http://boards.hoopsworld.com/blogs/two_cents/archive/2009/05/19/sleeper-sophs-for-2010.aspx Looks like at least some people are high on Nic and Bayless.
This is what makes me believe Pritch when he says we are fine standing pat with what we have. The only players I could see us not needing are sergio and possibly Outlaw. I think for the most part we have the team we need. We are not supposed to be a title contender this soon and we all knew that last season, we were blessed with this season. Give this team one more season and we will see these players bloom.
Bayless is probably going to take 2 or 3 years to take off. In the meantime we should have him back up a veteran point guard (hopefully an improvement over Steve Blake). Batum has major potential, but I would be happy with some moderate improvement on what he's done. Nice role player right now but could back up a vet for 2 or 3 years (Artest) while he develops.
I've been saying it for a long time, but if Westbrook and Bayless swapped roles, Bayless would have put up similar numbers. He does have "it".
Really? How did they each do in the PAC 10 their last year there? Bayless: 19.7 ppg, 45.8 FG%, 40.7 3%, 4.0 apg, 35.7 mpg Westbrook: 12.7 ppg, 46.5 FG%, 33.8 3%, 4.3 apg, 33.8 mpg There's no evidence that Bayless could have done similar things to Westbrook in the situation Westbrook was in? Really? Ed O.
Bayless was the absolute main guy in Arizona, Westbrook wasn't even close to that. I'm not saying I know Bayless couldn't average 15.3 PPG, 5.3 APG, and 4.9 RPG, but he hasn't shown that he can. There was probably a reason Westbrook went 4 instead of 11.
There probably is a reason, but considering Bayless was considered a top-five talent up until a month or two before the draft, there probably isn't a dramatic split in their talent levels. Bayless sank a bit after the college season was over, so NBA teams in the top ten clearly weren't as sold on him but if the difference in talent were obvious, he would have been perceived lower earlier in the process.
I'd say there were 2 obvious reasons. First, while both players have the potential to be quick, tenacious defenders, Westbrook has the edge physically because of his superior wingspan. Second, while both lean towards being "combo" guards, Westbrook is ahead of Bayless as a playmaker.
The UCLA "system" didn't do Westbrook any favors. When he got to the stage of working out for teams, his stock rose big time. You will notice that the same thing is happening with Jrue Holliday.
again, this is why I think the Blazers will be content with trading up in the draft in a deal with Sergio, #24 and cash. nothing wrong with taking a solid PG Prospect now and seeing if he pans out
Why does being the main guy impact any of the stats that I posted? Other than ppg, of course, where Bayless outscored Westbrook by 50%. Ed O.
I hope Bayless works on his off season and gets the chip off his shoulders. He still has the arrogant attitude thinking that hes a starting unit. Hes not. I hope he gets more basketball fundamentals down.
I think he could be if he uses the motivation for the right purposes. I wouldn't call it arrogance. He's been a starter his whole life. He's adapting to a new role, and I think he's going to have a lot of drive to improve to get back to where he feels he belongs-starting. Whether he can do it in one off-season or not remains to be seen, but I wouldn't worry about his attitude.
Pretty funny, as Sergio and Travis are 2 of KP's favorite players and a huge part of why he thinks we can stand pat if need be.
