Anyone else with me?

[MAS RipCity]

I have ZERO doubt in my mind that Jerryd Bayless is going to become a star in the league. He is one of those rare people who eat, sleep, and breathe the game of basketball. He is never satisfied and has the competitive streak of Jordan. All I keep hearing about him is how great a work ethic he has. Always going late night to the practice facility and playing. He once said that "Basketball is his girlfriend". This is the same kind of mentality we saw from MJ, and Kobe. Now, I am not saying he will be on their level at all, but this hard work is going to pay off. Once he gets consistent minutes, he will blow up. I am already seeing an improvement in his distribution and his jumper will come in time once he knows he;s not getting yanked after one bad play. He's probably already our 4th best defender behind Batum, Pryzbilla, and Aldridge.

I really think he would be in the rookie of the year race if he was starting for us or another team. It's been a while since I have seen a point guard who can finish at the rim like he can. He's going to be special and I hope his progress over the summer nets him the starting spot as he fits perfectly along side Roy. He also brings that toughness and fuck you mentality that we desperately need that only Joel brought to the table prior to Jerryd's arrival.

Rudy and Greg in one draft and now Batum and Bayless in the next...we really have something special brewing in PDX if we can keep these guys together and buy into this system. This is really just the tip of the iceberg and Jerryd will be leading the way.

 

[julius]

I have my doubts, but it's not because I don't think he can be. It's because I just don't know if he is "going" to be.

 

[Pinwheel1]

Yes I am with you. We both could be wrong, but from everything I read and see I would be very surprised if he doesn't keep improving at a high rate. Next year will still be a huge learning experience for him, but I think by the time he is in his third year he will be equally as effective as Rondo. And that is saying a alot IMO.

 

[Minstrel]

Rudy and Greg in one draft and now Batum and Bayless in the next

And Roy and Aldridge in the draft before those.

One of the greatest three-year run of drafts I've ever seen.

 

[Sug]

Not sold just yet, I took the bait on Jack.

 

[ChadWick]

Yeah I say keep giving Bayless Sergios minutes while Rudy is out...Sergio is useless without Rudy

 

[maxiep]

Bayless is struggling with his confidence right now. It was something I thought was bulletproof. However, you hit the nail on the head: with his work ethic and his physical skills, he's going to be a VERY good player in this league.

 

[BlayZa]

someone mentioned the fact he does all his passes in mid-air. this is actually a good point as it gives him less time to make a decision and would indicate he's in the midst of looking for his own shot first. i think he could be the solution, but id like to see him 'run' the team with a bit more structure and a bit less helter skelter - just to see how it goes

 

[bigbailes]

i'll start with i really hope he turns into what many bayless lovers on here see in him. he shows some signs of being a pretty good nba player. BUT to compare him in any way to MJ or Kobe at this point is just stupid, even if it's his "work ethic".

i want to know what about his shooting this year makes him a great finisher at the rim? he's shooting 36.5% for the season and even if you take out his 3's (where he's 25.9%) he's still only 38.6%. to be fair, sergio is shooting a better % across the board (even with his 8 or so 3/4 court heaves at the buzzer), and he gets raked over the coals for his horrible shooting. yes bayless gets to the line much better, but it seemed after a few games, teams had scouted him and were letting him drive wildly to the hoop and he was struggling to finish.

also, he still jumps to pass. that bugs me more than anything about him. every third grader is taught, don't leave your feet to pass the ball. now sometimes it is a good ploy if you know that is what you are doing, but bayless looks like he is going up for his own shot than realizing it isn't there and trying to pass.

i know the comparisons to JJ have been made but once again, the blazers were trying to make a PG out of JJ and now he is thriving as the SG next to ford. doesn't anyone see the same thing happening with bayless?

 

[HailBlazers]

After watching a combo guard like Mo Williams drain three's assisted from Lebron it gives me hope that there is something promising about a type of guard like that. I fully believe Bayless could do that well and compliment B-Roy just like Mo/James. It's gonna be fun to watch him develop and figure the game out

 

[Minstrel]

If Portland had a shooting guard with no special passing skills, I'd be more worried about Bayless' ability to be a "classical" point guard, but since Roy has very nice passing and distribution skills, Portland can easily afford scoring point guard.

