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4/20/2021 10:01 pm  #1


Chad Baker leaving...

Wow... did not expect this. And can someone with more than 10 posts put the PGH Sports Now link in the thread. That was my original intent but I can't.

 

4/20/2021 10:13 pm  #2


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Also wanted to pull this paragraph out of the article: "A source tells Pittsburgh Sports Now that despite his talent, Baker and the Duquesne staff had philosophical issues that made it necessary for him to leave the program."

Now did I love that he was getting T'd up more than Bobby Knight, of course not... but this was one of the few guys coming back that has the ability to create offense in multiple ways. I mean we have a revolving door of new kids coming in, so I'm hoping his offense can be replaced... but this has to sting a bit right?

And if this was a locker room / player to coach issue I get that... but from Keith's post game interviews I didn't get that vibe... other than he was a bit too firey at times. Or is this blanketing the fact he just wants to find greener pastures, but posing it like he's a cancer... idk.

     Thread Starter
 

4/20/2021 10:25 pm  #3


 

4/20/2021 11:30 pm  #4


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Believe this points up the fact that KD will not put up with some stuff that happened last year with this team. Recall when KD said "It won't happen again." None of us really knew just what he was referring to. Well, I believe this is a direct result of that statement. We may never know what the whole story is here but I've no doubt that KD wants him gone. That's good enough for me. Yes, disappointing but is this totally unexpected. Not too sure about that. KD is all about team discipline. I believe that this is a step to restore that discipline. Things are continuing to shake out. GO DUKES!

 

4/20/2021 11:51 pm  #5


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

I don't much like this but,  I also don't find it even mildly surprising.

KD made it clear in public statements that he won't go through another season with players working against the system & constantly breaking discipline. Nothing Chad did on the court indicated that he would snap into compliance. Chad seems to think quite highly of himself & must know he will have many suitors. Couple that with the 3-4 very promising newcomers that have crossover skillsets plus Okani and maybe Acuff from last year's bunch & Chad seemed to be a strong bet to enter the dreaded transfer portal.

Chad could have been a star in the A-10 for a couple of years. You have to give the coaching staff credit for realizing what this player had to offer & bringing him on board. The only differences between Chad Baker & a 4-star recruit headed to a bottom-tier Big 10 school with the same skillset, athleticism, & length are his advanced age for a freshman, maturity challenges, & 15-pounds of muscle. With any luck, KD & his staff are only a year or 2 away from having to take so many chances each recruiting cycle on diamonds in the rough, obviously flawed talents, & the possibly overlooked.

THIS is a fine example of what is to be expected from college basketball for the foreseeable future.

Good luck Chad! Take heed of the example Mike Hughes set & realize that failing to gain better control of your emotions on the court will most likely limit the value basketball people will place on your services.

Hopefully, Chad's departure helps make room for a strong center with 2 or 3 years of eligibility.

 

4/21/2021 12:03 am  #6


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

El Presidente wrote:

Believe this points up the fact that KD will not put up with some stuff that happened last year with this team. Recall when KD said "It won't happen again." None of us really knew just what he was referring to. Well, I believe this is a direct result of that statement. We may never know what the whole story is here but I've no doubt that KD wants him gone. That's good enough for me. Yes, disappointing but is this totally unexpected. Not too sure about that. KD is all about team discipline. I believe that this is a step to restore that discipline. Things are continuing to shake out. GO DUKES!

My post below above should confirm that I too believe Chad's departure has at least something to do with KD's, "it won't happen again" mantra. If that's the case, I am thrilled. Implemented with good sense & diplomacy, consistent steps in that direction coupled with better recruits will pay large dividends in the long term.

I, however, will reserve judgment about whether or not KD & staff actually have the stuff to pull this off with modern players until 12-18 months of results are recorded. This coaching staff has accomplished a great many things with this once-moribund program but, putting a disciplined, basketball-smart, mature team on the floor is definitely not one of them. I am rooting hard for this facet of the program to evolve in a positive way.

 

4/21/2021 12:18 am  #7


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Agree with this, Phil95. Time will tell if this will play out  successfully. Do like the step in the right direction though. Think this had to happen. Much credit to the coaching staff here in an attempt to "fix things."

 

4/21/2021 6:25 am  #8


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

El Presidente wrote:

Agree with this, Phil95. Time will tell if this will play out  successfully. Do like the step in the right direction though. Think this had to happen. Much credit to the coaching staff here in an attempt to "fix things."

