Kevin Jairaj – US Presswire
Oh, pictures just say 1,000 words, don’t they?
In the Baylor Bears‘ 61-44 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Monday, the Bears put up their lowest offensive output of the season and were outrebounded for the ninth time in 16 games. Baylor has two active players 6-foot-11 or taller but what does height have to do with rebounding, right?
What with the changing landscape of college basketball, why not force a talented 7-foot-1 big man in the Bears’ Isaiah Austin step out and shoot threes because his guards can’t handle pressure well and lack a mid-range game to boot? Yeah, that’ll go over well in the win-loss column.
Austin is just a freshman and forcing him to play “hero ball” this early in his development will have serious negative effects on his development going forward.
Granted, Austin had a team-high 15 points, 11 rebounds, including five offensive boards. However, Austin clearly can’t do it all on his own.
I could harp on Baylor’s 4-of-14 performance from 3-point range, but it was actually better than the Jayhawks’ 3-of-14 showing from deep. Through simple math we see that means Kansas outscored the Bears 52-32 from inside the 3-point line.
The Jayhawks bullied three Baylor starters into committing four turnovers and obviously, you can’t win the game if your team doesn’t have the ball.
Oh, 7-foot Wooden Award watch-lister Jeff Withey must have dominated the paint: scoring, blocking shots and taking down almost every rebound in sight, right? Not exactly.
Granted, Withey did have three blocks, but eight points, six rebounds is rather pedestrian, compared to his 20 and 10 potential.
Actually, shooting guard Ben McLemore led Kansas in two categories with 17 points, eight rebounds. McLemore actually left the game in the waning seconds with an apparent ankle injury but coach Bill Self said it was only a sprain.
Neither team fouled that much but Baylor guard Pierre Jackson managed five points in six free-throw attempts.
However, that’s no excuse for Jacksons 2-for-12 performance from the field. Add in the fact that that Jackson was 1 for 5 from beyond the arc and that makes for a terrible day at the office. And Jackson is supposed to be the leading scoring threat on this team? Nevermind the fear of Austin playing hero ball, if Jackson keeps this up, the Bears are going nowhere this season.
Mike Gillmeister can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter:@mgillmei
