical leap than Vinnie Johnson.

Unless it was Moon Ursin.

jrock42
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You must have skipped some recent years. Pierre Jackson got up there with a 42.5" vertical
setshot
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Good call, jrock. Pierre was dynamic, particularly off the dribble.
The first time I saw Vinnie play was in the SF Tournament. Twice in the first quarter he positioned himself in the deep paint and with one step went up and secured a lob pass with one hand and slammed it home. It was beyond impressive.

He was so powerfully built and possessed of such a great wingspan that he just overpowered outside players when he took them deep. I am not sure that I have ever seen anyone any better at that than Vinnie was.
BluesBear
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C'mon Jason....now you are sounding like Larry King. If Butler wants to be the greatest male Bear to grace the court, then stay another year and lead the team to back-to-back championships but there is a long list of other great players from Baylor who I would say are much better.

Butler needs to prove something at the next level before we start anointing him with GOAT awards...
OsoVerde
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fubar said:

I'm not sure that Butler was the best player on this year's team.


Yeah, I think a strong argument could be made for Mitchell.
setshot
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John Wooden was once asked who was the best of all the great players he had coached and, after a pause to reflect, he responded, "Lewis (Alcindor) was the most valuable. I didn't say he was the best, just that he was the most valuable."

I think that it is hard to assess, and to distinguish, the relative merits of the three great guards (Butler, MItchell, and Teague), though it is fun to do so and we will continue to do it. I will say that each player in his own way made enormous contributions along the journey to the national championship. I absolutely loved watching Mitchell sow seeds of doubt in the minds of opponents, Butler making timely and sometimes spectacular shots that cut the heart out of opposing teams ----

and Teague? What can I say about the player we tend to forget, but one who may have quietly and consistently pulled his oar a little harder than anyone as we set out to cross the gulf between the possibilities that we imagined and the realities of what we were actually experiencing. He defended almost as efficiently as Mitchell, scored almost as effectively as Butler, often rebounded better than either, and respected the possession of the ball as a veteran player should. I pay him the highest of compliments when I say that he earned the right to be taken for granted. His post-college career may not be as promising as his more storied teammates, but he will forever be one of my favorite Bear basketball players.

At the end of the season, commentators marveled at the productivity and the excellence of the Baylor guards, including the man off the bench, Adam Flagler. I hope that we all know just how fortunate we were to see these players wear the Green and Gold. It was the most remarkable spectacle that seventy plus years of experience with this program has provided and I will die a happier man because of it -- and I do not mind saying so.
TJ55
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I was lucky enough to attend Vinnie's freshman home opener where he scored 28 points and I was hooked.
Watch the video where he scores every team point in an entire quarter against the Celtics. No wonder Danny Ainge was in awe, coining the nickname "the Microwave." Imo, he is the greatest of the Bears and the avg/game stats do not dispute this.......
Bear2393
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setshot said:

I love Jared Butler and appreciate his contributions to the Baylor program. I saw Vinnie Johnson, however, and though we are comparing three years to two, Johnson was the best of breed at Baylor in my view.


I saw Vinnie play also and I have to agree. He is the best Bear ever.
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