Wrong about J.Baker

[Jakarii]

He May be behind but from what I saw from the scrimmage (again only a scrimmage) he looked like that he could be put in a game and hold his own. I made the mistake of judging him by his ranking (I rarely do that) and he may not have killed it in the scrimmage but from learning what I learned doing some scouting last summer I saw some very good things that Baker did that may not be obvious to most non fans.

The fact that his confidence didn’t seem to waver when he was missing shots was a plus, his aggressiveness on defense and ability to move his feet and strength was a good surprise. He even showed some finishing ability that I didn’t know he had. Now he’s still 10th on the depth chart but that has more to do with how good the talent is ahead of him

 

[Rupp'sRunt]

He's got a pretty stroke. His defensive ability will control how many minutes he plays this year.

 

[GonzoCat90]

His agility drill numbers popped out at me. I love that he has experience as a combo guard, which means he can get minutes alongside any of the other guards we have in any combination Cal wants to use, and he seems to be under control and smooth.

He'll have to adjust to the speed of major division one basketball under the lights, and it's hard to know exactly where that knee is in the healing process, but I love the attitude he's kept.

If he can come in cold as a shooter and knock down threes, he'll make himself a ton of money. Lots of guys can make shots. Very few can do it with no rhythm.

He's our 10th guy, but if the tournament was played with just the 10th man on each team, I think we'd bring home a title.

 

[DerekMcPwn]

His agility drill numbers popped out at me. I love that he has experience as a combo guard, which means he can get minutes alongside any of the other guards we have in any combination Cal wants to use, and he seems to be under control and smooth.

He'll have to adjust to the speed of major division one basketball under the lights, and it's hard to know exactly where that knee is in the healing process, but I love the attitude he's kept.

If he can come in cold as a shooter and knock down threes, he'll make himself a ton of money. Lots of guys can make shots. Very few can do it with no rhythm.

He's our 10th guy, but if the tournament was played with just the 10th man on each team, I think we'd bring home a title.

Heh. Remember when Derek Willis was our 12th man? Cal builds some crazy rosters.

 

[akaukswoosh]

He's got a pretty stroke. His defensive ability will control how many minutes he plays this year.

On one possession he blocked a shot then knocked the ball out of the dribbler’s hands. I’d say he’ll surprise a lot of people.

 

[GonzoCat90]

Heh. Remember when Derek Willis was our 12th man? Cal builds some crazy rosters.

It'd be a fun exercise to build the all-time Cal team of the 10th-12th man or something like that.

 

[kyups01]

He will hit a lot of 3 pointers this year. Trust me.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

I don’t think anyone has been wrong about him, because there haven’t been any predictions. He will be a good player, but I think it will take a yr before he gets impact time

 

[Crawfords Corner]

Yes, he's been hurt, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been getting better at all the other basketball things he was able to do while working around the injury. Come in and hit the open 3, play hard-nosed defense, and play with overall effort. He definitely has a niché on this team

 

[westerncat]

I was surprised by his defense last night also. Like to see Cal let him play some this Friday night just to build up his confidence up.

 

[FrankUnderwood]

Well, NOW we know!

 

[TheBigBlueHerro]

I expected him to be a liability defensively and more of a catch and shoot type, but he looked just as good any guard defensively sans Hagans in that department, and he put the ball on the floor a few times without any issues including several nice passes that either were assist or directly led to the assist. I don't see any reason why he will not play a decent amount of minutes this year. Even call acknowledged we have 10 guys who can and should play. Now, he did say that he expects that could change over the course of the summer, but I am very confident in all 10 guys at this point. I do not see a weak link 1 - 10 so to speak.

 

[Conn501]

Sat in the second row behind the "visiting" bench last night. Got to hear almost all the conversation between the players and bench. It was great to see Baker, as well as others, attitude overall. Even after a really ugly miss, Baker was letting everyone know he'd get the next one. Confidence is high and he has amazing touch on his shot.

 

[LadyCaytIL]

people also have to remember that he's a sophomore that's gonna have freshman jitters... he started out missing way long and looked stage fright but late in the first half and in the 2nd half he found his groove and played very well.

Like Cal said.... we have 10 guys that can play

 

[st-louie-blue]

On one possession he blocked a shot then knocked the ball out of the dribbler’s hands. I’d say he’ll surprise a lot of people.

