After the training on Monday, little Baldwin sat down slowly in the Warrior interview room, talking about the time when he almost never spoke not long ago.
“You should have seen me in Japan, man, I didn’t say a word to anyone.” Baldwin said when talking about the Warriors preseason my trip to Japan.
For the 19-year-old rookie at that time, this was completely understandable. Because of his ankle injury, he hardly played ball in college, and it is not expected to get too much playing time with the core of the team and the veterans. Baldwin was the 28th in 2022. before he came, the warrior chose three Lotto shows two years ago-Wiseman, cuminga and Moody’s.
Baldwin was silent and obeyed the teachings of Cole, Curry, dream chasing and clay. Seeing that they went to fight for defending, sat on the bench to study, and also went to the development alliance to exercise for several times. If they were recalled, there would be no complaints. When there is a chance to play, hit the shot as much as possible instead of complaining.
The veterans of warriors have noticed all these things that Baldwin has done in the past few months. When even Clay finds out that you don’t talk much but are learning everything, it is obvious that your carefulness has been noticed by everyone in the dressing room.
“In different occasions, I can be very straightforward. But when I listen to people I respect very much, I tend to be quiet, and our team definitely has some smart brains.” Baldwin said.
The regular season has passed 61 games. What about now?
“I have opened my heart more. You can hear my voice. It must be about the right thing. I am progressing smoothly in this respect, and so is the basketball court.” Baldwin said.
For Baldwin, this is a moment of relatively high light. Not only because he can feel more comfortable in NBA and Warriors, but through a series of development, at least in the key stage of the regular season, let Cole put him into normal rotation. Warriors are competing for places in the Western playoffs, but many of them are injured and need more people in the team to stand up. Warriors have given more opportunities to Baldwin, hoping that he can share some time and provide external fire output.
Of course, the biggest factor causing this situation is Curry’s absence due to injury, while Wikins’s absence due to personal family problems is indefinite. Of course, even if Baldwin did not show promotion or passed the test of the team, it was not a big deal. However, he is passing the test all the way and constantly winning the playing time. In the three games after the All-Star, riwikins was absent, and Green was not in the last two games. He played a substitute for at least 10 minutes and scored 7 out of 13 three-point shots, contributing 25 points.
During this period of time, Clay has been leading the team. Divencenzo and Luni are also very stable. Warriors need Baldwin’s stable playing time and can not hold the team back. After defeating the Blazers on Tuesday, the Warriors have ranked fifth in the West, winning a wave of three consecutive victories, only one victory behind the fourth sun.
“This summer, when I was doing shooting training with Baldwin, I told him, ‘If we can solve all the problems in your shooting, you have a chance to be a 45 percent three-point shooter. ‘Do I believe what I said? Yes, otherwise I wouldn’t tell him that. His shooting Foundation is very good. He knows the importance of work, which is very important for his own growth and his team’s training. I think he has a lot of room for improvement, and I can see that he will become an important member of the alliance in the future.” Ron Adams, the warrior assistant, said.
Baldwin seems to be especially suitable for the current Warriors, because they always want a big man who can open the space to appear together with dream chasing or Luoni. Baldwin is also suitable for the future of warriors, because his skill package is that he can hit three points, and he will pass and cut empty when he does not shoot.
Cole doesn’t often expect young players. He has ranked two-way player Lamb in front of Baldwin and Moody’s all season, including the first three games. But if Cole wants to find some time in the position of center, power forward or small forward, Baldwin can still play.
Baldwin may have been better than Moody’s, who still worked hard to complete the process. Wiseman had been traded before, and cuminga had already taken a place this season, but his unstable attack choice, rough ball control and easy foul tendency led to his rotation time being unstable.
In the limited playing time, Baldwin hit 46.8 percent in the three points this season. (Curry’s best score in his career was 45.5 percent, in the 2011-12 season, but Curry had much more playing time.) Baldwin’s hit rate may soon decrease, and the opponent will realize that he cannot be given such a large space, but as long as Baldwin is not always named on the defensive end, his 6-foot-9-inch height has such shooting skills, which will definitely buy him some playing time.
“We want him to shoot. When he is on the court, we will not hesitate to design some tactics for him. He trains every day to enter the shooting position. He is an excellent shooter and can make correct decisions when holding the ball. When he is on the court, he can move to the right position at the right time. He is just a rookie. He still has a lot of work to do in the future, but we like his current performance and his confidence on the court.” Cole said.
Cole made Baldwin’s influence on the game PROTONIC smaller than that of nuggets. Even a tall forward like KD can use silky and fast jump shots to defend, but these shots cannot be defended. This does not mean that Cole will always use Baldwin, but it means that Cole, who thinks Baldwin is a future rotating player, does not ignore what he sees now.
“When you have a talented coach like Cole, he is really encouraging you. ‘Next goal will be shot, next chance will be shot. ‘And dream chasing, ‘just shoot. Another elder brother told you, ‘go to kill Fang Fang! ‘Being able to get such trust can be successful for anyone in the alliance.” Baldwin said.
Ron Adams rarely throws out compliments, but when he does, it is wise to pay attention. The Warriors renewed their appointment with Adams a few weeks before they got Wikins. Just a few weeks after Baldwin joined the Warriors, Adams watched his in-team training match, after his ankle injury and long-term cultivation, he liked what he saw very much.
