I am ready to start speculating on any number of things that could happen this season. Will we make the Final Four? Who will be the most college-ready freshman? Who will be most improved? What major question marks do you have about this team that will determine their ceiling? Will Moon dunk? Will the managers log any minutes? Will Cox reject a shot into the nose-bleed seats?

Inevitably, someone will get on here and say, "we can't look past the first regular season game against Nicholls State." Duly noted. But for everyone else who wants to engage in rampant speculation and the looking-past of opponents, I invite you to the free-for-all.

I think having some reserves again will be the difference in this team over last year, effectively allowing Kalani to be as dominant a force at the end of the season as she is certain to be at the beginning. We have three players that we should be able to count on pretty consistently to put up points and make major plays on offense and defense: Kalani, Cox, and Morris. Getting to the Final Four will depend on some combination of three other players that can be relied on to regularly leave their stamp on the court in every game. I suggest those three will turn out to be Juicy, Egbo, and Richards.

Does anyone know the extent of DeCosta's injury and when she might return to the court?

The sky is the limit for this team. It might be the best team in our history, only time will tell. But there will be other teams of excellence eager to compete for a NC. In 2005 there were 6 teams at the same level, any of which could have won the trophy, Baylor had a chance equal to any of the other teams, but we are so glad that it was our year. I expect this type of year in this season. Most of us already know the usual suspects that will be in the top group but there can be surprises as well. I can hardly wait for the season to begin. Solid starting lineup, deep bench, a team of great players and great people. Let the good times roll.

On paper, this looks like Kim's best roster ever. Her biggest problem is finding playing time for about 10. It'll be like herding cats. Some really good players are going to ride the pine.

As others have said, this is the championship caliber team on paper. I believe this is the year we make the final four or better.

I hope to see the team workout and scrimmage in mid to late October. I cannot be too candid about my expectations until then. Clearly the three returning stars, Brown, Cox and Morris are going to have to play up to their expected level, if not beyond, for the Lady Bears to win their way to the Final Four, much less contend for the championship. Ursin will, in my view, be a stronger presence than she was last year, and Landrum needs to be a consistent threat from the arc and use her athleticism more frequently to penetrate than she did last year. Richards is going to have to raise her offensive profile - she already defends and boards at an impressive level, but she is a wing player without a three point shot to this point.

The youngsters are going to provide depth, and Egbo is physical enough and gifted enough athletically to do a good job spelling the post players. Smith is our version of Joyner Holmes, and may be even more promising. Oliver may be a very strong contender for playing time, and we know that Jackson is a very capable player. I expect her to see a lot of minutes, as she is a veteran and a strong defensive presence, and Mulkey prefers both of those elements on a team in need of them.

I think that the preconference schedule is strong enough to give us a very good sense of just how good this team can be. It is going to be an interesting year.

Let me know when your coming Set and I'll try to meet up with you again and perhaps get some food afterwards Eh? Should be some very interesting practices this year with all the new promising faces. Would have been great if Trinity would have been able to play all year and developed her skills. I personally figure that Juicy and Jackson will be our other two starters at least to begin with due to experience. But there's going to be at least 5 more on the bench just itching to get out there and prove their worth. That's the interesting part.

Chapbear, I am pulling for Moon and want to see her knock everyone's socks off this year. I'm not so sure about her starting, though. I concur with geewago's listing of the starters. I think Morris, Brown, and Cox are given as starters. Unless Chloe Jackson proves highly disappointing, I think her senior status gives her the start with Mulkey. A highly improved Moon conceivably competes for Juicy's spot, but Juicy is already a returning starter, and in all likelihood, the best shooter on the team.

I'd love to see her as a major spark off the bench, much like Pierre Jackson his junior year.

Like every season, it will be interesting to see how our experienced ladies step up their games. I don't think any have come close to their ceiling. Juicy & Lauren, in particular, seem poised for greatness.

imo, This could be "the year" IF Coach Mulkey can carve out enough minutes/experience for our younger athletes to grow-up by tournament-time. As we've seen, few freshman mature enough in one season to compete like they did in high school and make a significant impact in the tournament. (Even Griner was not ready for that level of competition her first year. Odyssey Sims was the exception.)

After all, we are not a veteran team with just two juniors and one senior - and another senior transfer, to go with six freshmen and two sophomores.

