Again not true. I don't think Mayo, Westbrook, Gordon or Agustine are better then Bayless. They have been just given more PT and on worse teams that need their scoring. I heard Bayless shot the lights out in the Seattle workout and they really wanted him. Westbrook came in and also had a great workout and they just thought longterm Westbrook might have better PG skills which isn't going to be the case. We will have to wait and see but don't giveup on Bayless and watch him develop into a starting PG on our championship team. He is going to get a star!
it turns out all of those players are (or were before they got hurt) starting for bad teams and have played 4x the minutes bayless has so far. sample size too small. and other than westbrook none of them (including rose) have looked nearly as good on defense as bayless has in his short PT.
One of the reasons I recall reading about was that while guys like Westbrook, Gordon, Augustin were going around to basically ever team with a lottery pick and doing every workout they could schedule, Bayless and his agent took it pretty easy, only doing individual evaluations with a few select teams like the Sonics/TWolves/Grizz/Knicks. There was a rumor made about him sort of resting on his resume and not wanting to be 'shown up' in a group workout with a guy like Westbrook. So once those teams that had seen his individual workouts had made their selections, and not picked Jerryd, the teams immediately after just hadn't seen enough of him to pull the trigger on selecting a guy they hadn't worked out as opposed to some of the guys that came in and impressed during the workout phase (like a Joe Alexander). I'm just glad KP got him, as soon as I saw him go at #11 to the Pacers, I just knew something was up and that somehow he was going to be in a Blazer uniform.
Hmmm. How many of the guys you list who play "better" than Bayless play on competative teams? You are comparing guys who get massive minutes while playing for four of the bottom seven teams in the league, to a younger guard, who plays on a winning team. Seriously? There is now way to know how Bayless would have done playing for OKC, but I'm sure he would have bigger numbers than he has had so far. Time will tell where Bayless fits in this list (which is much tighter from top to bottom than you imply), and that time is not now. Anyone who thinks Rose is a PG and Bayless is not should do the research and check out the statistics from their first five games last year in college. At that time, both Bayless and Rose were actual PGs on their respective teams. After that, Bayless was moved over to SG. When you do the research, let me know what you find. The answer may surprise you (I've already done the work).
2. I just don't buy that there's something inherent stopping these type of players from being an adequate "point guard." If they did everything the coaches wanted, they couldn't feed the ball into the post? Pass it to a shooter running off a screen? Drive and dish? 3. Players like winning. Period. I guess my problem is with people who act like setting someone else up for an easy score is better than creating a good shot for yourself. There's different ways to score, and one isn't necessarily more efficient than another, it all depends on the player's skillset. Put out 5 players with meshing skillsets, regardless of "position" and you've got yourself a good team.
Bayless strikes me as a stronger, slightly more athletic version of Devin Harris with a shorter wingspan - so I expect him to be about as good on offense and a little worse on defense when all is said and done - especially since it seems that he has the mentality to never back-down and will work like crazy to become as good as he can be (which is not always something you will get). Not a bad proposition at all. The thing is - that Bayless seems like a perfect guy to play next to Roy on this team - he can play some PG, he can guard the opposing PG and he gets to the line at amazing rate - he gets about twice as many FTA per minute as Mayo and 60% more than Gordon (who is built like someone that should be going into the lane all the time). This is a great asset that is clearly missing from this team.
What? Maris hasn't posted that he slid because Sergio is so great yet? WTF is wrong with this thread.
Actually if you have listened to most of the courtside shows this season, I would say Rice has been way out in front of the Bayless "surge" he loves his hustle and passion and his A++ work ethic -- not surprising since the Wild One used to be a coach. As for why his stock dropped, it was a very guard heavy lottery this year and there are/were legitimate concerns about his ability to be plugged in and run the point right away (if ever) it probably didn't help that he got saddled with being played at the two when he got moved there to fill in for their injured shooting guard his lone year at U of A, also with Lute out of the picture I wonder if his development didn't suffer because of it (getting bounced out of the tournament early probably didn't help much either). I still think Jerryd has a lot of work to do before you can say that he is going to be comfortable running the point as a starter and I see many more bumps in the road, but there's no denying he has elite athleticism, oozes confidence and swagger, already has an elite ability to finish or draw a foul and probably has the self awareness to honestly critique his weaknesses and enough determination to make himself better.
