NCAA Bracket 2012: Baylor and Other Talented Teams with Fatal Flaws

The Baylor Bears have so much talent, but the Big 12 final exposed them. Their weaknesses were on full display, and you can bet future opponents have taken note.

They aren't the only team whose major flaw will curtail their pursuit of NCAA tournament glory.

Here are four teams with the talent to win it all, but a flaw that will prevent them from cutting down the nets.

Baylor Bears: Toughness

The Bears have two future lottery picks in their staring five, a workmanlike big man and decent guard play.

So why aren't they a legitimate threat to go to the Final Four?

This team lacks toughness, and it starts at the top.

Perry Jones III is as talented as any player in the nation, but he's a big guy who plays small. More than that, he has Joe Johnson syndrome. 

That is when an insanely talented player lacks the killer instinct to take over ball games. The Bears lack of toughness cost them against Missouri in the Big 12 final.

Despite a huge size advantage, they were bullied on the post and lost to an undersized Tigers team for the third time. They struggled all year against the better teams in the country.

The Bears are 1-5 against top ten teams this season. That isn't a good stat heading into the tournament.

Duke Blue Devils: Rebounding

The Blue Devils have one of the nation's most exciting players in Austin Rivers, as well as a nice perimeter attack, but inside they have been weak.

Rebounding, and more specifically the tendency to give up far too many second chances, has hurt Duke. In the Blue Devils' losses this season, opponents have averaged 11.3 offensive rebounds per game.

That will easily derail a team. It's the last aspect of a defensive stop.

If you play solid defense and force the miss, it's demoralizing to give up a second shot. Duke shoots tons of threes, and they can survive less than solid shooting nights if they defend and rebound.

Too often this year they have failed in this category, and it will come back to bite them.

Kentucky Wildcats: Coaching

The Wildcats have the most talent in the nation, and the best thing that happened to them was losing in the SEC title game. That said, this team has the same issue that every John Calipari-coached team has: that is direction and execution in clutch situations.

The 2008 Memphis' team led by Derrick Rose comes to mind immediately. Calipari's complete mismanagement of the situation cost Memphis the title that year.

It reared its head again in the title game versus Vanderbilt. The Wildcats didn't score a field goal for the final eight minutes of the game. The threes (6-of-28) weren't falling and the team had no effective way to get the ball inside.

Kentucky's 6'10", Player of the Year candidate Anthony Davis took only nine shots, and three of them came from beyond the arc.

This was not the time for Davis to show off his range for NBA scouts.

For as much credit as Vanderbilt's defense deserves, most of this was lack of direction and poor execution down the stretch.

Unfortunately, we've seen this movie before with Calipari's teams.

Syracuse Orange: Free Throw Shooting

The Orange haven't been playing as well toward the end of the regular season and through the Big East tournament. The one aspect of their game that is most concerning is the free throw shooting.

This is especially the problem in the clutch.

In the tight Big East semifinal game against the Cincinnati Bearcats, Syracuse shot 9-for-16 for 56 percent. Come tournament time, poor fouls shooting like that will kill them.

After their first-round matchup, they don't figure to encounter a team they can beat on talent alone. The 69 percent team foul shooting, which is ranked 173rd in the nation must improve.

If it doesn't, the Orange will make an exit somewhere close to the Sweet 16.