Regional Sports

Baker validates Pikiell’s faith in him

Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports

It would have been tempting for Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell to bench Geo Baker after an awful first half on Friday night. The Rutgers senior guard struggled to make shots in that half. His struggles played a role in Clemson outplaying Rutgers in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Rutgers fans on social media lost faith in Baker. With no room for error, Pikiell could have found better combinations to get points out of desperation. He instead showed faith towards his senior guard. He trusted him to find a way. Plus, there was no way he would have benched his guy who meant so much to a program that finally found its way after three decades of no NCAA Tournament. He would sink or swim with his once-prized recruit.

Baker validated Pikiell’s faith in him when he shot a 3-pointer with 3:48 to go, breaking a 55-55 tie. He also hit a layup to help seal Rutgers’ 60-56 grind-it-out victory over Clemson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

It was only fitting a member of Pikiell’s first recruiting class would score Rutgers’ first three points of the game and scored the final five points of the game.

Let this be a lesson for armchair quarterbacks. Never ever doubt Pikiell’s thought process. He knows his players well enough to know when to trust them and what makes them tick. There’s a reason he is good at what he does. There’s a reason his players play for him.

If Pikiell actually benched Baker, it would mean he panicked. In a big moment like Friday night, he couldn’t be in a position to do so. Sitting Baker would send a wrong message to the rest of his players by sending a message he doesn’t trust them by making a change on a whim, let alone the senior shooting guard.

Look, Baker may not be Syracuse sharpshooter Buddy Boeheim. He doesn’t have to be. In a big spot, he is capable of making shots as he did in the final few minutes of this game. It’s all Pikiell asks out of him. In a win or go home game, it worked.

Baker brings intangibles that Pikiell likes. He competes. He is fearless, which he will keep shooting even if it doesn’t go in. He knows how to read plays and know how to get the ball as evident when Ron Harper Jr. forced Aamir Simms to turn the ball over that had Baker get the ball and score the layup.

Rutgers basketball head coach knows what he is getting out of his shooting guard. He can live with the missed shots knowing that he will make his fair share of shots eventually. It’s what we call faith.

Baker is not afraid to fail. That attribute served him well when down the stretch. He knew he was made for a moment like the final few minutes of the game. He lives to have moments like this. He always had this belief he could be part of Pikiell’s recruiting class that can make the program what it is today.

The senior guard deserved a moment like Friday night. He put in his heart and soul to this Rutgers program since the day he was recruited. He made it a mission to turn the once-downtrodden Rutgers program around. He took the challenge of being part of the task the way Pikiell once did when he was Jim Calhoun’s very first recruits to turn Connecticut around.

In so many ways, Baker is so much like Pikiell. All-max out effort all the time. A player who won’t be afraid to get physical in getting loose balls. A player that will do anything to win a game.

It’s a credit to Pikiell for identifying players like Baker that would fit his image and the Big Ten image.

Pikiell and Baker will always intertwine together for what they meant to this Rutgers program. They built the foundation to what it is today, and they made a better tomorrow for a basketball program that once lost its way and never figured it out.

Baker made an impression for Pikiell since the day he signed with Rutgers. It’s why the head coach kept his faith in his player during plenty of lows.

A moment like Friday night bonds those two together for life more than ever. This one shining moment will always evoke memories when there is a reunion with this basketball team down the road.

One can see Pikiell wanted this moment for Baker based on him running plays for him in the nick of time. He knew he could count on him, and the guard delivered.

And that’s why Rutgers will be playing Houston in the Round of 32 Sunday evening.

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