One of college basketball’s best games of the season left me longing for an encore, maybe even two. After tuning into No. 3 ranked Kansas’ 64-61 road victory over top-ranked Baylor last weekend, I’m hoping they keep playing.
In a year that remains unchanged in regards to there being no great teams or players, Kansas and Baylor are definitely among college basketball’s best. From my vantage point, both teams have Top 5 defenses and more than enough scoring to go all the way. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the teams met again in both the Big 12 tournament finals and the national championship game. Kansas and Baylor split their first two meetings and if they played for a national title, they would become the first teams from the same conference to meet in the finals since Big 12 programs Kansas and Oklahoma faced off in 1988. Remember Danny Manning’s 31 point outburst that propelled Kansas to an 83-79 upset win over the top-ranked Sooners?
What an amazing run Baylor was enjoying before losing to Kansas. After falling to Washington the first week of the season, the Bears put together a Big 12 record 23 consecutive wins and remained ranked No. 1 for five weeks before losing to the Jayhawks. With six other teams — Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, Kansas, and Gonzaga — shuffling in and out of the No. 1 spot before the New Year, those five weeks seemed like an eternity. Now, Kansas’ impressive road win has returned the Jayhawks to the No. 1 position in the AP poll and Baylor is ranked No. 2.
I have to admit before watching Baylor-Kansas, I was feeling guilty for prematurely all but awarding San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher the Coach of the Year award in my previous blog. Truth be told, it was a close race between Dutcher and Baylor’s Scott Drew before last weekend’s action. And after Dutcher’s Aztecs lost for the first time this season to UNLV on the same day Baylor had its winning streak snapped, the Coach of the Year award is still up for grabs. You even have to throw Dayton’s Anthony Grant into the mix, as his Flyers are 24-2 and have moved up to No. 4 in the AP poll.
Drew’s best coaching move actually took place before the season even began. In recent years, Baylor has primarily been a zone defensive team but Drew made a decision in the offseason to switch his Bears to man-to-man. In recent weeks, Baylor’s defense has been among college basketball’s best. In a league that will likely place five teams in the NCAA’s, the Bears are surrendering a conference low 58.7 points in Big 12 play. Baylor ranks fifth nationally in scoring defense at 58.7 points, a number that hasn’t changed since conference play started. Baylor’s schedule has definitely been more challenging since beginning league play, so the Bears defense is getting better.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt your chances to build an elite man-to-man defense when you have arguably three of the best defenders in the country. Most teams are lucky to have one ball stopper to negate college basketball’s best offensive weapon these days, dribble penetration, but Baylor has two in 6-2 sophomore guard Davion Mitchell and 6-5 junior forward Mark Vital, who might be the best role player in the nation. With both Mitchell and Vital almost impossible to beat off the dribble, the Bears keep the ball out of the lane as well as anybody. And on those rare occasions when opponents get to the best basket, 6-9 Freddie Gillespie is there to clean up the mess, averaging 2.2 blocked shots per game. Baylor has the athleticism with their starting lineup to switch all screens, as Gillespie has the mobility to step out and guard perimeter players.
Gillespie’s transformation into one of college basketball’s best centers is amazing when considering that as a freshman he was playing Division III basketball at Carleton College in Minnesota and played just 16 minutes the entire season. Now, as a fifth-year senior for the Bears, Gillespie hardly ever leaves the floor and has emerged as a legitimate NBA prospect. Gillespie averages 9.6 points and 8.8 rebounds and his reliable mid-range jumper compliments Baylor’s other offensive weapons.
The Bears defy the conventional wisdom that height matters on the defensive end, as they start one of the smallest teams in the Top 25. All five starters, including three guards, range in height from 6-2 to 6-9. Lineups with three guards are often difficult to defend and Baylor is no exception. Jared Butler, a 6-3 sophomore, has emerged as one of the best combo guards in the country and is averaging 15.6 points and shooting 38% from the arc. Everybody in Baylor’s Ferrell Center (including Chip and Joanna of Fixer Upper fame sitting courtside) knew who was going to take the last shot when the Bears trailed Kansas by three in the closing seconds. Butler’s step-back 3 rimmed short and the Jayhawks escaped without having to take their chances in overtime.
