Broussard on Bayless Transcript

I will be so mad if we trade Bayless. He needs to play. He is perfect with Roy.

All he really said is what we all already know: BRex isn’t a PG and there is no room for him in the lineup ATM. It also might make since to move him for an SF or actual PG.

This has been discussed hundreds of times. What is so inflammatory about that?

I was at the game and noticed Bayless was the first off the bench every time slapping high fives to his teammates coming off the floor. Maybe he saw this report and was trying to prove he was happy to be here…
However, I am not a big Bayless fan. I don’t doubt he will be a player in the League but he’s one of those guys who needs the ball in his hands to be effective, and that is not what the blazers need from the point guard position. I can see him becoming an excellent player, one who puts up great numbers and earns a big contract somewhere else, but I don’t see him as a key component to our future championship runs. To me he is the most expendable guy on the team (besides frye and diogu) and has great value. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is gone by the start of next season. This season was to see the development of our young guys on the court and let them define their own roles. After the season I think KP will sit down and see who were the major contributors and hopefully trade some of the young players who weren’t part of the rotation to bring in an elite point guard and maybe a small forward. I wouldn’t trade anyone during the season, but I could see KP making a couple major moves next summer.
Next year we need to have smaller rotation, which will leave many guys expendable. That will be determined by how they play for the rest of this year.

A BUNCH OF MADE UP CRAP!!!

I see nothing to indicate that he can’t play point and nothing to support that either he wants out or that we don’t think he fits.

…so if Bayless is as good at defense as advertised ( by KP himself ), then KP must be showcasing Sergio. Because he’s grooming Batum right now ( mainly for his defense ) for the future…so why not Bayless ( for his defense ).

I wouldn’t be at all surprised that there’s a package deal coming involving Sergio &_________? or Sergio & Raef’s contract ………for a good backup 4.

I wish he could pull off…….David Lee &_________? ( we know that the Knicks want Sergio and more salary cap ). And besides the players available in 2009 won’t really be much help to us compared to a good 4 via trade.

The youngest player on the roster is on the travelling squad but not getting many minutes. But the reason is that unlike in Miami, Oklahoma City, Memphis, San Diego, Charlotte, New Jersey or Minnesota, he’s playing on a much better team that is deeper at every position. If Webster had been healthy, the rumor mongers would be saying the same thing about Batum. Right now, the Blazers have been giving three rookies substantial playing time, and at PG, Sergio, in his third year, has been playing ahead of Bayless. And this is with a coach that, like most coaches, prefers to use players with NBA experience and to bring rookies along slowly. Particularly when we’re talking about the most difficult position on the floor – which is point guard.

The practical fact is that the Blazers are a much better team than any of those who drafted early. You might judge Bayless by considering how many minutes he’d be getting in Phoenix, LA, Cleveland, NY, Orlando, New Orleans, San Antonio, Dallas or the like – because the Blazers belong in that group of teams, not the rest. If you did that, you’d realize that no one can draw any conclusions at all about how the Blazers feel about Bayless, nor about his future with the team.

Playing point is not merely a matter of having physical skills, it’s also a matter of knowing the playbook and the players, and understanding everyone’s strength’s and weaknesses. The fact that Bayless is being schooled, and that the Blazers can take the time to do that means only that we will have to wait to see where his future lies.

Those that say he cannot play opposite Roy, for example, are stating a personal opinion that has nothing to do with anything that has come out of the Blazer’s organization. We know he’s an excellent athlete with a superb work ethic, and that with only one year of college ball under his belt, that he can and will improve his game. It’s a long season, and, eventually, Bayless will get minutes.

Right now, however, Sergio and Blake are playing ahead of him. The only truth to any of this speculation is that at some point, the issue of Blake vs. Sergio vs. Bayless will need to be resolved, given that each of these players have a future in the league, and none of them are likely to remain as the third team PG. People will speculate, of course, as to what transpires over time at the PG. Every one of these players will be rumored at one time or another to be part of some trade. Indeed, if the trade is for another PG, two of these players will be rumored to be on the trading block.

But Bayless – he’ll be fine. KP is an excellent judge of talent – and Bayless is talented.

What the PTB need (other than a back-up PF) is somebody who can defend the opposing PG. Team defense starts with picking-up the guy with the ball, that is usually the PG. We need somebody with the foot speed, the upper-body strength, and the aggressive attitude to play nasty on-ball defense. We need somebody who can get back in transition, find their guy and then disrupt the opposing teams ability to get into their half-court offense.

