fitzfarm wrote:Most NBA players are athletic and have the physical tools to be a good defensive player having a defensive mindset is what separates great defenders from the crowd
There's a little push/pull here that no one wants to talk about.
I love Baker as an individual player. That being said, he's a fringe player and he's a young player and that means he won't get any close calls in his favor. This makes defense much harder. Some guys like Chuck Hayes and Tony Allen and Shane Battier can be non elite marketable players/non superstars, but get mostly clean ref calls based on their reputations. Baker won't get this, likely ever. There is a "Euro Bias" in terms of officiating and how NBA players go at you.
Did we all not watch Jason Sehorn get basically pummeled every game by WRs who had such narcissistic/insecurity issues, that they didn't want to be shut down at corner by "that guy" Are we going to pretend this wasn't an issue during Linsanity, where guys like Deron Williams had to be pulled away from interviews because he could no longer contain his hostility at any other player getting the spotlight ( DWill truly is a worthless piece of trash as a player, only a true douchebag could drive the beloved Jerry Sloan from the game)
Unfortunately it's just not PC to say is it?
There are going to be a lot of players who go right at Baker, and he's a bulldog and a fighter and will go right back at them. The refs are going to have to weigh it out. Each ref gets things like playoff assignments, promotions and just keeping their job on "rankings" where the metrics are simply unknown to them. Things though are pretty simple. Don't call fouls on superstars the NBA wants to market. No one pays big dollars to see Russell Westbrook sit with 5 fouls near the end of the 4th quarter even if Westie earned them. Keep series close and extend games and lean towards the home team, this drives revenue.
In this weigh out, Baker mostly loses.
Baker will not get clean calls.
Baker will have guys go at him to prove a point ( a stupid thoughtless point, but most NBA player are poorly socialized and poorly educated and spoon coddled, so I guess it is what it is....)
Baker is not an elite athlete, so this makes everything much harder
He can defend his own weight, to me, that's what matters. He's not always going to be a plus defender, but he won't be a sinking black hole on defense either.
Other Knicks may eventually have a problem with him. Anyone who just works that hard raises the question on why everyone else is not working that hard. When the crowds cheer for Baker, Melo will resent him, freeze him out and have the CAA induced press find a way to rip the kid.
I LOVE Baker. My guess is Hornacek, a lunchpail kind of player himself, loves Baker.
But there are limitations out of his total control here. James Harden charges Baker and jumps into him and then gives him a big fat elbow into his face, well then Baker doesn't have the BS "street cred" on the court to get a clean call.
I remember when Chuck Hayes was a young player, and at one point, the refs just kept jobbing him, and finally he floored the other player. Message was clear. You don't have to give me clean calls, I'll just crack someone's head open, and once it hits YouTube, everyone will see how badly you've been letting players job me because they sell more shoes. Refs are not complicated, they don't want to look bad. They want to massage games and push the league narrative but have to do it "subtlety"
At some point, Baker is going to have to crack someone's jaw open. Players are going to try to bully him, he will have to show hes more of a bully than them.
This is the problem in the NBA, merit is just not enough. You have to be marketable, you have to politic, you have to do this stupid "street cred" happy horse**** to pay your "dues" The only reason Linsanity happened was because no one could predict it in order to manufacture it. You can watch game after game and not see one true authentic moment not buzzed out by the NBA's marketing department.
Kid can defend his own weight. But it's gonna cost him. And that's got nothing to do with his actual skill set