People asked that a lot about Jarrett Jack last year. Turns out we were showcasing him for a trade. I assume that in this game, as with the last couple, Nate wanted him to play more PT against scrubs so he could get his confidence back. Good development move, I thought.
You can't prove we were just showcasing him. You can't, end of story. To me, it looks like Sergio is the one who needs his confidence back after the thrashing Paul gave him. Plus, we all (except maybe you) know that Sergio has a very delicate personality. If coach doesn't have confidence in him (which he didn't), then Sergio loses confidence in himself and plays a lot worse.
I think we're showcasing Sergio. It's pretty obvious with him starting. I'm glad you got a laugh out of it. That just tells me you agree.
If putting in Bayless to lead the team back from the HUGE deficit created when Sergio was in the game is "showcasing", then that was one hell of a showcase for Bayless. The starters, including Sergio, dug a huge hole and the bench, especially Bayless, saved their bacon. So, I suppose Sergio is in on the "showcasing" of Bayless. I can't imagine any other possible reason he played so much worse than Bayless last night. It had to be intentional. That Sergio, what a cagey vet. Can't outplay the rookie, so make him look spectacular by comparision and hope he gets traded so you don't end up on the end of the bench next to Shavlik when Blake comes back. Risky, but if it gets Bayless traded, Sergio just might be able to hold onto the back-up PG spot a while longer. BNM
MARIS simply values something different from most of the rest of us (and GMs, in my opinion). He may believe that what he values (aesthetic appeal and certain forms of the game) leads to winning. Many of the rest of us may not. But on this issue, it really resembles people with completely different foundational beliefs interacting. It's like a human and an alien conversing about art. (Not to imply who the alien and who the human is, in this case, nor even whether it is better to be the human or the alien.)
I shouldn't even bother getting in between all of you and Maris, but Bayless and the bench wasn't saving us from an ass whopping till cp3 left the game.
It's funny how often a poster who is claiming that everyone feels one way isn't speaking for me. STOMP
Funny nobody but you and I noticed that, or at least remember that. http://www.nba.com/games/20090202/PORNOH/playbyplay.html Here are the score changes between teams for Sergio's stints and Bayless's stints: Sergio = 1st stint -1 Bayless = 1st stint -7 Sergio = 2nd stint 0 Bayless = 2nd stint -1 2nd half Blazers down by 9, 39-48 Sergio = 3rd stint -4 Roy/Rudy (no Sergio/Bayless) = -3 Bayless = 3rd stint -3 Paul goes down with the score at 55-72, a 17 pt lead. Bayless stint after Paul leaves = +25 Summary: Sergio's squad vs Paul = -5 Bayless's squad vs Paul = -11 Bayless's squad vs Daniels = +25 The bench, NOT the starting unit, was clearly responsible for most of the hole we were in, and Paul's absence was responsible for our turnaround. This demonstrates why the Bayless euphoria is merely fans fool's gold. He has yet to perform even okay against a quality PG, and in fact has struggled more than I first expected he would.
