I also love how his name rolls of the tongue. It's a fun one to hear pronounced correctly (and completely). He has some pretty good post moves. I really like his Hakeem drop step.
Baylor Basketball
MBB Difference Maker: Jo Lual-Acuil
Scott Drew's Bears are off to the most impressive start in school history. There have been better starts in terms of wins. In 2011-12, Baylor started 17-0 and racked up some great wins along the way including San Diego State, @Northwestern, @BYU, St Mary's, West Virginia, Mississippi State and @Kansas State. But only two of those wins were against ranked teams at the time (Mississippi State and Kansas State). This year, the Bears have already notched four top 25 wins and three of those were against teams ranked in the top 10 (Oregon, Xavier, Louisville). They should be ranked #1 when the new polls come out if voters are paying attention to actual on the court results. They are currently #1 in the RPI rankings.
A lot of the attention for the Bears start will be credited to the play of Manu Lecomte (14 ppg; 5.3 assists; 40% 3pt) and Johnathan Motley (16 ppg; 8 reb). Those two are making a strong case for All Big12 consideration based on what they have done. But from my view, the player making the largest impact is 7-0 220 lbs junior Jo Lual-Acuil.
Big Jo sat out last year with a heart related condition. He redshirted a semester in junior college which put his classification status in question in the off-season. Baylor appealed for an extra year of eligibility for him and it was granted. Here are four reasons why Acuil has given the Bears a missing ingredient to turn Baylor from a solid team to a potentially elite team.
1. Defensive Efficiency
Scott Drew is one of the best offensive coaches in the country. His teams have been ranked in the top 20 for offensive efficiency by Ken Pom's ranking system for 9 out of the last 10 years. That is remarkable consistency that points to only one reasonable conclusion. Scott Drew has an offensive system that is effective and it produces results year in and year out. The knock on Drew's teams in the past is that they do not defend well enough to win championships. They have only finished in the top 25 of Ken Pom's defensive efficiency rankings one time (2014-15). The secret sauce for that team (23rd in defensive efficiency) was locking down the perimeter (8th in 3 point percentage defense). The combination of Royce O'Neale, Kenny Chery and Lester Medford gave Baylor the quickness and intelligence to play the zone effectively and take away other teams' perimeter threat.
Currently, the Bears are #12 in defensive efficiency. Jo Lual-Acuil is the big reason why. Acuil is averaging 4.38 blocks per game. For every shot that he blocks, he probably affects another two to be hurried. Acuil is 2nd in the country in blocks per game but he is #1 in blocks per foul at 2.5. Overall the Bears send other teams to the free throw line at a low rate (8th nationally) which helps their defenses excel.
2. Extend the Defense
Baylor was one of the worst teams in the country at defending three point shots last year. Scott Drew's team gave up 37% which led to an overall defensive efficiency rating of 84th nationally. Part of the problem was there was no rim defender. Motley and Prince blocked some shots but nothing like Ekpe Udoh, Quincy Acy, Isaiah Austin and Jo Acuil provided for Drew. This led to a prisoner's dilemma of what do you want to prioritize? Do you give up easy shots in the paint or do you prefer to see if teams can beat you from long distance? The Bears weren't good at defending either.
Jo Lual-Acuil has allowed Baylor defenders to press up on perimeter shooters knowing that if they get by them on the dribble, there is a premier shot blocker lurking who can erase some of those mistakes. And as mentioned previously, he is doing this without fouling (less than 2 fouls per game). Scott Drew commented on Acuil in the post game after the Xavier win, "with first year players (at this level), you expect airballs from foul shots like he did in this game or just mistakes because you get in a hurry. We knew Jo was going to have a big impact but he's exceeded expectations. He's a guy that has played even better than he practices."
3. Toughness on the Boards
Acuil gets pushed around by guys who are stronger and bulkier. But he competes hard in the paint. Acuil is averaging 8 rebounds per game. Six of those rebounds per game are coming on the defensive end. When you lose the best rebounder in college basketball (Rico Gathers) and another outstanding rebounder (Taurean Prince), you have some big question marks heading into the season.
The rebounding has not been a strength for Baylor as it has been on past teams. But it has been above average with Acuil, Motley, Wainright and Maston doing the majority of the work on the boards.
4. Footwork and Hands
Perhaps the most surprising thing that Acuil brings to the table is pretty solid hands and footwork. Baylor fans have known about the skill level of Johnathan Motley and Terry Maston for a couple of years now. Both players have great back to the basket games and can step out and hit 12-15 foot jump shots. Acuil has shown that he is probably not a guy that you want launching 3 pointers (29% after hitting two big ones against Oregon). His mechanics on 3s need major improvement. But he has a nice touch on hook shots and he is really good at catching alley oops and finishing (60% FG). And he has a lot more body control that I expected. Even though he gets pushed around in the paint some, he does a solid job of holding position and using his length and quickness to make plays.
