NCAA Women's Tournament 2012: Baylor's Odyssey Sims Key to Lady Bears' Hopes

Brittney Griner is the Baylor Lady Bears' star player, and she's undeniably the best in the country, but her teammate Odyssey Sims is the key to Baylor's national title hopes.

Griner can't dominate the paint down low if she can't get the ball, and she can't put up gaudy offensive numbers if defenses are able to focus on her 100 percent of the time.

A team with a star player in the post quickly becomes one-dimensional and stale, but that's exactly the opposite of this Baylor team.

It all starts and ends with Sims.

She facilitates the offense and keeps everything moving. She can also score on her own, though, which is something that undoubtedly takes a lot of pressure of Griner. If the superstar has an off night, the floor general can cover for her and more.

According to John Henderson of the Denver Post—who writes on how to beat Baylor—Sims makes Baylor go:

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Forget Griner for a moment. Sims is who makes Baylor go. This season she has developed into an All-American who can hit the 3 and find the open teammate. She's upped her average from 13.1 points per game to 14.8 and her assists from 3.1 to 4.4.

"She's the best point guard in the country," (Texas A&M coach Gary) Blair said.

"

As is usually the case when a dominant player like Griner is tearing up the scene, the rest of the talented supporting cast gets tossed aside. Griner puts up huge numbers in the post, and we forget to mention that Sims was the one running the offense.

Make no mistake about it, without Sims running this offense, the Lady Bears wouldn't be in this position, and they certainly wouldn't be undefeated. A ship can't steer without a rudder, and Baylor couldn't be dominant without Sims. It's as simple as that.

She doesn't get the credit she deserves as the point guard of this team.

I'm sure it's all okay as long as the Lady Bears are hoisting the championship trophy and a stellar undefeated season when all is said and done. With Sims running the show, the chances of that are very high.

Baylor's championship hopes are in good hands.