Everyone assumed he was a top-4 pick, and the Heat were considering him at #2. He didn't work out for most of the teams underneath. Given how most of those lottery players have played this season, it is hard to knock any of the teams for the players they took (except maybe Milwaukee with Alexander). Sacramento probably would have taken him at 12, which is why we made the Indiana trade. I was ecstatic to see that trade. When I saw where he went, I assumed we might have had a trade (due to them just acquiring TJ Ford). Remember, Bayless was pick #11,not pick #13.
Bayless is gettin' 11, 3 and 2 on a winning team with great scoring options in 22mpg. If he was on OKC, NY, Memphis, LAC (with their injuries right now) I think he would be gettin' around 16 4 and 3 as a rookie if he was gettin' around 30mpg and the ball more. One of the guards were going to slide (Westbrook, Augestin, Gordon or Bayless) and KP was waiting to see which one it was going to be, and before the draft he had a good idea that it was going to be Bayless (apparent when he asked Barrett what he thought of Bayless right before the draft) and he snatched him up. I think KP wanted Westbrook the most, but he said he had Bayless rated #4 overall. He could have gone... 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 or 13, but we ended up striking a deal to get him at 11 because he wasn't going to last past 12. Also, I have a question. Rasta, are you "meru" from BBF?
Don't tell me you're going to be MY stalker now? I'm not worthy. What I don't get is why people want Bayless to be a PG. I guess it sort of follows from his greatness: Bayless is great, but we have Roy and Rudy at SG, so therefore Bayless must be a PG. Now, he could play the "PG role" on a Phil Jackson-coached team, because if Ron Harper and Steve Kerr can... (But even then, I think PJ would be pulling him pretty quickly for not moving the ball enough.) But could he play the PG role on a D'Antoni team? Not in a million years. Could he replace Chris Paul? He'd be little better than Antonio Daniels. His talent is scoring. He's good at that. He is below average (or if not, has been giving a very good impression of being) at "seeing the floor". It just doesn't appear to be in his nature. I just don't understand why people can't see that when they watch him play. Are these the same people who complained about Jarrett Jack? Because, remember, Bayless is Jarrett Jack on steroids. Haven't you guys played pickup ball with a guy like Bayless? It's horrible! Your team might win, but you might just as well be a spectator. (And that's only if there aren't better scorers on the other team, and there will be when it comes to Bayless.) Let him be what he is: scoring punch off the bench. He's good at that. It's a good thing to have. But if he's our starting PG, then we're in trouble. He couldn't even do that in Summer League.
Nope your 100% wrong IMO and we will just have to wait and see who is right. Maybe it is you that can't see what PG skills Bayless has and not most other people that can. Like I already said he is our starting PG of the future. I wouldn't even be surpised if he is starting for us in the playoffs this year and doing well.
Question: Do you think Rose is a PG? Request: Really do compare their freshman stats. Rose had about 3 assists/game. Bayless had about 6 (as a PG). That doesn't tell the whole story, but I don't think any of the players in that draft are pure PGs, but many are still PGs. Augustin is probably the only one on the list that is close to a "pure" PG. It is really unfair to call Rose, Westbrook or Gordon PGs, and not put Bayless in the same list.
Hard to stalk someone when they're blocked, wouldn't you say? By your definition of a shooting guard, we currently have Roy, Rudy, Bayless and Blake on our team. We only have one "point guard" and that's Sergio. If HE'S our starting point guard, we're in trouble. Isn't Antonio Daniels the guy he torched? Do you realize how many players are on Chris Paul's level? I haven't seen a point guard like Paul in years. He's on the same level as Stockton, Magic, and Kidd. They don't exactly grow on trees. People hated Jarrett Jack because he would constantly make stupid mistakes. It's hard to justify a guy at the point guard spot who can't take care of the ball. While Bayless makes mistakes, he is still in his rookie year. If he's still making these mistakes in his third or fourth season, come see me. Yeah, except I've seen Bayless defer. I've seen him defer to Roy, I've seen him defer to Aldridge, and I've even seen him defer to Sergio. He isn't afraid to pass the ball, and at times I wish he wouldn't. He's still figuring out when to pass and when to attack. It's not like Jerryd comes in the game and becomes a black hole. He drives and kicks, which is something Steve Blake NEVER does. Face it, there are only a few point guards out there who fit your "true point guard" mold. The rest are scorers with moderate passing abilities. Bayless brings something else though. He has a killer instinct, which is something a lot of guys on our team are lacking. He plays good defense, and he gets out and runs. You, and others like you, hate on Jerryd because he doesn't fit your ridiculous stereotype of what a point guard is, or is not. And you're right, he couldn't do it in Summer League, but that's because he was playing with a bunch of scrubs and no-names.
