In your view, one had a clearly higher ceiling. Maris would likely disagree. Also, many saw Bayless as a higher ceiling, but as a SG, and Sergio with a high ceiling, but as a true PG.
I kind of view Sergios last year here as a last ditch effort to see if the guy could play before sending him packing. They gave him every opportunity to see if he could fit. He didn't. I think they just wanted to make sure that was clear in their minds before they traded him, and Bayless time suffered as a result. Management was just trying to make sure they weren't going to fuck up. It's that simple. I can't blame them. There is nothing worse than trading a player and then having them Jermain Oneal you.
Yo I can respect that for sure.... Now how can we move Bayless into the starting position w/Roy, so they can be batman and robin!
Great point. Where were the minutes Bayless should have been getting? At PG, Pooh Jeter ran the offense better than JB this past summer league. At SG, do you sit Roy or Rudy? Any answer still leaves Nate open for criticism.
Every time it is brought up as to what type of a guard needs to be teamed with Roy, a Mo Williams type (scoring PG) is what is mentioned. Bayless can be that guy. I think he is becoming that guy. The key is that he provides pressure on the defense that compliments Roy and Rudy. IMO any guard that puts pressure on the paint and can also shoot from the outside is all I an ask for. The more of a threat he is, the easier he makes the game for the bottom feeders on the team to get easy buckets because of the concern placed upon the main scorers. Last year they mostly used Bayless as a decoy. Players only work as a decoy if they have a reputation of being a scorer. Bayless did not have that yet, and so it was ineffective. Now that he is getting a rep, teams have to pay attention to him. So even when he doesn't have the ball, he is making it easier for all the other players to score. What will be interesting is to see if he can keep the production up after he has been scouted a lot. I am thinking we should be getting to territory where teams have scouted him a lot any game now. I can guarantee Denver will have watched the San Antonio game several times.
I love these spirited disagreements. It's real easy for Barkley to smuggly sit there and say Bayless should have been playing all along, like he knows what the fuck he's talking about. What does Barkley watch, about 10 minutes of Blazers games a month? I agree Nate was overusing Blake and underusing Bayless (and Miller) this season, but that doesn't mean Bayless should have started last season. He wasn't ready. Bayless is so much better this season than last season it isn't even funny. Bayless seems to be about as determined an NBA player as there is in the league. He worked HARD this offseason and sought out expert help (Bayno, Payton) in doing so. His PG skills are clearly better. His defense is clearly better. His understanding of the offense and his court sense are clearly better. His shot is clearly better. He's still an athletic stud with the determination of a bulldog, or perhaps a T-Rexxx. It's funny. I've read a lot of posts over the last year or so about how KP didn't really want Bayless, how KP had to settle, how Bayless will never be a point guard. No one is saying those things this week. Thanks, B-Rexxx!!!
If Nate stunted any of Jerryd's growth, it was his arms. Do we now blame Nate for the fact that a 6'3" guy has the arms of someone 5'6"?
Agree 100%. I love Barkley the entertainer, but Barkley the analyst? The talent evaluator? This is the guy that had to kiss Kenny's donkey because he said Yao would be a stiff that would never score 20 in a game, his analysis is so bright, that not only did he smooch Kenny's donkey, he smooched him on the ass...
this it wasn't JB's skills or athleticism that needed work but his mindset for running a team. It's obvious to all that he is the most athletic smaller guard on the roster just as it's obvious that he can drive to the hole and yet have solid form on his J. What he needed to work on was picking up on the nuances of being an NBA PG. For all his shortcomings, Blake has effectively involved his teammates and helped this club to win a lot of games. Having him as JB's mentor has been something that I feel will likely benefit him greatly in his career. STOMP
no, you've got it backwards. Players earn their reputation by their play not the other way around. Bayless wasn't an effective decoy because he shot 36% from the field and 26% from 3's. His crappy shooting made him a crappy decoy that teams didn't have to respect. They wanted him to shoot. This year he's bumped those numbers up to 46% and 43% respectively. STOMP
Proving it can happen, but it's rare. Wait until Bayless is the age that Rudi was last year. He'll hit 3's at a great pace then. For that, though, we'll have to wait another year or two.
