Suppose Blake went down (MERGED)

i admit i never watched bayless play in HS but i've seen him at UA, last summer, last season and know this summer and he has shown very little as a PG. i just don't see where you continue making excuses for this guy over and over again. i stand by my opinion that the #1 need for this team is still a PG, with a b/u 4 as the next pressing and a SF as a distant third.

 

If a guy has PG skills and vision, he just doesn't "loose it" when he plays the 2 and is asked to score instead of create. Sure, it is a little bit different mindset - but it is a great skill to exploit even if you are a "scoring" 2.

Jerryd just doesn't have the playmaking skills or the vision to be a PG in this league.

 

He's not a "pure point guard." Neither is/was Tony Parker, Stephon Marbury or, for that matter, LeBron James when he entered the league as a "point guard." I don't think anyone is saying that Bayless is or will be a point guard in the John Stockton or Steve Nash mold. The question is, can he be a play-maker that helps this team win? I think that is very attainable...his slashing ability is elite (even in his disappointing "lost season" last year, he was one of the best in the league at drawing fouls) so if he has even a modicum of vision and decision-making, he can be a very effective drive-and-dish play-maker. In addition, playing next to Roy, he'll never need to be the full-time distributor, he'll share that with Roy. A large part of the game, he'll just need to play off the ball and defend, both of which he has the tools to do.

I don't think he'll ever be a point guard who can pound the ball into the floor at the top of the key or on the wing, direct traffic and create baskets for his teammates like that. But Portland doesn't need him to be that in order to make him a successful point guard for them.

 

I can't believe people think Channing Frye is a dud. They are judging the guy based on a few minutes in garbage time! It's true, even when Outlaw was at his worst he got minutes over Frye...but Nate is clearly an idiot. There is no possibility he saw something in practice to indicate Frye didn't deserve playing time!



Look, I was on the "give Bayless minutes" bandwagon for quite awhile last season. I finally had to stop and look at reality: Sergio stunk and Blake was a raging mediocrity....and Bayless STILL couldn't earn any minutes. The fans may only have a "small sample size" to judge - but the coaches saw him *every freakin' day* in practice, and concluded he couldn't play. (at least not PG)

You can do it all season long...it won't feel any better.

 

Here's the thing: if Bayless has an NBA skill it's penetrating and scoring. It isn't running a team. Why are we hoping he'll acquire a skill that, when he's using it, takes away from what he does best? Why can't we trade him for somebody who is a better "fit"? Did the Bulls try to make Ben Gordon into a PG? Are the Warriors seriously thinking that Monta Ellis is their PG of the future? Iverson racked up plenty of assists in his time, but they saw pretty quickly (despite him logging entire seasons, heavy minutes at the 1) that he would never be a PG. It's a waste! Free Bayless from these unrealistic expectations!

I have a sad feeling that they're only trying to do this because his value around the league has sunk to the extent that we can't get anything for him of remote use.

 

I think you're missing the point, old soul. The point wasn't that Bayless was actually great and you can't judge his current level of play from what he's shown. The point was that it's silly to pronounce a final judgment on what Bayless can and can't ever accomplish based on those few minutes from last year and three Summer League games.

 

Fair enough. If Blake goes down, I don't believe Bayless is ready to step in. That doesn't mean he will *never* be ready.

 

This summer league team sans Cunningham might just be the worst roster I've ever seen the Blazers field in the 5 or so years I've watched. I know Bayless has looked pretty dreadful and it's a huge concern if he was asked to carry the team next year should Blake get injured, but I can't help but think there's very little to take away from this week other than that I don't think Bayless can be counted on to perform a Chris Paul miracle; whereby you take a team full of scrubs mix in Paul and he makes them all substantially better than they really are. In that sense Bayless is completely unprepared to make lesser talents better, but since he won't be playing with lesser talents next season I guess there's nothing to do but wait and see what the coaches and management decide they can do with him in training camp. Who knows maybe he'll pull a "Batum" on us followup a lackluster summer league showing with a full 180 in training camp (I'd settle for at least 120 at this point).

Bottom line: I think KP is going to have to at least add one low cost veteran point guard in the Jacques Vaughn, Earl Watson, Bobby Jackson mold as some emergency insurance or there could be some really bad times ahead barring some unforseen trade for Hinrich/Harris/etc.

 

I agree that Jeter hasn't looked good either. In fact, there are players on the D-League Select team that have looked better than any guard on our team.

 

The NBA is full of score first PG's. Bayless may only be able to be that kind of PG and pick up a more pass first mentality as he matures. Why did we want Hedo? To add another person who can attack the basket. Lets be a little more patient. Can we not freak out about summer league. Geez, what happen to our top 5 talent Qwoods? We should be able to trade him staight across for Chris Paul based on his summer league stats. The guy will be a 10 time All-Star for sure.

 

Good for you, you have demonstrated three things:

You are illiterate.
You know how to use html code.
Your communication skills are so poor you can't convey your point without childish expletives.

Bet you make your family proud.

None of your skills, or lack there of, impress me or interest me so welcome to ignore.

 

If I'm illiterate I wonder why you even responded to me?

I think that's my first ignore. I have to admit, I'm actually kind of proud.