Bayless, Blake, Roy backcourt?

I know that there were people screaming for Nate to put in Bayless to counter Nash last night, and then when Bayless finally went in the same people (it seemed, but likely this is just a perception) were screaming at Nate for being an idiot.

I really don’t know except that we needed a slashing offense for quick baskets and fouls. The bigger question then is why not have Rudy in that line up?

It’s pretty obvious that early in the season Nate is experimenting with different combinations to see what works.

I think a lot of people here are confusing Bayless’ ‘Pressure’ for ‘Good Defense’. Yes he comes up to the ball handler and puts pressure on him, but as we’ve seen in both games he has played in, all that does is look good when the play is not for the PG to penetrate, and look horrible when the play is for the PG to penetrate. When you play someone super tight, one of the side effects is it makes it even easier for them to go around you and penetrate, and Nash and Farmar both did exactly that whenever they wanted.

I truly hope Bayless can become a defensive stopper, but i don’t think we’re doing anyone any favors by anointing him a ‘Stopper’ before he has stopped anyone.

I was a little baffled as well… but I could understand Nate’s rationale in the move. With a smaller and quicker PHX backcourt, Portland was running out of steam trying to keep up offensively. I think Nate was looking for an offensive spark at a point in the game where they were lagging behind. This is a time in the season where you can make a gamble like that, doing it for the sake of development and experimentation. Now, the mix certainly is not working at the moment, so now you know for the remaining 80 games of the season.

I think Bayless is really struggling right now to find his place on this team. I really love what he could be… but I am not convinced right now he is actually good for this team. What he wants to do is clashing with Roy, and honestly, I didn’t expect that. Maybe it’s because I didn’t know Bayless’ game all that well… but I was jacked up after draft day that we landed Bayless, thinking he could compliment Roy. I’m still pulling for the kid, and I think he could be an exciting piece to this team… but right now I’m not seeing the fit. He has no idea what to do with the ball because it’s obvious he wants to attack and try to score… but he’s being told to work more as a pure, pass-first point guard.

I say give Bayless the green light for a few minutes in each half and see what he can do with it. Put him out there with this lineup:

pg: Bayless

sg: Rudy

sf: Batum (webster would be more ideal in the future)

pf: Aldridge

c: Frye

With this lineup you can set Bayless free to work off pick and rolls from frye or LMA and attack, with Rudy spreading the floor and Batum cleaning up the garbage.

He’s gotta earn his stripes, and Sergio has certainly played well enough to keep Bayless as the #3 pg… but the kid is gonna need some green light time on the floor in order for us to see what he’s really made of.

But the clashing with Roy… not so good for his PT.

………………………… Rex offers the potential of a change of pace.

I remain 100% convinced that Rex-style PG play is the thing that PDX is missing.

Will Nate figure it out this season? Yeah, probably.

It seems like this was about experimenting early in the season. Most people seem to agree that blake should not have been in the line up at the time we are talking about. I like mcmillions lineup suggestion, just to really see what bayless can do. It also seems like when ever you read about Blazer practice bayless is with the 3rd unit. So he might be a ways away from being in an ideal situation for his skills. I wonder how he’s dealing with Batum getting so much quality time. Seems good when I see how he is acting on the bench, like getting up and high fiving guys and such.

was half asleep during the game, so correct me if i’m wrong,

but post-game Nate said Rudy looked winded and he was trying to get Phoenix out of their zone, I imagine they would have been doing something similar to that 1-2-2 zone sagging off the corner that L.A. was doing in the first game.

Outlaw is just extending his range out that far, and Batum is adjusting to the 3 point line, so they really want our SF’s jacking up 3’s… its like they’re killing us with something our system is supposed to exploit, but due to the bus factor we seem currently incapable of doing so.

I’d rather see pick 2 of the above + rudy out there in this situation… but nate said rudy was winded… none the less, it appears hard for us to shoot anyone out of a zone without going to some kind of 3 guard lineup…

here’s a telling photo, check out outlaw wide open in the corner…

I think part of why it works so well is brandon has the ball in his hands, and is breaking people off the dribble and running right into the same zone that is foiling lamarcus’s post moves, maybe putting the ball in blakes hands and make brandon run around or something?