START BAYLESS!

And he can even lay the ball up from 15-20 feet.

 

Well you can keep on telling yourself he isn't hitting shots, but he is. You don't shoot that clip without hitting jumpers too. One of the biggest problems in the NBA is players who do not know their limitations and do what they are weak at. The fact that he recognizes his strengths and weakness and tailors his game to that end, is a good thing.

 

Jesus. Lighten up, Francis. It was a joke.

 

and shoot FT's quite well and he does do that frequently

 

He has improved a lot on his shot selection and playing under more control, nice job for a 21 yr old who is getting limited minutes

 

So tell me pro-Bayless crowd. If we go to JB and he underperforms, how long before the "experiment" is ended? Suppose he goes 5 games and does poorly, do we then say "Well, he needs more time." Suppose he goes 50 games and sucks ass. Do we go "Well, he just needs an off-season". Do we go three or four seasons? What happens if we draft another PG in the meantime who, crap, seems like he can actually ball! I'm not saying Bayless is a bad player but everybody's favorite player always seems to be on the bench.

Why don't we just start five new guys every night and see who do the best? Better yet, let's see if we can sign 10 NBDL guys and just rotate them through and see who performs best?

The season ain't over. Some of you would have been perfect in France in WWII, laying down on the street before the Germans were even spotted on the horizon.

 

So is your suggestion to neevr start Bayless? Continue to start Blake?

 

Blake: The forever man?

 

Well.. then we find out whether or not Bayless can play and if he fits into our plans. I think we pretty much know what we're going to get out of Blake every night but we don't know about Jerryd because he hasn't been given a chance to play consistent minutes every night.

At this point with only nine guys, it wouldn't hurt to see how much Jerryd can give us.

 

Try putting a Smiley next to it. It helps people figure out what your up to.

 

Although I agree and would love to see Bayless get major minutes it just makes too much sense to do that now. Its the perfect time to give him a shot and see what he's got. And unfortunately we are working off a coach that doesnt always do things just cuz they makes sense.

I will hope but not hold my breath. If we dont play him now I think it seal the deal on him being gone.

 

Excellent post. The only thing I'd change is:

 

Bayless has an eFG% of .357 on "jump" shots (54% of his shots are "jump" vs. 46$ close/dunk). He's .625 from "close". He clearly needs to be shooting more from "close".

http://www.82games.com/0910/09POR3.HTM

For the sake of comparison, BLANKY is at .504 (93% jump, 7% close, and Miller is at .304 (60% jump, 40% close).

The stats seem to say that Bayless should take Miller's minutes, and not BLANKY's, due to the similarities in Bayless and Miller and where they take their shots.

 

As poorly as Blake and Miller are playing, what is the downside to giving Bayless more minutes? You make it sound as if the "pro-Bayless crowd" is advocating disrupting a winning team just for the sake of their favorite player. In fact, it's hard to imagine how playing Bayless could make matters worse - and there is always the slim chance it will make things better.

 

I don't really follow that logic. Why do "similarities in game" determine who gets minutes? If we had a prime Jordan, Drexler and BLANKY, would we have Jordan take Drexler's minutes, instead of BLANKY's, because Jordan's game is more similar to Drexler's?

I think Miller is better than BLANKY, so should get more minutes. If Bayless has to take minutes from either (and I think he should, because he's shown promise and it would be nice to see what the team has in him), it should be from BLANKY. I'd rather play better players, rather than go for the contrast in play styles.

 

Neither Miller nor Bayless are putting up Drexler/Jordan numbers. I feel that BLANKY is the only outside threat this team has right now, and I don't see how having Roy, Miller, and Bayless on the court at the same time improves the team.

 

HAHAHAHAHA...Have you been watching the games this year? Blake is shooting into the sides of backboards.

In addition to the fact that a high school PG could run a fast break better than him. He doesn't play any defense and dribbles the shot clock out.

 

If a guys is obviously on a hot streak, leave him in is all I'm saying. I don't care who starts.

 

But what do you feel are his negatives?

 

Certainly true, it was merely an example to show that I think ability is more important than style of play.

I don't think I want all three on the court together. I'd rather see them in a three-guard rotation. Two of the three on the court at a time.

Also, while I'm not 100% certain it improves the team today (how Bayless will play over a stretch of games is still uncertain), I think that it's a worthwhile risk in order to both let Bayless develop and allow Portland to evaluate how much value he can bring to the team next season.