bawitdaball said:
Out of curiosity - how long do we play the "no one else has done it so CNC gets a pass" game? It's been five years. I don't want or need a National Championship. I don't even need a Final Four. I would just like to have big games where we show up and compete. I'd also like to have an offensive scheme that provides high percentage shots and caters to the personnel on the court. It is her job to find a scheme that works for the talent that she has. She can't force her scheme on others.
I've said it numerous times - none of her teams have been well disciplined. The ladies make predictable passes that flow within the offensive scheme that she has them run. They aren't adjusting, pivoting, or reading the defense. Andrews digressed back to her high school tendencies (yes, I know she was injured), it doesn't excuse the number of threes she jacked up in traffic. Blackwell and Edwards both struggled in her system after they transferred. Buggs and Bella still don't appear fully comfortable or as productive as you'd expect a senior to be.
Maybe she's built some great relationships at the high school level. If so, she hasn't shown it. The always the bridesmaid, never the bride is exhausting. I haven't seen her coach someone up yet. You can know the Xs and Os, which I truly believe she is always the most knowledge coach on the sideline every time Baylor plays, but it hasn't materialized on the court. I'm not calling for her job, I'm curious when we stop making excuses and begin to hold her accountable. We don't need a National Championship to have a fun, exciting, and competitive program. But we have got to perform. Everyone has and is dealing with NIL. Why hasn't she been able to make inroads with it in her first five years and why did she get a multi-year extension?
And on the note of Tennessee - Caldwell took over the program in 2024. She lead them to the Round of 32 in her first season and then upset Ohio State last year (on the Buckeye's home court) before losing in the Sweet 16 Round against eventual Final Foul team Texas. Note that many are murmuring that she isn't the answer in Knoxville. If Baylor played in the SEC, we likely aren't making the tournament. We've been upset twice on our home court. That manes we've been over seeded. And both teams that beat us, including Ole Miss last year, lost their very next game.
Again, we don't have to win every game to be considered successful. We should be better than we currently are.
I am certain someone else could do better, but I also believe it would be marginally better at best. I think until we will and can commit the dollars needed to buy players like Miles, Prince, Van Lith and the like or unfortunately the ones that Tech and TCU will probably buy next year, there is a ceiling that we are not going to break through. unless we get really lucky with some under the radar players. I think she will stay, but do we even have the money to keep Scott and have enough left to put a good supporting cast around her?
As I said before, I would like to see the money numbers, but we aren't going to see those as to how we compare not only with SEC / ACC / B1G, but even with TCU and likely what Tech will start throwing out. All we see is getting down to being the final 2 or 3 on elite players' lists, only to see them end up in the SEC or ACC. I just think our conference affiliation puts a lid on getting players at just the going rate, and we don't have the money to pay the premium demanded to overcome the lure that those conferences have. I don't think the "coach" whoever we might have is going to be a big enough lure alone to get them in. And then, I suspect that while not SEC level, TCU and Tech, they still have more powder than do we. That is why I would like to see the numbers. If I did, I might repeat your observations.
There are a bunch of teams in this league and even in the other P4 leagues that would love to have the teams we have been having the last few years. We are getting in players that can compete, but not quite good enough to not have the flaws that you see. We are comparing ourselves to ourselves in a time and league that no longer exists. Many of your observations are valid (and actually I had some of those while Kim was here), but I think fixing those is just dealing with symptoms that flair up and not the root disease of being one of the best in our league and everywhere else except the SEC, B1G and ACC, but our league being the red-headed stepchild that the great players see as a last resort and we don't have the wallets to grease their palms enough to come here.
Most of us have recognized the gigantic gap between the XII and the other P4s. Iowa has stated he doesn't think anyone in the XII will make the second weekend. He probably is correct barring seeding breaks, although I would give TCU a chance.
Perhaps my view of the situation is too pessimistic, but I just think the situation we find ourselves is more than who is the coach and how well or not they direct their team during the season. I think it stems from what can realistically be expected of the level of players we can bring in under the current circumstances. We could replace CNC and many fan bases would ask why? They would love to have our record. Would the reward of starting anew be greater than the risk of something worse? I certainly don't know the answer to that.
I'll rest. Already taken up people's time too much. I look at the overall picture, especially with our needs in football and see no reason how Baylor can play the money game in WBB to the level needed to bring us anywhere close to the level we took for granted 6 years ago. That is why despite the flaws, I feel we have weathered the storm fairly well with all this chaos that started when KM walked and then exacerbated by OUT leaving and pay for play going crazy. So, I don't worry about it. I will be overjoyed if we beat TCU, but despite AP's opinion, I believe we do not overall match their talent and unless something changes way more impactful than changing the person on the sidelines that is not going to change.
