Does Mr. Baker go NBA after his Soph. Season?

[forevershockerfan]

Let us hope Mr. Baker is here and healthy all 5 Seasons here. The reason he has a solid chance to play up someday is he is consistent, plays smart, plays team-ball to win, is solid on fundamentals on both sides of the court, and does the extra work on his own to develop his game. If his shot is off, he will penetrate and score. If the other team covers him up, he will still make assists, rebound, make steals D-up, and keeps his turnovers to a mild roar. Right now, this Soph. is playing like an All-Valley Senior. Look at the boost he gave us when he returned from his injury last Season. How about the 11-11 on throws last game?

Also, keep in mind that Ron commented that Mr. Carter was his favorite play in the Summer. Was it not Mr. Carter that asked Kerry for extra work to do in the summer? Just wait until the CCCC connection get hitting on all cylinders with our 3 point guards. Carter, Chadrack, Coleby, and Cle. will start clicking with FVV, RB, TK, with a twist of Wiggins, Bush, Simon and Green and we will Derail our foes and will crumble them like an ole fortune cookie.

[im4wsu]

Let us hope Mr. Baker is here and healthy all 5 Seasons here. The reason he has a solid chance to play up someday is he is consistent, plays smart, plays team-ball to win, is solid on fundamentals on both sides of the court, and does the extra work on his own to develop his game. If his shot is off, he will penetrate and score. If the other team covers him up, he will still make assists, rebound, make steals D-up, and keeps his turnovers to a mild roar. Right now, this Soph. is playing like an All-Valley Senior. Look at the boost he gave us when he returned from his injury last Season. How about the 11-11 on throws last game?

Also, keep in mind that Ron commented that Mr. Carter was his favorite play in the Summer. Was it not Mr. Carter that asked Kerry for extra work to do in the summer? Just wait until the CCCC connection get hitting on all cylinders with our 3 point guards. Carter, Chadrack, Coleby, and Cle. will start clicking with FVV, RB, TK, with a twist of Wiggins, Bush, Simon and Green and we will Derail our foes and will crumble them like an ole fortune cookie.

He may have 5 seasons if you count the season he red-shirted. He has only this season and two more, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

[calfan]

Let's see Mr. Baker get first team all conference before the NBA talk.

The comparisons to Larry Bird are just silly.

[1979Shocker]

I could see Baker getting honorable mention All-American if he continues to play like he is. It will also depend on how big a run the Shockers make in the tournament. If we can get to the Elite 8 or Final 4 again, then I can see him getting the mention.

[wufan]

Baker is REALLY good and I plan on enjoying his presence for the next 2+ years.

Baker is about HALF of what Larry Bird was in College. Only two players have been Larry Birdesque since he left in 79…Xavier McDaniel and Hershey Hawkins. Baker had better be a first team AA before anyone BREATHES a comparison to Larry Bird…unless we are talking about how tan he looks.

[CBB_Fan]

Here is the list of guards that have averaged at least 15 PPG, 3.5 APG, 3.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.0 BPG going back to 1997:

1. Marshon Brooks
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Al Thornton
4. Hassan Adams
5. Jermey Lin
6. Maurice Harkless

And here is the list that has all that on the 50/40/85 shooting Baker has had through the BYU game: .

It is hard to give Baker a good NBA comparison. If he keeps up what he's doing he'll have as complete a season as any guard in history. I've tried several times to get a good idea of the defensive guards with the complete game Baker has and haven't found any great matches. No PG or SG in the NBA around his size has ever averaged over a block per game in a season, and of those near that number only Jerry West in 1972-73 and Eric Bledsoe in 2012-2013 have come close with good shooting. I've found that Dwyane Wade is the closest I've found coming out of college.

Here is an article about Wade before the draft. What stuck out to me is how much of that could be applied to Baker, even though Wade is a better athletic prospect. For example:

"Nobody knew who I was. Nobody knew who Marquette was. I had to work hard. I felt that Marquette, being the school that it is - a small school trying to come back to the national scene - it would take going to the tournament to show that we were good and I was good. I just kept doing what I was doing all year, playing basketball and winning games."

