Bayless?

[Nikolokolus]

Joe Freeman had a little tweet (I think that's what the kids are calling it) about the possibility of J-Bay getting in the game against the Spurs.

BlazerFreeman:

There's a chance we'll see Bayless against the Spurs. Mac is lookin for a "sense or urgency" and "intensity" and said "That guy is fiery."

Who knows if this will do any good (he's got no rhythm, he's gotten no burn with these guys except for limited duty in the pre-season) but what do you guys think of this? Positive, negative, neutral?

My thoughts are that he couldn't be much worse than Steve Blake or Miller so far ... though I don't see this being the deciding factor between success and failure, that really rests with the rest of the team learning to play together and being less one-on-one minded.

Color me lukewarm

 

[Buzz Killington]

deer in the headlights if you're looking for someone who won't play one-on-one. Parker would eat him alive. I'd rather see him backup at the 2 than the 1 to be honest.

 

[THE HCP]

If he plays, I think he will take Blake's minutes. Can't hurt to try it out!

 

[B-Roy]

My guess? 4 minutes and a turnover. Mac gets crazy and pulls him.

 

[WillG]

Well isn't this Nate guy a genius??

 

[PHXBlazer1]

What a revelation McMillan!!! This guy never ceases to amaze me. If we want to advance in the playoffs, Blake or Mcmillan needs to go. As long as they're both here, we won't make it past the 1st round.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Well, I'll say this- If either of our PG's fail to be more consistent, I'm all for inserting Bayless. He may not be NBA ready, but he plays very hard and we need some of that right now.

 

[Mediocre Man]

I agree with B-Roy. He will either play really well, or make one mistake and find himself on the end of the bench.

Double standards suck.

 

[blue32]

GO BAYLESS GO BABY!

Parker won't eat him alive, well not anymore than he would our other two starters, so who cares? At least he has more potential than Blake, and can get physical w/the quicker guards.

I love this.

 

[Kaydow]

I can't imagine a scenario where Bayless plays well tonight. He hasn't played since the pre-season. He has a hard time knocking down jumpers when he's comfortable, and he's flat out awful when he's Nervous Nellie out there. If he does get in, he's going to play like a bat out of hell - we know that. But it will be the same act we've seen before. He'll lower his head and plow towards the basket hoping to draw a foul. That works some nights against some teams. But the Spurs are too well coached and I'm sure they know the 411 on Bayless. I suspect they would sag off him and let him shoot open jumpers, which he hasn't shown he can make in over a year now.

 

[MIXUM]

oh wait...


the same bayless who couldnt do a thing in the summer league?


yah this should go well vs the spurs!

 

[RR7]

Why not? It can't blow up the team. I think trying him in place of Blake when Miller is on the floor could be interesting. Might kill the spacing even more, but with those 2 and Roy, you'd have 3 people out there attacking the basket.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Taking minutes away from KP's "Blakey"?

Surely you jest

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Since it has not been brought up in this thread, I will just point out Rudy's less than stellar numbers. Bayless, Blake/Miller, and Roy on the floor could be a lineup we see.

 

[Reep]

Best Case: Bayless gets 10+ free throws from penetration; a hand full of assists from moving the ball; and shoots okay from midrange, while providing pesky defense.

Worst Case: Bayless can't penetrate and goes 0-6 on jump shots; turns the ball over trying to force it; and ends up in foul trouble from being too aggressive on Parker.

Either way, I wouldn't mind him getting a chance because at least he tries to do something.

 

[LittleAlex]

Since it has not been brought up in this thread, I will just point out Rudy's less than stellar numbers. Bayless, Blake/Miller, and Roy on the floor could be a lineup we see.

You are being pretty generous here.


Rudy has played like complete shit in all but the Denver game. Perhaps playing basketball 365 days a year isn't good for your energy level.

Gasol is on the bench with an injury. It is possible that Rudy has some nagging injury no one is talking about that will hinder him all year.

That being said, Blake has only had a single good game in both pre and regular season games. I am not really sure what Portland has to lose at this point with Bayless.

 

[hasoos]

A lot of folks seem to forget that Bayless played very well in the pre season. What have the Blazer problems been? Energy and points in the paint. What does Jerryd Bayless do? He plays like a psycho energy wise, and he penetrates the paint, and gets easy points from the free throw line. On top of it he does defend. The point up above about Parker eating him up is pretty much stupid, because I would challenge you to name a guard that Parker doesn't eat up. The question is, how much does the guard opposing him make him work on the other end of the court. I can tell you Steve Blake wont' work him.

