Joey Baker: I Think Duke Will Be Good Defensively

Joey Baker is a junior, which, on Duke’s roster, means he’s one of the most experienced Blue Devil players. He’ll be counted on to be a leader on this year’s team.

“I think I’ve always been a guy who leads by example more than vocal,” he said, “working hard every day, competing every day, bringing enthusiasm and talking, kind of just showing what needs to be done on a daily basis. Obviously, as an older guy, there’s times when I need to be a leader in a way I haven’t been before. So I’m learning as well how to try and show the younger guys how everything works on and off the court here. That’s been an awesome experience for me, because I’ve grown from it as well.”

Baker is one of several versatile players that can play a variety of roles on the team, which he sees as a strength.

“We’re versatile,” he said. “We have a lot of different guys that can do a lot of different things. One area it really helps us is defensively. We have a lot of athletes who are 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8, and they’re long. So I think we’ll be really good defensively, and it’ll play to our advantage.”

Baker has competition for best shooter on the team from incoming freshman DJ Steward. He joked that they could arrange a three-point shootout between the two at an upcoming practice.

“DJ has been awesome,” Baker said. “He’s a hard worker. He comes every day and competes. He’s always getting extra work. I was in the gym last night, shooting, and he walked in. He’s always putting in extra work. It’s really exciting to see what he does here.”

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