Jerryd Bayless

[Mr. J]

He was the best player in the Summer League (like that matters), but he's only played in 8 games. Since he was a top 5 talent in last year's draft, why has he played so little? I see Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez, and even Brandon Roy see more time at the 1 than he does.

My question is what is his future with the team, and is he available?

 

[SpanishFly]

Very little room, Serg has improved and they are trying to have Bayless learn to be a PG, tough for a rook who played only one yr of college and was not really a PG. I like the little I have seen, hope to see him get more minutes, but frankly there just aren't that many.

 

[alex42083]

Jerryd is just in a numbers game, and since he's the rookie, he's the one that's sitting. But the team thinks he's the PG of the future and will eventually see his time.
He's being a good sport about it so far, he said he's learning a lot about how to play PG from Blake, and considering how competitive he is, I'm glad he's been having a good attitude so far about not playing as much as he really should be.

I don't think he's untouchable by any means, but he's also not available just because he's behind on the depth chart.

 

[Nikolokolus]

He was the best player in the Summer League (like that matters), but he's only played in 8 games. Since he was a top 5 talent in last year's draft, why has he played so little? I see Steve Blake, Sergio Rodriguez, Rudy Fernandez, and even Brandon Roy see more time at the 1 than he does.

My question is what is his future with the team, and is he available?

Highly doubtful.

My best guess for why Jerryd is getting lots of DNP-CDs is that he was such a scoring guard at U of A and in High school, that his point guard skills are not very developed at this point, and there's little room for a shooting guard behind Brandon Roy and Rudy Fernandez. I'm not suggesting that he'll never be able to become a decent passer or distributor, but he's going to have to learn to run an offense at a certain level before he's going to be allowed to share the backcourt with Roy or Fernandez.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Bayless sit most of the season.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I don't think he's available to the Knicks, just because you don't have any appertizing players right now. (If Gallinari didn't have back issues, he would tempt me.) The reason Bayless isn't playing is because he's essentially a shooting guard, and we have two very good ones ahead of him. The long-term plan is supposedly to get him to be a PG, but I don't think that's going to work. He just doesn't seem to have the court vision, and I'm of the opinion that if you don't have it by this stage you're not going to get it. Some people hold out hope that he can play alongside Roy because Roy has decent court vision, but I don't think that'll work either. Both need to dominate the ball. I believe that the Blazers were really after Augustine and were blindsided when Charlotte took him early. They've never hinted that this is the case (and when Nate met Bayless and uncharacteristically gave him a big hug, he said something like "there's my PG!") but Kevin Pritchard's description of Bayless as "Jarrett Jack on steroids" does not sound like a ringing endorsement - particularly as Jarrett never meshed with Roy and was demoted from starter about three games into last season because of it.

I don't think he should be viewed as a bust by any means, though (and I'm sure Blazers' brass doesn't see him as such - it's just we've got good talent and are trying to win). At what he does (drive to the hoop and get fouled) he's very good, and if the team has injury problems, he'll definitely see some time. He's also more athletic than any other guard we've got and gets after it on defense (although in a Ruben Patterson hassle-my-player-constantly-without-much-regard-to-the-big-picture style) which might turn out useful eventually.

 

[andalusian]

Kevin Pritchard's description of Bayless as "Jarrett Jack on steroids" does not sound like a ringing endorsement - particularly as Jarrett never meshed with Roy and was demoted from starter about three games into last season because of it.

Jarret was damn effective next to Roy at the closing stages of a game last year - and Bayless would be even better.

The reason JJ never "meshed" with Roy as the starting PG was becauise he was more comfortable playing as a PG and less as a SG - it is the opposite with Bayless - he is natural SG that plays a little bit of PG, not the other way around.

He was born to be Roy's back-court mate - can defend the opposing PG, can bring the ball up-court and create a little, can attack the rim off the dribble and can play off the ball like a SG.

