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Over the past few seasons, Baston has developed into one of the most efficient post players in Europe. There is probably no other player at this position that can make use of his team's Point Guard like Baston. He is a high percentage player, who knows his role and embraces it. He dominates the post with a large amount of rebounds and dunks every single game, usually of the spectacular type. His footspeed is outstanding and its not rare at all for him to be the first player down the floor, which makes him an outstanding transition player. 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3,5 steals per game in this tournament demonstrates exactly what he meant to his team in Moscow. On the defensive end he is very aggressive, blocking shots, going after every ball and using his quickness to anticipate and come up with many steals. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he was the best post player at this Final Four, considering his impact on both ends of the floor.
Baston is a one of a kind player in Europe because of his incredible athleticism and the way he plays the game on both ends of the court. His 7 steals in 52 minutes of action here should tell you all you need to do about his quickness, anticipation skills and tenacity. 14/18 from the field should tell you more than enough about his efficiency and how good he is at the very specific role Maccabi assigns him every game. His teammates Jasikevicius and Parker know that they can just throw up a lob in the general direction of the rim and Baston will go up and get it, usually finishing strong with a thunderous alley-oop that has made him a fan favorite in Tel Aviv over the past two seasons. He had a number of these over the past weekend.
Unlike many big men in Europe, Baston does not have infinite range on his jumper or outstanding ball-handling skills. This is not something Maccabi needs him to do, though, as everyone else on their team can shoot and handle like no other. Therefore, Baston can restrict his powerful play to the post while using his tremendous foot work to post up players and finish strong, or run the floor like a deer and be the one who finishes the play in the most emphatic fashion.
In the past, Baston was the type of player whose points came strictly off offensive rebounds, alley-oops, or at most, catching the ball in the post, turning around and dunking. Surprisingly enough, though, he has begun to diversify his offense over the past two seasons with Maccabi, becoming a player that can score in other ways beyond just using his incredible athletic ability.
Besides showing nice footwork and a decent post up game, he started taking more mid-range shots this past season in Tel Aviv and he actually hits them at a decent clip. As noted, though, this is not his role for Maccabi so he does not force the issue here. But if you give him the open 14-16 footer, he will usually knock it down, which is downright incredible for those who remember the type of player he was coming out of Michigan, or even while playing for the Raptors two years ago. No one is going to confuse him with Tim Duncan in terms of his skill-level, but it’s impossible to ignore the leap in ability he has made over the past few years, showing that you CAN teach a old dog new tricks, and that upside isn’t restricted to players under the age of 25. On top of that, he is a team player who displays a wonderful attitude both on and off the court. Defensively, he does a good job blocking shots, coming up with steals and helping on rotations, but could stand to improve his man to man defense and staying out of foul trouble.
Regarding the NBA, Baston is an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with the team of his choice this upcoming summer. He has made it very clear that he enjoys playing for Maccabi, but it might be hard to turn down an attractive offer from the NBA an return to his home country. Rumor has it that there are already some offers on the table from NBA teams, and not of the summer league or non-guaranteed contract variety. With his size, athleticism, work ethic and the way he approaches the game, there is certainly a spot for him on someone’s roster as an off the bench role player who changes the game for a few minutes at a time with the energy he brings to the floor. He’ll be a fan favorite for sure.
Jonathan Givony
Over the past few seasons, Baston has developed into one of the most efficient post players in Europe. There is probably no other player at this position that can make use of his team's Point Guard like Baston. He is a high percentage player, who knows his role and embraces it. He dominates the post with a large amount of rebounds and dunks every single game, usually of the spectacular type. His footspeed is outstanding and its not rare at all for him to be the first player down the floor, which makes him an outstanding transition player. 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3,5 steals per game in this tournament demonstrates exactly what he meant to his team in Moscow. On the defensive end he is very aggressive, blocking shots, going after every ball and using his quickness to anticipate and come up with many steals. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he was the best post player at this Final Four, considering his impact on both ends of the floor.
Baston is a one of a kind player in Europe because of his incredible athleticism and the way he plays the game on both ends of the court. His 7 steals in 52 minutes of action here should tell you all you need to do about his quickness, anticipation skills and tenacity. 14/18 from the field should tell you more than enough about his efficiency and how good he is at the very specific role Maccabi assigns him every game. His teammates Jasikevicius and Parker know that they can just throw up a lob in the general direction of the rim and Baston will go up and get it, usually finishing strong with a thunderous alley-oop that has made him a fan favorite in Tel Aviv over the past two seasons. He had a number of these over the past weekend.
Unlike many big men in Europe, Baston does not have infinite range on his jumper or outstanding ball-handling skills. This is not something Maccabi needs him to do, though, as everyone else on their team can shoot and handle like no other. Therefore, Baston can restrict his powerful play to the post while using his tremendous foot work to post up players and finish strong, or run the floor like a deer and be the one who finishes the play in the most emphatic fashion.
In the past, Baston was the type of player whose points came strictly off offensive rebounds, alley-oops, or at most, catching the ball in the post, turning around and dunking. Surprisingly enough, though, he has begun to diversify his offense over the past two seasons with Maccabi, becoming a player that can score in other ways beyond just using his incredible athletic ability.
Besides showing nice footwork and a decent post up game, he started taking more mid-range shots this past season in Tel Aviv and he actually hits them at a decent clip. As noted, though, this is not his role for Maccabi so he does not force the issue here. But if you give him the open 14-16 footer, he will usually knock it down, which is downright incredible for those who remember the type of player he was coming out of Michigan, or even while playing for the Raptors two years ago. No one is going to confuse him with Tim Duncan in terms of his skill-level, but it’s impossible to ignore the leap in ability he has made over the past few years, showing that you CAN teach a old dog new tricks, and that upside isn’t restricted to players under the age of 25. On top of that, he is a team player who displays a wonderful attitude both on and off the court. Defensively, he does a good job blocking shots, coming up with steals and helping on rotations, but could stand to improve his man to man defense and staying out of foul trouble.
Regarding the NBA, Baston is an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with the team of his choice this upcoming summer. He has made it very clear that he enjoys playing for Maccabi, but it might be hard to turn down an attractive offer from the NBA an return to his home country. Rumor has it that there are already some offers on the table from NBA teams, and not of the summer league or non-guaranteed contract variety. With his size, athleticism, work ethic and the way he approaches the game, there is certainly a spot for him on someone’s roster as an off the bench role player who changes the game for a few minutes at a time with the energy he brings to the floor. He’ll be a fan favorite for sure.
Jonathan Givony
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