Travis Diener better than Bayless....

[ucatchtrout]

What if the Trail Blazers had an opportunity, this late in the season, to add another backup point guard?

Bayless has played 122 NBA games now and started 11 of them. He’s averaged 15.3 minutes per game, shot 40.3 percent from the field, just 28.9 percent from three-point range and 82.4 percent from the foul line. He’s averaged just 1.9 assists to go with 1.16 turnovers, committed 1.83 fouls while averaging 6.8 points per game.

But what if you could get a backup who has played 178 NBA games, having started 21 of them? He’s played 14.9 minutes per game, shot just 38.9 percent overall but 35.4 percent from three-point range and 84.7 percent from the free-throw line. He’s averaged 2.4 assists and just .56 turnovers (nice assist-to-turnover ratio!), with 1.12 fouls per game and accumulating 4.8 points per game.

Obviously, the second guy is a “safer” kind of player. He takes fewer chances, scores less but is more of a traditional point guard, getting more assists and fewer turnovers. He’s more experienced than Bayless and doesn’t foul as much.

For me, the other guy looks pretty good. So why isn’t Travis Diener, that “other guy,” at least getting a chance once in a while? What do they have to lose?

http://www.dwightjaynes.com/

 

[illmatic99]

Oh jeez. Jerryd's playing fine as a backup right now. Of course his stats are gonna look shitty if he plays 10-15 sporadic minutes every game. If anything I say increase his minutes to finish out the season so that he can develop a rhythm and some sort of confidence before the playoffs. That leash is too short.

 

[Wheels]

Dwight Jaynes... I despise him so much.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I guess it depends on a couple of things. Jerryd's confidence looks pretty shot right now and I'm not so sure the answer is more PT, but is Diener really the answer? I have trouble believing that.

 

[hasoos]

Obviously DJ has never seen Diener play. If he had, he would know why.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Diener = Blake-lite

 

[The Professional Fan]

Mush Mouth Jaynes. I had to turn off the MSP this morning because the sound of his old mush mouth combined with Harvey's inability to express a clear thought. That show needs a lot of help. First, get rid of mush mouth. He sounds so gross on the radio.

 

[THE HCP]

This is ANOTHER example of why nobody takes this Jabba the Hut lookin' fool seriously. He has no credibility.

 

[LittleAlex]

Oh jeez. Jerryd's playing fine as a backup right now. Of course his stats are gonna look shitty if he plays 10-15 sporadic minutes every game. If anything I say increase his minutes to finish out the season so that he can develop a rhythm and some sort of confidence before the playoffs. That leash is too short.

Not really. It's not his stats that look bad, Bayless looks bad period.


That said, Denier isn't any kind of upgrade so I can't see why Portland would make that kind of roster move at this time.

Denier is a homeless man's Steve Blake.

 

[blue32]

Bayless will be fine once he finds his step back jumper from that quick-ass drive he has.....

dude, if miller can get those shots up, bayless can eventually.

 

[MARIS61]

Neither will ever be a PG getting minutes in this league, but it's amazing Denier is still on a team.

The Tub o' Goo conveniently left out Bayless's best asset, his ability to get to the line and draw fouls.

Bayless is a pretty good backup SG, which Denier is not.

 

[MIXUM]

here we go with the bayless excuses lmao...

everyones wrong and bayless is great

 

[Natebishop3]

Isn't Raja Bell available? I realize he isn't a point guard, but his defense would be great to have in the playoffs. I'd rather have Bell than Diener.

 

[ucatchtrout]

Bayless's best asset, his ability to get to the line and draw fouls.

Bayless is a pretty good backup SG, which Denier is not.

Trouble is, when he drives he commits a lot of fouls and turnovers. Its not all good. On top of that he can't hit the step back jumper or three pointer.

How long does he get to prove himself?

Sebastian Telfair was given a couple of years to cut the mustard before the team decided to go in another direction, as was Sergio Rodriguez and Jarrett Jack. With the trade of Steve Blake Jerryd has been given another shot at proving himself. And he hasn't impressed anyone. Maybe the team should cut him loose this summer like the others before him.

There was a time everyone argued Sergio would learn to hit the jumper too....but he never did, and still hasn't.

