Baylor Basketball: Bears struggling down the final stretch

The Baylor basketball team is isn’t exactly hitting on all cylinders right now.

After beating Georgia several weeks ago, the Baylor Bears have lost three of four, including two at home. While losing two at home is not the end of the world, the troubling part is that both losses made Baylor look unable to score consistently or defend at all. So what is wrong with the Bears?

Starting with the biggest problem, three point defense. In the team’s three losses (Texas, at West Virginia, and Texas Tech), the opponents shot 47%, 50%, and 56%. We have seen the Bears perimeter defense get measurably worse in three straight contests and that sits entirely on the Baylor guards.

The three starting guards in each game have been Al Freeman, Ishmail Wainright, and Lester Medford and all three have been in foul trouble. Wainright in particular has also collected four fouls every time against those opponents.

The three have combined to shoot 24 percent from range and 36 percent from the field. Their opposing counterparts have nearly universally shot near or above 50 percent in each contest. This absolutely must improve if Baylor is to keep teams from junking the paint against the big men.

It doesn’t help that Baylor has no reliable guard depth right now. Their two freshman, King McClure and Jake Lindsey, are nowhere consistent enough to be on the floor for large stretches. McClure has shown flashes when given 15-20 minutes of playing time, but can’t put enough games together to garner more over the struggling starters. Lindsey, for his part, has shown the ability to distribute the ball, but has wracked up some foul trouble as well when given more than 10 minutes in recent games.