But, thank the Lord, Kim is ALWAYS the X-Factor.

bunation... said:

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... After all, we are not a veteran team with just two juniors and one senior - and another senior transfer, to go with six freshmen and two sophomores.

But, thank the Lord, Kim is ALWAYS the X-Factor.

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Yes, but weren't those three starters and leaders, particularly after KW was injured. Agree on thank the Lord for Kim. Hope not, but the X-Factor is often injuries.

Said it last year and was correct, and unfortunately have to say the same thing this year: still don't have a Final Four level PG, so Sweet 16 is our ceiling once again. Would say Elite Eight due to Mulkey, but still haven't gotten over how badly she got outcoached by the guy at Oregon St.

Bone Squad said:

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I'll probably regret this...

What specifically about Alexis Morris makes her not Final Four worthy in your mind?

I have two follow-up questions I would like you to consider as you answer the first. 1) Is your assumption that Morris will not show any improvement between her freshman and sophomore years? 2) Is your opinion that Morris is not as good of a point guard as Chelsea Whitaker or Kelli Griffin, both of whom started at that position for Baylor in the Final Four? (I'll spot you Odyssey Sims)

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If Morris improves 10% her sophomore year, and most star players jump more than that, she will be at worst in the top ten in the nation. Name 5 point guards in America better than her.

I agree with geewago. Morris can make the majority of her defenders look foolish with her quickness and ability to get a quality shot off almost anywhere on the floor.

I'll be surprised if she isn't the Big 12 1st Team PG this year. She's got a chance to be an All American as well. If she wasn't surrounded by such talent AND depth, she'd be dropping 20+ every night.

Interesting discussion. Big fan of Alexis Morris here. Love the look in her eyes

I am also optimistic about Morris, and believe that she will be terrific.

Hmmm. Pgs across the country.

Sabrina Ionescu, Oregon
Crystal Dangerfield, UCONN
Chennedy Carter,Tamu
Lilli Thompson, Notredame
Destiny Slocum, Oregon State

?

Sabrina is Jr and had a stellar Sophomore season and has a good team to back her up.
Crystal - I think she is good but Jury is still out for me on her.
Chennedy- Um she plays give me the ball and I'll do it. Her teammates that were good graduated or left the program due to her style of play.
Lili is good, but IDK if she is playing this next year.
Destiny- She will be a RS Sophomore.


So the PG's you're comparing are all older. Alexis will only be a Sophomore and I think she could fit right in with all. Chennedy isn't comparable to the rest because she just play a 1 person game. The rest actually distribute.

Destiny in my opionion had one of the best freshman years. I know Chennedy got FOY, but she is like I state doesn't play like the rest.

June 20, 2018

"The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters held their 12th annual player draft, selecting a wide array of talented prospects including Notre Dame women's basketball alum and 2018 National Champion Lili Thompson.

Before her season ending ACL injury cut her final collegiate year short, Thompson averaged 5.9 points, 1.6 steals and 4.6 assists, as the latter ranked sixth in the ACC. The Mansfield, Texas native also registered her first career double-double last season, logging 12 points and 10 rebounds vs Michigan State. When combined with her three years at Stanford, Thompson started 102 games and amassed over 1,332 points and 359 assists."

- Notre Dame WBB website

I agree with Baylor Dad in Va., our bigs had to play too many minutes last season due to lack of depth. Only Cohen was truly capable of spending time in the paint as a substitute. She is gone, but those three highly talented freshmen will give us much better depth. And this will help.

Baylor Dad in Va. said:

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First time poster here after just joining.

Love the discussion here, but after watching the heartbreaking loss to Oregon State last year, and being so excited about all the new talent coming in, I thought I would like to get in the discussion.
I have probably watched and rewatched the Oregon State loss last year a half dozen times now. (I take losses hard). While I can agree with the previous statements about our bigs, their play, and the need for some help from the incoming class to give them a rest, I don't feel that it was because of the bigs that we lost the game. While the bigs certainly did not have one of their best games I would say that they were only part of the blame for our loss.

