MajorMike
01-18-2008, 02:52 PM
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0117/nba_g_baker_580.jpg
BOISE, Idaho -- Attention NBA general managers, especially those of you in Cleveland, Boston, Golden State, Toronto and Denver who need help at point guard:
There is a player with the Dakota Wizards, a 6-1 guard out of Oklahoma State named Maurice Baker, who may be the answer to your problems.
Yes, Danny Ferry, you may be setting your sights on Mike Bibby again, but what's your Plan B? and what happens if Plan B and Plan C fail?
And you, Danny Ainge, you may still be publicly denying the obvious, but everyone around the NBA can see you need a ball handler behind Rajon Rondo. If you can't find a way to get Damon Stoudamire, where will you turn next?
And, hey, Chris Mullin, if that Gary Payton backup plan fails after C.J. Watson's next 10-day contract expires, you'll want to read on.
Same with you, Bryan Colangelo, as you contemplate whether Darrick Martin is an adequate insurance policy for the playoffs in case T.J. Ford cannot return.
And you, too, George Karl, because your general manager, Mark Warkentien, is liable to return to Denver with some nice things to say about that certain someone referenced above.
Again, his name is Maurice Baker, and he emerged onto plenty of teams' radars over the past several days as the NBA's Development League, commonly known as the D-League, held its annual showcase -- bringing in all 14 teams and having them play two games apiece over a four-day stretch.
Matched up for much of the night against Bulls rookie JamesOn Curry, who is on a minor-league assignment with the Iowa Energy, Baker put up the line of the week Monday night by scoring 41 points, going 12-for-17 from the field and 17-for-17 from the line with six assists (and no turnovers) and six steals.
Two nights later, Baker had 27 points (9-for-18 from the field, 8-for-8 from the line) with four assists, four steals and 15 rebounds -- yes, 15 rebounds from a 6-1 point guard -- while matched up against Cleveland's Shannon Brown, who was on assignment with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
"He has a huge heart, he's not a great shooter but he is a great clutch shooter, and he's one of the best rebounding guards I've ever seen," said Eric Chapman, the Boise-based director of the Chapman Report, a scouting and consulting service that tracks minor league basketball players.
Chapman has been watching Baker up close for the past three years and says Baker seems to be about 80 percent of the player he was before undergoing ankle surgery in the summer of 2006 after playing half of a season in Lithuania, which followed stints in Turkey, Mexico, Syria and Russia.
Baker, 27, also played for the Heat and Nets in 2005 summer leagues, and for Phoenix in a 2002 summer league. He had 10-day contracts with the Los Angeles Clippers (one game, no points) and Portland Trail Blazers (four games, no points) in the 2004-05 season, so if he makes it to the NBA, it will not be his first time there.
But it sure has been a long time since he was there.
"Finishing at the rim in traffic, that's the one part of the game he doesn't have anymore since the ankle surgery," Chapman said, "but he keeps getting it back little by little, and you can see it each game."
BOISE, Idaho -- Attention NBA general managers, especially those of you in Cleveland, Boston, Golden State, Toronto and Denver who need help at point guard:
There is a player with the Dakota Wizards, a 6-1 guard out of Oklahoma State named Maurice Baker, who may be the answer to your problems.
Yes, Danny Ferry, you may be setting your sights on Mike Bibby again, but what's your Plan B? and what happens if Plan B and Plan C fail?
And you, Danny Ainge, you may still be publicly denying the obvious, but everyone around the NBA can see you need a ball handler behind Rajon Rondo. If you can't find a way to get Damon Stoudamire, where will you turn next?
And, hey, Chris Mullin, if that Gary Payton backup plan fails after C.J. Watson's next 10-day contract expires, you'll want to read on.
Same with you, Bryan Colangelo, as you contemplate whether Darrick Martin is an adequate insurance policy for the playoffs in case T.J. Ford cannot return.
And you, too, George Karl, because your general manager, Mark Warkentien, is liable to return to Denver with some nice things to say about that certain someone referenced above.
Again, his name is Maurice Baker, and he emerged onto plenty of teams' radars over the past several days as the NBA's Development League, commonly known as the D-League, held its annual showcase -- bringing in all 14 teams and having them play two games apiece over a four-day stretch.
Matched up for much of the night against Bulls rookie JamesOn Curry, who is on a minor-league assignment with the Iowa Energy, Baker put up the line of the week Monday night by scoring 41 points, going 12-for-17 from the field and 17-for-17 from the line with six assists (and no turnovers) and six steals.
Two nights later, Baker had 27 points (9-for-18 from the field, 8-for-8 from the line) with four assists, four steals and 15 rebounds -- yes, 15 rebounds from a 6-1 point guard -- while matched up against Cleveland's Shannon Brown, who was on assignment with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
"He has a huge heart, he's not a great shooter but he is a great clutch shooter, and he's one of the best rebounding guards I've ever seen," said Eric Chapman, the Boise-based director of the Chapman Report, a scouting and consulting service that tracks minor league basketball players.
Chapman has been watching Baker up close for the past three years and says Baker seems to be about 80 percent of the player he was before undergoing ankle surgery in the summer of 2006 after playing half of a season in Lithuania, which followed stints in Turkey, Mexico, Syria and Russia.
Baker, 27, also played for the Heat and Nets in 2005 summer leagues, and for Phoenix in a 2002 summer league. He had 10-day contracts with the Los Angeles Clippers (one game, no points) and Portland Trail Blazers (four games, no points) in the 2004-05 season, so if he makes it to the NBA, it will not be his first time there.
But it sure has been a long time since he was there.
"Finishing at the rim in traffic, that's the one part of the game he doesn't have anymore since the ankle surgery," Chapman said, "but he keeps getting it back little by little, and you can see it each game."