NYU beat Farmingdale State College Tuesday night.
Michael Savarino scored 5 pts on 2-4 shooting with 6 reb and 2 ast.
NYU beat Farmingdale State College Tuesday night.
Michael Savarino scored 5 pts on 2-4 shooting with 6 reb and 2 ast.
Ouch, not a good night for Joey. Five minutes, one point and four fouls.
Joey Baker tonight against Pitt: 14 points on 4 of 5 from deep. Had a few nice plays creating for others off the closeout too. Looking like a key cog for Michigan.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Michigan did a complete 180 last night and got rocked by Arizona State. Like most of the team, Joey struggled, generating just two points (coming at the FT line after getting fouled on a 3).
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Sadly, it feels like the same Joey Baker as we saw in the 2020 and 2022 seasons Duke: a good 3pt shooter, but not much else.
For the season, he's averaging 14.5 mpg, 6.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.4 apg, 0.5 bpg, and 53.8 3pt%. The 3pt % is perhaps due for a slight regression downward, but otherwise he looks a lot like the same guy as before.
Alas, it just has never clicked for him. It's crazy to me that Baker never developed whereas Buddy Boeheim became a legitimate college star. Boeheim improved his ability to handle the ball and create his own shot. Baker just never did figure that out.
Well, while it might not be showing up statistically yet, Joey has been a bit more aggressive off the dribble according to my "eye test". Nowhere near Boeheim, obviously, but Joey has been more willing to attack closeouts off the dribble so far in Maize and Blue, including a couple nice plays where he's either drawn a foul or dropped a pass for an easy bucket. Obviously a small sample size against inconsistent competition to this point, however.
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Yeah, I'm not seeing it at all. He has taken just 2 non-3s all season, and only one of those was near the rim. He's drawn just one foul that wasn't on a 3 (on the same non-3pt attempt that was at the rim). He has 3 total assists, and one of those was a generous call on a post entry pass. It looks like the same guy, only heavier (he's definitely put on some pounds).
Remember that he had occasional moments where he dribbled into traffic at Duke too. It's just that in aggregate didn't add up to meaningful impact in his production. As appears to be the case this year, especially when you factor in quality of competition (the first 3 games were 3 of the easiest games of their season).
Scott Rich on the front page
Trinity BS 2012; University of Michigan PhD 2018
Duke Chronicle, Sports Online Editor: 2010-2012
K-Ville Blue Tenting 2009-2012
Unofficial Brian Zoubek Biographer
If you have questions about Michigan Basketball/Football, I'm your man!
Joey exemplifies 2 things for me: (1) For (most?) perimeter players, a good handle is the single most important skill. Not more important than all other skills combined, but the biggest single perimeter skill. Creating offense for oneself and others so often depends on rhythm with the ball. Joey never developed even a decent handle. Ditto for footwork. Not a good passer, either. He did not play rhythm basketball.
(2) It does “seem crazy that Baker never developed.” Was this because he never worked consistently hard, for 4+ years, on handle and footwork; or because he tried and simply could not master these things (“just never clicked for him”)? Was he told by K to focus entirely on becoming an excellent 3-bomber?
We have all seen players who developed solidly, some terrifically, over several years. We have all seen at least a few who seemed but marginally improved over several years. The second category puzzles us. Joey Baker is one of those puzzles.
So, Joey has a good game, and Michigan wins. He has a bad game, and Michigan loses (by a lot).
Henry Coleman has a bad game, and Texas A&M loses by a good margin to Murray State.
Hmmmm...
Weird coincidence in ESPN's Bracketology, which for some reason is newly updated today. Joe Lunardi has Henry Coleman and Texas A&M as the Last Team In, and Jaemyn Brakefield and Ole Miss as the First Team Out.
It's especially interesting that he makes that separation, considering Ole Miss is 4-0 with a KenPom rating of #51, while Texas A&M is 3-2 and #57.
Keeping with the thread, Joey Baker and Michigan are the West #8 seed, matched up with #9 St. Louis in the first round and maybe #1 Gonzaga in the second.
Keeping with the board, Duke is the Midwest #3 seed, the same region as #1 Houston (the overall top seed) and #2 seed Baylor.
Confession: I’m a big, dumb animal that is drawn to shiny things.
[Insert image of Joe Lunardi with jet black hair.]
It’s like the 11pm news tease: one month in and we have a new overall top seed! Click here! So I did. It’s nice to see Lunardi use his popularity to subtly point out that UNC can be both unbeaten and unimpressive.
It’s also a bit perverse for him to tell Ole Miss players that, despite winning all the games they were given, they aren’t good enough to make the field. Even more so for Notre Dame, who went 5-0 and was actually demoted from in the bracket to the Fifth Team Out.
Anyway, I’m… sorry? I felt it was worth a toe dip for now, particularly with the unique Coleman/Brakefield angle. But it is certainly not worth a new thread, at least before January.