BAYLOR MEN'S BASKETBALL 2001-2002 OUTLOOK

Baylor men's basketball enters its third year under head coach Dave Bliss in 2001-2002, and excitement surrounding the program is reaching new heights. Bliss' rebuilding project took another giant step forward last season when the 2000-2001 Bears, which were projected to finish 11th in the Big 12 by the league's coaches and media, put together a 19-12 record and finished eighth in the conference with a 6-10 mark.

The season was highlighted by a 12-0 start, two wins over top-10 ranked opponents, a run to the Big 12 Tournament semifinals and the school's first postseason appearance in 11 seasons. Along the way, Bliss' Bears turned heads nationally with a convincing 85-77 victory over No. 6 Kansas at home in February in the school's first-ever appearance on ESPN's Big Monday. Baylor then made headlines in March with a shocking 62-49 upset of No. 7 Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

In two short seasons at the helm of Baylor, Bliss has instilled a winning attitude and served notice nationally that the Bears are committed to fielding a first-class basketball program.

Fan enthusiasm for Baylor basketball under Bliss and staff is high in Central Texas and is demonstrated at the Ferrell Center turnstiles. Baylor experienced an increase in average home attendance of 2,131 from 1999-2000 to last season (3,247 to 5,378), the fourth-largest such increase in the nation during that span.

The major offseason question surrounding Baylor's basketball program was how to fill the glaring holes left at the point guard and small forward positions, where for the last two seasons departed seniors Terry Black and DeMarcus Minor anchored the Bear program. Black, a consensus first-team all-Big 12 selection, led the Bears with 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in 2000-2001. Minor, an all-Big 12 second-teamer, averaged 15.2 points and 4.6 assists.

Bliss hopes to solve the loss of his pair of all-conference performers with greater depth. "We've got to take the next step by committee," Bliss said. "In all the years that we've coached, this might be the most competition for positions of any team we've had. I think the competition for positions will affect how we play, because with greater depth we can increase the tempo, knowing that fatigue isn't necessarily a factor. And fatigue is a great way to substitute.

"Last year one of the things the team did is play very hard and what we want to do is get back to playing hard with that depth," Bliss said, "and hopefully the style of play will allow that."

Bliss plans to use his team's depth to pick up the tempo defensively.

"We were very good at a trapping defense last year," Bliss said. "We want to distort other people's offensive opportunities. We were No. 1 in the Big 12 in steals [8.8 per game], and we again look to have our defense have a lot of steals, which should help our offense. We want to be multiple on the defensive end."

Bliss also wants the Bears to pick up the tempo on offense.

"Offensively we really want to quicken the pace," Bliss said. "By the end of the year last year by having DeMarcus (Minor) go as fast as he could I thought that really afforded us a much more aggressive offense."

Baylor's roster includes six players who have never played a minute in Green and Gold, including three transfers and three incoming freshmen. But Bliss is quick to point out that the Bears' talent level will benefit from the infusion of newcomers.

"This year we are probably working with better overall basketball talent than in the past couple of years because we've recruited better and better each year," Bliss said. Baylor's 2001 recruiting class was rated 25th nationally by Rivals100Hoops.com and No. 32 in the nation by HoopScoop. The Sporting News rated Baylor's class as the third-best in the Big 12.

"Whereas the talent has improved," Bliss said, "I also believe that the experience that we had will be sorely missed until we get some games under our belt, at which time again I think we should be able to make some strides and really be a better team at the end of this season than we've been thus far."

In his third season at Baylor, Bliss will pit his team against a tougher schedule than they faced earlier in the rebuilding project.

"This year our non-conference schedule is the most difficult we've played to date," Bliss said. "That's in keeping with trying to have a non-conference schedule that will test our team and prepare us for the conference. And we really look forward to trying to build our team through the fires of a tougher non-conference schedule."

A position-by-position breakdown of the 2001-2002 Bears follows:

GUARDS

The odds-on favorite to replace the departed Minor at point guard is sophomore Matt Sayman (6-3, So.). The second-year guard played all 31 games as a true freshman in 2000-2001 and averaged 17 minutes per game, primarily at the shooting guard position. Coaches hope he can transition to the point, where he hasn't played regularly since early in his prep career at The Colony (Texas) High School.

Sayman tallied 46 assists as a freshman, and his 1.77 assists-to-turnovers ratio ranked ninth in the Big 12. In preparation for a switch to the point, Sayman spent the offseason trimming his weight by 15 pounds to 180 in an effort to increase his quickness.

"His quickness I think will improve dramatically," Bliss said. "We also think that the smart plays that Matt made throughout his freshman year will allow him to really be a good point guard."

The coaching staff expects newcomer John Lucas III (5-10, Fr.) to push Sayman for playing time and starts at the point guard position. A true freshman from Houston's Bellaire High School, Lucas averaged 30.3 points and 11 assists per game in 2000-2001 and led the state of Texas in scoring average. He is the son of Cleveland Cavalier coach and former NBA guard John Lucas Jr.

Additional depth at the point is provided by third-year walk-on Andre White (6-0, Jr.). White proved a capable backup at the point last year, when he scored 12 points in 12 games after a redshirt season in 1999-2000.

