As Derrick Rose sat out with a recurring back injury, undrafted rookie Ron Baker had a career game in what was an otherwise forgettable New York Knicks performance in a loss to the Golden State Warriors last night.
The Golden State Warriors casually yawned their way to a 103-90 victory over Ron Baker and the New York Knicks last night. As losses go, I felt surprisingly good about this one.
The best team in the NBA and best regular season team of all-time had beaten a Knicks team that would consider making the playoffs this season a huge success—a Knicks team that was without two of it’s three best players in Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose.
No, this loss didn’t sting. It was actually quite refreshing—encouraging even—because a role player named Ron Baker was born into the NBA last night.
Admittedly, I’ve been steering the Ron Baker bandwagon for a while now, and a large chunk of my enthusiasm for Bakers play against the Warriors was simply down to the fact that he was finally playing NBA basketball.
One of the biggest question marks in Jeff Hornacek’s rotation this season has been his preference of Sasha Vujacic over Baker as the third-string point guard or third-string shooting guard. When Derrick Rose left the Knicks’ previous game against the Phoenix Suns after just 10 minutes, it was a relief that Hornacek turned to Baker behind Brandon Jennings.
Finally, coach Hornacek has joined the bandwagon! A 32-year-old Vujacic doesn’t have long-term on-court value to a Knicks team that’s building around Kristaps Porzingis for the next decade. This alone could and should have been enough to nudge Baker, only 23 years old, up in the rotation.
It’s a developmental no-brainer.
There’s also the little detail that Vujacic isn’t a very effective player anymore. At this stage of his career, it’s fair to call Vujacic a shooting specialist, but his 26 percent shooting from 3-point range this season has been far from special.
If he’s not going to space the floor, he’s not on the court for his offense, and he’s definitely not on the floor for his defense; so it’s surprising it took the Knicks coaching staff so long to give Baker a chance.
It’s fitting that Baker, an undrafted rookie and lifelong underdog who has a children’s book published around this premise, made his first real statement in the NBA against one of the leagues few real Goliath’s: Stephen Curry.
Baker gobbled up his chance in a great all-around performance. He outscored Curry with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting against the two-time MVP’s eight points on 3-14 shooting. He played impressive defense when matched up with the best shooter in the world, consistently keeping track of and contesting Curry’s shooting opportunities.
Through attention and effort, Baker turned what would be wide open shots into difficult attempts.
It’s this genuine defensive activity that epitomizes Bakers game. He has a sense of purpose to his play, and composure on the court that inspires confidence. He’ll stay in his lane, make the right pass, make quick decisions, and work his butt off.
Four-year college players are often penalized and undervalued in the draft for what is often perceived to be a low ceiling, limited upside, and a lack of star potential. However, it’s often the case that these players have more substance to their game than the tantalizing athletic prospects that are drafted ahead of them.
Baker wasn’t drafted after four years at Wichita State, but this undersells his talent.
If he can make shots and take what the defense gives him like he did against the Warriors last night, then he has the tools to be the perfect low-millions, high-minutes role player all elite teams need. The Derek Fisher of the Kobe Bryant led Lakers, the Matthew Dellavedova of the LeBron James led Cavaliers; the Ron Baker of the Kristaps Porzingis led Knicks.
Why not?
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Derrick Rose’s troubling back spasms have muffled the momentum this Knick team was building over the last couple of weeks. If there’s a silver lining to Rose being sidelined, it could be Ron Baker.
Welcome to the bandwagon.