No I picked the middle one. We need a few things, but noting major. back up banger PF would be a nice addition. Playoff successful veterans who can help our team know what it takes to get there would be helpful also. No need to trade Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Batum, Joel, Bayless, or even Blake and Rudy, Everyone else IMO can be dealt without really hurting the team at all. Blake should probably take on a lesser role next year as well, maybe to the point we don't poick up the guarantee on his contract.
Good stuff, MM. I've had debates with BLAZER PROPHET that Frye needs to go. IMO, his particular skills (or lack thereof) are not helping this team. I say it's on him, so trade him already. To some degree, BP blames Nate for either: a) Not utilizing Frye correctly or b) Not giving him enough/meaningful minutes from which he can play himself out of his current funk Thoughts?
As you know I am the biggest Nate supporter on the internet. I can't even blame Nate for Frye's perfomance this season. I think some has to do with his ankle a bit, and some due to playing time, but it's not like he has recieved Bayless type minutes. As for his style of play, he is what he is. Frye is normally a reliable outside shooter who doesn't really like to mix it up down low. We already have Aldridge who is better than Frye, and has at least shown the ability to get down on the block. He is also pretty successful when he does that. What we don't have is a Jason Maxiel type who will grab rebounds in traffic and throw down on you. Oden is that guy, but he's not consistant enough yet to stay in the game.
Agree with MMs post about who to keep and who is expendable 100%. As for Frye.... he's lost his athleticism. I honestly don't know if he can get it back. If he can't, he'll alway suck. As for your points, Does Nate tell Frye to take 20 footers with 2 hands in his face? Is he going to "play himself out of his current funk" by said 20 footers? No and No.
It's not that he didn't figure it out before.The refs just didn't call it before. The first game that he played meaningful minutes Nate put him in to attack the basket. He did. He created contact in the restrictive zone under the basket and got "ROOKIED" two straight times. So they took him out. Like Oden eventually he will get the calls.
Without reviewing the game, didn't Bayless come in and substitute for Rudy? The problem with hanging on to all this young talent is two of the better prospects play the same psotion as the team's leader and all star. Nate can mess around with Rudy at SF and Bayless at PG and Roy playing all PG, SG and SF . . . but for these three players to reach their potential, they should be playing their natural position. Their is just too much talent at the SG position . . .
This is why I think Bayless is a good fit with those two. All three can handle both possitions. Bayless is the only one of the three that can effectively guard the PG possition though. With a starting back court of Bayless and Roy you could bring in Rudy for either, and only suffer a little bit defensively (if it's Rudy and Roy) as long as other players swarmed to the ball. Then bring Bayless or Roy back in for the other and run your normal defensive sets. Great 3 guard rotation. Blake can be there in case of foul trouble or injury too because he can pretty much play both posstions too.
That's my personal long-term $64,000 question. Time will tell. As it relates to these three, though, calm waters all the way.
I hope Bayless and Roy can work. I've gone on the record since summer league that I don't think it will. But if it can work out, that could make a tough back court for opponenets to deal with. Also for the record, there was a lot of hype about Telfair, Webster and Sergio that I didn't buy into. I'm just not buying the Bayless hype right now being sent out by Blazer crew . . . I think that is why I am so hard on Greg . . . I bought into the hype about Oden without really seeing him do anything yet.
Doesn't Bayless usually play PG when he goes in there, though? He is subbed in for the SG, but a lot of the time he takes the PG responsibilities until Sergio comes in, but Sergio isn't too great at playing off the ball. But either way, what Bayless does now is really what he would do with Roy. Defend the Pg, bring the ball up, and play off the ball as Roy isn't to great and effective at playing off the ball. I think that Bayless can become a good PG. He is a willing passer, and he does get a pretty good amount of assists for the minutes he plays... even though he is put out there to attack the basket.
I'd like to remind folks here that Bayless, awesome as he was last night, cannot shoot. He can get to the rim and hit free throws, but his jumper is absolutely terrible. He is shooting 25% on the year. I know some of you may think that's just because of limited minutes, but he couldn't shoot in the summer league either. Almost all his points came on drives to the hoop or free throws. So until he develops a serviceable outside shot, I don't see him being a starting-quality player. Once teams are able to scout him more, you'll see people laying off him and taking away his drive. They will dare him to shoot just like they did with Sergio in the past. He's a very good defender, can get to the rim in spots (although as I just said, I think this is about to be taken away from him by defenses), and plays very hard. But I don't think you can be a solid NBA guard without having a jumpshot. And he flat out doesn't have one.
Good points although he wasn't a bad shooter in college and we have only seen a small sample of his shooting in the NBA. I say once he relaxes and gets more PT his jump shot will be fine.
I cringe when someone brings up shooting percentage for players who don't get steady minutes. Throw out all stats that are based on "Garbage time" They do not give an accurate picture. Bayless' shot is ugly, but that does not mean he can't shoot. Listen to the quotes from his teammates about what happens in practice. he never misses. Not saying he is ready to shine, but he can shoot just fine from the outside. We have seen it in summer league and in College. he just needs steady minutes. As do all players.
Actually, coming out of college, his J was one of his strengths, and he is an amazingly hard worker. He doesn't get consistant minutes, and in toward the last game or 2 of summer league his J was starting to fall as well.
why let hype factor into your evaluation of a player? I love projecting how good a player will be but I try to do it by what I observe rather then what I'm told. I didn't ever join the Telfair, Webster, Sergio bandwagons as they have gaping holes in their games that I doubt they'll ever be able to really overcome. To my eyes Bayless is more of a complete package of size, skills, and athleticism then any of those three were/are... he just needs to put it all together which comes with experience. btw... in 30+ years of following the club the only Blazer class I've ever been nearly as excited about as this year's 4 studs is 2006 (Roy & LA). STOMP
