Baldwin will play tonight

[BBert]

I thought WB4 looked tense in the first half. In the second half, he gradually got more comfortable, loose, and aggressive. But then, after his highlight move and bank shot, he stopped looking for his own shot and started passing up opportunities and giving the ball up at times when maybe he shouldn't have. It reminded me of someone going on a tear, then becoming self conscious and thinking they'd better pass the ball around so they won't be viewed as a ball hog. He is after all the new kid on the block and probably thought after the time out that he needed to get the ball to the big dogs. It was kind of a mistake, because the guys he was passing to weren't getting the job done. Then his shift was over. He definitely gave us something to get excited about.

 

[BBert]

Has Pat really been "ass", or just his shooting? To me it seems like he is always making big hustle plays when he's on the court, but he's definitely in a shooting slump.

 

[ripcityboy]

Has Pat really been "ass", or just his shooting? To me it seems like he is always making big hustle plays when he's on the court, but he's definitely in a shooting slump.

Pat's play kind of reminds me of another "Gymrat." T.J. Mc'Connell. You get even less scoring from Pat but both are good off the ball, are pesky on defense and get the occasional steal. Pat I think would be a better player if he could drive to the hole. But he lacks the strength for it.

 

[JDC]

Pat's play kind of reminds me of another "Gymrat." T.J. Mc'Connell. You get even less scoring from Pat but both are good off the ball, are pesky on defense and get the occasional steal. Pat I think would be a better player if he could drive to the hole. But he lacks the strength for it.

Pat always does the little things and makes very few mistakes on either end. It's why we do ok with him on the floor despite rough shooting nights.

He's just never been an aggressive offensive player and his ball handling is underdeveloped for a wing. Also over matched physically as a defender vs talented scorers.

 

[Scalma]

Pat always does the little things and makes very few mistakes on either end. It's why we do ok with him on the floor despite rough shooting nights.

He's just never been an aggressive offensive player and his ball handling is underdeveloped for a wing. Also over matched physically as a defender vs talented scorers.

He’s pretty much an end of the bench guy. Good in the locker room and generally doesn’t embarrass himself on the court. That’s more than I can say about some others on the roster, but if we want to contend we should be looking to upgrade.

And I’ll never agree with the narrative that he’s good off the ball. If he was, you’d see plays run for him. Most of the time when he gets an alley oop or backdoor cut, it’s because the defender is focused on the guards and loses Pat. He’s not JJ Redick. He’s not even half that.

 

[illmatic99]

Pat has cost himself a ton of money over the past two weeks.

 

[julius]

Pat has cost himself a ton of money over the past two weeks.

He was never really going to get a lot of money anyways, but it wasn't just the last 2 weeks that caused it. It was the first 26 years of his life.

 

[rotary111]

Baldwin played really well yesterday. I understand it was just one game and we need to re-evaluate after another couple of games.

At the very least he showed us that he deserves another look in the near future. Length at the point guard position is seriously lacking on this team.

Props to @Scalma for keeping us up to date on his progress.

 

[Orion Bailey]

And played so well he was used in crunch time!

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

It was obvious that WB4 was under a directive to get the ball to CJ, which is why he looked tentative at times.
His instinct is to drive it to the rim and we need that. He may be the fastest guy in NBA end-to-end. It would be nice to have that aggression on the floor and at least one guy who doesn't do the pass to the 3 pt line bullshit instead of making a layin.

 

[e_blazer]

I was definitely impressed by what Baldwin showed last night. If he can bring that kind of energy and scoring effectiveness on a nightly basis, Patty C. could be on the outside looking in when it comes to playing time.

 

[Gronk Brady]

I’ve already seen enough to know Baldwin is much better than Pat or Shabazz...

 

[dviss1]

Most of the time when he gets an alley oop or backdoor cut, it’s because the defender is focused on the guards and loses Pat. He’s not JJ Redick. He’s not even half that.

This is not true at all. His defender isn't looking at the guard at all. Pat cuts hard and gets a good screen. That's how he gets open on that flare screen. It literally has nothing to do with his defender being preoccupied with someone else.

 

[dviss1]

It was obvious that WB4 was under a directive to get the ball to CJ, which is why he looked tentative at times.
His instinct is to drive it to the rim and we need that. He may be the fastest guy in NBA end-to-end. It would be nice to have that aggression on the floor and at least one guy who doesn't do the pass to the 3 pt line bullshit instead of making a layin.