 

[RR7]

Isn't Raja Bell available? I realize he isn't a point guard, but his defense would be great to have in the playoffs. I'd rather have Bell than Diener.

Too late to sign someone and have them be on the playoff roster, I believe.

 

[Minstrel]

Not really. It's not his stats that look bad.

Because his stats actually don't look bad.

He has a league average PER, his scoring efficiency is solid (thanks largely to his ability to get and make free throws) and his Assist Rate and Turnover Rate are actually fairly solid. Even his rebounding is okay for a point guard.

His offensive improvements over last season have actually encouraged me. It's his defensive game that has disappointed me a bit...I expected him to look a bit better on defense.

Overall, though, he's currently an asset as a backup point guard, regardless of how he "looks," in my opinion. And at 21, he has plenty of chance to be a lot more than that.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Bayless,

he has a big head and tiny little arms.

[video=youtube;93B072j-E3I]

 

[LittleAlex]

Because his stats actually don't look bad.

He has a league average PER, his scoring efficiency is solid (thanks largely to his ability to get and make free throws) and his Assist Rate and Turnover Rate are actually fairly solid. Even his rebounding is okay for a point guard.

His offensive improvements over last season have actually encouraged me. It's his defensive game that has disappointed me a bit...I expected him to look a bit better on defense.

Overall, though, he's currently an asset as a backup point guard, regardless of how he "looks," in my opinion. And at 21, he has plenty of chance to be a lot more than that.

If you look at yearly average Bayless comes out ok.

The last 3 weeks he sucked, though no worse then his benchmates.

Bad turnovers, poor defense and tunnel vision have ruined what would otherwise have been a improved second year.

I am not advocating ditching the kid, but Portland can ill afford Bayless' growing pains in the playoffs. (They can't afford the garbage play of Rudy or Martell either.)

Perhaps he will get back on track in the next 5 games. If he doesn't then I think Nate won't have much choice but to sit him down for the post season.

 

[Rhal]

When bayless was getting 25+ minutes a game he was playing great. Putting up nice numbers in most categories and getting to the foul line a ton. Now that he is back down to the 15m mark his play has become what it was last year... really really inconstant jumper and being out of control when on a fast break.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

When bayless was getting 25+ minutes a game he was playing great. Putting up nice numbers in most categories and getting to the foul line a ton. Now that he is back down to the 15m mark his play has become what it was last year... really really inconstant jumper and being out of control when on a fast break.

Chicken or egg. Was he playing well because he was getting minutes, or was he getting more minutes because he was playing well? Or are the two simply colinear but unrelated?

 

[jlprk]

I go back to my 2 themes. Pritchard needs to make consolidation trades. We should dump these young crappy players who don't know how to play and pick up about 3 Juwan Howards.

 

[Minstrel]

If you look at yearly average Bayless comes out ok.

The last 3 weeks he sucked, though no worse then his benchmates.

Bad turnovers, poor defense and tunnel vision have ruined what would otherwise have been a improved second year.

I find these statements to be illogical. You agree that his overall season has been solid but then say due to three weeks of play (which are already counted into his overall season numbers), his "improved second year" is ruined? So we should simply throw out everything but the last three weeks?

His last three weeks have dropped his PER from about 15.6 to 15. Clearly below the level of play before that, but hardly catastrophic.

If he doesn't then I think Nate won't have much choice but to sit him down for the post season.

As you said, he's been no worse than his benchmates. Are you advocating no bench use in the playoffs and 48 minutes per game for the starters? I don't think that will work.

The bench has been pretty crap for the past few weeks. Their overall numbers suggest generally competent reserves. I think the larger data set is more reliable, going forward, than the smaller one, even if the smaller one is most recent.

I think Portland will have to ride their starters as many minutes as possible in the playoffs, but that's generally the case for all playoff teams. I don't think Bayless, Fernandez, Webster and Howard should be shelved in the playoffs. Their roles should be, and will be, reduced. But they're all capable of giving reasonable performance for short stretches.

IMO, one of Miller or Roy should always be on the court in the playoffs. That will reduce/remove the need for either Bayless or Rudy to function as primary play-maker, a role neither has shown themselves capable of. As just scorers off the bench, they're both streaky. But few teams have consistently good scorers off the bench. Inconsistently good or consistently forgettable are usually the choices.

