Well, that was a very disappointing effort from the team tonight. Played poorly for much of the game, outside of about a 7-8 minute stretch when they got the good lead, but then allowed Baylor back in with horrible play and decision making. A game there for the taking, and they flat out just gave it away. At the end of the day, Baylor made more plays, and certainly played with a great deal more energy than our team, particularly Jones and Kornet, who might as well have stayed in Nashville.
1. Turnovers. 17 by Vanderbilt, only 7 by Baylor. Several of those turnovers were completely unforced. Just lack of paying attention. Jones' reaction after throwing it away following a miscommunication with LaChance was extremely immature, and pretty much summed up Jones' night. Totally out-toughed tonight by Baylor's front court.
2. Rebounds (or the lack thereof). Baylor had 38 rebounds; 20 were on the offensive glass. Absolutely inexcusable. Time and time again they just outhustled Vanderbilt players for the rebounds. 2nd chance points and points off turnovers were the undoing of the Commodores tonight.
3. Jones and Kornet. My goodness, talk about guys picking a poor time to each play poorly. Jones' stats don't look horrible (9 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, 3 blocks), but he was practically non-existent for much of the game, and was thoroughly outplayed Gathers and company. Kornet played weak, and was constantly out of position on defense. Just a very forgettable night for both of Jones and Kornet.
4. Baldwin played a strong game, and was VU's best player on the night, no question. Unfortunately, he made a couple of poor plays that resulted in unnecessary fouls, and the play he fouled out on was just an absolute killer. Not having him in to run the offense at the end of the game might well have cost VU a chance to win the game. LaChance was overmatched in many ways. He was beat on defense over and over, as the switches that Vanderbilt carries out on defense really left him exposed. Offensively he was held in check throughout the night, and that last possession just reeked of desperation. Missing a wide open MFD in the corner, and instead taking a difficult runner in the lane, kind of summed up his night. Roberson played some good defense, but also had some really bad turnovers at the worst of times.
5. When VU made their run to go up by 13, they had gone pretty small, with Henderson in the post, and Jones and Kornet on the bench for the most part. Not real sure why the substitutions were made at that point, but things went south in a hurry. Also thought CKS waited too long to wait to call time out to try and stop the run by Baylor, but that is nothing out of the ordinary; CKS seems to adhere to the theory of trying to let his team figure it out themselves; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and tonight it didn't.
6. Cressler's free throws with 40 seconds to go in the game: yikes. In a close game, he really needs to be on the bench if at all possible.
7. Baylor attempted 20 more shots than VU tonight, and made 4 more field goals.
8. Having said all that, with as poorly as VU played for much of the game, they still had a chance to win the game in the end. The question is, will they learn from their mistakes and recognize that they have to bring intensity game in and game out? It's still very early in the season, so hopefully the players and coaches will make the proper adjustments.
1. Turnovers. 17 by Vanderbilt, only 7 by Baylor. Several of those turnovers were completely unforced. Just lack of paying attention. Jones' reaction after throwing it away following a miscommunication with LaChance was extremely immature, and pretty much summed up Jones' night. Totally out-toughed tonight by Baylor's front court.
2. Rebounds (or the lack thereof). Baylor had 38 rebounds; 20 were on the offensive glass. Absolutely inexcusable. Time and time again they just outhustled Vanderbilt players for the rebounds. 2nd chance points and points off turnovers were the undoing of the Commodores tonight.
3. Jones and Kornet. My goodness, talk about guys picking a poor time to each play poorly. Jones' stats don't look horrible (9 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, 3 blocks), but he was practically non-existent for much of the game, and was thoroughly outplayed Gathers and company. Kornet played weak, and was constantly out of position on defense. Just a very forgettable night for both of Jones and Kornet.
4. Baldwin played a strong game, and was VU's best player on the night, no question. Unfortunately, he made a couple of poor plays that resulted in unnecessary fouls, and the play he fouled out on was just an absolute killer. Not having him in to run the offense at the end of the game might well have cost VU a chance to win the game. LaChance was overmatched in many ways. He was beat on defense over and over, as the switches that Vanderbilt carries out on defense really left him exposed. Offensively he was held in check throughout the night, and that last possession just reeked of desperation. Missing a wide open MFD in the corner, and instead taking a difficult runner in the lane, kind of summed up his night. Roberson played some good defense, but also had some really bad turnovers at the worst of times.
5. When VU made their run to go up by 13, they had gone pretty small, with Henderson in the post, and Jones and Kornet on the bench for the most part. Not real sure why the substitutions were made at that point, but things went south in a hurry. Also thought CKS waited too long to wait to call time out to try and stop the run by Baylor, but that is nothing out of the ordinary; CKS seems to adhere to the theory of trying to let his team figure it out themselves; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and tonight it didn't.
6. Cressler's free throws with 40 seconds to go in the game: yikes. In a close game, he really needs to be on the bench if at all possible.
7. Baylor attempted 20 more shots than VU tonight, and made 4 more field goals.
8. Having said all that, with as poorly as VU played for much of the game, they still had a chance to win the game in the end. The question is, will they learn from their mistakes and recognize that they have to bring intensity game in and game out? It's still very early in the season, so hopefully the players and coaches will make the proper adjustments.
