I'll stick with Blake for now. Everyone was overwhelmed tonight, and I think it'll be a much better game on Friday. But eventually Blake will make a good backup PG, much like Joel is at C. It's a job that Jerryd should be groomed into eventually.
I don't want just fine. Bayless can be much more than that. Might as well hand him the keys to develop.
Keeping somewhat with the current philosophy, I would start Blake/Roy (Roy as PG) and Rudy/Bayless (Rudy as PG) in the second unit. When Bayless gets better, you can swap places with Blake or go to a three guard rotation. My top PGs Rudy (can push it or run the half court, great vision, good handle) Roy Blake Sergio/Bayless (but Bayless gets my vote because he does non-PG things much better than Sergio)
I know that there are a lot of Bayless isn't a PG guy but I would start Bayless or Rudy with Roy. If Bayless would have started last night he wouldn't have been scared or tentative. I think he might of made a lot of mistakes but he would have taken it right at the Lakers. I want Bayless to learn to be a true PG but I still want him to keep his aggressive style.
To me, one real benefit of having Bayless start is that he is capable of pushing the ball. Now, he doesn't always wait for his teammates to run with him, but he does push it. Roy seems absolutely incapable of pushing the ball. If Bayless did start, and Aldridge and Batum/Outlaw got used to playing with him, maybe Bayless would have some running mates (if he rewards the big men for running the court.
The biggest problem I have with Blake is that he can't finish. When the offense sputters, the PG should be able to go into scoring mode and take it to the rack to try to create or score. Blake is just a stable force that you know what he's going to give you, he knows his limitations, and he's not going to take many chances. That's a Nate type PG, but sometimes it would be nice if he would drive the lane.
I give the lone vote to Sergio because I dream of a running game. I know it won't happen with McMillan but I'll keep wishing for the day we see more fast break points than our opponents. I don't want to hear about Sergios defense...from what I can tell...we have no perimeter defense.
Bayless without a doubt. He'll have rookie issues, like getting more than his share of fouls called against him, but he's probably the most athletic of the Blazers' guards. I loved how he took it to the rim against Kobe and bodied him perfectly to get his shot to go.
I voted no one based on last night's game ... but one game against the Western Conference Champs (and the likely prohibitive favorite to win it all this year) is hardly a reasonable sample to make a determination. Long term I think Bayless will do a couple of things that I really like and most of it starts with his fearlessness, ability to drive into the lane and decent defense ... but he's still going to be a liability as a setup man, in the short term.