Terrific ball player but totally undisciplined

 

4/21/2021 7:22 am  #9


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

In Keith Dambrot I trust. I loved the hell out of Chad Baker and Sincere Carry and I wish them wonderful careers in college and beyond, and thank them for their contributions here. But it's all about putting a team on the floor that's capable of getting to The Dance, and if that means different players for us then we'll be fine. 

 

4/21/2021 7:25 am  #10


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

1111 Vickroy wrote:

El Presidente wrote:

Agree with this, Phil95. Time will tell if this will play out  successfully. Do like the step in the right direction though. Think this had to happen. Much credit to the coaching staff here in an attempt to "fix things."

Terrific ball player but totally undisciplined

An example of addition by subtraction! Wish Chad well. He will be in for a tough time wherever he lands if he doesn't gain some maturity and self discipline.

 

4/21/2021 7:59 am  #11


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

El Presidente wrote:

Agree with this, Phil95. Time will tell if this will play out  successfully. Do like the step in the right direction though. Think this had to happen. Much credit to the coaching staff here in an attempt to "fix things."

It's a shame they could not "fix things" by helping Chad see the light and be a more mature, disciplined ballplayer.  Helping mold men is certainly a task in their charge.  KD is starting to show a poor track record with working with really talented ballplayers (Eric Williams, Sincere Carry, Chad Baker.)  I am still a KD guy but this one hurts.  Baker had the goods and now he is gone.  We'll never know how toxic his presence was in the locker room so we'll never know if there was anything KD and the staff could have done or not but I'd like to see KD mesh well with at least uber-talented baller at Duquesne and get him to stick around.  That's how we move from the middle of the pack to top tier in the A-10.  Lebron James was a long time ago

 

4/21/2021 7:59 am  #12


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Saw this around 7:30am, finally done cleaning up the glass I broke smashing it in anger.   Very very bad news.   

 

4/21/2021 8:02 am  #13


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

The NCAA created this mess. and Duquesne is adjusting the best they can.Dukes are basically going to
recruit a new team each year.As for Chad Baker ,he was good at the A10 level but move into the ACC  or
Big Ten and that skinny body takes a beating and that attitude gets you sitting on the bench.Not a big
deal.

 

4/21/2021 8:09 am  #14


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

There will be more transfers to come and we will see promising players come and go.The constant
transferring hurts college basketball but thats life in the whole world of sports.I have no interest in
baseball because free agency has destroyed the Pirates. Its all about money.

 

4/21/2021 8:09 am  #15


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

I did not see this one coming.  From the article it sounds to me more like KD pulled his scholarship than Baker deciding to leave. 

 

4/21/2021 8:14 am  #16


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Again, Baker is certainly talented but he was out of control at times. I don't thinks it's that big of a surprise.

 

4/21/2021 8:16 am  #17


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

I'm kind of torn on how to take this news until we find out more... but I'm definitely disappointed. Yes I trust KD as well, but punting on a kid after 1 year... I mean at least let him show you he can mature. Which leads me to believe this is more so Chad betting in himself and leaving, than a purely attitude issue. Maybe it's a mix of both... idk, but when KD talked about Chad post game he noted that he was a positive influence on the rest of the team, high energy, positive attitude, the only draw back was the in game shenanigans (in which KD made light of a couple times). Now if there is something that happened with the coaching staff as far as respect, talking back, etc. then yes that is not acceptable. Unfortunately I think we'll never know, because KD is classy, and wouldn't put Chad on blast to the point that it hinders his future. As far as next year... I was tagging him for double digit points every game, we have a while, but hopefully someone else can step up. Doesn't make me feel too optimistic about next year though, I think we're back in the "in two years we'll be good" talk. Hopefully I'm wrong.

     Thread Starter
 

4/21/2021 8:21 am  #18


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Last year must have been even more difficult for KD than I could ever have imagined. With Covid shutdowns, two starting guards leaving, Maceo's problems, and having to deal with Michael Hughes' issues (loved him anyway) and Baker's total meltdowns. I don't blame KD for wanting to do some house cleaning of sorts. Think he knows what kind of team he wants here and he really didn't have that last year. Looking forward to seeing a more focused and cohesive basketball team next season.

