Joey Baker: Off-season

[SupaDave]

Not sure how many of you have Instagram, but if you do, you might want to check out Baker's latest post.

HE LOOKS GREAT.

And I'll leave it at that for now.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Having issues finding his Instagram. ‘Joey Baker Instagram’ gets me to a hot white dude without his shirt on (and yes, our Joey is cute. This Joey is hot).

Mind sending the URL?

[SupaDave]

For those who can't find it.

I recorded it and posted to my youtube page (where you can also find some old interviews of me with Austin Rivers)

Enjoy!!!

[MChambers]

Best shape of his life? Sculpted like Henry Coleman?

[SupaDave]

Best shape of his life? Sculpted like Henry Coleman?

He's headed in the right direction.

[duke96]

Joey has always been in great shape, physically. Look at his posts 2-3 years ago, he was just as ripped back then.

[MartyClark]

He's headed in the right direction.

Thanks for posting. I'd love to see this kid have a breakout year.

[ncexnyc]

That was filmed here in Fayetteville, at Northwood Temple Academy on Ramsey Street. I'd be curious to find out who the competition was.

Hopefully we'll actually have a season this year and get to watch Joey in action.

[dukelifer]

Is going to have a great sophomore season - oh wait...

[Nrrrrvous]

Is going to have a great sophomore season - oh wait...

Too soon.

[Music man55]

Is going to have a great sophomore season - oh wait...

Provided we do have a college basketball season this fall and winter, I think we can expect some really good things from Joey. I'm looking for him to have an important role on this years team, and by that I mean a lot of productive minutes. I can't wait (fingers crossed)

[mattman91]

Provided we do have a college basketball season this fall and winter, I think we can expect some really good things from Joey. I'm looking for him to have an important role on this years team, and by that I mean a lot of productive minutes. I can't wait (fingers crossed)

Maybe he will get that red shirt season after all...

[BlueDevil16]

How many mins / points do you think Joey will average a game. If he can step up to that next level and join Hurt, Moore, and Goldwire in the experienced 15+ mins a game contributors club, things could look decent. Still think the team is too young to win in March, but if Johnson, Williams, Roach, and Steward are ballers...

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Too soon.

I still maintain that it is in actuality "too soon" to judge the infamous "redshirt burn." Not until Joey's hypothetical fifth season of eligibility can we determine whether it was a mistake.

[kshepinthehouse]

How many mins / points do you think Joey will average a game. If he can step up to that next level and join Hurt, Moore, and Goldwire in the experienced 15+ mins a game contributors club, things could look decent. Still think the team is too young to win in March, but if Johnson, Williams, Roach, and Steward are ballers...

Scoring isn’t the problem. Joey is going to have to prove he can contribute in other ways if he wants to see significant minutes at Duke.

[dm9e24]

Lately, it seems all Duke teams are too young to win in March. Agree that Joey has to improve defensively to get those minutes. Or shoot +45% from the 3 point line. Hopefully all the upperclassmen go to the next level this year. That would be a big plus in March.

[UrinalCake]

It’s a cool video, but it looks like he’s playing against random guys at the gym. I would expect the last walkon on our bench to be the best player in that type of setting. Also, I’m not sure how fair it is to expect massive offseason leaps from guys when they’re mostly stuck in their parents’ basements and working out with whatever dumbbells they have laying around the garage. It will take time for the team to come together.

[freshmanjs]

He may be the next Nick Horvath!

[BlueDevilStop]

Thanks for posting. I'd love to see this kid have a breakout year.

That would do wonders for next years team. Duke is going to need his shooting.

[scottdude8]

That would do wonders for next years team. Duke is going to need his shooting.

If Steward is indeed more of a "combo-guard" able to run the point at times and Joey takes the step forward that many are thinking/hoping he will, I could imagine us going with a shooting-focused lineup for times of Steward, Joey, Wendell, Jalen, and Matt. That lineup would likely only be implemented in specific matchups and likely for short periods, given the defensive limitations. But it also would have the potential to be deadly offensively, with Steward, Joey and Matt commanding attention around the perimeter, allowing Wendell and Jalen to attack the basket. Honestly, this lineup could also work if Wendell (or possibly Jalen) more fully develops into a point-forward, which many thought might be the case last year.

Regardless of what the "way-to-early" rankings say, I'm super excited about this year's team and still see us as a Top-5 squad at the moment. We're going to have a ton of versatility and the ability to employ a lot of different lineups, this potentially being one of them. I really hope we actually get to see it.