Can Bayless be a PG?

[blue32]

I like Bayless' physical attributes a lot, but I agree with those questioning Bayless' game to play the point. I don't think Bayless' handle is good enough. He doesn't make sharp turns while keeping the dribble alive. His dribble is pretty slow for a PG, as does his crossover dribble. He also is slow to deliver the pass to the open man. But, I think these can be worked on. He has shown in flashes that he does have decent court vision. I would really like to see an improvement in his jumper and his handle this summer. I'm still confident that Bayless will make a great backcourt next to Roy. Bayless doesn't need to be a pure PG to fit next to Roy.

exactly. That's my thoughts. We need someone that can drive to the hoop and finish along side Roy. To keep the defense honest AND defend the perimeter. That is where our bigs picked up most of their fouls, having to switch on PnR's and other craptastic defensive lapses by our perimeter.

If I have to endure another quick PG torching Blake or Sergio, I'm going to scream

Bayless just needs minutes to develop. Here's hoping to this next season.

 

[mook]

If Bayless starts to show the perimeter range he had in college, improved defense, and he cuts down on turnovers, do we really need a lot more out of our PG? He'd basically be Steve Blake with speed and the ability to drive and dunk.

He'll never be a 9 assist per game true PG. But in an Aaron Brooks-like role on this team, he might not be a bad fit.

 

[Cake]

That's a whole lot of assumptions...

Not really. It's basically one assumption. That we wanted Augustin.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

On BlazersEdge somebody compared Bayless to Louis Williams of Philly. I think that's an accurate and fair comparison (in terms of ability to play the point).

 

[PtldPlatypus]

He certainly wasn't this year.

Actually, if you re-run that for 5-player combinations, you'll see that one of our most effective combinations this year was our eventual starting five of Bayless-Roy-Batum-Aldridge-Oden. +.875/min over 32 minutes--that's a 28 point lead. Oh, if only it were that simple...

 

[LittleAlex]

It's hard to think of any significant player who's ever been less likely to be a PG than Bayless.

A SG who is hardwired to look to score at all times will likely end up doing so elsewhere and fairly successfully.

I don't see him ever reaching the popularity or stature of any of the players mentioned in the OP though, that's a stretch.

Shag, Hakeem, Ewing, Karl Malone, Barkley, etc...

 

[andalusian]

Shag, Hakeem, Ewing, Karl Malone, Barkley, etc...

I am sorry - who would like Shag all these guys?

Oh, I know. I know. Maybe this lady:

 

[hasoos]

Actually if you look at why Nate played Sergio in the playoffs it seems to me quite obvious. When Bayless played major minutes, he did well. For example while Blake was out, Sergio and Bayless covered the point spot, and there number of turnovers was quite low, easily as low as Blakes. The problem was when Bayless played spot minutes. When Bayless played this year he often took a minute or two to get used to the speed of the game and often wasn't effective in those spot minutes. It was pretty obvious whoever was coming off the bench down the stretch, and especially in the playoffs, was only going to get spot minutes. They needed that person to come in and be productive, no matter how few minutes it was, because in the playoffs it is critical. That is why the decision was made.

Now that being said, I felt all year long when Roy and Bayless were on the floor, they complimented each other with the exception being the lack of outside shooting by Bayless. I think that will come, his shot isn't ugly. He just needs to get used to the NBA range. He had several games with a good amount of assist for the minutes he was on the floor, and I remember several games, where he threw passes that were money only to have somebody like Joe "hands of stone" Pryzbilla not be able to catch and finish.