Bayless

[1 Eye Jack]

I may be in the minority but I like what I saw in Bayless. He is fearless and plays tenacious defense. He came into what is arguably one of the toughest places for a rookie to play (Besides maybe NY). He was playing in front of several celebs and on National TV. He made some mistakes but the mistakes were him being aggressive instead of being passive. I like Sergio as a change of pace player but I'm really leaning towards wanting to see more Bayless....... To be honest I'm hoping by Mid December he's the starer and Blake is on the 2nd unit. Roy runs the offense and Bayless plays off him on offense and defends the other teams PG.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

I was against it, but from what I saw, I just say do it.

 

[BenDavis503x]

I agree. We need that fearless player on the court. Bayless is that guy. Our big 3 are too soft.

 

[AgentDrazenPetrovic]

Yes. No fire or agression really, they play within the offense, which is fine. but we need that hard-nosed alpha-type of player that will be agressive.

 

[Tortimer]

Bayless did make some mistakes but the word people describe Bayless and Rudy is fearless and that is what we need IMO. Even last year we played to passive in many games. I think Nate needs to get Rudy and Bayless as many minutes as possible. They will make mistakes but Bayless plays good man to man defense on smaller faster guards which nobody else on the time can defend. Rudy is always active on defense and will be one of the leaders in steals in the league IMO. We need to create TO's and make some easy baskets.

 

[Crimson the Cat]

I don't want to see any changes yet ... other than putting Batum back with the starters. Blake and Sergio played better than Bayless during the Preseason. They deserve to play ahead of Bayless. One poor game doesn't erase that.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Bayless has the attitude that I wish would rub off (not literally of course ) on the rest of the team. Both our PF's are soft, I still wouldn't mind seeing us trade Frye for a more traditional bruising PF that comes in and gives us some tough defense and extra possesions. Don't get me wrong I like Frye just would like a more traditional back up PF that can come in and give us some toughness.

 

[MrJayremmie]

I just want to see a Bayless/Rudy/Roy/Aldridge/Oden line-up. But they need practice time together, to learn each other...

All of these player's IQs are off the charts and their games compliment very well... specially at guard since they are ALL versitile and they can all defend the certain positions (Bayless -1 | Rudy - 2 | Roy - 3)... and then you have Aldridge and Oden down low who compliment each other well.

They just need time together. Sucks our schedule is such a bitch early on..

But if Bayless does get the starting job (next year or so...), i would like to see Sergio come in off the bench for that change of pace. I think he has improved and think he should be seeing the floor. Nate should take the first couple of games to examine his lineup.

I really loved watching Bayless and Rudy on the floor at the end of the game. There was always somewhere to go on offense, it didn't stall or anything. They made mistakes, but they were making things happen.

Blake is solid, but i was quite upset when he dribbled out a full 24 sec shot clock and got us a hideous shot..

 

[Tortimer]

I just want to see a Bayless/Rudy/Roy/Aldridge/Oden line-up. But they need practice time together, to learn each other...

That is the lineup I want to see. I think those are the best 5 players on the Blazers and I realize Bayless and somewhat Rudy are rookies but they need to learn. I know Nate and some of the posters don't think that lineup will work but I think it would be a killer lineup when they learn to play together.

 

[1 Eye Jack]

I still think this should be our lineups

Bayless (plays well off Roy and good d), Roy, Batum (energy hustle player), LMA and Oden

Blake (provides experience on 2nd unit), Rudy, Travis, Frye and Pryz

Obviously we don't have line changes like hockey but generally speaking this should be the first and second units.

 

[handiman]

If Oden is out for any length of time, we're going to take our lumps through the early going. Might as well play Bayless, let him make his mistakes, and learn on the job without affecting the win/loss column.

 

[mook]

Bayless looked good because he could play the same ratball style he played in Summer League. That worked fine last night because:
1. It was garbage time
2. He wasn't going up against starters
3. He wasn't on anybody's scouting report
4. Our offense was already in shambles, so guys who can play well in every-man-for-himself mode (Bayless, Outlaw, Fernandez) looked better

I think pre-season was more representative of where he's at. He struggled with turnovers and setting up the offense. I didn't see a lot last night to convince me that wouldn't still be a problem. We'd be nuts to start him just because of last night.

 

[MrJayremmie]

He also averaged about 11, 3 and 3 in preseason... he played pretty well for just gettin' his feet wet in the NBA... he also only played over 30 minutes once i believe.

The more he plays the better he will get at understanding what is needed of him from that situation.

I was extremely "underwhelmed" with Blake's performance last night though...

