Depends on the rest of the players. Blake is adequate. The Lakers won three straight with Derek Fisher. He's no great shakes. The Heat won it with Jason Williams and the shadow of Gary Payton. Avery Johnson won a title with San Antonio. It depends on who you surround your best players with.
Bayless and Rodriguez have both played poorly in themajority of the games they've played in. Rodriguez passes better (because he's actually a point guard) so he gets more playing time. Neither are playing well. but Rodriguez is the superior passer, so he gets the playing time at point guard. If Bayless could run the point, he might get more playing time. Right...Rodriguez is the better point guard. That's why he gets the point guard minutes. If Bayless were the better point guard, he would get the minutes. No, our point guard needs to distribute the ball. (The main job of a point guard) If we needed a point guard who could play off the ball, then bayless would be playing more. But we have plenty of guys who play off the ball, so we need somebody to get them the ball. Roy is not a point guard. Blake and Rodriguez are. That's why, right now, they get the point guard minutes. If Bayless is a spot up shooter, he's a bad one. He's shooting worse than Rodriguez, who can't shoot a lick. Bayless needs to take care of the ball better and pass it better, then he'll start playing. He turns it over once every 6 minutes. Rodriguez, who turns it over a lot, turns it over once every 12 minutes. If Bayless took care of the ball better, he'd be playing point guard more. But since he's not a point guard, Rodriguez plays the point guard position. Maybe. But I don't think so, because I think Rodriguez sucks. But he's a point guard. So he gets the backup point guard minutes because we only have 2 point guards. (Blake and Rodriguez) Bayless isn't a point guard yet and may never be. We have Roy and Fernandez taking the SG minutes, so we need a point guard in the lineup with them. Unfortunately, that's Blake and Rodriguez now. I hope Bayless learns how to run the pick and roll and distribute the ball to go along with his skills at getting to the basket. But he doesn't have those skills yet. I'm a Blazers fan too. But Bayless isn't a point guard.
Bayless has barely played. Sergio has had over 2 seasons to show what he can do. Sergio passes better sometimes. He still makes mistakes. Bayless hasn't even been given a real shot at proving his passing abilities. How can you say Bayless isn't playing well? How could you possibly have enough of a sample to make that kind of assessment? Sergio has played 423 minutes this season, Bayless has only played 69 minutes (all in garbage time). Bayless got an MVP in summer league. Sergio always sucked in summer league. I think Bayless has at least EARNED a real shot, some real minutes, to show what he can do. Better point guard based on what? His passing? Point guards also score. They also rebound. They also play defense. Sergio can pass and THAT IS IT. That's just one part of what a point guard does. Haha... need a guy to play off the ball? You mean like Blake? That's exactly what Blake does. He plays off the ball. He spots up. Bayless can do that too. He can also penetrate, something that neither Sergio nor Blake can do. You're basing Bayless' distributing skills on what exactly? I don't think I've ever seen Bayless spot up. He had an open look at a three pointer last night and he passed on it. Right now he's playing tentative. If he was given some PT and some confidence, you might see what the kid can do. Bayless is a scorer. Period. Sergio is not. Again, this has more to do with the fact that Bayless has played 1/4 of the minutes Sergio has. He makes rookie mistakes. It's not like he's making bad passes (like sergio), he's doing rookie things like traveling with the ball. Those types of mistakes fade away as he gets more PT. You keep saying "he's not a point guard" and I think your definition of a "point guard" is funny. How many point guards in the NBA today are excellent passers? A point guard doesn't just pass the ball. Your reasoning is faulty.
Completely agree with the bolded part; Bayless is probably still quite a distance from being able to challenge for the starting spot, but in fits and flashes you see what he's capable of on the court. The fact that he seems more comfortable on defense than offense is actually encouraging to me, since I have little doubt that given a chance to contribute within the flow of a game IN TIME he's got a great shot to fill a glaring need for this team, that being slashing and perimeter defense, while also providing at least passable play-making. Having said all that and despite being chairperson of the "Free B-Rex" foundation, I'm perfectly happy with the coaches decision to put him in when they feel he's ready, my money is on him getting progressively more burn starting in January when we start digging deeper into the "creampuff" part of our schedule, reducing some of the pressure and widening the margin of error for mistakes.
That's funny smartass. Read every post I've ever made. I have NEVER assumed I know more than anyone who works at the game of basketball for a living. If Bayless were better than Rodriguez, Bayless would be playing. Because that decision is made by basketball people, not by idiot fans who bitch and moan because their favorite player isn't playing. My argument is actually that NONE of us knows as much as the coaching staff, who seems to have decided that Bayless isn't a point guard (yet) and that Rodriguez is.
The bottom line is: if Bayless was a better backup point guard option than Rodriguez, Bayless would be playing. Nate McMillan has shown that he will play a rookie if that rookie is the best option. (And possibly even if they're NOT the best option.)
So what? That doesn't change the fact that you're assuming that I think I know more than the people in charge of the franchise, which is dead wrong. Evidently McMillan and Pritchard don't think that Bayless is the best option at backup PG...yet. I'm simply citing reasons why they may be right. (Bayless can't pass as well as Rodriguez, turns it over a lot more and hasn't shot very well either.) None of this is about me. It's about Bayless and the fact that he's not a point guard yet.
Because Sergio is playing more than Bayless right now means jack shit. We don't know whats going on behind the scenes, what if KP is showcasing Sergio?
I've thought this ever since Sergio's spanish agent said he wanted a trade. Voila' two days later he goes from DNP to fifteen minutes a game.
i think most of the dislike towards sergio comes from the fact he's not consistent. and that is a legit gripe, that and his lack of finishing at the rim. other than that i think he's played very welll this season and has been respectable from 3 and at the FT line. i agree he'd flourish under a different system, away from nates style. i hope he's still on this team after nate is gone but something tells me he's gone. i just don't understand the bayless love. he's done nothing to prove that he's a PG, here, at UA or in his youtube AAU clips that get used as evidence of his "greatness." could he be great? sure. will he be great? who the hell knows. i still think blake is the one gone and bayless takes over next to Roy, which is where he fits best.
he's improved greatly on defense it's just most people don't pay attention to that side of the ball. they watch the ball and not what's going on within the offense. i'd say he's at least as good as blake and still improving. as for the 3's i read somewhere he has at least 4 3/4 court heaves already this year. you take those out of the mix and he's shooting 37.5%. not great but respectable. toss in his 2.8/1 Asst ratio and i think he deserves every minute of playing time he's gotten.
so you're ok with blakes ole d? how about TO not finding his man in the corner? hell you could talk about our entire teams perimeter d at this point.
I don't like Blake's d either much this year, but I do think Blake plays better defense than Sergio. And Outlaw needs to play backup PF
Sure, with both, or either one. I see no reason to doubt it. With proper coaching winning the title with this group this year is do-able. As we saw in 1978, it's really mostly about which team is unified in their goal and unwilling to be denied. These guys are becoming that close, and the one thing we still need is for a player to be threatened and teammates responding to his situation forcibly, like Luke with Dawkins, and then they'll be ready. Were Hollins, Twardzik, Davis, Steele and Gilliam better than Steve, Roy, Sergio, Rudy and Bayless? “Before we played a game, I realized that we had the makings of something very special. We had exactly the right mix to win.” - Dr. Jack Ramsay Bake it!
Or 1977. I think we saw something else in 78. Did Nate have the same feeling at the start of this year? For that matter, did Dr. Jack, or was he just bullshitting? barfo
