blake has looked dreadful thus far including pre season. Now that we have resigned webster and batum looks to be decent...i think its time to trade outlaw for a pg. obviously we need to add something like maybe lafrentz but we need a pg. roy is great but we would be so much better with a real pg other then sergio or blake. how many timers did parker embarrass blake last night?
Maybe we just need to give Bayless some time and a shot to prove himself. He's already a better defender than Blake is and is leaps and bounds more athletic than any of the other point guards we have. I'm sure he's focused enough to develop some truer point guard skills. However, an interim point guard a la Chauncey Billups might not be too bad.
Why trade when we can just have Roy and Rudy take turns running the point and have a 6'6" back court to make other teams to adjust to. I also agree, that it is just a matter of time before Bayless busts into the lineup and makes it moot.
I tried to tell you all how mediocre Blake was, but most (not all) of you were too busy bitching and moaning at everything Jarrett Jack, therefore Blake's game simply blended in. I really miss Jarrett right now, at least he is a threat to take penetrate the defense and can play a little better defense.
Honestly, Hinrich is the only viable "PG upgrade" that could be considered "available" on today's market [at least his large contract is a declining one] I am not totally sure what Nate envisions our PG's role to be exactly...I do like the idea of Bayless playing next to Roy [they seem to be perfect compliments] Bayless / Roy / Batum / LMA / Przy [that is the best defensive line-up as of right now...I hope we see it soon]
Just because one guard is bad doesn't mean adding another bad guard will fix it. I loved Jack in many ways, but the one way I will never miss him is how he would almost get a triple double, but one of the statistics was turnovers. Or how he would find a way to lose a game. I will never miss that.
Well with Blake's defense, he is finding ways to lose the game for us. Fisher and Farmar owned him and Parker almost single handily won the game for the Spurs because Blake couldn't stay in front of him causing us to be reactive and eventually leaving their 3 pt shooters open. Look, I don't want to get into a Blake v. Jack debate, that was not my intention upon making my post. It is more of a.."Quit scapegoating players" because sometimes it clouds judgment.
Well, we tried the Roy-Rudy combo to begin the 2nd half of a preseason game and the other team promptly went on a 12-0 run. Agree on the Bayless thing.
Honestly, unless Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Devin Harris became available (which won't happen), I'd rather just hold onto Bayless and see what he becomes. I don't think Portland needs a classic point guard. Roy's passing at the 2 gives Portland the luxury of being able to use another combo guard alongside him. Bayless (and Fernandez) may never have the distribution skills of point guards, but they have enough passing skills to complement Roy.
It's early yet, but yeah Blake has been pretty "underwhelming" (I love that word) so far. What is the answer? I have no idea. Sergio is still a big question mark as far as I'm concerned (and is a very subpar defender) Jerryd's ability to setup the offense is a huge question mark and he's looked a little rushed and wild through pre-season and the spot minutes he picked up against the Lakers. Frankly, I think if a guy like Hinrich would be a decent option in a trade scenario: he's a solid defender at the 1 and he's an awfully expensive backup for Derrick Rose, but the question then becomes who do we have to give up to get him?
The Bulls have played both Rose and the Captain at the same time so far - I am not sure they are really that ready to let him go. Larry H is pretty much done, Ben Gordon will probably not be back and they are left with only Rose and Sefalosha (sp?). I am not certain the Captain will be available if they do not get a post scorer in return - and somehow I doubt President Ike will be enough to tip the scales for that.
I've warmed to the idea of Hinrich. He can play both guard spots and would be great side kick to Roy. But don't discount the idea of Roy/Rudy backcourt. They played quite a bit together last night and although Rudy's shot wasn't falling, I liked the ball movement.
I don't love Nocioni's contract, but he is a good glue guy and would give us some muscle. Cedric Simmons 6-10 PF from North Carolina State No games yet played in 2008-2009 Andres Nocioni 6-7 SF from Argentina (Foreign) 5.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.5 apg in 16.1 minutes Kirk Hinrich 6-3 PG from Kansas 10.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 5.0 apg in 25.4 minutes Outgoing Players Channing Frye 6-11 C from Arizona 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.5 apg in 15.3 minutes Travis Outlaw 6-9 SF from Starkville (HS) 14.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.5 apg in 33.4 minutes Raef LaFrentz 6-11 PF / C from Kansas No games yet played in 2008-2009
I don't want to deal Blake. But if an opportunity came up for us to get Hinrich, I'd be very excited about that. I think he's undervalued by fans. He would fit perfectly with this team. I wouldn't want to do a deal though until further into the season. I wonder how interested they are in Channing Frye.
Nah, Steve's a very good backup point guard ... he's probably still just not a starting quality 1. That's not a knock on him IMO.
Agreed. He is what he is at this point in his career. He's 28 and he's a part-time starter. If we weren't totally locked in at three spots, there would be less focus on how to improve our PG and SF spots. But we are, and it doesn't make sense to have knee-jerk defensiveness about the players we DO have as we discuss how to improve the team. Ed O.
