Post#152 » by Dr Positivity » Sun Mar 6, 2016 9:16 pm
Ron Baker is an old white mid major player so understandably the NBA isn't giving him much attention. He is however showing up very strongly in my statistical system. Here is how his per 40 numbers compare to some mid majors as of late:
Baker: 17.7 pt, .59 TS, 6.0 reb, 4.0 ast, 2.0 stl, 0.8 blk
George: 19.9 pt, .58 TS, 8.6 reb, 3.7 ast, 2.6 stl, 1.0 blk
Lillard: 27.6 pt, .57 TS, 5.4 reb, 4.6 ast, 1.7 stl, 0.3 blk
McCollum: 30.9 pt, .63 TS, 6.5 reb, 3.8 ast, 1.8 stl, 0.4 blk
Stuckey: 29.5 pt, .57 TS, 5.8 reb, 6.6 ast, 2.9 stl, 0.4 blk
Elfrid Payton: 21.0 pt, .54 TS, 6.4 reb, 6.1 ast, 2.5 stl, 0.6 blk
It appears scoring is a number to watch out for in terms of mid major inflation. Baker's number is thus a weakness especially considering his age. However in the rebounding, assists, steals, blocks categories I don't know of those mid major comparisons are doing more than better than they would have at a bigger program. Former Wichita State pick Cleanthony Early as a comparison also follows in line with this, as he put up 23.7 pt, .63 TS, 8.7 reb, 1.0 ast, 1.1 stl, 1.2 blk per 40 his last year there. While his scoring numbers were awesome, in reb, ast, stls and blks, playing in a mid major did not help him escape mediocre stats for a SF/PF. Therefore when Baker performs well in reb/ast/stl/blk it may be pretty legit.
The median per 40 rate of my simple list of SGs successes lately in Harden, Wade, Derozan, Klay, Butler, Thompson, McCollum, Matthews, KMart is 1.85 steals, 0.4 blocks, 6.75 rebounds, 3.35 assists. So Baker rates above average in steals, blocks and assists and isn't brutally bad in rebounds compared to that list. Of that group he has the 3rd best steal rate (behind Wade and Martin), 3rd best block rate (behind Wade and Thompson) and 4th best assist rate (behind Wade, Harden and Thompson). His statline is overall most comparable to Thompson who put up 1.9 steals, 1.1 blocks, 4.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds per 40.
Mind you, Baker's scoring numbers for his age and conference shouldn't just be ignored either, and is a weakness.
As for whether he has the talent. He is a good 3pt shooter, has very solid length/strength for a 2, has basketball IQ and doesn't play like he's unathletic. In addition to his defensive stats, his FT rate for his FGA is pretty solid. Like Denzel Valentine, being skilled and smart is a talent. It's why you could argue Dellavedova has more talent than Bennett
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