Wow. Well that was good! I am prepared to retract some of my previous rash condemnation. I still think he's not a natural point guard, but he certainly has seemed to be a good teammate over this season - great on the bench even when he's never playing - and he was a great sparkplug tonight. (My favorite part: when it looked like Iverson had intercepted the long pass forward, but Bayless just took it back and dunked it.) Be interesting to see how much play he gets against Golden State, against whom he could probably have a field day.
Good point. And, it may not be a case of him having to be a "natural point guard" as much as it is a case of him making the team better. And, at this point, who's to argue with that??
You know I have been a huge Bayless supporter the entire year, but I have never mentioned his chearleading. That is a great point. He is always first off the bench to bump, or high five, or just when someone does something great. And again I will say that Bayless doesn't need to be a pure PG. He needs to be exactly what he is. A guy that can get to tht erim at will, have the ability to pass to an open man, and D up on people without having to switch on every play. The one thing he could work on, and I think it's experience more than anything, is finishing. I love that he gets in people's faces. Last night he was fould and yelled right in Brown's face (I think it was Brown) I loved it. Even Joel smirked at it. Brown gave him a little shove and Bayless just walked through it.
Well, it's just one game, but he did very positive things overall. Considering his limited playing time he's bouncing right along.
It was nice to see Jerryd just playing ball, and not being nervous out there. You can tell he was a lot more comfortable on the floor. And we got to see a bit of what Bayless will bring.. much-needed hard-nosed defense, and the ability to drive to the hoop and not be afraid.
We are not trading him. Nate is molding him. Jerryds #1 priority (according to Jerryd) is defense. That is good.
Sometimes I think Nate needs to let players play. JerryD isn't a Nate type of player on offense. He attacks at will and doesn't wait for his teammates or the opponents. Hopefully Nate doesn't try and take that away. If his teammates have a problem with it they need to keep up like Aldridge did.
Conversely, he plays good, steady defense. Therefore, in that light, he should be "rewarded" with some more freedoms on the offensive side of the ball.
I thought that was McDyess? I remember thinking that JB kind of got bailed out, he's playing with a lot of emotion right now (probably an understatement) which I love. On that play, he just flew into McDyess and had NO shot - he could have easily taken a charge or forced Bayless to throw up an impossible shot. It worked out last night. I think when the game slows down for him, he'll be more under control - at times he looks like a bull in a china shop right now. I think he got tired of playing afraid of making a mistake and just said to himself that he's going to go balls out. Sometimes I think he decides BEFOREHAND that he's going to the basket no matter what, rather than taking what the defense gives you. His defense . . . the refs let him play last night. There was one play where he got called (2nd quarter?) about 35 ft from the basket guarding Stuckey that was ticky tack. But for the most part, they let his him (and his physical defense) play last night. Maybe it was the benefit of playing at home. But he was ALL UP ON Stuckey. It was awesome. You just can't play that kind of defense for 35 minutes/game, but you can for 12-15 which JB will be lucky to see when Roy comes back. I saw a post game interview with Bayless where he said that he finally felt a rythm and some confidence last night, and that he thinks he can play a lot better now. I think that he's going to get better and better, but I still see a lot of up/down JB moments in the future. Still, we finally saw the glimpse last night of what could be. It's still a work in progress, but there's hope. Truthfully, he hasn't looked very good before last night - at least offensively. I'm excited to see what happens on this road trip.
That was a fantastic play. I was sure Iverson had it, and then the next thing I knew Bayless was soaring for a dunk. Phenomenal. Bayless really WANTED IT last night.
I don't agree with you. During summer league after Bayless had one of his many MVP games, they asked Nate about the subject that comes up on the boards here from time to time, which is how Bayless is a shoot first pass later guy. Nate just responded with "I'm never going to tell that kid to quit shooting." He looked at the reporter like they were insane, kind of chuckling. I also don't agree with you on the style of player that is a Nate player. Nate wants agressive players on the floor. I really doubt that Nate would prefer the guys on the team who are doing nothing but jacking up 3's to a guy attacking the rim. Ever.
Yeah this is his one strugggling point right now....he has not been able to figure out how to finish at the rim in the NBA to avoid getting his shot blocked.....but he did a good job drawing some fouls (not always a given to occur however)...and was tenacious on defense.... I'd like to see a little more consistency from his jumper as well...b\c if he is going to be a better than average NBA player he will definitely need a solid jumper to make defender's respect and open up the lanes for himself..... BTW, I thought he has had some nice passes in the few games he has been in...some poor onese too...but more importantly, I think the "vision" is there for Bayless, he just needs time to figure it all out....
Yet Blake, Sergio, Rudy and Travis all see significant time over him, and the Blazers as a team rank 8th in 3 pointers attempted 25% of their shopt attempts and rank near the bottom in points in the paint and rank at the bottom in and 1's.
Steve Blake gets 31mpg on a team that is "evaluating" this year. Travis gets 28. Whether someone thinks that Blake and Travis should be getting it is moot: Nate disproves the last point every day with his rotation.
The question was is he a Nate type of player. Not how much playing time he is currently receiving. You are talking about how much playing time he is currently receiving. Everybody knows he is not receiving playing time right now because he is making a transition from SG to point, and he is a rookie in a guard unit stacked with experienced players. That has nothing to do if he is a Nate type of player. It has to do with how well he is playing at the moment, and how comfortable Nate is with putting him in. Two different things.
This is what you said I was just pointing out that that might not actually be the case. If he would prefer JerryD, then he should play JerryD, but it looks like he prefers guys who jack up 3's
Bayless is probably the most Nate type of any of the Blazers IMO. I think next year he will be the starting PG and even later this year will be getting plenety of PT.
bayless did a nice job. however...he cant shoot which is a problem. again..2-6 is disturbing. hes shooting 23% on season