Butler is far from a one-man show, with 6-3 junior MaCio Teague averaging 14.4 points and making 36 percent of his 3’s. Although he’s known mainly for his defense, Mitchell is averaging 9.8 points, and if his 32% three-point shooting improves, the Bears will be difficult to beat in the NCAA’s. Reserve guard Davonte Bando, a 6-3 senior, is averaging nearly 8 points and is the Bears’ most accurate three-point shooter at 44%. Baylor’s three-guard rotation, including the instant offense Bando provides off the bench, is arguably the best in the country.
Aside from enjoying the luxury of having a star player (Drew definitely has one in Butler), coaches love having great role players at their disposal. Drew is blessed to have one in Vital, who takes the Bears to another level with his overall game. We’ve already mentioned how good Vital is on the defensive end — he has the size and quickness to guard every position — but he’s also an excellent passer, often creating open shots for his teammates. And despite standing only 6-5, he rebounds like a center. Vital grabs 3 offensive rebounds per game, and to go along with Gillespie’s average of 5, Baylor is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. The Bears retrieve nearly 38% of their misses, 3rd best in the country.
In my last blog, I talked about teams with great coaches having an identity, and in Drew’s case, it’s Baylor’s offensive rebounding. Drew is a master at getting his teams to go the glass, as Baylor consistently ranks among the best offensive rebounding teams in college basketball. For the past two seasons, I’ve compiled a long list of my underrated coaches and Drew clearly deserves to be added. In Drew’s 17 years at Baylor, his teams have been to the NCAA’s eight of the last 12 seasons. Before Drew showed up in Waco, Baylor had been ranked only two times in the Top 25, a place the Bears have resided often in recent seasons.
While on the topic of great coaching, I have to give some well-deserved love to Kansas’ Bill Self, adjusting like the All of Famer he is. Sure, there was some luck involved when big man David McCormack was suspended for two games at the end of January, forcing Self to go with a smaller lineup that has the Jayhawks playing at another level. But Self’s game plan to neutralize Baylor’s dominating defense was brilliant. Early in the game, he took advantage of the Bears’ 1 through 5 switching defense by creating guard and center pick and roll plays to create mismatches. Although agile for a center, on the switch, Gillespie was unable to prevent the Jayhawks 6-2 point guard Devon Dotson and 6-5 guard Marcus Garrett from scoring at the basket. Then Self did a double whammy on the Bears, using the same scheme to roll 7-0 center Udoka Azubuike into the post matched up against a guard. Azubuike was able to score easily over Baylor’s guards, getting himself jump-started for a game-high 23 points and 19 rebounds.
Drew wouldn’t have made my All-Underrated Coaching list if he wasn’t smart enough to make an adjustment to Kansas’ successful early strategy, but Self showcased his Hall of Fame credentials by thinking a step ahead. Suddenly, Drew decided to have Gillespie step out to help on the ball pick and have his guards fight over the screen, with Gillespie having to recover to Azubuike rolling to the basket. For Drew’s Bears, it turned into a self-induced disaster. With the 7-0 Azubuike providing a big target rolling to the basket and Gillespie unable to recover in time, suddenly the Jayhawks were throwing lobs over the top for slam dunks. Azubuike finished with eight dunks, with four coming on this one play. Okay, some of you serious basketball fans out there are probably wondering why one of Baylor’s weakside defenders didn’t come over to prevent Azubuike from dunking. But, by Self’s clever design, the only Baylor defender who could rotate over was guarding the Jayhawks’ best 3-point shooters, either Isaiah Moss and Christian Braun, in the opposite corner. If the Bears had rotated over to shut down Azubuike’s dunks, Kansas would have been able to hook pass over the top to either Moss and Braun for open 3 pointers. In hindsight, the Bears should have rotated over to prevent Azubuike’s dunks. His slams totaled 8 points on four possessions and Moss and Braun, who are both good shooters, would have needed to make 75% of their 3’s to create just one more point.
So, the future Hall of Famer, Self, won last weekend’s coaching chess match with the All-Underrated Drew for a No. 1 ranking that doesn’t mean all that much at this point in the season. Don’t be surprised if we see these two outstanding coaches going at it again when it matters most in March Madness.