A new Baron?

by saintdee on Jan 2, 2008 10:54 PM PST

I am watching him play and I noticed he no longer dunks the ball except that one game against Dallas this season. Maybe I missed a few others but really I think Baron just goes for layups or jumpers nowadays. He doesn't go for the spectacular dunks anymore. Even when he is on a breakaway he will pass the ball to someone besides him. Take for example at the end of the game against the lakers. Baron passes the ball back to Ellis at the end of the game instead of finishing with a great dunk in the final seconds. Is this a sign of Baron becoming more aware of his body? Personally I think its cause Baron knows he will probably be forced to play the majority of the game so he conserves his energy by not attempting any dunks that could tire him or possibly injure his knees more.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!

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Comments

ya you're right

it's all about conserving energy. Iverson can dunk too but he stopped dunking regularly a long, long time ago. I doubt Baron's thinking about avoiding injury, though. Can't play tentatively.

It's almost like the Warriors have 6 guys out there... they always have a guy open! - Jon Barry commentating game 3 last year

by gsw4life on Jan 1, 2008 2:36 PM PST reply actions

he still dunks here and there

and "I am watching him play and I noticed he no longer dunks the ball except that one game against Dallas this season."

remember ak47?

by Thoang77 on Jan 1, 2008 4:16 PM PST reply actions

oops

i thought you said dallas last season

by Thoang77 on Jan 1, 2008 4:16 PM PST up reply actions

he doesnt dunk a lot

anymore because he doesn't need to. he does fine when he crosses ppl over and makes a driving layup. A dunk is worth the same as a layup, duh, so Baron plays it safe.

by duggie25 on Jan 1, 2008 5:12 PM PST reply actions

We need Baron all season.

Baron has found his niche. He doesn't have to go all out anymore because we have the role players around him. He used to get hurt because he had to do almost everything. This Houston game was a statement game and look for a run here to separate from all the 18-12 teams out there in the Western conference at the moment. Need a better seed than 8. With the Trailblazer run happening now we have teams like Portland, Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans. These teams are taking up all the spots. We need to break off from them. We're starting to play like the Warriors from last post season. Road Wins? 11-7 and Home games 8-6. Looks good.

by BDALLSTAR2K8 on Jan 1, 2008 5:20 PM PST reply actions

good observation!

in the case of last night, giving it for monta for the easy dunk, i think baron is racking up them assists!

by Baron the Messiah on Jan 1, 2008 5:31 PM PST reply actions

Yup, unselfish play.

Is what Baron is all about. He is a top point guard in this league. The chemistry this team has is palpable. Did you see the bench last night? All standing and smiling together. Most teams don't have that kind of chemistry and is pushing this team to greatness.

by BDALLSTAR2K8 on Jan 1, 2008 5:40 PM PST reply actions

All About Assists

I have heard comments and interviews with Baron after big games where he has had some a high scoring game and after the game the only thing he cares about is his assists. He likes to create a well balanced stat at the end of the game and go for the assist rather than the points. He understands the game from many perspectives and at the end of the day he'd rather have another assist than 2 more points because that is what he is, a point guard.

by cahant on Jan 1, 2008 5:50 PM PST reply actions

not sure how much you've been watching

while he doesn't dunk as much as he used to, he certainly has dunked many more times than once. He's getting older, he plays a lot of minutes, and his injuries over the years have caused him to take it easy in that regard. When he was montas age, he could fly and liked to dunk everything, its really just he has older more banged up legs. As far as passing it up for monta to dunk, one that is just unselfish, and two, like i said monta has young legs and can still fly like nothing. it takes more out of baron to dunk it now as opposed to when he was younger, dropping it off to a team mate to get a dunk is common and a nice play.

by Proof on Jan 2, 2008 1:24 AM PST reply actions

I agree

Baron is taking it as easy as he can considering how beat up he is. If the Dubs are going to go to the Playoffs and go deep, Baron needs to chill on the dunks and super hard drives to the rack. Remember in '97 when he went up for a solo breakaway dunk in the NCAA Final 4 and blew out his ACL when landing? I'm sure he doesn't want that to happen again!

by gabezgsw on Jan 2, 2008 1:04 PM PST reply actions