 

[EGame]

Ignorant decides this article well.

 

[jlprk]

Bayless' effectiveness per 48 minutes, later this season compared to the rest of this season

+3.6 post-all star compared to before
-5.5 last 10 games compared to before
-5.5 last 5 games compared to before
+2.6 last 3 games compared to before

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...d-trail-blazers/team/profile/10/25/13-6-2-eff
(also shows his changes in all stat categories, not just effectiveness)

 

[mook]

Bayless can be a big difference-maker in the playoffs if we play the right team.

For example, in three games against Denver this year he averaged 5 assists, 6 free throw attempts, 10 points, and 45% shooting in 20 minutes. That's pretty good productivity. If they're bench remains thin without Kenyon Martin, he could do even better.

There's no playoff team I find myself thinking, "Oh, that's a good matchup for Travis Diener."

 

[EGame]

Bayless can be a big difference-maker in the playoffs if we play the right team.

For example, in three games against Denver this year he averaged 5 assists, 6 free throw attempts, 10 points, and 45% shooting in 20 minutes. That's pretty good productivity. If they're bench remains thin without Kenyon Martin, he could do even better.

There's no playoff team I find myself thinking, "Oh, that's a good matchup for Travis Diener."

I think Dallas rings a bell. Our guards seem to tear there team up like none other. Perhaps the Lakers as well, he had decent games against them both times.

 

[MickZagger]

here we go with the bayless excuses lmao...

everyones wrong and bayless is great

Bayless is 21 *edited*

 

[jlprk]

Bayless can be a big difference-maker in the playoffs if we play the right team. For example, in three games against Denver this year he averaged 5 assists, 6 free throw attempts, 10 points, and 45% shooting in 20 minutes.

I think Dallas rings a bell. Our guards seem to tear there team up like none other. Perhaps the Lakers as well, he had decent games against them both times.

For what it's worth, here are Bayless' stats by opponent, up to March 31. Of course, garbage time in blowouts influences his stats.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketbal...s/players/jerryd-bayless/byopponent/10/25/348

Here is that chart sorted by per minute. I put lines to show the extremes--the top 6 and the bottom 11. Western playoff teams have asterisks.

Bayless 2009-10 eff per minute...opponent

0.721 ny
0.718 lal*
0.641 ind
0.637 bos
0.570 no
0.566 cha
-----------
0.523 sa*
0.512 chi
0.511 phi
0.507 mem
0.492 nj
0.467 sac
0.466 den*
0.463 uta*
0.452 hou
0.447 mil
0.440 min
-----------
0.408 pho*
0.395 dal*
0.382 was
0.313 mia
0.311 tor
0.306 lac
0.162 gs
0.088 cle
0.075 okc*
0.000 atl
0.000 orl

 

[KingSpeed]

I go back to my 2 themes. Pritchard needs to make consolidation trades. We should dump these young crappy players who don't know how to play and pick up about 3 Juwan Howards.

Prichard DID make a considation trade. He sent out Blake and Outlaw (our two best bench players) for a 4th center. I guess it was necessary because of the injuries to Joel and Greg, but it certainly cleared up regular time for Rudy, Martell, and Bayless. All three of them are failing unfortunately. Suddenly, we don't have the depth we had at the beginning of the season.

I thought one of the reasons we parted with Outlaw was because Dante was coming on strong, but since the trade, he hasn't played much.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Prichard DID make a considation trade. He sent out Blake and Outlaw (our two best bench players) for a 4th center. I guess it was necessary because of the injuries to Joel and Greg, but it certainly cleared up regular time for Rudy, Martell, and Bayless. All three of them are failing unfortunately. Suddenly, we don't have the depth we had at the beginning of the season.

I thought one of the reasons we parted with Outlaw was because Dante was coming on strong, but since the trade, he hasn't played much.

A fourth center huh? I'd say a more apt description is that we had 2 "4th" centers before Camby got here and now we actually have a "1st"

As for Dante, his play isn't the issue, it's Nate tightening up the rotation and going with the vet Howard instead of the rook; he'll get his opportunities in seasons after this one.

If it's any consoloation, the Clips aren't playing Outlaw much either, apparently he takes bad shots and has big lapses in defense which have dropped his stock in Kim Hughes eyes.