Baylor looks to ‘monster’ Motley for long run
Junior forward seeks end to Bears’ early exits
He rattles off the stats with ease, obviously proud of the accomplishments. Johnathan Motley is 6-10, and he wants you to know he weighs 240 pounds, up from maybe 200 when he arrived in Waco, and, well, “I’m about 6% body fat,” he says.
But ask the Baylor All-American about those other numbers, and he plays coy. The junior forward is averaging 17.3 points and 9.9 rebounds and literally and figuratively has become the Bears’ biggest catalyst.
Yeah, Motley knows he has a bunch of double-doubles, but he’s not sure how many (13). He knows he was averaging a double-double until a seven-rebound performance in an upset loss last week to Kansas State dropped him a notch off the pace in the latter category — someone told him that much — but Motley says he does not know how many (14) he needs to pump the average back to 10.
“I don’t need to know, man,” he says. “I’m just gonna go out there and try to get every rebound.”
Don’t laugh. Something close could happen, followed by a bunch of highlight-reel dunks. If so, it would only mean a continuation of the rampage that fueled Baylor’s run to one of its best seasons ever — and might help prevent a premature NCAA tournament exit like the last two seasons.
Baylor, the No. 3 seed in the East Region, faces No. 14 New Mexico State on Friday. Two years ago, No. 14 Georgia State upended the Bears; last year, it was No. 12 Yale — and after the taller, more athletic Bears were outrebounded by the Bulldogs, there was the classic answer by former Baylor player Taurean Prince about how that could happen.
Prince calmly defined the process of rebounding, then finished: “You go up and grab the ball off the rim when it comes off, and you grab it with two hands, and you come down with it, and that’s considered a rebound.
“So they got more of those than we did.”
Motley was there, on the podium — and despite the emotions after the loss, he had to stifle a laugh until they got back into the locker room.
“Afterward, it definitely was funny,” he said.
But to guard against a similar occurrence against New Mexico State, Baylor has “the monster.” That’s Baylor senior Ishmail Wainright’s tag for Motley, and he goes on to liken him to Godzilla or King Kong. He also calls Motley something else: “Lottery pick.”
Various mock NBA drafts don’t have Motley going quite that high — not yet, anyway — but he’s a consensus first-round pick if he decides to leave school early. Actually, it wouldn’t be early; Motley is a fourth-year junior. He redshirted as a freshman, when it was apparent he wouldn’t play much on a very talented team that made a run to the Sweet 16. He was, well, how to put this? “He was a twig,” Wainright says. He’s not anymore, obviously. Motley credits Baylor’s strength and conditioning staff with helping him to bulk up. It also didn’t hurt that he banged in practice with players such as Prince, Rico Gathers, Cory Jefferson and Isaiah Austin.
Baylor coach Scott Drew said he saw ability and potential in high school, when Motley was a threestar recruit who played AAU ball on a star-studded team that included future Kentucky stars Aaron and Andrew Harrison.
But no one envisioned the metamorphosis into a walking double-double ( best example, a 32-point, 20-rebound performance against Texas in January).
“You always hope for the best,” Drew said. “But at the end of the day, it’s up to the player to put in the work. I credit him.” And now Baylor counts on him. The offense often runs through Motley, often leading to doubleteams, which leaves other play- ers open.
“If the ball is in his hand, something positive is gonna happen,” Wainright says.
Motley missed the first game of the season while serving a suspension for violating NCAA rules for playing in a summer league game. His first action came Nov. 15 against Oregon. In a 17-point victory that announced the unranked Bears as legitimate — they later shot all the way to No. 1 — Motley had 17 points and seven rebounds. It was only a taste of what would unfold.
Last season, Motley averaged 11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. If he’s almost doubled the rebounding stats, it might be in part because of the departure of Gathers. There are more for the taking now.
“I’m a little disappointed if I don’t get that 10,” he said, “but I try to control the boards as much as possible.”
And to dunk as often as possible, too, which is the reason for the “monster” tag — “It’s an awesome feeling,” he says, “dunking and physically dominating somebody” — but his versatility extends to midrange jump shots. What he doesn’t have — at least not consistently yet — is the kind of perimeter range that could make him a true “stretch 4.”
He’s shooting 26% from threepoint range (though he has attempted only 31, hitting eight). But to watch him during Thursday’s open practice at BOK Center — swish after swish after swish from long range — it’s not hard to see the potential.
“He’ll only get better shooting (in the NBA),” Drew said, “because that’s all those guys do is shoot all the time.”
It’s a decision Motley will have to make soon — but he hopes not too soon.
“I’m just taking it one game at a time, making sure I put everything I have into this tournament,” he said.