I don't know if he is now, but I said a couple of weeks ago that I thought he would be by the end of the year. I like Bayless. I could care less which one wins the job. But you can see from summer league that Johnson is a more natural PG. If he is hitting his outside shot with any consistency in practice then I can see him moving up because he seems to do everything else well. I don't see it as being a Nate guy because in a lot ways Bayless is a "Nate" guy too. This is not about Nate. Personally until I hear someone else say it besides Jay I am not buying it. It seems too soon. Now if Wheels or MB say it then that is a different story. They may be Homers, but they know more than anyone else in the media about the Blazers.
How about this lineup for the upcoming game: Starters: Miller, Roy, Rudy, Batum, LMA Bench: Armon, Bayless, Wesley (when he returns), Babbitt, Dante I think until the Centers come back, there could be room for both of them, with Johnson as the backup 1 and Bayless as the backup 2. When the Centers, and especially Oden, come back - December, according to this report... - I, and it's just my opinion, would move Miller to backup 1 and Armon, along with Babbitt, to the Dante/Pendergraph role of last year. That seems to me like it makes the most sense right now but until then, players could prove themselves and things could change.
Camby will be back in the lineup opening night by all accounts, and regardless of whatever inroads Johnson might be making, I just don't see any way in hell Bayless loses his backup point guard minutes before opening night.
When Camby returns, I'd move Babbitt to the end of the bench, Dante to backup PF and use Camby where he should be used all season long - backup Center. When everyone's healthy, I see us having 11 rotation players (not counting Armon or Babbitt, counting Dante): Miller, Roy, Rudy, Batum, LMA, Oden, Bayless, Wesley, Dante, Joel, Camby. I think all our Centers should play relatively few minutes (Oden plays every other game?) in order to keep them fresh and healthy for the playoffs and I can see how Armon could also get some minutes being our only "real" PG behind Andre.
Well, if you notice, from Miller to Oden on my list there are 6 players + I listed a full 2nd unit + Armon and Babbitt to add playmaking and shooting or cover for a player that's injured. So, I'm guessing after last year, we're maybe more prepared to missing some players due to injuries. Hopefuly being prepared will provide good karma and nobody gets sidelined for too long.
What part of "(in the imaginary world) when everyone's healthy" did you not understand? Was it the part in parentheses? barfo
He plays like Nate wants. Jerryd has more talent in his little finger than Johnson does, but Nate wants "his" type of player there
And that wasn't very good. Bayless looked a lot better in that game than Johnson, in fact he was one of the few Blazers who seemed OK.
IF Greg isn't back before Christmas, and MIXUM cites where he got the information that Greg wouldn't be back before then, I'll be happy to apologize. Just because he constantly takes the most gloomy position on anything Blazers doesn't make him some kind of guru when he's occasionally right. Go Blazers
Guys moving into the rotation to fill in for injured guys is not the same as a running 11 players in a game.