His turnover rate is 0.6 per game which is outstanding for a player averaging nearly 28 minutes per contest. All of this equates to an offensive efficiency rating of 121 by KenPom which is stellar. Motley is 106 by comparison. This is a complete team. It looks like an elite team. And Jo Lual-Acuil is a big reason why.
A lot of the attention for the Bears start will be credited to the play of Manu Lecomte (14 ppg; 5.3 assists; 40% 3pt) and Johnathan Motley (16 ppg; 8 reb). Those two are making a strong case for All Big12 consideration based on what they have done. But from my view, the player making the largest impact is 7-0 220 lbs junior Jo Lual-Acuil.
Big Jo sat out last year with a heart related condition. He redshirted a semester in junior college which put his classification status in question in the off-season. Baylor appealed for an extra year of eligibility for him and it was granted. Here are four reasons why Acuil has given the Bears a missing ingredient to turn Baylor from a solid team to a potentially elite team.
1. Defensive Efficiency
Scott Drew is one of the best offensive coaches in the country. His teams have been ranked in the top 20 for offensive efficiency by Ken Pom's ranking system for 9 out of the last 10 years. That is remarkable consistency that points to only one reasonable conclusion. Scott Drew has an offensive system that is effective and it produces results year in and year out. The knock on Drew's teams in the past is that they do not defend well enough to win championships. They have only finished in the top 25 of Ken Pom's defensive efficiency rankings one time (2014-15). The secret sauce for that team (23rd in defensive efficiency) was locking down the perimeter (8th in 3 point percentage defense). The combination of Royce O'Neale, Kenny Chery and Lester Medford gave Baylor the quickness and intelligence to play the zone effectively and take away other teams' perimeter threat.
Currently, the Bears are #12 in defensive efficiency. Jo Lual-Acuil is the big reason why. Acuil is averaging 4.38 blocks per game. For every shot that he blocks, he probably affects another two to be hurried. Acuil is 2nd in the country in blocks per game but he is #1 in blocks per foul at 2.5. Overall the Bears send other teams to the free throw line at a low rate (8th nationally) which helps their defenses excel.
2. Extend the Defense
Baylor was one of the worst teams in the country at defending three point shots last year. Scott Drew's team gave up 37% which led to an overall defensive efficiency rating of 84th nationally. Part of the problem was there was no rim defender. Motley and Prince blocked some shots but nothing like Ekpe Udoh, Quincy Acy, Isaiah Austin and Jo Acuil provided for Drew. This led to a prisoner's dilemma of what do you want to prioritize? Do you give up easy shots in the paint or do you prefer to see if teams can beat you from long distance? The Bears weren't good at defending either.
Jo Lual-Acuil has allowed Baylor defenders to press up on perimeter shooters knowing that if they get by them on the dribble, there is a premier shot blocker lurking who can erase some of those mistakes. And as mentioned previously, he is doing this without fouling (less than 2 fouls per game). Scott Drew commented on Acuil in the post game after the Xavier win, "with first year players (at this level), you expect airballs from foul shots like he did in this game or just mistakes because you get in a hurry. We knew Jo was going to have a big impact but he's exceeded expectations. He's a guy that has played even better than he practices."
3. Toughness on the Boards
Acuil gets pushed around by guys who are stronger and bulkier. But he competes hard in the paint. Acuil is averaging 8 rebounds per game. Six of those rebounds per game are coming on the defensive end. When you lose the best rebounder in college basketball (Rico Gathers) and another outstanding rebounder (Taurean Prince), you have some big question marks heading into the season.
The rebounding has not been a strength for Baylor as it has been on past teams. But it has been above average with Acuil, Motley, Wainright and Maston doing the majority of the work on the boards.
4. Footwork and Hands
Perhaps the most surprising thing that Acuil brings to the table is pretty solid hands and footwork. Baylor fans have known about the skill level of Johnathan Motley and Terry Maston for a couple of years now. Both players have great back to the basket games and can step out and hit 12-15 foot jump shots. Acuil has shown that he is probably not a guy that you want launching 3 pointers (29% after hitting two big ones against Oregon). His mechanics on 3s need major improvement. But he has a nice touch on hook shots and he is really good at catching alley oops and finishing (60% FG). And he has a lot more body control that I expected. Even though he gets pushed around in the paint some, he does a solid job of holding position and using his length and quickness to make plays.
His turnover rate is 0.6 per game which is outstanding for a player averaging nearly 28 minutes per contest. All of this equates to an offensive efficiency rating of 121 by KenPom which is stellar. Motley is 106 by comparison. This is a complete team. It looks like an elite team. And Jo Lual-Acuil is a big reason why.
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