 

[Nikolokolus]

If Portland had a shooting guard with no special passing skills, I'd be more worried about Bayless' ability to be a "classical" point guard, but since Roy has very nice passing and distribution skills, Portland can easily afford scoring point guard.

Which is further supplemented by Rudy's passing skills, Batum's passing skills and whatever other point guard (backup or otherwise) we carry for the foreseeable future.

Jerryd definitely has a lot of work to do before you could say he's worthy of starting role, but he's still pretty much an unknown quantity in the NBA, having only played something like 500 minutes. My hope (and expectation to an extent) is that he gets some homework this summer from Nate to go out and do nothing but focus on his setup skills, the jumper I don't worry as much about (although the release could be a bit quicker) because he was such a good shooter at U of A.

Once the game slows down for him and he's getting some consistent PT I think he'll end up as a very solid guard

 

[BalancedMan]

And Roy and Aldridge in the draft before those.

One of the greatest three-year run of drafts I've ever seen.

Let's not ignore all the other wheeling and dealing. Massing up 2nd round picks. 2006 had Sergio and Joel Freeland as well.

 

[bigbailes]

so assuming, and i think it's a safe one, that bayless is back in the summer league, does he run the point spot? he looked really bad last year doing it but do you put the ball in his hands and try and force it? i'm not saying make him a true PG but tell him to look for others first than his own.

 

[BrianFromWA]

I have a hard time believing Kopo spends another year in Europe.

I think Kopo spends quality time at PG during SL, and fights for backup PG minutes next year. I don't see both Blake and Sergio being here come training camp.

This prediction goes out the window if somehow we get Sessions.

 

[Nikolokolus]

so assuming, and i think it's a safe one, that bayless is back in the summer league, does he run the point spot? he looked really bad last year doing it but do you put the ball in his hands and try and force it? i'm not saying make him a true PG but tell him to look for others first than his own.

Presumably he'll have a legitimate big like Joel Freeland to dump it off to, and a much improved Batum whom I'm guessing he'll have more trust in.

It seemed like he did the one on five thing because the summer league squad was pretty underwhelming in terms of talent not so much because he was incapable of of playing the point -- though admittedly he still didn't look great when he did try to set people up.

 

[Deebag]

I don't think you can ever force a scoring PG into a passing PG. It rarely happens in the NBA. Guys like Kidd, Nash, and Paul, you can tell from day 1 that their main objective is to make easy looks for other people. We haven't seen that for Bayless, and most likely it'll never come. That doesn't mean he won't be a key player for us though. Like someone else has mentioned, Mo Williams is having an All-Star year because he's teamed up with an All-Star in LeBron that can pass and distribute himself. We have a Roy to take that role.

On a related note, it's ridiculous how high the potential is for nearly every Blazer. Rudy being heralded as the new Ginobli, Batum getting comparisons to Scottie Pippen, etc., etc. If KP and co. can keep this group together, is it possible we're looking at the best NBA team in history?

 

[KingSpeed]

Bayless has disappointed me lately. Nate has made room for him in the rotation and he hasn't attacked much at all. What's the deal?

 

[KingSpeed]

On a related note, it's ridiculous how high the potential is for nearly every Blazer. Rudy being heralded as the new Ginobli, Batum getting comparisons to Scottie Pippen, etc., etc. If KP and co. can keep this group together, is it possible we're looking at the best NBA team in history?

I agree. And that's why I'm glad we didn't make any trades.

 

[alex42083]

I think Jerryd will be a good player, but right now, I'm much more certain that Nicolas is going to be a stud. Bayless has yet to find his niche due to lack of PT, but I have no doubts that if Jerryd doesn't make it, it won't be lack for effort.

 

[LameR]

Bayless has disappointed me lately. Nate has made room for him in the rotation and he hasn't attacked much at all. What's the deal?

I don't know if it applied in the most recent game, but he has been sick lately.