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No, No...not Maurice Evans!
He's a 6'2" gaurd from the CBA and making noise.....possible replacement of Jason Hart?www.hoopshype.com
Baker gets shot at Rockets
By KERRYCOLLINS
Bismarck Tribune
Maurice Baker's hopes of playing in the NBAmay really be blasting off.
The Dakota Wizards star has earned a two-day tryout with the Houston Rockets.
Baker worked out for the team on Wednesday, and will work out for the NBAclub again today. The tryout is in Sacramento, Calif., where the Rockets take on the Kings tonight.
"He flew down there (Wednesday)morning, and will be working out for them over the next couple of days,"Wizards coach Dave Bliss said. "If he makes it, he'll stay down there with them.
"We wish him the best of luck."
Baker, who couldn't be reached Wednesday, has been one of the top players in the CBAin the early goings of the 2005-06 campaign, and won the league's first player of the week award of the season.
"There are point guards that set things up, and there are point guards that score,"Bliss said. "The thing with Mo is that he can do both."
Through the first seven games this season, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard is averaging 24.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
"He really has had a great start for us," Bliss said. "As what happens a lot of times with players that have been somewhere for a couple of years, he has matured and become more comfortable.
"That has helped Mo make us a better team."
Baker was called up twice last season, getting 10-day contracts from both the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Dakota will host the Idaho Stampede on Friday, and the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Saturday. Both games are slated to tip off at 7:05 p.m.
Bliss said the Wizards would find out before the weekend's game about Baker's status with the NBAsquad.
"This is what the CBAis all about - enabling kids to get to that next step,"Bliss said. "Mo is taking advantage of it."
The Wizards currently lead the CBA's Western Conference at 4-3 with a 4.28 quarter-point average.