 

[Tortimer]

I guess I'm in the minority in this thread. I think unless we got back a good veteran PG Bayless isn't going anywhere. IMO he is the perfect fit next to Roy and is our PG of the future. I think he would have been the backup this year but Sergio came to camp and has played really well and won the backup PG position. I still think eventually probably next year Bayless will at least be the backup if not the starting PG with Roy. I think a 3 guard rotation with Roy/Bayless/Rudy is going to be our backcourt for a long time.

 

[MARIS61]

Jarret was damn effective next to Roy at the closing stages of a game last year -

Guess I missed that one.

 

[BrianFromWA]

LOL and , Maris.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I guess I'm in the minority in this thread. I think unless we got back a good veteran PG Bayless isn't going anywhere. IMO he is the perfect fit next to Roy and is our PG of the future. I think he would have been the backup this year but Sergio came to camp and has played really well and won the backup PG position. I still think eventually probably next year Bayless will at least be the backup if not the starting PG with Roy. I think a 3 guard rotation with Roy/Bayless/Rudy is going to be our backcourt for a long time.

I don't think you are in the minority. I do think Bayless has a real good chance to get into the point guard rotation down the line, but I think he's got to be looked at as more of a long term investment than an instant impact guy. I think Jerryd was done no favors by the coaching turmoil at Arizona last year, and I'm guessing his high school and AAU coaches did him no favors either, since it looks like they let him play more off of natural ability and his pure one-on-one skills instead of forcing him to learn how to run a pick and roll, or how to set other people up. He's got a bit of a steep hill to climb, since he's trying to learn these skills against the best competition in the world.

All of these people saying that he has no court vision, or no ability to learn how to play the point I think sell him a little bit short, as he seems to have a tenacious work ethic, and frankly we haven't seen enough of him in one turbulent college season, and a summer league run where he was clearly the most talented scorer on his team.

 

[andalusian]

Guess I missed that one.

Since we had a 15-5 record at close games last year and you still think Sergio is the best thing since sliced bread - it's not the only thing you are missing...

 

[hasoos]

I think in the Boston game when he got to play, we got to see just a little bit of what Bayless will be. He pressured the ball, helped get Portland within respectable yelling distance. The thing that was missing from his game, was experience. Things like when he tried to throw an alley-oop to Fernandez and was just way off in timing. That comes with playing together. Right now, Sergio has that "link" with the guys he is playing with. Bayless does not have that yet. It will come. Sooner or later, somebody in the rotation will get hurt, and his minutes will come.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Jarret was damn effective next to Roy at the closing stages of a game last year - and Bayless would be even better.

I guess I thought people wanted Jerryd to pair with Roy for more than simply the closing stages of the game. Like, you know, the rest of the time too.

The reason JJ never "meshed" with Roy as the starting PG was becauise he was more comfortable playing as a PG and less as a SG - it is the opposite with Bayless - he is natural SG that plays a little bit of PG, not the other way around.

We're agreed at least that Bayless is not a natural PG. But here I take it that the implication is that Roy is the PG, and that's not going to be the case for most of the game. It's telling that you picked late game situations, when Roy is closest to playing that role, in that he has the ball and is given carte blanche to create - usually for himself. But that doesn't make him a PG any more than it makes Paul Pierce the PG for the Celtics. In these situations Jarrett Jack was good because he was ballsy at taking the last minute 3-pointer. That's not (yet) Bayless's strength. His strength is bulling to the hoop. That's the part where he's Jarrett Jack on steroids, because Jack did that slowly and clumsily, whereas Bayless can do it fast. Bayless hasn't shown that he's much use off the ball yet.

He was born to be Roy's back-court mate - can defend the opposing PG, can bring the ball up-court and create a little, can attack the rim off the dribble and can play off the ball like a SG.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[BatumKaboom]

LOL and , Maris.

LMFAO @ Maris. Nice.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I think in the Boston game when he got to play, we got to see just a little bit of what Bayless will be.

Agreed - a pint-sized Corey Maggette! Someone you can throw out there as a last-ditch effort when nothing else is working and the game's pretty much lost.

 

[B-Roy]

Agreed - a pint-sized Corey Maggette! Someone you can throw out there as a last-ditch effort when nothing else is working and the game's pretty much lost.

