Anyone agree McMillan stunted Bayless' growth?

[maxiep]

If Nate stunted any of Jerryd's growth, it was his arms. Do we now blame Nate for the fact that a 6'3" guy has the arms of someone 5'6"?

 

[blue32]

If Nate stunted any of Jerryd's growth, it was his arms. Do we now blame Nate for the fact that a 6'3" guy has the arms of someone 5'6"?

 

[andalusian]

It's real easy for Barkley to smuggly sit there and say Bayless should have been playing all along, like he knows what the fuck he's talking about. What does Barkley watch, about 10 minutes of Blazers games a month? I agree Nate was overusing Blake and underusing Bayless (and Miller) this season, but that doesn't mean Bayless should have started last season. He wasn't ready.

Agree 100%. I love Barkley the entertainer, but Barkley the analyst? The talent evaluator? This is the guy that had to kiss Kenny's donkey because he said Yao would be a stiff that would never score 20 in a game, his analysis is so bright, that not only did he smooch Kenny's donkey, he smooched him on the ass...

 

[STOMP]

I think Nate knew what he was doing. Jerryd wasn't ready before. It's sort of like a jockey that holds a racing horse back until it comes around the backstretch -- if he lets the horse run out he sometimes get tired and falters when he needs the juice, the horse does all of the "work" but the jockey sets it up for success.

Jerryd's not a horse, but young point guards (especially one and done scoring point guards) don't necessarily know what they need to know to run a winning team.

this

it wasn't JB's skills or athleticism that needed work but his mindset for running a team. It's obvious to all that he is the most athletic smaller guard on the roster just as it's obvious that he can drive to the hole and yet have solid form on his J. What he needed to work on was picking up on the nuances of being an NBA PG. For all his shortcomings, Blake has effectively involved his teammates and helped this club to win a lot of games. Having him as JB's mentor has been something that I feel will likely benefit him greatly in his career.

STOMP

 

[STOMP]

Every time it is brought up as to what type of a guard needs to be teamed with Roy, a Mo Williams type (scoring PG) is what is mentioned. Bayless can be that guy. I think he is becoming that guy. The key is that he provides pressure on the defense that compliments Roy and Rudy. IMO any guard that puts pressure on the paint and can also shoot from the outside is all I an ask for. The more of a threat he is, the easier he makes the game for the bottom feeders on the team to get easy buckets because of the concern placed upon the main scorers.

Last year they mostly used Bayless as a decoy. Players only work as a decoy if they have a reputation of being a scorer. Bayless did not have that yet, and so it was ineffective. Now that he is getting a rep, teams have to pay attention to him. So even when he doesn't have the ball, he is making it easier for all the other players to score.

no, you've got it backwards. Players earn their reputation by their play not the other way around.

Bayless wasn't an effective decoy because he shot 36% from the field and 26% from 3's. His crappy shooting made him a crappy decoy that teams didn't have to respect. They wanted him to shoot. This year he's bumped those numbers up to 46% and 43% respectively.

STOMP

 

[BlazerBenner]

Rudy was a rookie last year and he hit a ton of threes. But he got consistent minutes and was allowed to get comfortable on the floor, night after night.

Proving it can happen, but it's rare. Wait until Bayless is the age that Rudi was last year. He'll hit 3's at a great pace then. For that, though, we'll have to wait another year or two.

 

[BlazerBenner]

Yeah that was a bit of a head scratcher. I'm not sure when 600 minutes in a season has ever been called "a ton"

Especially when Sergio had 1100 the year before, his rookie season.