Everyone says that Baker sucks now but he has barely played at all this season. I want to give him a chance to play a little before totally giving up on him.
Exactly! I thought Baker did ok tonight, concidering he was playing center instead of PF. Also he was matched up with a 7'3" center. Now that will hamper anyone's style. His shooting touch should get better with more pt. I think we'd be ok until the playoffs when Howard returns. However on the telecast, everyone said they were expecting a move within a week. We'll just have to wait & see.
Well it is not too late to consider some players in this thread and this guy below (leading NBDL in rebounds with 13.2). Vin definitely looks finished - he was out played by that Korean hack called Ha. I bet JVG and CD are already looking for help anywhere they can find it. The only downside is that someone will have to be cut to make room for an additional player (most likely Andre Barret).
And what was the sentiment about Juwan Howard being HORRIBLE and WASHED UP from most of this board up until a few weeks ago??? I'm not saying Vin Baker will "fit" like Howard has and has everyone panicking over his 4-week loss, but give this guy time. At this point (in my view) Vin Baker = Alonzo Mourning. Both are playing garbage time. From the fans' perspective, Zo has played phenomenal in those few minutes while Baker has been worse than Terrence Morris on a good day. However, neither player has the stamina to play anywhere close to a full game. I'm sure in a couple of weeks when both players have adjusted to their new teams and more-intense conditioning, Baker will have the edge on minutes played. True, Mourning has barely played all year while Baker has been on a roster, but Zo won't ever play regularly ever again, so long as Shaq is healthy and Udonis fulfills his role. With 4 weeks until Howard is able to return (perhaps less considering his attitude to work "very hard" to come back), I honestly feel that Vin Baker will be able to contribute as a tough defender and decent rebounder. If anything (and even though it was only one game), there will be more scoring from Wesley, James, Sura, and Barry without Howard taking a bit more shots than he can sink. This team will be fine.
Baker looked better than I thought he would. We have played and kept worse- recall Mr. Jason Collier anyone?? What about Maloney guarding Stephon Marbury-still makes the hair stand up on my neck-horrifying....
Jeff Hagedorn said something interesting before the game about Baker's potential PT. He said something along the lines of "Baker is not an option" Immediately that kinda told me that Baker is not looking good in practice to JVG. And watching him, I can see why. 1) He's slow on everything. He has to "gather" himself before he starts run. 2) Made no effort to box out or was slow to. 3) He was out of position on offense alot, with regards to setting picks for the PG (James had to tell him to come set a pick a few times). I definitely think Baker can correct these things, but seeing his 6 mins last night, I got the impression that he is nowhere near ready to compete with mainstream talent on the court.
Baker had little to no impact while he was out there. I don't doubt that he hasn't earned more playing time, or he would probably get it. But I think it is silly to make a definitive statement based a few minutes he played in a blowout game against the Blazers youth squad. But I guess rash definitive statements based on inconclusive evidence is what it has been about for a while on this board. First it was Yao is going to be the greatest, then he was a bust for sure, and we should trade him while he still has some value, then he was going to be one of the greats again. All along the way saying that we needed more time to evaluate would get you called either YOF or a Steve only fan depending on who you were pleading the case for a more moderate assessment in front of. Then last year we were doomed. Throw in the towel we can't make the playoffs with Francis on the team. Then we made it, but we wouldn't win a game, and Francis would try and hog the ball etc. Then when the playoffs came and Francis played a great series, people talked about Francis finally learning his role, and how great our team could be. Then the trade for Tmac. Before the year started folks were guaranteeing a championship appearence. We have to be one of the two best teams in the league. After the slow start people proclaimed the tmac trade a bust, and Yao was back on the bust list as well, and this was all without a doubt. Now, without a doubt, based on a few minutes Baker doesn't deserve a spot on the end of the bench. For most of these definitive statements of absolute certainty about the future of the team and its players anyone who argued for patience, or a wait and see approach before making a definitive declaration one way or the other on these players was called weak and fan of only one person and not the whole team. It's all quite strange, since the game is one of ups and downs, that blanket statements of certainty get made after a few minutes of one player appearing on court. Then we have the case of Boki where it went against making a definitive judgement. No matter what Boki did good or bad, we should always wait and give him more time to develop, and see what can become of him. This was going on from the beginning to after he played on our team for a couple of years.
Folks I don't think even if we found someone better he could be on the playoff roster. So might as well try to get Vin in some kind of game shape (use this term very liberally) for spot duty if needed. Giving him real time is the best way to do it. He did look very rusty but to me he seemed to try to work out there, wasn't anguished about it, and at least he knows the nba game even if his reactions are ultra slow right now. But he IS our 3rd PF and 3rd center right now, for at least a month and maybe more. There are no other meaningful options to help us this year. Get him PT when we can, we may just need him for some important minutes if it takes JH longer to get back than the optimistic projects. Not a position we want to be in, but we are. The MoT deal left us open to this possibility.
I don't know what game you guys were watching but I was at the game and Vin Baker looked very good. He was hustling and moving very well. His shots weren't dropping but he was still playing well. You can't just look at what happens when he gets the ball or when his man gets the ball, you have to watch how he is playing without the ball and he was looking really good. The guy needs more playing time and he can be a solid part of our rotation.
Uhmm......the guy played like six minutes...lol He is just depth on the roster and still needs to learn our team plays and shake some rust off. He is not going to be a game changer and probably will not get back to his All-Star calliber type of play but he is a vet who knows the NBA game and probably can more then hang with the bench guys of most teams once he gets in a little better game shape. At least he looked like he was hustling out there and trying to make things happen.....I have faith in JVG and his decisions.
I dont know this might be a blessing in disguise. We are forced to give VBaker some PT to see what he can do out there and we have to remember he has size and knows how to play the game. He is a step slow but so is Yao.. hahaha I think once he gets his legs and builds up some stamina he will be much better for us and might be a factor come playoff time. imagine a front court of.. Yao / Deke JHoward / Rejuvinated VBaker TMac / RBowen Doesnt that sound like the best front court in the NBA? solid from 3 -5 ! hahaha J
That's what I really want to hear. I listened to the NBA Live and I can't wait to watch the game myself. R2K, thanks in advance!
I didnt see the game when I posted comments about Vin. After I watched it, I will take half of my comments back. Production wise, he was awful, but he wasnt terrible. Give him sometime, he might help us.
