has not been himself in the last two games. He has had some questionable passes that have turned into TO's and his shooting has been way off. Is the sixth-man thing putting some pressure on him?
Anyone else notice that Baer
- Thread starter Hawk68
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Yep he hasn't looked his normal self whatsoever the last 2 games. Fran has noticed too and his pt has dropped off. Don't know what's going on with him.
To me he looks super... uncomfortable? on the floor. He doesn't seem to have his normal grit and is really tentative when he goes to take his shots which usually leave his hands looking ugly. And now it seems like he's in his own head
I kept thinking vs IN and SD he looked slow with little energy, like maybe he's been sick. Hope that changes Sunday afternoon.
Or he's just in a slump. Everyone goes through them. Just seems to never happen to him.
Might be sick, but we have no idea what is going on in these kid's personal lives. Hope he bounces back. We'll need a good Baer performance to help beat the Horned Frogs. Moss did that too (disappeared) for a while; now he is playing great.
Both games he was saddled with 2 early fouls. He probably only played a total of 7 or 8 Minutes combined in the first half of the last two games. He never really got on track in either game as the refs seemed to be calling a real tight game, at least for him. Don't recall all the fouls, but one was a block that was very questionable.
If you assume Baer can be counted on to provide offense, then yes.
Baer is not a good offensive player. He forces/rushes it way, way too often. Iowa was fortunate during the 4 game stretch where he made mostly good decisions and was under control. The last couple games, not so much.
He almost never has his feet under him with his jump shots (reminds me of a young Aaron White that way), when he drives he doesn't know how to put softer touch on the shot, and he doesn't know how to drive and pull up for the wide open shot, often taking the ball to a place where he no longer has a good chance for a make.
If he cleans these up he could become a reliable offensive player...but now just isn't polished enough to be consistent.
Baer is not a good offensive player. He forces/rushes it way, way too often. Iowa was fortunate during the 4 game stretch where he made mostly good decisions and was under control. The last couple games, not so much.
He almost never has his feet under him with his jump shots (reminds me of a young Aaron White that way), when he drives he doesn't know how to put softer touch on the shot, and he doesn't know how to drive and pull up for the wide open shot, often taking the ball to a place where he no longer has a good chance for a make.
If he cleans these up he could become a reliable offensive player...but now just isn't polished enough to be consistent.
Seems to me he was was on a torrid three pointing spree up until the last couple of games.
The high energy being in the right place all the time hasn't been there. When it is he jumps off the screen like he did against PSU. I think he hasn't been healthy since then, this seems to me the only plausible explanation. I rarely have seen him outworked by anyone until these last 2 games.
Who asked you for this analysis of his offense? The question was what's wrong with Baer that he isn't his usual self which includes steals, rebounds, etc.
By what metric are you deciding Baer is not a good offensive player? For the year, he is 38% from 3-point land, 52% on his 2's. Free throw shooting is sub-par at 62%, but he doesn't turn the ball over (less than 1 per game) and gets nearly 10% of Iowa's misses when he's on the floor. According to the advanced metrics, he's the second most-efficient Iowa offensive player this year (behind only Ellingson). But Baer plays significantly more minutes, so overall he's been more valuable than Ellingson on offense.
He may look unorthodox, but he knows what he can and cannot do. If he keeps his 3-point percentage in the range of 38-40%, he's going to continue to be a real asset on offense. He's had 2 poor games where he's been a non-factor. Sometimes guys just have bad games. He could be hurt, or sick, we don't know. But saying he's not a good offensive player just isn't true.
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Name a player in any sport, Hall of Famers included, who don't have off games, who don't go into slumps. Exactly. There aren't any. Michael Jordan, Lebron, Curry...they've all had games where they've shot 3 for 18, fumbled rebounds, made bad passes, and generally played poorly.
Baer hasn't suddenly forgot how to play. The sixth man thing might be a factor; certainly the early fouls haven't helped, but unless there's an illness or injury we don't know about, I am confident that the old Nicholas Baer will be prominent in Sunday's dispatching of those ugly Frogs with Horns. Never give up on Baer.
Baer hasn't suddenly forgot how to play. The sixth man thing might be a factor; certainly the early fouls haven't helped, but unless there's an illness or injury we don't know about, I am confident that the old Nicholas Baer will be prominent in Sunday's dispatching of those ugly Frogs with Horns. Never give up on Baer.
The reason I posted that was, a lot of defense output has no "statistical measure". A guy can play great defense yet not get a steal or anything like that. Baer does those dirty work things that don't show in the box.
But when his offense is on, he sticks out more from a view of his overall contributions. But also, when his offense is off, then "he looks off".
I like the guy, but when his offense is not working and his decision making there is not good, it offsets the good he does on the other end. I just wish he was more in control on offense is all to where his offensive contributions can be more consistent and dare I say relied upon.
But when his offense is on, he sticks out more from a view of his overall contributions. But also, when his offense is off, then "he looks off".
