Lost in all the Baylor threads is the single most remarkable thing about their team and what truly made them elite–their 3 point shooting.
They shot over 41% from 3 for the season as a team. That is amazing. For context, that is a higher % than the career 3 point % of most of the great Razorback shooters, including Al Dillard, Pat Bradley, Isaiah Joe, Mason Jones, etc.
To find a few higher than than you have to go back to the era when the line was 19’ 9" (prior to 2008) which isn’t really a fair comparison. Just elite, elite, 3 point shooting for a team. That + elite defense is practically an unbeatable combo
Their high-volume shooters (more than two attempts per game) shot .416 (Butler), .395 (Teague), .447 (Mitchell), .434 (Flagler), .364 (Cryer) and .395 (Mayer).
Comparing season percentage with career percentage isn’t apples to apples. We’ve had three guys who shot better than Mitchell did for a season, but we never had multiple guys on the same team. Our best team percentages were .397 in 2016 (Ant Bell shot 44% and Dusty Hannahs shot 43%) and .396 in 2018 (Barford shot 43%).
It was not just that they could make threes. They could get threes so easily. They are long and athletic. They can wiggle free side to side AND shoot over people. I see players make stationary threes without much elevation. Not the Bears. They shoot jump shot threes. Amazing to watch.
Their offensive boards was the key stat in the game. When they did miss, which wasn’t often, they got second chance points which was the difference in the game.