It's Sweet Sixteen time and I finally have decided to get this rolling. Baylor fans everywhere are drooling to get the opportunity to make it to Houston this weekend to catch their Bears in action; most will probablybe watching for their first time this season.
There have been 47,000 announced tickets sold so far and because Baylor is playing in it's back yard, I will go out on a limb and say that a lot of those tickets were bought by Aggies and Bears with the difference being the Aggies are now looking to unload theirs and the Bears are buying them.
Which brings me to my first question. Why are all the Aggies whining about Baylor having an easier route to the Sweet 16? Was Baylor not the higher seed? Don't higher seeds usually have an easier route? Once the brackets were said most Bears were envious of Turgeon's Aggies road to the Sweet Sixteen. With Utah State and a crippled Purdue team, A&M should have been able to sweat their way to "sweetness." But they did just the opposite. With their 1st team all-Big12 guard Donald Sloan choking away his final game in maroon (4-17 shooting), Texas A&M is starting to look like Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma football team; can't win the big game in crunch time. Sure they have made it to the NCAA tournament 5 years in a row and won their first game all of those years, but with the talent they have had on their recent teams (Acie Law, Junior Elonu, Josh Carter, Bryan Davis, Joe Jones, Deandre Jordan and even Antanas Kavaliauskus), they have done very little with it come Dancing time. It's like the Cowboys making it to the playoffs this year; no one really cares that they made it... win something! For starters, your game in the round of 32!
Now, on to the next one. Omar Samhan. If you haven't heard some of this guys comments, just get on his Twitter (http://twitter.com/OmarSamhan). He is becoming the Charles Barkley of the new millenium... except with hardly the credentials. But he is getting them fast. He is averaging over 30 points in two games in the NCAA tournament (Richmond and Villanova), and is the main clog in his Saint Mary's team that can shoot it well from deep. However, I do not feel he will have his way with the Bears like he did with the previous two teams. He was the biggest player on the court in both games and was able to bully his way around on smaller counterparts. Baylor can roll three guys out there who are bigger and longer than he is (Udoh, Lomers and Sekelja) with two of the three getting significant playing time. Throw in lenghty 6-10 Anthony Jones and a 6-7 superior athlete in Quincy Acy into that 2-3 zone and I think you have a matchup that favors Baylor down low.
The biggest key to the game will be shutting down SMC's three point shooters. Through Baylor's first two NCAA games the teams have combined for 12-44 (27%). Baylor's backcourt has superior athletes compared to SMC, but Baylor's zone's main weakness is covering the 3-point shooter and around the free throw line. Baylor might even extend their zone and leave the middle open and let the Gaels have the shot from the freethrow line due to the fact their team shoots over 40% from deep. Anthony Jones and Quincy Acy will probably be the key for the Bears in that area with their athletic ability and length. Dunn, Carter and Walton really need to have active hands and deny any pass towards the middle of the court. If there was a time for Baylor to run their match up 2-3 zone as tight as possible, this would be the game.
Lomers has held his ground all season long, not letting players similar to Samhan like Pittman from Texas and Aldrich from Kansas, back him down and push him around. It's one way Lomers has learned to use his size. Baylor won't have to double team him very much due to our zone being able to collapse, but like stated above, active hands are key. They need steals and deflections on every possession.
RUN. Saint Mary's is not athletic and they are not deep. Get Samhan winded or in foul trouble and they become one dimensional. Baylor has the athletes to bang down low or run it full speed ahead.
Sic 'em Bears to the Elite Eight!
See you in Houston!
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