In fact, the only player that we've heard of who it's been announced will be there for sure is Bayless, which seems a bit silly, as he's already been MVP. Batum, Koponen and even Freeland have summer duty for their National sides, and Rudy doesn't need to be there. My guess is that Bayless will be forced to play point in a last ditch attempt to see if he can. If, like last time, we see a quick switch to him playing SG, I'll take that as a sign they've given up on him and are showcasing him.
Bill Bano said yesterday on 95.5 The Game, that Bayless' goal for summer league (and any pickup game this summer) would be to have a 10:1 assist to turnover ratio. He said they are going to film any game he plays in, take stats, and break it down. He didn't sound concerned about him getting 10 assists a game, just his efficiency as a distributor. He won't win MVP this year, but this will be a great chance for him to focus on his weaknesses instead of showing off his strengths.
Didn't Martell also say he was playing in summer league? I'm pretty sure he is. If he does, that should give Bayless a nice target for some of those assists. I support GO not playing in summer league. The only benefit is if it would help him to learn what a foul is, and how to avoid cheap ones. I'm hoping he gets to work out with the U.S. team.
Your comment made me think of the Chauncey Billups story that ran at espn.com the other day. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090511/billups Of course he hasn't been traded, but for a guy that was projected to go top five before tumbling on draft day and then gets buried on the bench you could tell that by the time the season had ended Bayless' confidence in his game had taken a big hit. The Terrell Brandon snippet is one of the reasons I think getting a aged vet like Andre Miller would be a good idea; Miller's game is predicated on getting his shots from fifteen feet in, and he's old enough to know all the tricks of the trade, on the other hand I don't think Jerryd has much of anything to learn from Steve Blake "Just go stand in the corner and wait for Brandon to kick it out to you" Now I'm not suggesting that Bayless is going to be the next "Mr. Bigshot", but I do see some common threads. Bayless has definitely fallen flat in his rookie season, but we've all heard the stories about his maniacal work-ethic, and him incessantly pestering coaches to either work with him or tell him how to improve his game. If success is predicated on the marriage of raw natural born physical tools and work ethic, then I think there's a better than average chance Jerryd can turn the corner and be a very good NBA point guard in a couple of years ... time will tell.
Having Martell to play with in summer league on the wing could definitely make Jerryd's job easier, especially because he's played a few years in the big boy league and he's also more comfortable catching and shooting than creating his own shot off the dribble; he should be a somewhat confidence inspiring backcourt mate versus the talent-poor/inexperienced roster he played with last year.
So - is Terrell Brandon available as an assistant coach? (Does he live in Portland?) Terrell Brandon was the rich man's Aaron Brooks.
That would indeed be sweet. Maybe I'm completely wrong and KP really WAS targeting Bayless, rather than going for Augustin and getting pipped because Larry Brown wanted him. BUT: Chauncey Billups is the new Jermaine O'Neal. That is, for years, whenever a guy has been languishing on the bench but showing flashes of great athleticism or whatnot (e.g., Amir Johnson in Detroit), any fan who doesn't want to give up on him invokes the name of Jermaine O'Neal. "Remember what happened when Portland traded Jermaine O'Neal? Boy was THAT a mistake!" Now it's Chauncey Billups. "People can learn to be point guards - look at Chauncey Billups!" Yeah, and a black man can become president - look at Barack Obama!
O'Neal and Billups have had decidedly different paths to success. Jermaine was buried on the bench and blew up in Indy when he got the minutes, Chauncey got bounced around for years and had to learn on the fly -- those two are apples and oranges. If Bayless didn't have the physical tools and the (reportedly) strong work ethic, I'd be one of the loudest proponents of shipping his ass out of here on a rail. But then again I'm more inclined to believe that a thing like running a team can be learned and isn't just an innate ability imprinted on somebody's DNA. Let me be clear, I have no doubt Jerryd will never be confused with Steve Nash, John Stockton, Chris Paul, or Jason Kidd, but just because he'll never have that type of game doesn't mean he can't be an effective point guard in the Billups, Tony Parker mold.
If KP had been targeting Augustine then why would he pull the trigger on a trade if the guy he wanted was already gone? That makes absolutely no sense.
Well, he has a barber shop in No Po and there was some story last year about he and a guy catching a beating the hell out of a guy that tried to extort money from his family. So yeah, he's still around.
The guy he wanted was gone, but he figured he'd give Bayless a shot. Besides which, it was addition by subtraction by getting rid of Jarrett Jack. (I feel almost ashamed in citing Jason Quick as an authority. I'm going to wash now.)
