The problem becomes that OU and Texas and WV and Baylor all have good strength in the interior just off the top of my hear. That's 8 of 18 games. And Alexander at KU isn't exactly weak, he just loses track of his guy sometimes. He is certainly strong enough to keep Niang from moving him around especially with Niang losing all that weight.
#12 Kansas @ #21 Baylor
- Thread starter blizzisu
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I think it's opposite. Georges can deal with strength, not the length. He struggled against Embiid (length), but was successful against Traylor (strength). Good thing he can play against PF/SF instead of playing against C.
Niang also lost two POY quality teammates. A fact that Cyclone fans refuse to acknowledge is affecting this year's team potential and play - to this point in time.
Correct. Isiah Austin gave him fits too. Bigs with length and good footwork are Niang's Kryptonite. Laymen from Maryland ate his lunch too.
I think you're both kind of right but I think his game is all about rythm, that's why he has such high highs and low lows. He struggles when a team is playing well enough to interrupt that rythm. It's happened against teams with exceptional length and strength. He's also shredded teams with exceptional length and strength. So I don't think it's really that he struggles with a specific type of defender.
Well ISU has really only been competitive the last 3 years and ISU *should* be 2-1 against KU at home but yeah, I expect ISU to win every home game regardless who it is
He went through similar stretches last year when Ejim and Kane were well established.
Georges struggles if he can't hit outside shots, which has happened during his slump. If those fall down it completely changes the way the other team guards him.
It's interesting that Scott Drew is about the most mocked coach in the Big 12.
Trivia Question: From 2010 to now, which Big 12 coach has taken his team to the Sweet 16 the most times?
Bonus Question: From 2010 to now, which Big 12 coach has taken his team to the Elite Eight the most times?
he's a terrible gameday coach. Beating double digit seeds in the tourney doesn't change that.
Layman is 6'8" and maybe 200-205. Every single opponent in the Big 12 will have multiple guys that size.
Scott Drew may in fact be a terrible gameday coach. He has also taken his team to the Sweet 16 three times since 2010, the Elite 8 twice in that same period, and no other Big 12 coach has done better. (Bill Self has the identical record in the same timeframe.)
If you ignore how he got that far in the tourney then I can see how you're impressed. Once you look at who they actually beat it becomes much less impressive.
Agreed but all Elite 8 appearances aren't equal. Baylor's elite 8 runs are as far down the list as you can get.
Edit: Actually after going back and looking at the seeds it's hard to call these wins even a little impressive.
2010
#14 Sam Houston St.
#11 Old Dom
#10 St Mary's
2012
#14 SDSU
#11 Colorado
#10 Xavier
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Sometimes luck rolls your way. Baylor had things break for them perfectly those two years and was able to take advantage.
I'm still impressed by Drew's NCAA success. He does tend to make some mental mistakes at end of games sometimes, but he is a decent coach, great recruiter, seems to have a good relationship with his players, and has established a very good zone defense at Baylor. He has implemented a system that works and he would not be winning as many Big12 games as he does year in and year out if he was as bad as people make him out to be.
He's not tops in the league, but he is better than Weber, Ford, and Johnson. Probably on par with Barnes and Smith. Nowhere near as good as Self, Huggins, Hoiberg, or Kruger (This makes me think we should do a Big12 coaches ranking). Either way, he gained a lot of respect from me last year by coming to our locker room to congratulate us in reaching the sweet 16 and also like that he has Isaiah Austin on his bench this year.
He's not tops in the league, but he is better than Weber, Ford, and Johnson. Probably on par with Barnes and Smith. Nowhere near as good as Self, Huggins, Hoiberg, or Kruger (This makes me think we should do a Big12 coaches ranking). Either way, he gained a lot of respect from me last year by coming to our locker room to congratulate us in reaching the sweet 16 and also like that he has Isaiah Austin on his bench this year.
I think Ford and Weber get mocked more, at least around here.
Come to think of it, there are a lot of people on here who are very quick to dismiss/mock any coach after a bad season or two.
I'm not saying that it's a disservice to associate Drew with these two coaches, but it is a disservice to not lump Barnes and Smith in with (or even above) Kruger and Huggins. Bill Self's in a category unto himself at the top. Barnes and Smith have combined to take seven teams to the NCAA tournament and go 1,131-550 (.673). That winning percentage is identical to Hoiberg's, but sustaining it over multiple decades should get these guys a lot of credit.