I remember that play. That is when I changed my mind about about Baker. That was the first time I had even seen him play to know who he was. I do love this team. I will say here that the player that I see as to improving over last year is (Drum roll) is Nick Richards. Go Big Blue.

 

[thepip]

He May be behind but from what I saw from the scrimmage (again only a scrimmage) he looked like that he could be put in a game and hold his own. I made the mistake of judging him by his ranking (I rarely do that) and he may not have killed it in the scrimmage but from learning what I learned doing some scouting last summer I saw some very good things that Baker did that may not be obvious to most non fans.

The fact that his confidence didn’t seem to waver when he was missing shots was a plus, his aggressiveness on defense and ability to move his feet and strength was a good surprise. He even showed some finishing ability that I didn’t know he had. Now he’s still 10th on the depth chart but that has more to do with how good the talent is ahead of him

 

[kl40504_rivals]

people also have to remember that he's a sophomore that's gonna have freshman jitters... he started out missing way long and looked stage fright but late in the first half and in the 2nd half he found his groove and played very well.

Like Cal said.... we have 10 guys that can play

He is really a redshirt freshman.

 

[Cawood86_rivals]

He's behind mainly because he hasn't been healthy. The Bahamas trip really helped these kids and him missing that has certainly hurt him, but now that's he's healthy, hopefully he can do some catching up.

As we have seen, injuries do happen and having a kid like him will surely help. Games sometimes take a strange turn and he could be a game saver one night.

 

[TBCat]

I've been on the Baker bandwagon for a while now. Now he won't be the starter but I do see him playing a bigger role than most are predicting. He's an incredible shooter. I feel everything he throws up there is going in. And keep in mind they still aren't designing plays for him. He's just getting the ball wherever he get's it and shoots. Anyway he's what will keep defenses from collapsing on PJ and Reid. Baker isn't a great defender and that's the only thing holding him back right now but his ability to shoot will be needed unless we want to see a lot of zones.

 

[LadyCaytIL]

He is really a redshirt freshman.

six one half a dozen the other ........ I have a hard time thinking of our basketball players as redshirts when no one is gonna stay 5 years anyways lol

 

[bigblueinsanity_rivals250340]

His agility drill numbers popped out at me.

Agree. His agility test was the best on the team iirc. I wasn't expecting that

 

[anon_013cn8yrfncx2]

Clearly he looked like a guy who can come in with very little drop off. Seemed to know where to be on the floor at all times.

That's very important because his shooting has been ballyhooed ever since he showed up and it looks like the hype is accurate.

 

[kl40504_rivals]

six one half a dozen the other ........ I have a hard time thinking of our basketball players as redshirts when no one is gonna stay 5 years anyways lol

Then no reason to think of him as a sophomore either.

 

[Random UK Fan]

He's got a pretty stroke.

 

[TortElvisII]

 

[Kybluedude]

He’s got a high arching soft shot. As with anyone who hasn’t played high D1 ball competively he has to play himself into basketball shape and adapt to the upgrade in talent and get back into playing mentally

 

[Jakarii]

This could be the team that resembles one of my favorite all time teams.....1993-1994 Arkansas Razorback team

 

[Rupp'sRunt]

This could be the team that resembles one of my favorite all time teams.....1993-1994 Arkansas Razorback team

Gross

 

[yoshukai]

He May be behind but from what I saw from the scrimmage (again only a scrimmage) he looked like that he could be put in a game and hold his own. I made the mistake of judging him by his ranking (I rarely do that) and he may not have killed it in the scrimmage but from learning what I learned doing some scouting last summer I saw some very good things that Baker did that may not be obvious to most non fans.

The fact that his confidence didn’t seem to waver when he was missing shots was a plus, his aggressiveness on defense and ability to move his feet and strength was a good surprise. He even showed some finishing ability that I didn’t know he had. Now he’s still 10th on the depth chart but that has more to do with how good the talent is ahead of him

I didn't know if you were right or wrong, but I knew you weren't being fair .

 

[fannin522]

hell see minimal minutes to many good guards ahead of him

 

[wkycatfan7]

zone buster. He'll have a role.

 

[OSOK]

Herro is a OAD, Baker is a three and done. He will be the shooter/scorer that
we will need next year.