Bayless can be a PG on Defense. That's all we really need him to be on this team and to play some PG on offense next to Roy. If you look at his assist% - he already is higher than OJ Mayo and Gordon in this regard. I agree with you that if we did not have a SG that can create as much as Roy does - he would be insufficient as a PG - but - given the fact that we do have Roy - Bayless and his ability to guard the opposing PG seems like a match made in heaven. What are the requirements for a PG given Portland's current make-up? 1. Guard opposing PGs. Check. 2. Attack the rim and draw free-throws. Check. 3. Shoot the long-ball somewhat efficiently. Not at this point - but given that he was able to do it in college and the sample size is so small - I would argue that it is inconclusive and we need to give him some more time before we can conclude that he can not do it. 4. Bring the ball up-court and create some when he initiates the offense. Check. 5. Lead the offense on the break. Check. The kid seems to be a Jarret Jack on steroids - and this is a good thing - because Jack did good things for Portland and we were clearly missing his ability to get to the rim and draw FT before JB started to get minutes. BTW - If you look at JB - he gets to the FT line at a much higher rate than JJ did and seems to be a better PG defender than JJ was - so I think that KP, as usual, hit the nail on the head when he described him as JJ on steroids.
Let me just add that I have no beef with Bayless, and I loved watching him at work both in Summer League and most recently in the comeback at New Orleans. And to be fair, he does really work at pressuring his man, and nobody could ever call him lazy or say that he doesn't care, which is also very good. But I do not think he will ever be a truly intuitive PG, and, while it may be possible to win without such a thing, it certainly is hard (and it's particularly hard on players who need the guards to give them the ball - you know, like Greg Oden?) In terms of court vision, I would say he comes last out of ALL of our guards. That doesn't necessarily mean he gets fewer assists - he's assigned to bring the ball up the floor, and often just getting rid of it will lead to an assist, but he certainly can't see the available play even as well as Rudy (who has exceptional court vision, but isn't the penetrator or ballhandler Bayless is) or Roy.
You do realize that he is going out there and doing exactly what the coaches are telling him to do right? Harlowe reported on this a few games back during one of the timeouts; the coaches want him to build his confidence and get comfortable and part of building your confidence and getting comfortable as a rookie is to go out and do the things that you are best at, once you've got that down then you can start trying to integrate whatever facets a player might not be as strong at. I think it's fairly obvious from watching this season that all of the team's rookies are operating under this model of development, each according to the level of rawness or completeness of each player's game. Nate to Nic: "Just go out and hustle for loose balls, play some defense and take the open shot from the corner if you get it." Nate to Greg: "Just go out and hustle for loose balls, try to occupy the paint and keep your arms up when playing defense." Nate to Rudy: "Just go out and hustle for loose balls, make some pretty passes, sit on the wing and hit the open three or go for that nasty alley-oop off of the baseline when it's open." Nate to Jerryd: "Just go out and hustle for loose balls wink, stay in front of your man the best you can, and if you steal the ball or Brandon passes to you lower your head and put their guard/forward/center in foul trouble; wash, rinse, repeat." I see Nate using a pretty tried and true principle, KISS (keep it simple stupid). Adding more responsibility and expecting more from these guys with only about 40-45 games under their belts (at best) is probably too much and would likely lead to more breakdowns, frustration and failure than success -- this is the Mr. Miyagi approach, "wax on, wax off, wax on, wax off ..."
