Good luck tomorrow to all the Baylor posters. You seem like a good bunch, and this is an amazing run. But it needs to end tomorrow. In all seriousness, I think it'll be a close game. Missouri has been absolutely terrible in first halves of late, and tonight was no exception. We were lucky Eaton got hurt and that OSU was ice cold as well, or we would've been down 8-10 at the half and this might have been a different game. If we play like that again, you guys could easily be up big at the break the same way A&M was a week ago. With that said, I think we're due for a more consistent game. We're better inside, and I also think Baylor will have to be a little tired going against the Mizzou press for their fourth game in four days. So logic tells me Mizzou by 6-10 points, but you guys are certainly more than capable of winning. I don't think you will, but if it has to happen, Baylor is my favorite non-Mizzou team in this tourney. So I guess that's a plus. GO TIGERS!!!
I like Texas and I'm a huge fan of Pittman based on his development and his fundamentals. He's such a joy to watch. But it's because of that that I know his weaknesses. Give him an offseason to get into better shape so that he can regularly play 30 minutes a night, and hopefully teach him better defensive positioning (he's good man-to-man, but is often late reacting in help defense) to keep him out of foul trouble. That's what holds him back right now from being a true anchor for a very good team. With that said, I still wouldn't write Texas off in the tourney. The thing about Texas -- they don't score enough to put away teams (see Baylor), but likewise, they're too fundamentally sound on defense and are too good inside to let teams run away and hide. They can stay relatively close to almost anyone, and then you have to hope Abrams can catch fire late the way he did against Oklahoma. If they get a good draw I could see them winning two games.
Yep. Texas is basically a monster with its head cut off, the head being D.J. Augustin. Losing him severely exposed our offense as a bunch of offensive scrubs and Abrams and James. They've had to play tough hard-nose defense to win them games. Their record in close games is awful because they turn the ball over too much. Lately rebounding has been mediocre. Texas is the type of team that could play an NBA team close, but yet play a 1A high school team close.
Because they played below their abilities all season long. They made stupid ass mistakes over and over again down the stretch. They looked poorly coached. They played with zero intensity on the defensive end. They've flipped a switch. I just hope it's enough to win this afternoon.
Well I'm glad Baylor didn't win, but man they sure made it interesting and it was fun to watch. Great job by that team to come back from the grave and almost pull it out. It'll definitely be something for them to build on next season and in the NIT.
It was a great late run, but to me their season was epic fail. This was supposed to be their breakthrough season, and they had the weapons to do it. Lots of guards that can shoot and experience. They were loaded with seniors and now they're gone. I think they have good recruits coming in, but I'm not expecting a lot out of them next year. Guys like Dunn have to step up. Who's going to replace Rogers? He was their MVP in the Texas game.
Congrats guys, you made a hell of a run. No shame in losing that game. Wish you guys could still move on, you certainly have the talent...
I think Quincy Acy can do the job at the power position. Lace really has matured from his freshman year to sophomore, so I'm excited to see him in year 3.
I was on vacation last week and didn't get to see any of the games. Did we run out of gas against Mizzou in the finals?
1. My lord, I've never seen a team miss so many layups and point-blank shots before in my life. 2. It was a complete study of contrast. One team highly disciplined...making extra passes...finding the soft spots. The other team undisciplined...shooting layups from the hip...jacking up shots. 3. I was actually really impressed with BU's ability to break the Mizzou press. They just didn't finish on the other end...even when they were seeking to finish with layups. 4. Mizzou is a tough, tough team that I have headed to the Sweet 16.
Agreed. The Mizzou press is particularly effective, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, even if the other team "breaks" the press, as Baylor did Saturday, it still has an effect (especially on undisciplined players) because it messes with their minds and speeds them up mentally to where they aren't concentrating on what they're doing. Baylor broke the press at times, but they'd miss floaters in the lane or jack up quick threes because they got sucked into that style. What's nearly as important is how absurdly good Mizzou is at limiting turnovers for a team that plays at the pace they do. Usually, teams that play that style inherently have a lot of turnovers, but Mizzou doesn't. And of course, by doing so, they suck teams like Baylor into playing that style as well, but they aren't used to it and don't have the discipline and end up making stupid mistakes. The mental aspect of it is huge. (Random side note, but this is a big reason why I think Mizzou got a great draw in the tourney... their four possible opponents either don't have the athletes to keep up (Cornell, Utah State), or have inexperienced point guards (Marquette, Memphis) who don't have the experience to go against what their temptation is to do. But I know this is a Baylor thread so I won't rant too much about that. )
It very much felt like the way their conference games went. Poor decisions and poor execution. And that's not taking anything away from Mizzou. BU just has too much talent to play that poorly.
Hey, when you've haven't won a postseason game in 60 years, we'll take a W anyway we can. Great 2nd Half against the Hoyas.
Nice W. Didn't realize we had not won a post season game since the 50s. That is terrible but at least the streak was broken tonight.
