Sys do you feel that is Frank Martin's problem at KSU as well? He just doesn't demand them to play defense or is it personnel? I thought that was the downfall of the Beasley/Walker team. Didn't play a lick of defense. Had the talent to make it to the FF4.
Cheno- you hit the nail on the head. Baylor had good kids off the court. But Jerrells, Rogers and Dugat started thinking too much about their pro potential and for whatever reason they didn't lay it all on the floor like you would want to see. I see that as the primary reason Baylor was not a good defensive team in conference play.
Martin had the same issue with Beasley and Walker as you rightly pointed out. But a year later with different personnel Kansas State was a terrific defensive team. I really think Baylor will be similar to KSU in that regard. If I were a Baylor coach for next year, I would worry more about where the offense will come from. Dunn and Carter are proven double figure scorers but no one else on that team is. Lots of potential for good offense. But you never know what will happen when the lights come on.
The 2nd issue with Baylor is that their personnel was better suited for a 2-3 zone than hard nosed man to man. Drew prefers the man to man. But when you look at their roster you can see why zone would be a better choice. Two bigs that can clog up the middle but are too slow to switch on picks or get out to jump shooters (Diene/Lomers). Short but quick guards who are exposed in the post on pick and roll switches (Jerrells, Dugat, Carter). Talented young players who are long but easily fooled on good pick and roll schemes (Acy/Jones). The man to man worked well in non conference because they were simply more athletic than Providence, Arizona State and Wash State.
They dropped games to teams that were as athletic as them- Wake Forest and South Carolina. When conference hit, they were not superior athletically to at least half the teams and the man to man defense left them exposed.
Drew changed that heading into postseason by switching to an active 2-3 zone. And all of sudden they are one of the hottest teams in the country going 7-2 with wins over Neb, Kansas, Texas, Georgetown, Va Tech, Auburn and San Diego State.