Out of the 8 games he's played, that game was the only one in which he actually tried to score. In all the other ones, he was all about passing.

 

[hasoos]

Since we had a 15-5 record at close games last year and you still think Sergio is the best thing since sliced bread - it's not the only thing you are missing...

Well, amazingly enough, I think our record in close games is better this year, or, the game is not even close, which is even better. If you don't think the team is better without Jarett Jack, then I don't know what your watching, because one of the major reasons the Blazers are better this year, is the large reduction in turnovers.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Remember all the summer threads about Bayless taking Blake's spot by mid-year?

It doesn't look like Bayless will take Sergio's spot by mid-year. Let's just hope he is "patient."

 

[andalusian]

When did I say that the team is not better off without Jarret - but this is because we got Rudy, Greg and Batum in the rotation. The main problems we had this year when we did lose games was our lack of ability to attack the rim with the dribble to create easy points. Last year we had two players doing it - this year we have only one.

I am excited about Bayless because he is an upgrade over Jarret on the defense and he is a better scorer who is comfortable playing the 2 position - something JJ was not.

If you look at our issues as a team this year they are clearly perimeter defense (Bayless should be able to help with that), attacking the rim from the dribble (again) and attitude - not willing to be intimidated by other teams/players) - which is another area where Bayless seems like a great upgrade.

Why should I not be excited about JJ on steroids - he was a big part of attitude/perimeter defense (where we regressed) and attacking the rim (again regressed) of a very young team that over-achieved last year. The idea of getting someone like him with even better athletic ability and scoring punch sure makes me giddy.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Watching the video of Kevin Garnett hassling Jerryd, I am struck that nobody on the Blazers stood up for Bayless. That ain't right. Couldn't Nate have sent in Ike Diogu to deck Garnett? Hell, Bayless could've cockpunched him. Should've.

 

[Paxil]

I think Bayless is a PG. Because he was asked to play some 2 in college doesn't mean he is not a PG. There were some games this year when I think Bay less would have been a better fit than Blake or Sergio.

 

[Minstrel]

Bayless looks like a point guard in the way Gil Arenas and Dwyane Wade are/were...what Damon Stoudamire termed (for himself) a "lead guard." He's more of a scorer's mentality, but has the passing skills to create for others. He'll probably never be a great pure point guard (as far as running an offense and creating for others), but he doesn't need to be alongside Roy. He can create for others via drive-and-dish and he can knock down shots created by Roy or Oden.

And, of paramount importance, he can defend opposing point guards.

 

[number 10]

I've put this comparison forward before, but I really think Bayless' game resembles Tony Parker's. Bayless probably isn't a great distributor yet, but he doesn't need to be Sergio to drive and dish, especially given that he can actually finish. It'd take the finished product (Parker or Devin Harris) to make me consider trading him.

 

[tlongII]

I think Bayless has an excellent chance of becoming our starting PG for many years as soon as next year. The only problem (if you can call it that) is that Blake and Rodriquez have played extremely well so far this season.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I'm not sure where everyone is getting the idea Bayless will be a good PG . . . summer league?

During the draft, it seemed as though GMs favored pure PGs to Bayless as many who were projected lower were picked before Bayless . . . making me believe that GMs weren't convinced of Bayless' ability to be a PG.

I will say that Bayless has got to be one of the best, if not the best, 11th or 12th man off the bench.

 

[number 10]

could someone please explain to me what a PG is supposed to do, and what exactly it is that makes it so difficult?

 

[BalancedMan]

Bayless starts and plays really good in NBA2k9. I simulated the first game and scored 19 in the first quarter. He's legit.

 

[ehizzy3]

Bayless starts and plays really good in NBA2k9. I simulated the first game and scored 19 in the first quarter. He's legit.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Bayless starts and plays really good in NBA2k9. I simulated the first game and scored 19 in the first quarter. He's legit.

...in NBA2k9.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

could someone please explain to me what a PG is supposed to do, and what exactly it is that makes it so difficult?

Get the offense flowing.

I think it is difficult because you need both physical and mental skills (and maybe leadership qualities) . . . coaches talk about the PGs duty to dictate the flow of the game.