Now i'm not for starting Bayless or really giving him over 20mpg right now, but I think we should start allowing him to learn the game and help groom him to what we need him to be for us to be successful. Blake is solid, but he just doesn't seem like a starting PG for a championship level team to me.

I thought sergio did not get enough playing time last night though. I think he has earned it. I understand why he didn't get the PT, because we tried to keep as many starters out there as possible while we were gettin' blown out and he only got 5 minutes in that time... and a lot of the final QTR was just garbage time and Nate let a couple of our guys get their feet wet (Bayless, Batum).

 

[Tortimer]

Bayless looked good because he could play the same ratball style he played in Summer League. That worked fine last night because:
1. It was garbage time
2. He wasn't going up against starters
3. He wasn't on anybody's scouting report
4. Our offense was already in shambles, so guys who can play well in every-man-for-himself mode (Bayless, Outlaw, Fernandez) looked better

I think pre-season was more representative of where he's at. He struggled with turnovers and setting up the offense. I didn't see a lot last night to convince me that wouldn't still be a problem.

It sure looked like Blake and Roy had trouble setting up the offense to me. How many 24 sec clock violations did we have? Bayless couldn't have done much worse then those two IMO. Time to get him some playing time to learn.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Bayless is a big game player. He doesn't get scared or back down. Dude has been in the lime light since he was a Freshman in High School, this stuff doesn't get to him. Yes, he may be cocky, but to be cocky you have to be uber confident in yourself and in your game. Blake, for a freaking 7 year vet, looked lost out there and Sergio STILL can't keep the defense honest. I knew we would miss Jack's ability to penetrate and Jerryd can bring that dimension back to this team. We need some nastiness and he plays with a chip on his shoulder.
Blake is a solid backup, he shouldn't have been the starter in the first place, it is just too much for him talent wise.

 

[THE HCP]

Wow. How quickly things change.

 

[Tortimer]

Wow. How quickly things change.

Not really for me. I have been saying Bayless is our PG of the future and wanted him to start ASAP. I was figuring maybe by mid Dec. or at least by after the all star game. After Sergio won the backup PG I just went along but I really didn't agree with it. The only thing with Sergio is he plays pretty well with Rudy. I keep hearing Bayless isn't a true PG but after watching other pre-season games it seems like a majority of the other teams are using scoring PG/combo guards and it seems to work for them. A lot of those teams don't even have as good of play making SG as Roy which should make it easier for Bayless. I just think it is Nate not wanting to play to many rookies if he doesn't have to.

 

[MAS RipCity]

Yea, I have been in the minority all preseason saying Bayless was the pg choice for me. I thought he played fine in the preseason..we drafted him to be the pg of the future, well shit, play him then. Blake and Sergio aren't the PG saviors

 

[Nikolokolus]

If Oden is out for any length of time, we're going to take our lumps through the early going. Might as well play Bayless, let him make his mistakes, and learn on the job without affecting the win/loss column.

Hell, this team was going to take its lumps even with a fully healthy Oden. As for Starting Bayless or not I think in Nate's mind he wants to see him improve his decision making in running the half-court sets before he puts him out there outside of garbage time, otherwise we're going to see a lot of dribbling and one-on-one ratball, which might be entertaining to watch at times, effectively stunts this team's long term growth.

Whatever happens I think it's pretty clear that the point guard spot is still relatively unsettled and possibly a lot less settled than we hoped.

 

[MAS RipCity]

I could care less about decision making for Bayless, we need someone to attack the basket and he does that. I am sick of jumper after jumper.

 

[alex42083]

I could care less about decision making for Bayless, we need someone to attack the basket and he does that. I am sick of jumper after jumper.

Amen.. the constant 20-footers and seeing them clang off the rim was frustrating to watch.
Brandon attacked a lot, but just didn't finish or get the calls when he was hacked. Channing Frye just jacked up shots at will, and kept missing.
There needs to be some kind of motion with our offense toward the hoop, and not just motion to get someone an open 18-foot jump shot.

Makes me remember what Barkley said last year, this team has trouble getting easy baskets and layups, and is mostly a jump-shooting team.

 

[handiman]

Hell, this team was going to take its lumps even with a fully healthy Oden.

Perhaps, but at least we had a competitive lineup on paper with him. Sans Oden, we're back to being the same flawed team as last year, and that won't get it done in this early stretch.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Brandon Roy was the player setting up the offense in the half-court set. Blake spent a lot of time in the corner jacking up shots.

This is why Roy/Bayless will work. Jerryd is a better defender and scorer than Blake.