He’s still only 21 and worth developing. And he’s cheap. Not saying renounce Napier, shit I might even match an offer sheet no matter what and then trade him later, but I feel comfortable with Baldwin’s potential as a replacement. People can have reservations, and maybe it’s even fair since it’s only one game, but this is the Baldwin I saw in the d league. The only fluke might’ve been the 3 he hit lol. But the athleticism is real. Ability to get to the line is real. The swagger is real. I hope he eventually gets a chance to run some pick and rolls. He’s a playmaker. He also has a pull up mid range game (think Westbrook, somewhat inconsistent but a clean look every time because of an ability to stop on a dime)
Vanterpool about to pad his resume further when it comes to developing guards. And imagine going up against Dame and CJ in practice every day. Can’t help but get better. And you know Dame has taken Baldwin under his wing. This is like an extra draft pick. Thanks Memphis!
Dame mentioned early in the season that Bazz was testing him and CJ on defense...Bazz leads the team in steals...since he's been here our guard defense has improved as well...Vanterpool deserves the shoutout as well.
He was up against a second unit of a bad team for most of the time but the athleticism and ability to get to the rim that he showed last night are definitely a very promising sign for the future. He is going to be yet another gem we have picked up for nothing and I think Papagiannis will follow the trend next season.
Dude has springs for legs and good ability to finish at the basket. If he further develops his jump shot. watch out!
The good news: 1) Really enjoyed WB's skill set and aggressiveness. 2) I don't buy the "he did it against D League level players". Four other Blazers-rotation players played poorly against the same players. The bad news: IT LOOKS LIKE 1) He's just trying to make up for lost time (which is temporary) 2) He doesn't always know what to do, so he just went at the defender (he might become more tentative when he knows what he's supposed to do)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
