That's because last year he was asked to put his head down and score the basketball. He's being asked play a completely different role this year, so of course he isn't going to look as good. That's why Summer League is about improving and not about judging how good a player projects in the league.
He's horrendous as a PG. How much of a sample size do people need to see to understand this? I have a bad feeling we'll string him along like TO for 6 seasons before we realize he's a poor fit. For all the fans that say Summer League means nothing, I wish the Blazer management felt the same. Bayless is still coasting off of last year's MVP performance in their eyes.
More than the first three games he's been asked to do it, professionally. Using the term "sample size" in what you say doesn't suddenly add legitimacy to your knee-jerk reactions.
Minstrel already addressed this, he's going to look bad when he's adjusting. And the sample size you're using is 3 summer league games? Well I'm glad you can peer into the minds of Kevin Pritchard and co. Maybe you could tell us their next move?
It would only make sense for someone who would waive Outlaw to jump to conclusions about Bayless' defensive abilities.
Seems like Bayless is taking the brunt of a frustrating summer so far. Everyone knows he's good, you can't deny his athletic abilities. There's still way too much potential there to write off B-Rex this early. He's trying to learn a whole new style of play that doesn't really suit his talents. Come regular season, I strongly believe that he'll be allowed to play more his way. His biggest obstacle is a mental one. So far this summer I've seen him barking orders at teammates, telling guys where they need to be, etc. He needs to bring that over to the regular season. Point guards are leaders and, with his work ethic and attitude, I can see him potentially filling a leadership role on this team in the years ahead. The jury is really still out on him, but come on... it's only summer league!
Wow. You and everyone else is way overreacting. Summer league is like playing at the park compared to the NBA, it's all one on one flashy stuff that has nothing to do with team defense. If you haven't heard Bayless is trying a different approach this year and that is to practice like they want him to play, as an NBA point guard, opposite of what he did last summer. I think he's well on his way. .
Because one has to agree on your player valuation in order to have an opinion on another player's defensive prowess?
now look at all the people coming over to the right side! I was all bye myself just a few days ago saying how bayless will never fit in here. Looks like I got company! PACKAGE HIM NOW
I actualy saw Batum doing some very good things last year in SL. Much more than I see in Bayless this year at his assigned position. Bayless just does not have the instincts to be a good passer. Almost all the passes he made last night were to the wing or to advance the ball up the court. He never made a pass from one of his drives that I recall to a big inside. He can score but he will never be a good passing PG in my mind. Just my opinion.
Bayless doesn't look good in either environment is the main problem. He doesn't have the instincts of a PG and he looks worse than last year when he goes into slashing/scoring mode. His lack of progress should set off alarms for the Blazers staff.
I agree. I've seen Bayless drive and dish a FEW times this summer, and he did throw a nice lob in Game 1. But all in all he just doesn't get the ball to guys in scoring position very well. Granted, if his teammates were knocking down perimeter shots than he'd have a few more assists. Still, how impressive is 7-8 assists if half of them are just passes out on the wing where a guy drains a jumper? I'll say this - Bayless hasn't had many "cheap assists" this summer. When I watch him, I'm thinking that he's decided what he's going to do before he does it. Some possessions I just know he's going to go to the basket and get a shot up no matter what. Other times I can tell he's going to shoot a jumper. And yet other times I can tell when he wants to pass. Almost everything he does seems premeditated rather than reactionary to what the defense is giving him. To those who want to give the guy time to "acclimate" to being a true PG . . . I get that. He's always had a scorers mentality and that is hard to change. I'd be more willing to give him time to work through this if we weren't coming off a 54 win season. I hope he improves by October, although I'm certain he's going to be majorly up/down next season.
He's not having a good summer league but he's still very young and while I wish he were dominating as he did last summer, except as a distributor rather than a scorer, I'm not concerned that he's not. I don't think that it's very easy to determine how effective a defender guys are in the best of circumstances, and this summer league environment is far from that... I don't know that Bayless is a GOOD defender, but I won't take SL as an indication that he's less than average. Ed O.
I'm not going to judge Bayless based on this year's summer league, period. His team is simply atrocious. Having said that, I am still waiting for Bayless to show me ANYTHING, and that includes his stints last year when Blake was out. I remain a bit skeptical, but hopeful, he can be productive for us as a backup PG. He appears to me to be a short shooting guard, and his defense last season was, imo, overrated.
We should come up with some "myths" we Blazer fans have. I'll start! 1. Blake is a crappy PG 2. Blake is a good PG 3. We can't win a title with Blake. 4. Hedo is a great signing! WTG KP! 5. Hedo is a bitch! FUCK YOU KP! 6. We didn't go to the moon! 7. There's silver and gold at the bottom of the tra...oops, wrong thread. 8. This team needed to make changes! 9. This team didn't improve! 10. Every other team improved in the western conference! anymore?
Why does Bayless need to be this great passing PG? Aren't they giving him Sergio's minutes. Many teams have point guards who have a scoring first way of playing. I think the point that Batum looked bad last summer and ended up starting most of the year tells you all you need to know. The team wants him to improve his passing and assist numbers. It takes more then one player to get a assist and this team isn't full of players who can hit a open shot.
It's ok to pass final judgement on a player that cannot yet legally gamble or drink after these summer league games.
I stand by my description of Bayless as a pint-sized Corey Maggette. Re: the Batum comments. There are players who ONLY look good in Summer League. Anthony Morrow, for example. These are the guys that hog the ball and can dominate the crappy competition, but do not play in a team concept and wouldn't work with good teammates. Then there are players who look worse in Summer League than they would in the real games, because they are excellent complementary players but are expected to do more against the crappy competition. Or they're playing with one of the first kinds of players and never get the ball. Batum was one of these. I'm not too worried about Pendergraph's so-so numbers because I believe he is also one of these. I'm hoping that Cunningham is not one of the former, and I'm pretty sure he isn't because he isn't a "ball-stopper" and he plays defense and moves without the ball. Which kind of player is Bayless? This year was his chance to prove he wasn't the first kind.