To my eye, neither Blake or Sergio are ever going to be good defenders:

Blake doesn’t have enough foot speed. In order to keep his guy from blowing by, he has to stay well off of his man. That opens up all the passing lanes and allows the opposing PG to dribble to any point on the floor.

Sergio seems a little bit quicker than Blake, but he too struggles to stay between his guy and the basket. In addition, he lacks upper-body strength. He can’t “body” anyone. He can’t keep the opposing PG from getting to where they want to get on the floor and he can’t get close enough to cut-off the passing angles.

To my eye, Bayless is the guy who has a chance to become a very good defender. He has excellent foot speed, tremendous upper body strength, and outstanding athleticism. He also has “attitude.” Bayless is the kind of guy who wants to get in the opposing players shorts. He wants to play tight and aggressive. This is annoying and disruptive. It makes it hard for the opposing PG to get where they want to get on the floor, and it cuts down on passing angles. JB will get burned at times by playing too tight, but with time he will learn.

None of these three guys is currently a complete offensive player: Blake can’t penetrate, Sergio can’t finish and neither is great at creating their own shot. JB is not yet a smooth and confident distributor. But I don’t see any reason why he can’t develop better decision making skills with more time on the floor.

Some argue that Bayless is a selfish “shoot first” player who will never become a PG. Based on what? Primarily because he played at the SG at AU and because he didn’t have anyone to pass to in Summer League. That seems like pretty flimsy evidence to me. We know several things about Bayless: he is quite smart; he has a tremendous work ethic; he is a fierce competitor. We have seen nothing from him that suggests that he is not willing to reign in his scorers mentality to earn playing time on the floor. In fact, I would suggest just the opposite. What I see in the garbage minutes he gets is a scorer who is trying to figure out how to get his teammates involved. He frequently hesitates to drive or shoot because he is trying to be a “true” PG. It is going to take time for him to develop the decision making skills necessary to be a good distributor, but he appears to have all the physical and mental tools necessary.

Bottom Line: we don’t know of JB is the PG of the future. Fans have seen very little. Most of what we have is masturbatory speculation. However, I think JBay has tools that neither Blake or Sergio possess, particularly at the defensive end.

Anybody out there care to discuss PG defense?

To my eye, Bayless, above everything else, looks like a guy who can learn to defend the “1.” More than anything else, that is what this team needs. We need somebody with enough foot speed, upper body strength, and enough aggression to play nasty on-ball defense; somebody who can disrupt the other teams ability to get transition baskets and their ability to get into their half court offense

Whats up folks, I’m a long-time lurker, first time poster on any blog ever and I felt obligated to come to Sexy Rexy’s defense.

First off, I promise to never speculate on possible trades for Chris Paul or Deron Williams. I do not promise to never speculate on possible trades for Devin Harris. As a pround Wisconsin Badger alumnus I have fond memories of spotting D-Ha on campus with his harem of mediocre-looking white girls. White unit for D and Yi straight up.

I would like to promise that I will not awkwardly hit on BlazerFan1 blogger style, but I cannot.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand…

I’ve read a lot of posts making the claim that Bayless “needs the ball in his hands” and that we have too many scorers on this team for him to get the opportunities that he needs. I disagree. The way I see it we have three players who can create their own shot: Roy, Lamarcus, and Outlaw. Rudy will probably be added to the list at some point but right now he’s pretty much a perimeter player. His mid-range shots aren’t falling and he has trouble finishing in traffic.

As for the three I mentioned above, Lamarcus is a shot-creator only when his jumper is falling, and Outlaw pretty much only in the fourth quarter. Roy is a transcendant scorer and I will never question any aspect of his game ever.

As a few people have mentioned already, Bayless is a player who can get his shot off anywhere, be it through dribble penetration, step-back mid-range jumper, or finishing on the fast break. The one thing he’s really missing is a drive-and-dish game. Though his passing so far this season has been sub-par, I think he has the work ethic to improve it. He’s been the first, second, and third option on his team his whole life.

While I love the Spanish Armada (did anyone else vote for “Spanish Inquisition” on O-live? hilarious) how many times have you seen our offense come to a crashing halt as soon as the white unit comes in? The problem is that there are not enough players in that unit who can create their own shot and I don’t think my heart can take watching Trav put his head down, dribble once and launch an off-balance fadeaway ten times a game.

In my opinion, Bayless is the answer. He obviously isn’t comfortable enough with the McMillan system to get serious minutes as of right now, but after the all-star break and certainly next season I would hope to see him take on a bigger role with this team.

have we all somehow forgotten about petteri?