Analysis: Josh Baker brings fearsome jumper to UNLV

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Thursday, July 1, 2021 | 2 a.m.

UNLV coach Kevin Kruger has focused much of his offseason on rebuilding UNLV’s backcourt, adding scoring threats like Mike Nuga, Justin Webster and Josh Baker to bolster the team’s offense.

While Nuga and Webster are transfers from the Mid-American and Big West Conferences, respectively, and come with Division-I track records, Baker is a bit more unknown due to playing the last two years at the junior college level.

Baker was one of the most coveted players on the juco circuit last year; what kind of impact can he make for UNLV?

Baker is an offensive-minded player. He was Hutchinson CC’s second-leading scorer at 16.6 points per game, and all of his percentages are impressive; he made 44.3% from the field, 41.8% from 3-point range and 84.9% from the free-throw line, so we know he can shoot.

In terms of offensive skill, Baker is still a bit of a mystery. It was difficult to find footage of Hutchinson from the 2020-21 season, with only one full game freely available online, so it’s tough to draw too many conclusions from that.

What does stand out in the footage is Baker’s shooting stroke and the respect he commanded because of it.

Baker was the only Hutchinson player who made more than one 3-pointer per game, and he connected on a very healthy 41.8% of them. That led opponents to devise entire game plans around defending Baker behind the arc.

In the game I watched, Hutchinson’s opponent played a box-and-1 defense whenever Baker was on the floor (that means four defenders stayed in a tight zone around the paint, while one defender played tight man-to-man coverage on Baker). Because of that, it was difficult to gauge Baker’s true impact.

He was only able to shake free for two 3-point attempts. One was a shot he created off the dribble in the open floor, which he swished, and the other was a catch-and-shoot opportunity in the corner, which he airballed. He did manage a third attempt but was fouled on the shot.

Baker’s 3-point attempts:

On the rest of Hutchinson’s offensive possessions, Baker had to work very hard to create limited scoring chances.

There were long stretches where the box-and-1 smothered Baker and kept him from participating in the offense, and there were a couple plays where Baker got creative and managed to score into the teeth of the defense (once by driving past the man defender and slicing through the zone for a contested layup, and once by going down to the low block and using a nifty post move). And more than once, Baker got visibly frustrated by the scheme and committed unnecessary fouls.

Overall, the results were mixed, but you can see Baker has a knack for scoring the ball:

The fact that the defense was hyper-focused on Baker is probably a good thing. It speaks to the respect and fear that opponents showed for Baker’s outside shot — they were determined not to let him beat them with 3’s. And as Division I teams rarely resort to junk defenses, it’s unlikely Baker will have to deal with that kind of thing at UNLV, so he’ll get more chances to show off his shooting stroke.

Most of Baker’s time was spent playing off the ball, and at 6-foot-4 he has the size to slot in as a natural shooting guard. But Hutchinson tasked him with some point guard duties as well, and he handled them adequately.

He brought the ball upcourt against moderate pressure a couple times and had no problem doing so. And on the two occasions he got the ball in the open court, he made good decisions both times: first by drawing in the defense and kicking out to a teammate for an open three, and then by throwing it ahead for a hockey assist:

I’d expect Baker to play mostly off the ball at UNLV, but like the other guards Kruger has assembled, he can put the ball on the floor and run a little offense, too.

On the other end, there weren’t a lot of instances where Baker was put in a position of having to play 1-on-1 defense or defend the point of attack, but one trait that stood out was his hands. He is an aggressive defender, and when he sees an opportunity to go after the ball, he takes it. Swiping at dribbles, doubling the post and digging down, trying to swat shots, he goes for the big play:

Again, it wouldn’t be wise to draw many conclusions from this footage, considering it’s just a handful of plays in one game. We’ll have to wait until the 2021-22 season begins before we know what kind of defender Baker can be.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.