The Blazers have a new stud

[BBert]

He's actually in a very good situation right now. Other players, with bigger egos, would probably want to leave and be "the man" somewhere else, but Joel is smart enough to know he's never going to be "THE man" on any NBA team. He'll always be, at best the 4th or 5th option on offense on any team he plays on. Better to stay here, where he likes it and is well liked, split time with Oden, and have a long, successful career.

BNM

I think Joel is 'the man' on the Blazers, as in the man leading our boys. You often see him bring the players to together on the court and bark at guys and get their heads straight or get them to focus. Joel has an important leadership role on this team it seems to me.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I think Joel is 'the man' on the Blazers, as in the man leading our boys. You often see him bring the players to together on the court and bark at guys and get their heads straight or get them to focus. Joel has an important leadership role on this team it seems to me.

He also leads by example. He doesn't look to start shit, but he doesn't back down from anyone.

BNM

 

[Nikolokolus]

The next five games are going to be very telling about where Jerryd's really at as a player. We've got several very good teams that actually play defense ahead of us and if he can perform at a decent level (I'm not stupid enough to think Jerryd's going to duplicate a point a minute even 1 in 10 games) then maybe we can start to talk about longer term projections, but if he really struggles with defenses keying on him then all this talk about dumping Miller and/or Blake might be just a shade premature.

 

[Boob-No-More]

The next five games are going to be very telling about where Jerryd's really at as a player. We've got several very good teams that actually play defense ahead of us and if he can perform at a decent level (I'm not stupid enough to think Jerryd's going to duplicate a point a minute even 1 in 10 games) then maybe we can start to talk about longer term projections, but if he really struggles with defenses keying on him then all this talk about dumping Miller and/or Blake might be just a shade premature.

Given our decimated roster, I think dumping Miller or Blake just to get Bayless more PT is premature no matter how well Bayless plays- unless it nets us a solid, healthy 3, 4 or 5 in return. We can't afford to give away any of the few healthy, NBA-proven players we have left for something like a trade exception, draft pick, or 12th man who won't get any minutes. With all the talk about a consolidation trade before the season started, any trade we make now needs to return a healthy body that can play some minutes and actually contribute.

BNM

 

[jlprk]

if he really struggles with defenses keying on him then all this talk about dumping Miller and/or Blake might be just a shade premature.

Right. It will be hard to sustain this, once scouts tell opposing coaches to pay him some attention on defense. Bayless has a comparative vacation going on offense until then.