The Bears will benefit from plenty of depth at the shooting guard position, with veteran transfer Kevin Henry (6-2, Sr.) and true freshman Kenny Taylor (6-3, Fr.) joining last season's starter Wendell Greenleaf (6-2, Jr.).

Coaches expect Henry to drastically improve the teams' 29 percent 3-point shooting percentage from last season, which ranked 10th in the Big 12. Henry is a senior who spent last season sitting out after transferring from New Mexico, where he started 66 games and made 197 3-pointers in three seasons, including a UNM school-record 102 as a sophomore under Bliss in 1998-99.

"Kevin will be looked on to really help our 3-point shooting," Bliss said. "I think his ability to understand our system having run it before should allow him a lot of playing time. We're hoping that the year off has helped his strength and not diminished his skills."

Battling Henry for the starter's role at the 2 guard will be enthusiastic junior Greenleaf, who started 30 games at the position last year. Greenleaf scored 10.5 points per game as a sophomore and ranked fifth in the Big 12 with 1.93 steals-per-game.

"Wendell played sporadically last year," Bliss said. "He needs to work on his consistency, not only in his decision making, but in his shooting and his defense. But he has

The coaching staff expects big contributions from Taylor, who comes to Baylor off back-to-back state championship teams at Willowridge High School in Houston. Taylor is an outside shooter who was selected to the all-Greater Houston team and ranked 12th among the state's seniors by TexasHoops.

Also available for minutes at shooting guard is senior Chad Elsey (6-6, Sr.), who will likely see the majority of his playing time at small forward.

FORWARDS

The possible improvement to the Bears' frontcourt from last season, despite the loss of all-Big 12 forward Black, has Bliss and staff optimistic. Bliss envisions an eventual Baylor frontcourt lineup of 6-10 R.T. Guinn (6-10, So.), 6-9 Greg Davis (6-9, Sr.) and 6-8 Lawrence Roberts (6-8, Fr.), and is optimistic about the results.

"Instant impact" is a phrase used by the coaching staff when speaking of true freshman Roberts of Lamar High School in Houston. Roberts, an athletic scorer who is versatile enough to play either forward position, will compete for the starting spot at small forward.

One of the most sought-after forwards in the nation, Roberts was rated the No. 5 prospect in the state of Texas by TexasHoops. He was rated the No. 14 power forward nationally by FastBreakRecruiting.com.

"Lawrence has worked very hard on his game," Bliss said. "And he has a chance to compete for a starting role. I think he'll be one of the players that has a chance to really be a surprise player in the Big 12 as a freshman."

Coaches expect newcomer Rod Nealy's (6-6, Jr.) rebounding prowess to earn him minutes at small forward. The J.C. transfer averaged 19 points and eight rebounds at nearby McLennan Community College. Nealy played 22 games as a freshman at Arkansas Little-Rock in 1999-2000.

Also a factor at small forward will be senior Elsey. After averaging 6.8 points and shooting 26 percent from the 3-point arc in first season at Baylor as a junior in 2000-2001, coaches are hopeful Elsey can regain the form he displayed as an outside scoring threat at SMU in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

The power forward position is expected to be manned by senior Davis, which would mark a return to his natural playing position after being asked to play predominantly as a center last season. Davis averaged 9.2 points and 6.1 rebounds in 29 starts last season. Davis, a former transfer who played on two NCAA tournament teams under Bliss at New Mexico, also led Baylor and ranked eighth in the conference with 38 blocks last season.

"Greg played some of his best basketball down the stretch last season," Bliss said. "There is no doubt that he will play more comfortable at his 4 spot. As a defensive player and a rebounder we think Greg is very important to the way we play."

In addition to Davis and Roberts, coaches have the services of Logan Kosmalski (6-8, So.) at the power forward position. The heady sophomore, who spent the offseason rehabilitating an ailing back, started 18 games last season as a true freshman. Kosmalski averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds and shot 33 percent on 3-pointers.

Two-year letterman Jason Pritchard (6-8, Jr.) provides depth at forward, where he has played 13 games over the last two seasons.

CENTERS Penciled in as the starter at center is Guinn, a sophomore who sat out last season after transferring from New Mexico. An athletic big man who started 13 games and averaged 4.6 points and 4.8 rebounds as a true freshman at UNM in 1999-2000, Guinn has the ability to score from the post or perimeter.

"At his height R.T. is an amazing outside shooter," Bliss said. "I think his scoring really improved during his redshirt year. I think he'll be the type of player that very definitely will fit into our way of trying to distort defenses by having big people that are able to shoot outside. I look for him to be a strong rebounder."

Also vying for minutes in the post is two-year letterman Steven Othoro (6-10, Jr.). Othoro blossomed last season, despite missing nine games due to injuries. He entered the starting lineup late in the season, and averaged 5.4 points and 5.4 rebounds over the final 10 games.

"Steven may have been one of the surprise players last year for us," Bliss said. "Steven has done a good job of learning and developing over the last year and a half. He has rebounded very well, played defense very well and only promises to get better."