The Sergio and Bayless on the court at the same time experiment must END!!!!!! They are tragic, one or the other but not both. No ball movement and tons of confusion! I think the reason Sergio has played better this year is cause he knows how to get the ball to Rudy, he didn't have that last year. That said once Rudy went out for yesterdays game, Sergio went into the trash can. What I get from this is Sergio is only as good as Rudy. Bayless needs to strengthen his legs, he's shooting from his arms, that was clear last night. He'll get that though. The other thing is he needs to stop over thinking the PG position. Much like how Oden looks, he too seems like he's trying to conform rather than play. I think if Rudy doesn't play tonight, Sergio will lose the ability to start very quickly. Sergio has yet to master the shot clock, and his defense and shooting are non existent. If Rudy's not there for back door dunk passes, his game is very average, almost D league. I will say that the games upcoming are easy ones for a new PG to emerge. These are easy east coast teams, last night they should have killed the 76's. NO EXCUSE!!! We'll see tonight.
I'm a Sergio fan. I like his game -- at least I will once he develops a good outside shot. I never drunk the Bayless Kool-Aid that was being passed around before and early in the season and I've rarely been impressed with his play on the court, in the limited action he's gotten. Having said that: I would start Bayless. Glue him to Harris and make him work. Bayless can't run the offense -- so let Roy do it. That was the idea anyway, right? Bring Sergio in as the backup and give him more actual minutes than Bayless -- unless Bayless is really earning it on the court. I seem to give the young players a lot more leeway to develop than most fans are willing to do. I can easily imagine Bayless becoming a starting quality guard for us. He's young. Give him time. Sergio is still young. Give him time. Or maybe just trade Sergio to a team that fits his style better -- because Nate's team ain't it.
I'm with you for the most part, but if you replace the word "Rudy" with the phrase "a cutter who knows how to score near the rim", I agree with almost every letter. Yes, if you have a dynamic passing PG who runs an "offense" that is predicated upon standing around, waiting for an iso and then kicking to a 3pt shooter, you're going to have issues. I wish Sergio would pick up that extra foot or two of range on his jumper...he's money from the corners, but sucks from deeper than that (kind of like Outlaw last year). Travis improved some, maybe Sergio can too. Bayless should start, and it's not close. He's been practicing exclusively with Roy and the starters all year. Sergio's been with Rudy and the White Team all year. Mixing and matching has not worked for us. Define roles, and keep them. Bayless and Sergio have both said that they don't care who starts, as long as they get minutes. I believe them. Start Bayless on the Batum "15 minutes at the start of the halves" plan, and play him more if he's playing well. Bring Sergio in in his defined spots, and then see at the end who needs to be on the floor.
They haven't given a projection, and I'm not a doc, but Grade I separations (especially to a shooting/throwing shoulder) generally take 3-6 weeks to be back
Well, it's not really going to be a "versus" thing since we are now officially paper thin at the guard spots; both players will be receiving essentially what amounts to battlefield promotions and both are going to need to step up big with both Rudy and Blake (and Martell, sheesh) on the shelf ... not too mention Brandon still doesn't look 100% right. I think Bayless is still pretty green and Sergio is in a definite funk compared to his play earlier in the year (when I was actually pleased to see the improvements he'd made to his game.) Maybe Nate can suit up for a night and show these guys how it's done?
I'm 6'1, 23 years old, and while not exactly "athletic", can get up on the rim. I'm a good outside shooter and excellent passer, but my ability to finish in the lane is weak and my ball handling is below average. I last played for a college team in Europe. Maybe the Blazers should sign and start me as a short term stop-gap. I would be the sprinkles on top of the cake!
This is Bayless time. Get his feet wet now before our stars are in their primes. He is very solid defensively and when he gets consistent minutes he will produce, (see, Detroit and Chicago). I think those games showed the player he will become. Let him get into a rhythm and he will hit that jumper, and he already attacks the hoop at will. If this kid is truly our future, let it shine, let shine. Just like with Roy being out, if we can sustain the storm with Blake out AND Jerryd improves, that makes us that much more tougher during the stretch run.
Hehe. By your way of thinking, and with your loose requirements for "proving oneself in limited minutes", Shavlik Randolph locked up the backup PF position last night. He most certainly had a more solid game than Bayless has had to date.
Ok there you go again. Comparing a PF to a guard, and on top of it, refusing to aknowledge Bayless effort to bring the Blazers back into games, like against Detroit. To say Shavlicks game was better than Bayless effort against Detroit is to deny reality. I will admit Bayless shooting has not been great so far. But you stetch it as far as you can because you don't like the guy, and that is easy to call bullshit on.
if blake is out a week....we will be lucky to win a game if blake is out 3-6 weeks....seasons over with no trade
Nonsense, I love Bayless. What I don't like is people claiming he has accomplished something he hasn't, and setting him up for failure. He'll be a good SG in a few years, but he's as green as I've seen and definitely not close to being ready to be the saviour some of you think he is. He's shooting .246 for the season and can't defend a fence post. All he's shown so far is he's not afraid to drive against 3 defenders and get clobbered for it. Lots of potential, AFTER he learns the game.
does anyone really believe sergio and bayless can fill in for blake? show me our record this time next week and we will continue
I agree that Bayless hasn't shown that he deserves PT at all, and really shouldn't be gettin' that much PT unless its due to injuries right now. But Sergio hasn't earned these minutes. He simply is not very good, and pouted his way up from 5mpg to 10-15mpg. Now if I had to chose between Bayless and Sergio for the backup PG spot for 10mpg, i'd pick Jerryd. I actually think Jerryd is the better player for us. And due to Blake's injury (and Rudy's... who i'd start w/ Roy in the backcourt over Jerryd and Sergio), I think that Bayless is probably the best choice for the starters role, but its up in the air and I think it can go both ways. I just like Jerryd's D a little better (honestly, his D isn't as good as advertised) and we will need it on Harris. If it sounds like I'm being hard on Bayless, I am. I'm still frustrated w/ last nights game, and Bayless was simply terrible in my eyes... at least on the offensive end (and his fouls on the Defensive end). But he will get better, and I haven't given up on him. Kinda like how you act that Sergio has accomplished something?
On the contrary, I feel Jerryd has definitely shown that he deserves PT. His play during the summer earned him a shot this season, at the very least, simply because we need to know whether he can do that at the highest level. So far his play has been underwhelming, but that's to be expected from a rookie point guard. We either value winning, in which case you bench Bayless until he gains more experience, OR we value the future and we let him play through his inexperience. If the mantra for the season is "bake it", then wins this season should be secondary to getting guys like Bayless up to speed.