“First of all, he is a very hard-working guy and his attitude towards the game is very good. He is teachable and his father is a coach. I think part of the reason is this. I think his basketball foundation is very good, not only physically but also psychologically. I was surprised by his excellent performance in the first training match after recovering for so long. These are what I like. He just has a good feeling about the game.” Adams said.
Baldwin did not say exactly that he had recovered 100% from ankle injury in senior high school, which also severely limited the only year Milwaukee University worked for his father, but he felt very good recently. One problem related to ankle injury and its subsequent effects is that his poor lateral movement may be the main problem in defending NBA top scorers. Baldwin said he was proud of his defense and mentioned KD’s role as a player integrating attack and defense.
“I don’t think my body will pose a problem to defense. I need to speak out and gain the trust of the veterans who fought with me. As long as they hear me and do the right thing on the defensive side, I think they will trust me, and they will finally put me on the road to success.” Baldwin said.
“The first thing I have to say to him every day is what development league coach Cooper did-he needs to understand the aggressiveness of NBA level. He needs to continue to adapt, and I must emphasize that I have seen his changes in the past six weeks.” Adams said.
With Wiseman’s departure, Baldwin became the highest player in the Warriors lineup. Last season, the Warriors had two big men who could shoot, Bort and berlitsa. They signed jiemai Kerr green this season and wanted to take on similar roles, but his shooting had never been accurate. Baldwin shot 17.1 times every 36 minutes. Although he could not reach the level of the Splash Brothers, he was not far away. Baldwin may not be very good at words, but he is not shy.
“I think it’s mainly confidence, but sometimes it’s just arrogance, because I know I have 6’11”, and I know that in most cases, I can deal with anyone in the league. I know my physical talent and skill combination. I feel very comfortable when throwing these balls, and my hit rate is not bad, so I often think about making the next one.” Baldwin said.
In this regard, Cole mentioned the only three-pointer shot Baldwin made against the Timberwolves. This goal happened at the beginning of the fourth quarter. He had already lost a three points and a medium distance before. The Warriors grabbed the rebound in the front court and threw the ball to Baldwin on the left. The latter did not hesitate and hit the shot. Cole recognized it very much.
“This is the right shot. I just want to throw the ball into it. I didn’t score the previous two goals. This goal should be scored.” Baldwin said.
I asked Adams, what does Baldwin need to adjust when shooting?
“When he first came, his shooting was a little unstable. I trust him very much because he is very focused on shooting training. Recently, his condition is really good. But he has a good rhythm now, and his basic shooting skills can be converted into weapons. He can rely on shooting to eat, and assistant coach Chris Weems also helps him a lot. I think he had a lot of bad shooting problems before, and I think it was the direct influence of ankle injury before.” Adams said.
Baldwin said he didn’t make much adjustment in shooting, he just got rusty after an ankle injury.
“I think this is mainly because I haven’t really played games in the past two years. Before I was injured, my field goal percentage had been very high. I recovered from the injury and struggled with the inconsistent shooting action. Most of them are the reasons for my feet. I just need to find my feeling again.”
“In warriors, I trained a lot of shots and discussed with Ron Adams and the coaching staff how to shoot faster and how to prepare for shooting if facing the defense. What I want to say is, in the case of Splash Brothers, which team can have a better experience of watching shooting than Warriors?”
In the third year of Baldwin’s senior year, he was one of the best players in the United States, ranking as well as Holmgren and bankelo. Then he was injured, did not perform well in the game of Milwaukee University, and the draft market also plummeted. Warriors have always taken a fancy to the gifted players, and this draft strategy has also been criticized a lot, but they still chose the talented Baldwin in the 28th order.
“PBJ’s shooting action is very beautiful. He is 6 feet 11 inches tall. How big is it? 20 years old? His three-point shooting rate can be 45%, which is a draft robbery. He is full of potential, perfect hand shape and beautiful shooting. At this height, he can definitely become the main force. He has the potential of a star. I like his modesty and his professional ethics, which is breathtaking moment.” Clay said in an interview earlier.
Since December 1, Baldwin has hit 50 percent (27 out of 54 shots) shooting from long range in 15 games. The more games played he has, the better he will behave.
“I don’t think my attack is a series of goals. I feel that as long as I make a shot, I feel that I can make it. I think this hit rate can be maintained. We will see how the opponent’s player report will be written in the future.” Baldwin said.
In fact, his name has already appeared in the opponent’s player report, but there is also a simple solution.
“Virtual shaking, fengshui ball step to the basket or virtual shaking, fengshui ball and then pass the ball. I think this source of my favorite Kobe quote, ‘The best way to make opponents unable to predict is to let themselves be predicted. ‘If the opponent knows that I can shoot, that is the biggest chip I can use.” Baldwin said.
With the return of dreams and the return of Wikins in the future, Baldwin may fall out of rotation. But for now, his shooting and performance on the court prove that he belongs to this league, and for the Warriors who just abandoned Wiseman, Baldwin is really suitable for them. If you have seen his pure jump shot, you will know that he was born for Warriors.
Author: TA reporter Tim kawagawa
Compilation: Fontaine