 

[DDolla]

More Baldwin please tomorrow night and less PatCon

 

[BonesJones]

More Baldwin please tomorrow night and less PatCon

Sucks it's sign late in the season of it was early I think Stotts would play more WB4. At this point, he should, but he won't.

 

[julius]

It's nice that in his one game, he out shined Luis Montero.

 

[riverman]

Remember the first time Jake Layman scored 17 pts in record time as a rookie? Hopefully Baldwin can sustain what he showed...Jake dropped off a cliff after his big debut

 

[KingSpeed]

Remember the first time Jake Layman scored 17 pts in record time as a rookie? Hopefully Baldwin can sustain what he showed...Jake dropped off a cliff after his big debut

That was an incredible performance by Jake and it looked like it all came so easily. Not sure why he is no longer able to stay on the basketball court anymore. He could never shoot well again.

 

[Scalma]

Remember the first time Jake Layman scored 17 pts in record time as a rookie? Hopefully Baldwin can sustain what he showed...Jake dropped off a cliff after his big debut

Layman got hot and made a bunch of threes. Baldwin showed more than one skill.

 

[Scalma]

That was an incredible performance by Jake and it looked like it all came so easily. Not sure why he is no longer able to stay on the basketball court anymore. He could never shoot well again.

I think it’s all mental with him because the athleticism is there. His shot since that warriors game has been comically bad. I bet he knocks everything down in practice. Not everyone is built to play at the highest level. Oh well, it was worth a look.

 

[riverman]

Layman got hot and made a bunch of threes. Baldwin showed more than one skill.

Layman is a decent defender....it's the offense that disappeared....he's hardly a terrible player but he's had a career long shooting slump so far

 

[Scalma]

Layman is a decent defender....it's the offense that disappeared....he's hardly a terrible player but he's had a career long shooting slump so far

I don’t know how you can say he’s anything but a terrible player at this stage. He’s had like two good games in his career, both last year. He’s shown zero development. There’s absolutely no justification for picking up the option on his contract.

I will be SHOCKED if he ever plays in the NBA again. And I was rooting for him at one point.

 

[KingSpeed]

I don’t know how you can say he’s anything but a terrible player at this stage. He’s had like two good games in his career, both last year. He’s shown zero development. There’s absolutely no justification for picking up the option on his contract.

I will be SHOCKED if he ever plays in the NBA again. And I was rooting for him at one point.

Yep, I remember someone here saying "what does Crabbe do that Jake can't?"

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I don’t know how you can say he’s anything but a terrible player at this stage. He’s had like two good games in his career, both last year. He’s shown zero development. There’s absolutely no justification for picking up the option on his contract.

I will be SHOCKED if he ever plays in the NBA again. And I was rooting for him at one point.

Honestly, I haven't seen him play this year so it's hard for me to judge. But it does seem like he misses most
every time he shoots, which is hard to take.

 

[jlprk]

I looked up which of Baldwin IV's 2016-17 Memphis teammates played in this game. They were Chandler Parsons, Jarell Martin, Marc Gasol, JaMychal Green, Wayne Selden, and Deyonta Davis. Only one is shorter than 6-9...6-5 SG Selden.

So, the only matchup I found was Selden.

 

[Lanny]

Layman is a decent defender....it's the offense that disappeared....he's hardly a terrible player but he's had a career long shooting slump so far

I think he's a terrible defender.

 

[riverman]

I think he's a terrible defender.

He's barley broken a sweat for the team.....I watched all his G league games and he was clearly the best player on the court most of the time..has a strong lower core...good handles...rebounds..blocked a shot last game with Portland....disagree about his defense..even his shooting form is really good....don't know why he's gone cold shooting for so long.

 

[Scalma]

He's barley broken a sweat for the team.....I watched all his G league games and he was clearly the best player on the court most of the time..has a strong lower core...good handles...rebounds..blocked a shot last game with Portland....disagree about his defense..even his shooting form is really good....don't know why he's gone cold shooting for so long.

This is just wrong. I wasted my time and watched all of his g league games as well and just off the top of my head Denzel Valentine, Jarell Eddie, and Alfonzo McKinnie were all better. I didn’t even know who McKinnie was but ever since watching him play with Layman I’ve kind of had a soft spot for him. Layman’s numbers in the g league weren’t great, but he played heavy minutes so it gave me a better idea of his game.