We sorely missed Wallace and the absence of a scoring PG. And no matter how great she is, Alexis was only a freshman. And in that game she played like a freshman. She was given a chance to take her shots, but that was not a good thing, because she only hit 5 of 19 shots. Twenty six percent shooting is just not up to "Baylor Standards". It is not going to get the job done. Every missed shot in that game was like a turnover. The combination of Juicy and Natalie was not any better. Zero for 5 in the 39 combined minutes they played. So, as a result, our guards were non-factors in the scoring until the very end when the game was already lost. With 2/5 of your team not contributing in the scoring it certainly becomes easier to sag down the defense on the bigs under the basket. At least that's the way I see the game when I rewatch.

So, I don't think that I will pen either Alexis or Juicy in as starters before the season, or crown them as "the best" for any awards. They may very well be, but they are going to have to show it on the floor and in the games this year. I hope they do because I like to watch both of them and think both of them have tremendous "credentials" which show that they are capable. Juicy was very impressive in hitting all those fours in the recent exhibition game. Alexis played well too, but there were a lot of players in the game. And the youngsters that we have coming in will need seasoning. But my hope springs eternal.

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Thanks for joining. Much to agree with here, including that a lot of players under-performed in the Oregon St. game. For me, that goes hand in hand with a season-long depth issue, especially after losing Wallace. Once we were down to 7 fully healthy players plus one obviously still rusty (Chou), we just had no margin for error. And we erred.

I can see Juicy's starting role potentially being vulnerable to Richards. But Alexis Morris will start by default. The next point guard in line on this team I assume is Honesty, and I just can't see a true freshman being handed the reigns to the position without extenuating circumstances.

Let's talk about the real issue of importance, though. Is Moon going to throw one down, or what?

I love Moon.. I hope she gets more playing time this year.

We have the potential to do GREAT THINGS this season.

CAN OCTOBER PLEASE HURRY.....

I think you have 3 set positions. Morris PG, Cox F, Brown C. I think the SG & SF are both up for grabs.

Welcome, Baylor Dad in Va! Lots of good info and good fans here.
I read your post with interest and agree with some points. I adore our bigs.
One thing though, not sure How you were able watch and rewatch that game.
Just the one time was so tough for me. I love the Lady Bears so

I agree that Sims has been our best PG.Chelsea was lightning fast and very effective.However,I think the second best point guard under Mulkey has been Sheila Lambert,a first round pick.Morris is a terrific young guard and with experience will belong somewhere on the short list of our elite point guards.

Thank you. I like each of you for the comments. You have made me feel welcome. It is great fun to find a board so friendly and where I can talk Baylor Women's Basketball and maybe even football later in another forum. But right now I will tell you I am more passionate about the women's basketball team than the football team (and I root for, and watch, the football team so don't get me wrong).
But Baylor Women's Basketball, headed by the best coach in the country, Kim Mulkey, is the most likely source for Baylor's next national championship. She has won two already, but has been in the hunt every year for the last 8 years. I think this year she could add another if the incoming youngsters are as good as their hype, and can learn quickly. Never before has there been this much overall talent at one time for Kim to work with. It will take a hell of a coaching job to get the youngsters ready but Kim has proven time and time again that she is up to the task. 9 players that are freshmen or sophomores will form the nucleus of a string of great teams for the future. From a team that was depleted at the end of last season due to an unprecedented amount of injuries and two or three unexpected transfers, in one year's time we have a richness of talent. What a great recruiting effort by Kim and her coaches!

It is fun to speculate as to who the starters will be for next season, but when it comes right down to it I fully trust Kim's decisions. She will be watching these kids go through practice everyday and she will determine what they need to do to get better, and who is ready to be the starters now. And we can fully expect to see almost the entire roster play in the early season. Everybody will get their chance to show what they can do. Kim likes to get as many players in the game as conditions warrant and I fully approve of that strategy.

Everybody has their favorite players, but we have so many good ones that it is hard for me to name favorites. I like them all. I don't disagree with any of you if you have a favorite. Because they have established themselves already, Kalani Brown and Lauren Cox are going to be fixtures on the team. Logic would say that the other returners, and senior Jackson, will have an edge to start the season. But there are seven players on the team that have not yet showed us anything of what they are capable of doing. They have great resumes. All of them. Unprecedented at Baylor by their numbers. Who knows what Kim and the players can develop by the end of the season. I can hardly wait to see how the season is going to play out.