 

4/21/2021 8:26 am  #19


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

As CLK has said the portal changes everything. Yes Coach Dambrot may have told him to go but this new world of college basketball gives the players the opportunity to transfer without penalty. Unfortunately, college basketball rosters will turnover on a 2 year rather then 4 year basis. As far has the HS players they have been dealt a bad card hand. I don’t blame any of the coaches to build their teams for the moment by going portal.

 

4/21/2021 8:57 am  #20


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Instead of responding to coaching players can easily opt out. They would benefit from accepting discipline in the long run. As my mom used to say " You can't put an old head on young shoulders." 

 

4/21/2021 9:01 am  #21


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

That transfer rule is going to kill mid-major programs. You sign a player that "flew under the radar" and one good year, goodbye. Sure we wish the departing players well but..... Heck, I'm still pi###ed that McConnell left. And he DID have to sit out a year. 


WE ARE CREEPING UP TO THE SECOND FLOOR....
 

4/21/2021 9:14 am  #22


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

I can certainly see the upside in cleaning house and getting rid of those who bring a negative energy and/or are cancers in the locker room. It wouldn't be hard to speculate that Chad was one of those guys based on his on-court melt downs. And because of that maybe this shouldn't be that surprising, but I was still taken by surprise. 

My concern is purely from a talent standpoint. We seem to bemoan our lack of talent to hang with the top of the league, but then say we are better off when our most talented players leave. It's not a stretch to say that EW and Sin were two of the most talented players KD had. Chad was looking like he may get there as well. Looking around the league most of the top programs have true impact players fairly regularly, either from recruiting or molding them through the years. 

I do hope this is addition by subtraction and I'm still optimistic for next year. But I am starting to worry that we are on a 'only 1-2 years away' treadmill. That being said there has been tangible improvement in KD's first 4 years and maybe I should just be more patient and trust the process. 

 

4/21/2021 9:22 am  #23


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

pressurecooker wrote:

Instead of responding to coaching players can easily opt out. They would benefit from accepting discipline in the long run. As my mom used to say " You can't put an old head on young shoulders." 

Not so young, Chad Baker is already 21 years old (birth date is 01-27-2000).

 

4/21/2021 9:40 am  #24


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

Here's another consideration, as I look at the makeup of the 21-22 roster, what player(s) are the team leaders?  This team is losing a lot of leadership with the departures of Mike Hughes and Marcus Weathers. I know that on at least a couple of occasions, Hughes got involved with Chad after a couple of incidents and prevented at least one other.  TDM will provide some leadership, but to me, this fragile roster needs to organically develop this without someone marching to their own beat.

 

4/21/2021 10:44 am  #25


Re: Chad Baker leaving...

I am not buying what most of you guys are selling on this thread. First,  players transfer for numerous reasons but the four most which includes 95% of the reasons a player transfers are 1. A coaching change.( no fault of the new coach)  2. A player was under recruited and has displayed he can play at a higher level and wants to play at that higher level to showcase his skills.  ( shows the coach can find players) 3. A player was over recruited and in order to play in college he must transfer to a lower program or division. ( illustrates that the coach has trouble identifying what kind of talent it takes to compete at this level)  4 player and coach just don’t see eye to eye or the player is homesick.( this kind of falls on the coach for not really knowing the personality of the player)

In scenario 1. The first year or two Dambrot lost a few of Ferry’s recruits which is understandable. Scenario 2 I think the only player that falls into this category is Eric Williams. But at the tail end of Williams tenure here, he and the coach didn’t not see eye to eye. Scenario 3, Dambrot has brought in more than 20 players that are not A10 quality players and they left the program for lesser schools. The final scenario it seems to me that only four players have fallen into this category. Mike Lewis, Eric Williams, Sin Carey and now Chad Baker. What is very strange to me about these players is that they all got considerable playing time and started most of the time. What happened is anyone’s guess. But regardless, why play these players so much if they were giving bad attitudes or causing problems. It’s the coaches job, first to know the talent, then to know the recruit will fit into your beliefs and then to build a strong relationship with that player. I feel Dambrot has failed miserably at knowing what talent it takes to win at the A10 level. I feel he only had a good relationship with three players to date. Mike Hughes, Weathers and Dunn. Under all the scenarios that I listed, most of the problems with our revolving door of players falls on the coaching staff.

 

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