 

[Reep]

. . . I would challenge you to name a guard that Parker doesn't eat up. The question is, how much does the guard opposing him make him work on the other end of the court. I can tell you Steve Blake wont' work him.

+1

My only concern is if Bayless doesn't get any love from the officials then it could end up a Parker free throw fest, which wouldn't be good for anyone.

 

[Nikolokolus]

+1

My only concern is if Bayless doesn't get any love from the officials then it could end up a Parker free throw fest, which wouldn't be good for anyone.

Hell as long as Bayless is the one picking up the fouls instead of Oden that's a tradeoff I'd be willing to make I think.

 

[B-Roy]

All of you guys saying he'll take Blake's minutes...

He'll probably take a tiny bit of minutes from all three of our guards that are playing bad. Blake, Miller and Rudy.

 

[donkiez]

I think JB's defense alone will make this a good move. Pair him with BRoy or Dre and things should go well.

 

[hasoos]

All of you guys saying he'll take Blake's minutes...

He'll probably take a tiny bit of minutes from all three of our guards that are playing bad. Blake, Miller and Rudy.

No I don't see it that way. I see it as probably eating into Rudy's minutes. He might eat into Blakes some. But the last few games Rudy's defense has been atrocious (he was guarding Jamaal Crawford in the last game and it looked like a rookie vs a veteran) and his production has been horrible. All he has been doing is jacking 3's and missing them. No pressure on the paint at all.

 

[LittleAlex]

If he plays, I think he will take Blake's minutes. Can't hurt to try it out!

I am pretty damn sure Bayless's minutes would come at Miller's expense since Blake is an important piece of Portland's championship puzzle.

At least he is if you listen to KP and Nate. If you use your eyes and brain Blake is an obvious albatross around the teams neck.

 

[Idog1976]

I think JB's defense alone will make this a good move. Pair him with BRoy or Dre and things should go well.

I'd like to see the Miller/Bayless and Roy/Bayless back courts. The Miller/Bayless pairing is especially intriguing as it gives Miller another Alley Oop target. Speaking of which, why aren't we seeing more plays designed to free Oden/LMA/Outlaw/Roy/Webster/Bayless/Rudy(if he isn't hurt) with a back pick along the baseline for the oop from Dre'? It is among the many things I expected to see with Dre' on the team that hasn't happened.


Oh that's right Dre' and Oden are responsible for 100% of the losses (hat tip to Kingspeed).

 

[alex42083]

If he plays, I think he will take Blake's minutes. Can't hurt to try it out!

If anything.. if Nate even has one inkling about putting in a Blake/Andre backcourt, he should instead put Jerryd in there for Blake.

 

[handiman]

This tells me that Nate looked at game tape from last year and realized Batum was the only one that could contain Parker. Might as well give Bayless a shot and see if he can fill in...

 

[julius]

My guess? 4 minutes and a turnover. Mac gets crazy and pulls him.

That's my guess too. 4 minutes, a missed shot and a turnover and we don't see Jerryd for 15 more games.

And if by some miracle Greg hasn't fouled out in the first 94 seconds (ok, 3 fouls) because he breathed on Duncan, Greg comes out at the 6 minute mark...only to see Joel come in and get 3 fouls in short order.

Then it'll get ugly.

Man I hope I'm wrong and you guys all point that out over and over and over tonight.

 

[B-Roy]

This tells me that Nate looked at game tape from last year and realized Batum was the only one that could contain Parker. Might as well give Bayless a shot and see if he can fill in...

Batum couldn't stay on Parker for more than 5 minutes and admitted it after the game too.

 

[julius]

Batum couldn't stay on Parker for more than 5 minutes and admitted it after the game too.

I think maybe Nate has different meanings for phrases or words. Like, maybe contain means "get killed by". Kind of like the time Nate talked about how Blake played great defense on Kobe (who scored like 48), it's obvious that "played great defense" means to Nate, "Blake sucks at defense, but he's better than Sergio is. But so is my dead grandmother".

Or when he says the team will "push the ball" (obviously that means something else).

I suspect that "play defense!" secretly means "defend your opponents right to score baskets easily".

 

[B-Roy]

I think maybe Nate has different meanings for phrases or words. Like, maybe contain means "get killed by". Kind of like the time Nate talked about how Blake played great defense on Kobe (who scored like 48), it's obvious that "played great defense" means to Nate, "Blake sucks at defense, but he's better than Sergio is. But so is my dead grandmother".

Or when he says the team will "push the ball" (obviously that means something else).

I suspect that "play defense!" secretly means "defend your opponents right to score baskets easily".

I meant Batum admitted it, not Nate.