John Hollinger talks Blazers at the 9:15 mark http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/archive?id=3634017
Hard to argue with any of his conclusions ... It will be very hard to count on Oden staying healthy -- not so much that it's impossible, but he doesn't have a great track record so far -- I also thought his comments about Bayless were probably pretty spot on; I still struggle seeing Jerryd as an everyday starter, the off-the-bench 'microwave' guy really does seem like where he's headed.
I have 2 words about Bayless. Sample Size. The dude is still getting jerked around on playing time, and until that ends, I don't expect consistency. Once his playing time environment is normalized, than I expect to see what he really can do.
Sure, but I'm just talking about the way he plays. That kind of unbridled energy and fist pumping stuff is pretty "odd" in a starting point guard ... he may eventually be just fine as a starter, I'm just saying his mentality right now is definitely "energizer bunny" which is ideal for a sixth man.
I don't agree, the one constant you always want from your starters is that their motor is running. That is half the problem in the Blazers lineups these days. Half the guys on the starting lineup you don't know if there motor is running from night to night. When your players do not play consistently, you get inconsistent results. When I watch Paul, Deron Williams, or guys like Rhondo, they are all very demonstrative, very emotional, and all of them, are very successful.
Bah- he's just excited to get the chance to play in McMillans flawed playing time system. I agree with giving him more minutes to see how consistent he gets; I assume he'll be our starter next year.
There's a difference between being demonstrative and looking like you want to throw your head through a plate glass window. I'm sold on giving Bayless PT, don't get me wrong. But his "energy" is best served coming off the bench as a spark right now. He's not ready to be a starting PG mentally or physically. Playing PG is kind of like being a catcher in baseball. You can be 0-4 with 4 strikeouts at the plate, but you still have to call a game behind the dish and help your pitching staff get outs. Let's let Bayless have some success getting his own offense rolling before we ask him to lead the team.
This!! It doesn't mean he sucks or he's no good, to say he's not starter material right now. I'm very excited about Jerryd's ability to kick this team in the ass when he comes in for 20 or so minutes a night, but he's still got a long ways to go before you'd say he has know-how or understands time-score, or how best to setup his teammates. At present I think he's a great prospect and has shown a lot of growth in a single year, but this is still a pretty unpolished player we're talking about here in terms of his understanding of the pro game. The potential is there, but I'd say it's a fifty-fifty proposition at this point that he becomes a full-time starter on this team.
