Tribune Okay, I may be losing faith in Nate. Maybe it's just that Sergio has been here and is trying somewhat. But, I have a hard time seeing Sergio even in this race.
That has not been proven. At AZ, after starting at PG he was asked to play SG mid-season because their second best guard was also a PG. Before he switched he lead the Pac-10 in assists at 6+ per game (about four more than Rose at the same time). Just because a guy can score, doesn't mean he can't also be a good PG. Either way, he's still a better point guard than Sergio R__riguez. (He doesn't have any O or any D).
Yeah, but remember that in Summer league Nate told him to be aggressive and score--that is all. PK was supposed to be the point. When you watch the practice scrimmages, Bayless is penetrating and dishing a lot on offense, and up in the guys shirt on defense. From todays practice, Nate said (according to OLive): So maybe things aren't so set in stone.
Today on the Quick chat, Jason said Sergio is the 2nd string point guard. He also said the players agree that Sergio is the best pure point guard after Blake. Sergio's shot is much improved this year. Jason said Brandon was getting on players telling them to guard Sergio more. In practice Bayless has seen a lot of pressure and he over dribbles the ball. Quick said the players are not happy with how long it is taking Bayless to pass the ball.
After his total colapse last year, and his attitude that the problem wasn't himself, I'm having a hard time picturing Sergio as part of this team. However, if he really hustles on D, and can find any consistancy in his shot, and can figure out how to drive past all the guys who sag off him, them maybe. I still think Bayless is much more motivated and athletic, and will pass Sergio up very shortly.
I'm with xericx on this in that Bayless looked like a SG more than a PG during summer league. You make a good point about Bayless being asked to score. But I remeber one game they gave him the PG duties and it didn't look so good in the 1st half. Of course he came out the 2nd half looking to score and was effective in that half. But all I read are good things about Bayless, he is confident, professional and hard working. So maybe be does work himself into a good NBA PG, but from what I saw in SL, he looks like a SG to me.
I like this better. If Sergio is shooting the ball better and putting in a good effort on D, he should be our 2nd stringer. Chemistry-wise the connection between Sergio and the 2nd unit is more advanced, especially with Rudy in there. But, there's a more important reason. Trade value. Sergio's stock is terribly low. If he can increase is league-wide value, and contribute to the team's success, that's a no brainer. Bayless will need to wait his turn.
Of course the other part of this is that Bayless had absolutely nobody to pass to. There wasn't an ounce of talent on the front line. Whenever he did make a nice pass it fell off hands of brick.
Quick said Sergio has that hop to his step that he lost last season. That basketball looks to be fun for him again. Quick thinks Nate is trying to brake Bayles by applying a lot of defensive pressure to him. Bayles and coach had at least a 5 minute talk after practice and Bayles didn't look too happy. Still, Bayless looks to be an above average defender. It seems the minutes Bayles gets this year will be because of his defense. Personally, I'm more interested in how Bayles will look halfway though the season versus now.
I don't care if Bayless is a pure PG. How many teams have a pure PG maybe 5-10 at the most. Bayless can play PG perfect IMO with Roy and even Rudy. He can defend the smaller faster PG's, bring the ball up under pressure and can learn to be a PG with passing as good Blake or Jack have been. Roy doesn't even really want a true PG to take the ball away from him all the time. Roy does need someone to bring the ball up court under pressure and guard the tough fast small PG's which Bayless would be perfect. I can see Nate setting himself up as a scapegoat when we struggle with playing Sergio instead of Bayless. Sure Bayless is a rookie and will make mistakes and has to learn to setup Oden, LMA etc. but it would be crazy if Sergio was ahead of Bayless for very long(maybe the first or second game) unless Sergio really really improved his game.
However Bayless had plenty of capable players to pass to on the US Olympic Select Team, in scrimmages, and now in Training Camp. I'd say the coaching staff has seen enough to determine whether Bayless is a set-up guy or a scorer. I'm sure Bayless could be a decent distributor, but his strength is putting the ball in the bucket and getting to the line .... at least from what we've seen and heard so far.
I guess it's lucky for Sergio that Blake and Roy are somewhat limited. If you put Sergio in the starting lineup with Roy, Sergio becomes a Kerr type shooting PG, which is not his strength. If they end up puting Sergio and Rudy in for major minutes, that should help Sergio on several levels. If Blake were to be out significant games, I would rather see Nate do like he did with Oulaw last year. That is, leave Sergio in the second unit and move the 3rd string (Bayless) temporarily to the starter. I never liked seeing Sergio and Roy in at the same time. Sergio just doesn't know what to do if he doesn't have the ball in his hands.
I don't think that was ever a very accurate portrayal of the situation. Sergio reportedly worked extremely hard this off-season and worked on his weaknesses, of which there have been many. That doesn't sound like someone who thinks he's not at least partially at fault. At this point he knows the system and the players better and he's probably a better distributor than Bayless, so I have no problem with this. I wouldn't worry, if Bayless really is this good, Nate will play him, eventually.
I think it's important to factor in the difficult teams Portland's playing next month. Maybe Nate, at this time, doesn't feel comfortable bringing a 2nd-unit backcourt consisting of Bayless and Fernandez. If the 2nd unit is looking good right now with Rodriguez and Fernandez then lets roll with it. Let's not forget that Frye looked terrible his 2nd season in New York. Much the same way Sergio looked last season. Frye reinvented himself. Maybe Sergio can as well.
I will wait and see with Sergio this year but unless he really improved his shot and half court PG decisions it isn't the right thing to do and Nate is going to be under fire from the start of the season.