On Wade's strengths:

"He plays very poised and is mature for his age and his facial expression shows no emotion, in the ups and downs of the ball game, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem. Dwyane Wade plays perimeter defense very solidly and possesses a great understanding on how to cut-off the passing lanes and he understands how to shield off his defender when driving to the basket making him a defensive force. He is very unselfish and does not force up bad shots.

Given their similar stats, height, and defensive presence I think the comparison is as close as I can find. The big difference is that Wade was an elite athlete with a decent shot, while Baker is an elite shooter with decent athleticism. Both projected primarily as PGs with just enough size to play SG if needed. From the previous draft Oladipo is a good comparison numerically.

None of this means Ron Baker will have the NBA career of Wade. Just trying to show why the Baker to NBA talk is somewhat justified. It is rare to find a player that can play both guard positions, play defense, fill the statsheet, and have a good shot. Sometimes a player will do a few of those things, but it is very rare to have a complete prospect. Even without elite athleticism a prospect that does all of that will get looks.

[another shocker]

no

yes.

baker definitely won't go after his soph season, but he is considered to be an nba prospect this year

[WSUwatcher]

Ron Baker is a wonderful player, WSU's best all around. I love having him at WSU -- and I expect to love having him for three more highly successful years, after which I fully expect to see him in the NBA. I hope he ends up with the Spurs, my long-time favorites.

Still -- Larry Bird? Come on now, people. If you were to pick a 13-man all-time all-NBA roster, you'd be hard pressed not to include Bird. To say that Ron Baker (or Dwayne Wade, for that matter, and let's wait a while to see if Baker reaches even that level) is no Larry Bird doesn't diminish their excellence at all; it just means that they don't rise to the level of one of the game's greatest ever. Nothing wrong with that.

Can you imagine what Baker himself would think of such a comparison?

[wufan]

While the Wade comparison is decent, he averaged over 20 points and 6 boards his sophomore season. That's significantly better than Baker.

[shock]

Who else was on that Marquette team, besides one Karon Bradley?

[ShockRef]

This is....

Top 10 all time dumb topic posts.

He is a Sophomore who has played in all of maybe 25 collegiate games and some of you having him going to 'The League' already?

Give it a break.

I hope to all Heavens he doesn't read this ****.

That is all.

[pinstripers]

Top 5

[WstateU]

Top 10 all time dumb topic posts.

He is a Sophomore who has played in all of maybe 25 collegiate games and some of you having him going to 'The League' already?

Give it a break.

I hope to all Heavens he doesn't read this ****.

That is all.

[WSU4Life]

I, too, thought this thread was a joke at first. Now, I have previously had faith that Ron would develop into a NBA sleeper by his Senior year, but I thought this was way too premature. However, Ron has recently been developing a lot of buzz on twitter from a number of college and NBA experts. In fact, Chad Ford, ESPN's NBA draft expert just moved Baker up to #40 on his big board. In that case, this discussion is not so premature and the NBA decision might be something that Mr. Baker has to contemplate sooner rather than later. It's early in the season and I just can't picture Ron leaving after this year (or even after his junior year for that matter), but if you show up at #40 on Chad Ford's big board, then the NBA is a very serious possibility.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nbadraft/results/top100/_/year/2014/set/1

From Chad Ford:

"Nov 27 Update: Who's the biggest sleeper in this year's draft? Myself and a lot of NBA scouts are very high on Wichita State's Ron Baker. He's sitting in the 40s on our Big Board right now, but the more I watch him play and the more I talk with scouts, I think he ends up as a potential first rounder -- especially if scouts are convinced he can play the point in the NBA.

Aug 20 Update Scouts are excited to see Ron Baker back and healthy for a full year. He put up a couple of really nice games in the NCAA tournament for the Shockers and scouts think that if he can see time at the point guard position this year, he could end up being a real draft sleeper."

[wufan]

The discussion isn't premature. Anyone that beliefs he'll leave might be a little misinformed.