buy bayless jersey

and note to self
buy Bayless home, away, alternate, and retro jersey. Now.

For Bayless, you say, “the verdict on his jumper is mixed, but it’s hard to tell with just one game.
He certainly looks like he’ll be able to get it off when he wants.”

ChewHoop spun it a little differently in the liveblog today, saying,
“I love how aggressive he was, trying to get to the rim, finishing with both hands.
He’s athletic, skilled and doesn’t fall in love with his jumper [emphasis mine]
like a lot of combo guards these days tend to do.”

As in, although “he can get his jumper off when he wants”, it’s nice to see that “when he wants”
isn’t too freakishly often, especially after the trigger-happy antics the past few years
of players like JJ, Sergio, Darius, occasionally Blake, Juan Dixon, and Telfair.

Also, you note that “[t]he answer to James Jones’ departure doesn’t seem to be here”: Well, Rudy’s not there.
If Bayless and The Petter can even match the loss of both JJs (let alone improve on last year’s perimeter shooting),
that would certainly increase the pressure on Rudy to be able to hit from distance.
And, if he can do so, it will be a lot more valuable to us if the other new arrivals can’t offer that.

Love the “straight-line/have-to-move-more” comment from Nate.
I would imagine that’s a common trait for rookies, that the ability to pick a complex path to the basket
is a very hard ability to realize the need for, let alone acquire.
That’s probably one of those subtle touches that comes with being a veteran.

Unless you’re Brandon Roy.
HE had that vet-like ability down solid from game one of his rookie year.

Washington was no doubt tired after getting into Vegas just 2 hrs before gametime, but they brought a talented group- with at least 4-5 people who will be on the big club roster.

PK and JB looked good. I’m not surprised that Batum looked like a project- that’s what he is, but nice to hear that Dave saw good things in his defense.

I think we saw what we wanted in game 1.

I was in the open thread so I missed some stuff. From that perspective, I noticed that no ones defense made me cuss and the offense wasn’t bad. For a summer league game and knowing this team has only been together a week, I though it was a pretty crisp game, for a game with a ton of turnovers and hardly any assists.

We should be careful of judgments after one game? Dave you seem more nit picky than most but I guess that’s your job. I’m very happy with the play of Bayless and Koponen. I did feel Bayless choked at the end from the free throw line, that’s my only know on him, yet he got there 23 times. Bayless was playing good defense, playing up on the guard with quick feet. Then he got called for a weak touch foul and he started playing off the guys more.

Bayless has been better than expected. He wasn’t going to get 10 assists with all the scrubs he has to pass to. I mean come on, who does he have? Steven Hill? Hahahaha

... if you want to see the line “Bayless is the truth.”

Go there and scroll down a bit.

On 9/18 that fatty is a greatly missed element around here. He is sort of the opposite of sawdust mixing with nitroglycerin to create dynamite. He is a catalyst for brilliance and incandescent rage on the parts of certain posters. Regardless he will be back when he said he would be back. What’s more it will be a fine day when he returns.

FREAKING BIIIIZZZZZZZOOOOOOOOK IT YA’LL!!!!

Dallas’ JV team is crushing Minny (with several rotation players- Love, Brewer, Chris Richard).

i think yes

before he pulled his hammy or whatever.

I like this kid so far. I don’t care what anybody says, his confidence was rockin’ in the 4th with his 3 ball, and he’s got a pretty teardrop floater down the lane. Some people are hesitant to say too much with this being the first game and all, but I saw some heart out there to get us our lead back.

Oh and J Bay,

You’re money baby and you don’t even know it! .....wait….you do know it.

Bayless: He looked like he will have no problem getting into the middle of defenses. Nick Young and Dee Brown are not stars by any means but both are nba athletes and Bayless had no problem getting by them. I think this is really the key thing we could have hoped for with this team. If he can get into the middle of the defense with real shooters and bigs around him the assists will come in bunches. You can’t really get much feel for his outside shot from this game but I definitely noticed a hitch that slows his release. I assume this is what they are working on getting rid of this summer. On defense he looked fine to me. Nothing outstanding but he worked to stay in front of his man and he wasn’t getting torched. Finally, he is a fantastic athlete. He showed great straight line speed and fantastic leaping. When he was in traffic he was still able to elevate. He even had a great block.

