http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-spknix1007,0,895959.story?coll=ny-basketball-headlines

Vin Baker worth the risk?

BY GREG LOGAN
STAFF CORRESPONDENT

October 7, 2004


CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The last two NBA teams that gambled on Vin Baker's talent to win out over his personal demons wound up having to cut their losses. One All-Star season in Seattle was followed by three in which he began his downhill slide into alcoholism. Baker got a second and even a third chance in Boston that ended with broken promises to stay sober and a broken contract.

But the desperation of Knicks president Isiah Thomas to build a winner and Baker's equally desperate attempt to cling to what remains of his career just might turn into a winning combination. It's a day-to-day proposition, but Baker stayed straight and showed promise in a 17-game trial with the Knicks at the end of last season. So when Thomas failed to land free-agent center Erick Dampier over the summer, he re-signed Baker and moved him from power forward to center to compete with Nazr Mohammed for the starting job.

If support is what Baker has been seeking to help him get back on the right track, he found it with the Knicks. Cablevision CEO James Dolan is a recovering alcoholic, and Thomas lost a brother to that addiction.

"I feel really fortunate and blessed that I have the opportunity to be here, especially after everything that's gone on the last few years," Baker said yesterday after the morning training-camp workout. "Isiah and Mr. Dolan and coach [Lenny Wilkens] have paid special attention to me. It feels like a family atmosphere.

"Also, being close to my family right down the road in Connecticut was huge for me. There were other places to go, but this is where I felt like I wanted to be. They showed so much interest, not only in me as a basketball player, but in everything I was going through."

Regrets? Yes, Baker admits his personal problems caused him to waste some of his prime years after four straight All-Star appearances, including three in Milwaukee and his first season in Seattle in 1997-98.

"I think God has a plan and a reason," Baker said. "Of course, I would have loved to have stayed an All-Star, but I think I have a great shot here in New York to win. I'm still an optimist that I can contribute to a very good basketball team."

In his brief time with the Knicks last season, Baker averaged 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds but shot only 40.4 percent. But during the offseason, his doctors performed an operation to correct an irregular heartbeat that Baker said had gone undetected for eight or nine years.

"My energy level is up, and the recovery time is quicker," Baker said. "Basically, it was a situation where I would be running, and my recovery time would take a long time. As my doctors explained, when I sitting down, my heart would keep pumping as if I still was on the floor."

Now, Baker has trimmed down to 245 pounds to regain his quickness, but at 6-11, he should be able to match up well with most Eastern Conference centers not named Sha.quille O'Neal. No matter who starts, Baker and Mohammed, who averaged 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and shot 56.3 percent in 27 games with the Knicks last season, should form an effective tandem in the middle.

If Baker can find a semblance of the ability that made him an All-Star, he and Mohammed might turn out to be far more productive than the underachieving Dampier would have been.

Commenting on Baker's adjustment to center, Wilkens said: "I don't know if anyone can be what they used to be, but he came back in great shape. He made a couple moves out there [in Tuesday night's scrimmage] that you say, 'Wow, if he can do this every night, he'd be great.' I think he's going to make a much better contribution to us this year."

Notes & quotes: If Allan Houston can't start the season because of his arthritic knees, either veteran Penny Hardaway or newly acquired Jamal Crawford could start at shooting guard. Hardaway was with the first team yesterday, but Wilkens said Crawford also will get a chance with that unit ... Former North Carolina and Notre Dame coach Matt Doherty has been added to the Knicks' staff and likely will do some scouting.

I still believe that a nazr-baker combo (provided the second don't revert to his old habits, is a much better center tandem than most think.

With the outside power we already have, they could thrive from the lesser attention they'll get.

Posted by Nalod:

I sound obnoxious: Bake is the NBA comeback player of the year. Our starting center.

Why did I say at his signing? The heart rate thing. If the body does not get oxygen at a high rate in the blood stream, it keeps pumping. You get tired. It sucks, its depressing, if your prone, you drink. Isiah must have wheeled him into the operating room! This will be the feel good story of the year, he will be an allstar picked by coaches (league propoganda move, but who cares)and help us achieve into the second round.

Drinking the Kool aid. Oh my word!

Vin Baker will be good for us. But Grant Hill will be comeback player of the year. I think Grant Hill might make the All Star team. Just an intuition.

I'm kind of excited over Baker. He's managed to trim down from the 280-300 he was pushing a few years ago. I remember when he used to kill us early in his career when he was in Milwaukee, how he was just so much more mobile than Ewing at nearly the same size. In his early years, he was good for 20-10.

As others have suggested, this heart ailment probably was a factor in his downward spiral (which coincided with his move to Seattle). It probably affected his conditioning and his ability to a high level of energy... which probably caused him to coast a bit during games.

He's getting a little older, but his body looks like it's pretty well preserved. He was never much of a banging defender, but at center, we're looking for him to use his long arms and height to change shots.

Based on his early years, he has the potential to be a #1 or 2 scoring option on this team... tho the same could probably be said about Houston and Penny..

The nice thing about the veterans we are getting like Baker and Penny is that their game might actually improve over the last few seasons as opposed to the past when we were the glue factory for the NBA.Im excited about this season.We may not get to the ECF but we are on the right track and thats a hell of alot better then where we have been.

Dampier would have cost us KT & about a 9mil contract. I think in the end Baker-Muhammad will be more productive for there price.

Baker will probaby excell at center instead of PF. The smaller KT was able to pull it off with a weaker supporting cast. Baker has more size than KT and as fish brought up in the past KT was good at center because he didn't have to face top notch PFs every day. Same will be said for Baker.

Baker can definatly give this team a guy who can draw double teams out of the post. Baker-Williams cominbation could be very effective for strecthes as they compliment each other very well.