Sweet 16: Beating Baylor will likely require solid perimeter shooting
South Carolina is becoming known nationally for playing tenacious man-to-man defense with a little zone mixed in when appropriate.
Baylor utilizes a different approach, relying primarily on a suffocating zone defense and the twin towers of redshirt junior Johnathan Motley (6-10), a Naismith Trophy semifinalist, and junior Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. (7-0) to discourage opponents from driving to the basket.
How do you beat Baylor? Make outside shots.
“When I’m watching film on them, when they set up in that zone, all of a sudden the basket disappears,” USC head coach Frank Martin said Tuesday during a Sweet 16 preview press conference at Colonial Life Arena. “You don’t see the basket. They have a lot big, long dudes. They make it hard to see the rim.
“They have older guys. Many of them are third-, fourth- or fifth-year guys. They don’t get rattled. They understand. When they play, their demeanor and discipline doesn’t change. They just stay the course. Eventually, they win the game at the end. That’s what they have done to everybody.”
Baylor (27-7) is limiting opponents to 63.5 points per game and 40.4 percent shooting this season, both currently rank in the top 22 of the NCAA statistics. The Bears led the Big 12 in FG percentage defense (41 percent), rebounding (38.3) and rebounding margin (+9.5) in league play.
“You’d better make some jump shots against them,” Martin said. “If you don’t make jump shots, they are a problem. They have two 7-footers (Motley and Lual-Acuil) that do an unbelievable job protecting the rim. They play together the whole time. If you try to attack the zone at the rim, you’re going to have some issues.
“They are not going to let you do it. You have to make some threes, but you also have to make some shots from the elbow, the short corner and from spots on the floor that will open up the zone a little bit. When you make some of those, you draw those big guys away from the rim and now you have a chance to rebound and score at the rim.”
Coaching five seasons at Kansas State, Martin is very familiar with Baylor and what head coach Scott Drew has accomplished in his 15 seasons in Waco, Texas, leading the program from the abyss in the wake of a major scandal involving former head coach Dave Bliss, a Baylor basketball player murdering a teammate and the post-incident coverup.
Beginning with the 2007-08 season, Baylor has won 21 or more games nine times and advanced to the Sweet 16 four times. The Bears are 243-100 since 2007-08, the first year Drew had a full allotment of scholarships, and 152-63 over the past six seasons, an average of 25.3 victories per season.
Baylor’s 27 wins in 2016-17 are the most for the Bears since 2011-12.
“Baylor has been remarkable over the last 10 years under Scott Drew,” Martin said. “Those six years in the Big 12 (one year as KSU assistant, five as KSU head coach), I watched him grow that program and seen how successful he was. In my five years here, he has maintained that success. It is very powerful what he has done.”
A quick start and getting ahead of Baylor in the first half is key to beating Baylor. BU is 118-16 since 2011-12 when leading at the half, 34-47 when tied or trailing at the half.
“When they get ahead of you, they don’t let you get back in it,” Martin said. “They don’t break down. There are no bad turnovers and they don’t take bad shots at the wrong time. That’s a problem with young teams. They are very well coached and very disciplined.”
NOTES:
-- Martin on the growth and development of Sindarius Thornwell: “As a freshman, I couldn’t get him to articulate anything to me. Now I sit down and have grown man conversations with the guy. When he was a freshman, he wouldn’t say a word at practice. Now he doesn’t shut up at practice. He talks to help everybody at practice. Every word that comes out of his mouth is a positive one and one of direction and guidance for his teammates.”
-- The Gamecocks will likely need another big game from sophomore forward Chris Silva, who registered a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) in 30 minutes Sunday against Duke, accumulating only three fouls. “Chris has a chance to be a dynamic player,” Martin said. “He continues the growth he has shown over the last (three) years from high school junior to high school senior and from high school senior to college freshmen. If he continues that trajectory, he has a chance to be an unbelievable basketball player. Chris continues to understand the game. I’m harder on him than anybody else on the team. But he never cries or pouts or creates excuses.”
-- A video of the locker room post-game celebration shows Martin telling his team, “Let’s go win this thing” in reference to the national championship. “I was too emotional to talk,” Martin said. “At the same time, I wanted our guys to believe they have earned the right to go to the Sweet 16. That means they are good enough to play anyone in the country. From day one, that has been my goal here. Our players have really bought into that.”
-- Martin said he received more than 1,100 text messages following the Gamecocks’ second-round victory over Duke Sunday in Greenville.
-- Unranked when the 2016-017 season started, Baylor climbed to No. 1 in the Jan. 9 AP Top 25 poll, the fastest climb by any team in the history of the weekly ranking.
SWEET 16 SCHEDULE (March 23-24)
Thur., March 23
Michigan vs. Oregon, 7:09 p.m. (CBS)
West Virginia vs. Gonzaga, 7:39 (TBS)
Purdue vs. Kansas, Approx. 9:39 p.m. (CBS)
Xavier vs. Arizona, Approx. 10:09 p.m. (TBS)
Fri., March 24
North Carolina vs. Butler, 7:09 p.m. (CBS)
South Carolina vs. Baylor, 7:29 p.m. (TBS)
UCLA vs. Kentucky, Approx. 9:39 p.m. (CBS)
Florida vs. Wisconsin, Approx. 9:59 p.m. (TBS)
(All Times Eastern)