I like the guy, but when his offense is not working and his decision making there is not good, it offsets the good he does on the other end. I just wish he was more in control on offense is all to where his offensive contributions can be more consistent and dare I say relied upon.
He only played 10 minutes because he got in early foul trouble. That along with Moss playing great, and Jok heating up in the second half probably had a lot to do with it. He might be a little under the weather, but I doubt that he's under any extra pressure. He's established himself on the roster, I doubt he's worried about the award.
What the hell does this even mean? Baer has had 2 bad games. Just because you think he's out of control and doesn't "look good" doesn't mean it's so. I used data to back up my argument, and your response is "he looks off."
There are actually measures for defense and offense. Defensive rebound %, block%, steal % are all there. Defensive box plus/minus is also available on College Basketball Reference. By all measures, Baer is Iowa's best defensive player by a wide margin. Here's a sampling of where he ranks on the team and league:
Block%: 1st on Iowa
Steal%: 1st on team, and 4th in the Big 10
Defensive rebounding %: Best on team
Offensive rebounding %: 2nd on team
Offensive Rating: 2nd on team (10th in the league)
Effective FG%: 3rd on team (8th in the league)
3-point %: 3rd on team, (7th in league)
That is the profile of a very, very good player. There's a reason he won 6th man of Year award for the conference.
H/T to a poster on Blackheartgoldpants
I'd make the argument he's Iowa's MVP, and it's not that close with all respect to Peter Jok. Without Baer, Iowa's already suspect defense would have been truly hideous. Once he started making 3's, he went from good to really good player.
Bagdropper made some good and legit points. He's not witch hunting.
I've been pulling hard for Baer since his first year, but some of you are getting into the proverbial butt hurt land.
I've been pulling hard for Baer since his first year, but some of you are getting into the proverbial butt hurt land.
All the analysis on this board is Free and unwanted by anybody with credibility. Understand that and you will never get too upset.
Boy, a kid has a pair of rough games and suddenly somethings really wrong.
Nicholas rushed a couple shots against Indiana and never got on track. There's a long list of Hawkeyes in that game who didn't play well. In the South Dakota game, he picked up a pair of very quick fouls in the first half and never got in the flow of the game. Really, nothing more than that.
Nicholas rushed a couple shots against Indiana and never got on track. There's a long list of Hawkeyes in that game who didn't play well. In the South Dakota game, he picked up a pair of very quick fouls in the first half and never got in the flow of the game. Really, nothing more than that.
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Sorry, I was working on the TCU stuff from a presser today. Obviously meant South Dakota. Anyway, points still stand.
Again, I do not come here to "destroy" Baer. He is an asset, a valuable asset. I love the fact he is on this team. I merely want to state that his offense needs work yet.
If one can't be objective when they look at a player, how the hell can they look objectively at anything? And if people look at my posting history, they know I'm about as happy-camper support at all times as it gets around here.
But that does not mean I'm going to brush under the rug any particular player's dust either. And there is not a single Iowa player that is perfect on this squad.
My personal opinion is that he tends to play better all around when his offense is going well. Now...given his style of play, which is full tilt 100% of the time - that works defensively most all the time - but offensively, it can and often does become an issue. He looks out of control...and if you don't see it, I don't know what you actually are watching.
And in regards to Tom's post...it is indeed funny when Baer has a couple bad games offensively, suddenly something's wrong with him when in reality - Baer is the same player he's always been. That's a give it all 100% hustle of the time absolute pest defensively...but somewhat limited offensively where he often is best when he's not out of control on offense.
That's all I'm pointing out here.
Sheesh...I'm not the guy who wants this guy or that guy to get Creaned off the squad so we can get the Magic Point Guard or any of that complete and utter horsehockey. Baer is indeed an awesome guy to have on the team...but it doesn't mean he's anything near a polished product either.
Just watch...his offense comes around, suddenly, "nothing's wrong with him" any more.
If one can't be objective when they look at a player, how the hell can they look objectively at anything? And if people look at my posting history, they know I'm about as happy-camper support at all times as it gets around here.
But that does not mean I'm going to brush under the rug any particular player's dust either. And there is not a single Iowa player that is perfect on this squad.
My personal opinion is that he tends to play better all around when his offense is going well. Now...given his style of play, which is full tilt 100% of the time - that works defensively most all the time - but offensively, it can and often does become an issue. He looks out of control...and if you don't see it, I don't know what you actually are watching.
And in regards to Tom's post...it is indeed funny when Baer has a couple bad games offensively, suddenly something's wrong with him when in reality - Baer is the same player he's always been. That's a give it all 100% hustle of the time absolute pest defensively...but somewhat limited offensively where he often is best when he's not out of control on offense.
That's all I'm pointing out here.
Sheesh...I'm not the guy who wants this guy or that guy to get Creaned off the squad so we can get the Magic Point Guard or any of that complete and utter horsehockey. Baer is indeed an awesome guy to have on the team...but it doesn't mean he's anything near a polished product either.
Just watch...his offense comes around, suddenly, "nothing's wrong with him" any more.
