Three Duke basketball players who will be pleasant surprises
By Matt Giles
Projected pleasant surprises for Duke basketball this season: Joey Baker
As one of Duke’s only two proven 3-point snipers on the college level, junior wing Joey Baker is conceivably set to be a spark to the Blue Devils setting off fireworks from downtown on a regular basis.
Last season, after sitting out most of his freshman campaign while assuming a redshirt was the plan, the 6-foot-6, 200-pound former four-star often sizzled from deep, knocking down 39.4 percent of his 78 attempts from beyond the arc. This season, so long as Baker sees sufficient minutes to keep his shooting hand on high heat, it stands to reason he could easily eclipse 40 percent.
Furthermore, as the unofficial Blue Devil hype man — from his floor slaps to his memorable “We’re doing this, right now!” affirmation from the bench during the epic comeback at Louisville when he was a freshman — Baker is bound to put pressure on Mike Krzyzewski to trust him with more than the 12.1 minutes per game that he averaged as a sophomore.
Granted, in order to convince Coach K of his readiness, he’ll need to have addressed his defensive deficiencies and playmaking limitations, which were glaring across his first two seasons in Durham. Yet given his positivity and passion ever since first stepping foot on campus, not to mention the current group’s dearth of veteran leaders, Joey Baker is in line for a breakout year…