As always, thanks Brian. Spot on. My added comments. (too many words but since no one else seems to be posting, I'll fill some Sunday evening time for those interested in opining)
Texas really turned some heads in this one. Primarily their fans had to be turning their heads away from the game in utter disgust over what their team put on the floor.
BU defense, not surprisingly crammed the whole game back in Collier, et al faces. But still, the game UT played today is what you normally expect to see when bottom of the conference teams play--not top 4 of the Conference as UT has been. They were completely hopeless shooting the ball even when they had position to get off their shots (which wasn't often). this was / is NOT a team that is any challenge to BU dominance in the Big 12 any time soon.
Vic Schaeffer will get it respectable in Austin. But what he saw from his sideline chair today tells him that with Collier moving to WNBA his rebuild task is WAY more challenging than he or anyone in Austin would believe.
Would the game have been different if we had not defended Collier so well she was a non-factor (did not take ONE shot the second half)? Maybe, but what I saw was a Texas team devoid of much bball athleticism other than Collier. I had not seen UT play and had fallen for the false media narrative that UT was an emerging threat to Baylor's Big 12 dominance. NOT SO. Not anytime soon. The team Texas put on the floor today will not be a threat in the first weekend of the NCAA, much less as a team hoping to make some noise there.
Consider this: today was one of the lowest scoring, turnover-sloppy, at times clumsy games Baylor has played this year, . . . and still completely dominated one of the supposed top-4 echelon teams in the Big 12.
With OU having pulled a HUGE upset in beating W. VA. in Morgantown yesterday, a Baylor win vs. W. Va. in Waco later this week will pave the way to another conference banner for the regular season, and only an inspired W. Va. team or a mailed-in ho-hum effort by Baylor (not likely under KMulkey and the bench talent she can put on the floor when a starter goes sour) will alter that scenario.
At the beginning of the season I was a bit skeptical that this LadyBear team had the offensive capacity to replace the scoring of Cox/Landrum from last year's team. But though we did not see it today, the rotation of Smith, Egbo/Bickle (who KMulkey now seems to be playing as an interchanging tandem throughout games to keep Egbo out of foul trouble early), Richards, Ursin, Carrington might just be getting there.
Looking beyond the Big12 to the NCAA tourney, Baylor is projected as a 2-seed in the NCAA (and if you follow an S-curve logic by Charlie Creme the 5th or 6th team in the curve), that's probably right for this team. South Carolina (current #1 seed in Creme's bracket opposite UCONN still seems to me to be the most dangerous team in the nation--simply because they are SO athletic and quick. No longer the twin towers of past years, but still gifted in getting up and down the floor. UCONN rides on the back of the freshman phenom Bueckers, and righfully so. She is the most gifted frosh UCONN has put on the floor since Maya Moore, and that covers a host of All American types. She may be the one player in the nation who can take over a game on offense. But her supporting cast is pedestrian compared to UCONN past standards. And that cast is made up primarily of freshmen. Haven't seen the other national seeds and #2 seeds (except to know that the TAMmie ladies are right there will BU in #5-#6).
Too many words. You guys stay warm in this arctic blast. Watch for the BU/W.Va. game on 2/17 in Waco. Should BU miss a win there, all of the above will need a temporary reconsideration, maybe, but probably not. Should be the toughest game BU will be projected to have until the Big12 tourney when the same two will probably faceoff again for that Tourney banner.
Good times in wbb.
Sic'em LadyBears and sic'em BU men.