Award Predictions

[Wufan]

Baker is very good without the ball. Baker is very good with the ball. I'm sorry that you didn't see him break his man down as he is quite good at it. Perhaps this year you'll see it.

[rlh04d]

I will wait for proof.

Fine, I'll play: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrpSr-p_ ... e=youtu.be

Yes, he primarily hits threes. He's a perimeter player. Primarily doing one thing does not mean you are incapable of doing another thing. It implies that he's best at spotting up on the perimeter.

He's not an MVC POY candidate most likely, so obviously he has holes in his game. He can certainly IMPROVE at getting his own shot. Doesn't mean he CAN'T do it.

#Facts

[Aargh]

In the NCAA's, Baker showed a pretty mean herky-jerky start-and-stop ball-handling ability. He can go to his left or to his right. That's not his role on the team, but he can definitely break a defender down. You expect the PG to be that guy. Baker played PG some during the NCAA's.

If 9 coaches are going to put a defender in his face, you can mail in the PoY trophy right now. Baker will get the stats to deserve it if that's the way 9 coaches are going to play against him.

[shoxrox]

Man, these Bear fans are too funny.

You can definitely tell like they're a fanbase that knows what they're talking about and has been relevant in that thing called the NCAA"s recently.

[rlh04d]

Man, these Bear fans are too funny.

You can definitely tell like they're a fanbase that knows what they're talking about and his been relevant in that thing called the NCAA"s recently.

You know what's funny? Compare these stats:

FG%: 40.9% vs 39.8%
3P%: 31.4% vs 35.7%
REB: 3.0 vs 3.2
AST: 2.1 vs 1.8
STL: .6 vs .8
BLK: .1 vs .3
TO: 1.4 vs 1.3
FT%: 80% vs 82.2%

Did you know one of those two is a transcendent, unique talent destined to be an MVC POY, while the other is a poor, over-rated kid unable to to get his own shot and owes all of his numbers to the Carl Hall effect? Odd how the unique talent of the two only wins two categories, and both barely. The only real stat he wins is points per game, which, of course, is the important stat ... but a stat that is heavily based on a team being so weak that it has to rely on one player rather than being multi-faceted.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

If 9 coaches are going to put a defender in his face, you can mail in the PoY trophy right now. Baker will get the stats to deserve it if that's the way 9 coaches are going to play against him.

See I think if you crowd him with an athletic defender with a little bit of length that you can really harrass the kid. Maybe I haven't watched the right parts of games, but I'm not overwhelmed with his ability to put the ball on the deck and drive.

I like the kid's game and would love to see a kid with a similar skill set at MSU but I have to think that he is getting overhyped a bit. Through no fault of his own mind you. Being a local kid and a pretty good story it just seems to add to the mystique. Coaches all across the country have all summer and fall to break him and WSU down and I believe that he will have to adjust.

Could he be Valley POY? Possibly. Who knows? But for all the hype we have to remember that he averaged a little over 8 points per game last season. That being said if we were holding a "Valley Draft" and I was the MSU GM, I'd have him pretty high on my big board.

[CaseyGarrisonforPrez]

Man, these Bear fans are too funny.

You can definitely tell like they're a fanbase that knows what they're talking about and his been relevant in that thing called the NCAA"s recently.

Hey there was this Heat fan at game one of the NBA Finals named Sergio Ramos and he is apparently a Spanish soccer legend. Wore a LBJ jersey on Thursday night in fact. He supports the defending champion, he must have superior basketball knowledge when compared to a Milwaukee Bucks season ticket holder right? Shoxrox would tell you that that is the case.

Just because we have been down doesn't mean that we don't know our basketball. Well most of us anyhow. In summation, while I feel that you are a good poster who brings a lot to this board, I don't thing this is one of your more well crafted points. But that is just my two cents.

[rlh04d]

And, please, please, let even one coach in the Valley believe that Baker can't break down a defender off the dribble or create his own shot. Please, let just one coach think all Baker can do is hit 3's when he's unguarded.

I imagine there are about 9 MVC coaches that will take exactly that approach until he proves otherwise; maybe he can, maybe he can't, but until he proves otherwise you try to take away what he likes to do.You guys are funny about being so defensive regarding even the hint of an area of weakness on this guy. He shot below 40% from the field, took 74% of his shots at the trey line and averaged getting to the line only 2.5 times a game. What would you do as an opposing coach other than force this guy to prove he can take you off the dribble. Now I think he does some other things like rebound well and move off ball , but that still doesn't equate to a guy who has shown he can break you down off the dribble consistently.

If he shows he can, all power to him and he'll have a chance at all MVC honors; but he'll have to show it first.

Here's the stats from the last eight games Baker and Marshall played (since Baker's injury):

Baker: 44% from the field, 41% from 3, 68% of his shots from 3, .133 FTs per minute played
Marshall: 43% from the field, 30% from 3, 58% of his shots from 3, .21 FTs per minute played

So ... yeah. Marshall's better at getting FTs and takes less shots from 3. Of course, he's pretty inept at shooting from 3, so why in the hell is he shooting 58% from there anyway?

(Compared to Marshall's full season stats: 40.9% from the field, 31.4% from 3, 54% of his shots from 3, .14 FTs per minute played)

If we're just pointing out flaws that jump out from stats, Marshall is apparently unable to tell that he's a terrible perimeter shooter, and it's hilarious how big a percentage of his shots come from the perimeter despite the awful %.

[rlh04d]

Could he be Valley POY? Possibly. Who knows? But for all the hype we have to remember that he averaged a little over 8 points per game last season. That being said if we were holding a "Valley Draft" and I was the MSU GM, I'd have him pretty high on my big board.

Points per game is a flawed statistic to compare players. Marshall played more minutes per game.

Marshall still wins a points per minute comparison, but not by much: Marshall had 0.372, Baker 0.335

Or in other words, if either played a full 40 minutes, Marshall would have theoretically averaged 14.87, Baker 13.39. Or if Baker had played the same minutes as Marshall, he would have averaged 10.36 ppg.

The entire argument here was that Marshall is not a unique talent. And while his number ARE better than Baker's, they're not much better.

Since I mentioned stats before, here's a full comparison of Marshall and Baker on a per-minute basis:

Marshall vs Baker
FG% 40.9% vs 39.8%
3P%: 31.4% vs 35.7%
FT%: 80% vs 82.2%
REB: 0.098 vs 0.124
AST: 0.067 vs 0.068
BLK: 0.002 vs 0.0107
STL: 0.018 vs 0.0299
PF: 0.0596 vs 0.0832
TO: 0.044 vs 0.049
PTs: 0.372 vs 0.335

That's a full, accurate measure of their full freshmen seasons. Marshall is a bit better at FG%, PTs, has less TOs, and fouls less. Baker is a much better 3 point shooter, bit better at the line, rebounds more, slightly more assists, way better at blocking/stealing.

[BEARZ77]

This is easier than shooting rats behind a Wichita slaughterhouse. Just a suggestion that God-son Baker had a weakness gets an epic novel from "baller". You act as if someone really slammed Baker, instead of recognizing that 4 out of 5 comments focused on his strengths . Any one with even an ounce of objectivity would say the scouting report on him is force him to put the ball on the floor and beat you off the dribble until he shows he can do it. Such insecurity from a surfacely smug fan base.