Grades for each Duke basketball player thru 6 games

8. Duke basketball forward Joey Baker

• 7.8 points per game
• 2.3 rebounds per game
• 1.2 assists per game
• 0.5 steals per game
• 0.0 blocks per game
• 0.3 turnovers per game
• 13-for-34 from the field (38.2 percent)
• 7-for-21 beyond the arc (33.3 percent)
• 14-for-15 from the foul line (93.3 percent)
• 19.0 minutes per game

In the case of Joey Baker, there have been occasional signs of improvement: crashing the glass more often, being a slightly better defender, embracing the role of co-captain, trusting his instincts on the fly, etc. However, the 6-foot-6, 205-pound senior from Fayetteville, N.C., has yet to emerge this go-round as the lights-out 3-point sharpshooter many fans were hoping to see.

Maybe the clash with Gonzaga will be Baker’s 15 minutes to shine as a mid-game X-factor off the bench. Dukies have witnessed his single-game splash parties, though sparingly, in previous seasons. And now that the 21-year-old seems to own a forever home on Mike Krzyzewski’s good side, Friday night might as well be his time to enter Blue Devil lore by catching fire.

Grade: 81 (B-)