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dukedevilz

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
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19,600
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Freshmen crew is looking good. Obviously this is all hype, so it means nothing. But I think this is going to be a special year.

 
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Buzzooka Joe

All-Conference
Feb 20, 2006
1,881
1,242
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I’m now convinced redshirting Joey Baker this year will be a waste.. I don’t see him as a 4 year player now.. As soon as he can develop some ball handling skills, he will be a late 1st round prospect..

Worst case scenario - he is a bigger version of Andre Dawkins..

Best case scenario - he is a bigger version of Luke Kennard..

Dream case scenario - he is Kyle Singler..

.. None of those scenarios are bad.
 
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PatrickYates

Senior
Feb 7, 2018
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Buzzooka Joe said:
I’m now convinced redshirting Joey Baker this year will be a waste.. I don’t see him as a 4 year player now.. As soon as he can develop some ball handling skills, he will be a late 1st round prospect..

Worst case scenario - he is a bigger version of Andre Dawkins..

Best case scenario - he is a bigger version of Luke Kennard..

Dream case scenario - he is Kyle Singler..

.. None of those scenarios are bad.
Click to expand...

I agree he won't be here for 4 years. I disagree about redshirting him.
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To me, it is a question of what he adds to the team this year vs what good a RS year would do him, which would help Duke in the future.
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It appears that what Baker needs most is time in the weight-room to add muscle/strength. That can't really be accomplished in season. The key to adding muscle in a conditioning program is consistency. The irregular nature of games precludes the type of program geared towards building mass. In-season conditioning is more about maintaining current size/strength rather than adding muscle or power.
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What he adds to Duke is perimeter shooting. I know the sample size is small, but I think we'll be OK wrt perimeter shooting this year even without him. Cam and RJ look good, AOC will be a beast from the perimeter, and I think Jack White and Tre will be solid as well. So we don't need Baker's perimeter shooting that much, certainly we don't need it as much as we feared we might 1 month ago.
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At the end of the day, I think Jack White does everything that Baker does, only better, with the exception of perimeter shooting. But Baker won't play enough this year for that to come into play. Baker would benefit more from a year of strength and conditioning than Duke would benefit by playing him this year.
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I'm fine either way, but I lean towards RS.
 
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