Rudy's shot is very streaky. If it's on, he's nailing five in a row. If it's off, he's missing five in a row. If you pulled Rudy after 10-15 minutes today, you'd probably be looking at 1/5 shooting and a couple of assists, which are, Bayless numbers. Bayless is good at getting to the rim, and he can get into the lane a lot. The problem is, like Nik said, he's missing layups. That won't happen forever.
Or he might have gone 4/5 or 5/5... which Bayless has not been able to do anything approaching just yet. I agree. When Webster gets back and when Roy is healthy, though, there's simply no reason to keep throwing him out there until he starts making them. Ed O.
I'm mostly talking about their roles for the season, and I'd be much more inclined to believe that he'd be around 1/5 if he's had the same number of DNPs and random meaningless minutes that Bayless has been getting through out the season. Well, I can't help him make Layups, but he was hitting them throughout highschool, college, the summer league etc. I believe it's more of a mental issue.
This is one of the best draft classes out of the gate, and I have no doubt that Bayless will be one of the greats. Westbrook is starting to shine in OKC and he has been getting steady minutes for over a month now Eric Gordon is starting for LAC and had 31 today. DJ Augustin has had some crazy good games and is getting consistent run. These players were all in the same draft range as Bayless. The one thing they have in common? Playing time. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'd rather take a few more losses with Bayless getting the majority of run over our other point guards than win a few extra. We need him to get his feet wet this year, so he is ready to go when we are making deep playoff runs.
...nothing because his sample size is only 100 minutes. If you use 100 minutes to decide on players, you should give him a hundred more and see what changes. He's only taken 31 shots. This is like talking about how Outlaw's 3 point percentage was like 70% at the beginning of the year. His dropped, just like Bayless' shooting percentages should improve as he gets used to the NBA. You know he's still gotta be nervous.
I still have high hopes for Jerryd. We have barely seen anything of him to make an assumption about what kind of player he'll be. I would hate to give up on a 19-20 year old who was projected as a top-five pick after barely half a season, and who hasn't played squat.
It hasn't helped that Bayless hasn't really had any meaningful minutes before Roy got hurt. Now that he's been forced into the lineup, he doesn't look comfortable out there. He doesn't know his role and is busy trying to fit his game around the players around him. He doesn't know when to shoot and is mainly trying to pass since he doesn't want to disrupt the offense. But you can tell when he wants to get to the rim, he can do it with ease. That is a major skill that we need with this team. Once Nate gives him the green light to make it happen, we'll see a more comfortable Bayless. Will he get that chance in the next 2 or 3 games before Roy comes back? Probably not, so we'll just have to remember that he's only a rookie (for those that expect too much and for those that are busy trying to bash him).
I said it with Jack last year, who I wanted to keep, and will say it with Bayless. I can live with mistakes if they are mistakes from effort. If a guy is trying to make something happen when nobody else is, and he makes a mistake, then that's acceptable in my eyes, because it shows they are trying, adn those mistakes tend to go away as a player improves, and becomes more comfortable. Everyone looks at Blake and points out the low TO #s, and hwo steady he is, but from watching him, it seems to come from a lack of effort, for the most part. A guy who generally dribbles no further than the 3 point line isn't going to make mistakes. I would take moer TOs, and more effort out of our PG than picking up your dribble at the FT line consistently, but being "steady".
I see your point and agree with it mostly, but there is always something to be said for protecting possessions ... kind of like Brandon, then again Brandon is a pretty special player.
Bayless really needs a consistent jumper if he's going to be effective using his primary skill (driving to the hoop). Without a J, teams will just sag off and won't let him anywhere near the rim. Happened to Sergio, but he's worked hard to improve his shot. Unfortunately, Bayless isn't going to become a better shooter until he changes that gawd-awful form.
His defense is adequate? His defense is better than any other guard on the team not excluding Roy. Period. He fights through screens, no other guards do. He gets up in players jocks. Adequate? So he supposedly can't handle the ball. Ok I guess we are watching a different game. He is able to handle the ball in traffic, and get to the rim. He hasn't made his shots so far, but he has also been very reluctant to shoot, which he should not be. He is trying not to step on any toes. He needs to stop doing that and he will be fine. What I think you need to do, is differentiate between a Blazer loss, and player progression. You pick out Bayless to burn on, but I see Rudy and Blake go 4 for 19 at one point. A majority of them 3's, missed. Was his game any worse? Or did they just get minutes? At least he played defense while he was in.
I don't remember who said it, but I'm going to borrow it from now on: "I refuse to criticize any rookie who isn't old enough to drink."
