Injury to Jemarl Baker gives more opportunities to young players

Monday was a rough day for Arizona Basketball as the Wildcats learned that Jemarl Baker will be out the rest of the season due to a broken wrist.

In case the Arizona Basketball team didn’t have enough adversity to face in the 2020-21 season, the Wildcats learned that they will be without guard Jemarl Baker the rest of the year, as we all now have learned that the redshirt junior has suffered a broken wrist.

With the news announced via social media on Monday afternoon, the loss of Baker hits hard and further highlights the strangeness that is 2020-21. Already, the team is without fans, there is not a postseason to play in, and the team has been without Daniel Batcho and Kerr Kriisa as well.

Arizona Wildcats

To make things even more challenging, they are going to be without one of their more veteran players.

While the loss hurts, we are well aware that this season was likely to be more of a developmental one, to begin with. The team virtually has no true superstars, and this season is all about building towards the future anyway.

With the recent emergence of freshman Ben Mathurin, and the Wildcats soon gaining Kriisa, this is a great opportunity for the team to have some younger players get key playing time and development opportunities.

Losing and replacing 12.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game will never be easy, but looking at the glass half-full, the injury to Baker does at least provide some benefits to the Wildcats.

In recent weeks, the former Kentucky transfer had been struggling, scoring just 13 points on 4-28 shooting in the last three games. But the injury does provide more chances for others to step up, which to me, is a good thing for this program at this current juncture.

At Zona Zealots, we wish a quick and speedy recovery for Baker and can’t wait to see how this team responds. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!