Anyone Feel Bad for Joey Baker?

[harris1nj]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

[wavedukefan70s]

Let's see what the rest of the season holds for him.he may end up being just what Duke needed.

[oldnavy]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

I think so...

Need to wait and see how it plays out going forward, but way to early to feel good or bad about it IMO...

[Tooold]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

Yes you are off.
1) I doubt 5 minutes is all he will get. More likely is that K is going to give him some (maybe increasing) playing time in future games to see if he can be our shooter, or at least one shooting option.
2) I have never believed he really planned on staying for 5 years. If he was going to leave after 3 or 4 years, then he lost absolutely nothing
3) I don’t think K would have played him unless he (and family) were on board
4) from the looks of Joey on the bench, he is so engaged that I believe he really wanted to play

[907bluedevils]

I don't, by the sounds of it he was ready and willing.

https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/...226732729.html

[brevity]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

“If Joey Baker had only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.”

There is a lot of season left to play. This isn’t exactly a Moonlight Graham situation.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I don't, by the sounds of it he was ready and willing.

https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/...226732729.html

My only problem with this? A month too late. But we are where we are now, so all we can do is hope for great thing from Joey and the team.

[DUKIE V(A)]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

Yes. I think you are off on this. My guess is that Joey Baker and his family were part of the discussion and decision. He has played five minutes so far, but there will be opportunities for more playing time provided he earns the minutes. There are many meaningful games remaining including the chance to play on the favorite for the National Championship. Also, maybe Joey is a good enough player that he would not be staying four more years anyway. Maybe there is some regret over not playing earlier in the season, but the opportunity to play now remains an excellent (if not ideal) opportunity.

[CDu]

Yes you are off.
1) I doubt 5 minutes is all he will get. More likely is that K is going to give him some (maybe increasing) playing time in future games to see if he can be our shooter, or at least one shooting option.
2) I have never believed he really planned on staying for 5 years. If he was going to leave after 3 or 4 years, then he lost absolutely nothing
3) I don’t think K would have played him unless he (and family) were on board
4) from the looks of Joey on the bench, he is so engaged that I believe he really wanted to play

Well, the bolded part isn't true. Whether he was planning to stay 4 years, less, or more, he's most certainly not lost "absolutely nothing." He didn't play for 2/3 of the season. So he's lost 2/3 of a season of games played.

Now, whether or not burning the redshirt is the right call or not, I can't say. But that's 26 games he won't get to play in his college career.

[Troublemaker]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

I can see where you're going with this. Previous Duke players that have received their red shirts at the end of the season have been able to go on E-Bay and sell them for an average of $1.7 million. Marshall Plumlee, for example, was able to get a cool $2.5 million for his red shirt. Joey definitely gave up a lot here.

[uh_no]

i mean, he's been here for 25 games and only gotten 5 minutes of run time. He must be upset on how he's being used and be looking to transfer.

/s

[vfefrenzy]

I can see where you're going with this. Previous Duke players that have received their red shirts at the end of the season have been able to go on E-Bay and sell them for an average of $1.7 million. Marshall Plumlee, for example, was able to get a cool $2.5 million for his red shirt. Joey definitely gave up a lot here.

Best $2.5 million I ever spent.

[Tooold]

Well, the bolded part isn't true. Whether he was planning to stay 4 years, less, or more, he's most certainly not lost "absolutely nothing." He didn't play for 2/3 of the season. So he's lost 2/3 of a season of games played.

Now, whether or not burning the redshirt is the right call or not, I can't say. But that's 26 games he won't get to play in his college career.

Good point. You are absolutely right that he lost 26 games. But we all know that generally only about 7 players get to play in all of those 26 games. Regardless, as he said in the article linked above, he has been willing to go the whole year. He came to Duke wanting to play but willing to redshirt. At least that how I interpret his comments.

[MChambers]

My only problem with this? A month too late. But we are where we are now, so all we can do is hope for great thing from Joey and the team.

How do you know if he was ready to play a month ago? By all accounts, he’s been playing really well in practice recently. Doesn’t mean he was in January.

[duke74]

“If Joey Baker had only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy.”

There is a lot of season left to play. This isn’t exactly a Moonlight Graham situation.

Well played.

[CDu]

How do you know if he was ready to play a month ago? By all accounts, he’s been playing really well in practice recently. Doesn’t mean he was in January.

I suspect he was as ready to play a month ago as he was this past weekend. I doubt very much that he suddenly got ready to play right about the same time that our best player got hurt and we had the rough loss to UNC. Seems way to coincidental to me.

I suspect that the more accurate scenario was that Baker was ready and wanting to play, but was willing to redshirt. And for much of the season, since White was playing well and we also had O'Connell, there was not a need to lose a year. But, things changed. White has cratered, and O'Connell isn't very trustworthy on the floor at this point. And with us needing to win to keep pace with UNC and UVa, Coach K decided that the redshirt plan needed to be dropped in favor of adding another potential shooting threat to the mix.

In other words, I suspect his playing on Saturday had little if anything to do with a change in his readiness, but rather almost entirely to do with the status of the rest of the team.

[dukebluesincebirth]

He goes to Duke University on a basketball scholarship. This was my boyhood dream. It’s hard for me to feel bad for Joey. I think he’ll be just fine.

[fraggler]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

You must really feel strongly about this if you signed up just to post this thread. Why don't you actually explain why you feel bad?

[dukelifer]

He has given up his red shirt status for only 5 minutes of play. I feel bad for him. Am I off on this?

He will be just fine. He possibly gave up being Duke's all time scoring leader but most everything else is on the table- including possibly scoring in the NC game his Freshman year. It was ultimately his choice.

[Wahoo2000]

Question for those responding to OP that he is indeed off in his assessment (which I don't necessarily disagree with) -

Are there any conditions where you might later come to feel removing the redshirt IS a poor decision w/r/t Baker's best interests?

What about:
-if he averages less than 5mpg the rest of this year?
-if he's a VERY good player, but not NBA caliber, after 4 years?

I'd agree with those that have said this was very likely NOT done without informed consent from Baker and his camp/family - I'm sure Baker was dying to get on the floor and help the team. The question for me is this: Was the decision more about what is best long term for Joey Baker, or what is best for Duke's chances to win THIS year? (not that there's anything wrong with putting the program above any one player's interests, but fandom/homerism aside, I'd think you can acknowledge that this MAY be the case. I know when Bennett pulled off Paul Jesperson's redshirt a few years ago, it was the best thing for the team, and NOT the best thing for the player - I said as much and was lambasted by my fellow Hoos. I don't know why it has to be seen as some kind of negative or an attack on the coach's character to say he puts the interests of the team above the interests of individual players, especially when the negative impact to the player is a relatively small one).