Petko: Petteri looked like he was nervous to start the game. In fact, other than Bayless the whole team looked like they were rushing everything until well into the second half. I was suprised with how quick he was. He had no trouble keeping Dee Brown in front of him. I only recall one play where Brown was able to get past him and into the lane. Once he settled down he got the offense going much smoother. He was able to get into the lane and dish to the bigs on multiple occasions and he had a couple of nice looking floaters. My big concern with Petteri is his ball handling. I am not sure if it was him being overcautious or if he is not confident but whenever he brought the ball up he had to back down he man. Even doing this he still got picked once and had a couple of other bobbles. Overall I was impressed with the improvements. He was certainly the second best player on the team and the confidence he showed at the end was great.

For those who missed it; Here is a link to the archive of the game. The live feed starts about 30 min into the replay so you have to jump forward. http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/nba/nbacom/summer_league/full/summer08_waspor_15.asx

They have 3 NBA level big men in Hawes, Sheldon Williams and first round pick Jason Thompson. Petko and Rex should be able to do well against their guards (Quincy Douby is the only notable name), but Chris Ellis and co. will have their hands full.

Anyone else?

bayless swat of dee brown with 8:21 left in the 4th? SICK

Also, comparing Bayless to Rick Fox is asinine. First of all, Bayless has way more talent already than Fox ever did. Not that shooting 3’s from the corner (closest 3 spot to the basket), flopping, and riding coattails aren’t talents. I don’t see Bayless playing a meaningless role in our future successes that are almost sure to come. I see his attitude as more of a Mike Bibby than a Rick Fox. Bibby always had a salty face on, but in Sac when the playoffs came ‘round he was the man. Our two best players last year, Broy and the Marcus are great players but neither exudes a killer disposition. At some point we gotta show some heart, passion, fire, whatever it is that all NBA champions not from San Antonio exemplify. Roy and Aldridge will still be the leaders of this team next year, but Bayless and Oden are going to do a lot of the dirty work, so I suggest you start loving him now instead of later so you don’t have to hear from everyone saying, “I told you so.” I still can’t believe a Blazer fan compared a rookie who scores 28 points in his debut performance to a L*aker Rick Fox simply because he looks intense and confident on the floor. You haters can move to Seattle you don’t deserve a team.

I got your back BayBay!

Very good summery.

Bayless is a Baller

Pure and Simple. That could be his new nick name. Pure and simply balling. The kid just wants to win, and more importantly, make you loose. You can tell just by the way he holds himself before the game, chatting it up with Paul Allen, then calmly fist pumping after that first Blazer basket – the tear drop in the lane! So Pretty! The fact he ran at the basket on his next possession, got fouled and finished the play with a bouncing ball that finally fell through the hoop as if to say to us Blazermaniacs, don’t worry, it will all work out. I loved his great FT percentage for his FIRST NBA GAME. He is NBA ready right now, that’s for sure. And he has 10 teams that passed on him in the draft to beat up on as a personal vendetta for many years to come. Face it “Rest of the League” Your seeing the beginnings of the next Dynasty grow up right in front of your eyes. I see Bayless going for 30+ points on a few occasions this year, simply due to the fact he will wear down opposing defense’s and make them foul his every entry into the lane. I think he is going to play good enough defense his first year to get some serious minutes; it looks like Greg and Rudy are going to have to keep track of Jerryd’s R.O.Y. year progress as well!!! oh we are so DEEP! Granted this is just ONE summer league game, but I think it shows more then that as far as his desire to take the scoring load on his shoulders at the end of games. It shows me that he is winner. At one point in the game we were down by 5 or 6 points, but we didn’t panic, we had some sloppy turnovers (alot of them, but I forget the bad, I remember the good), and then something amazing happened….....

It was the Finn! For three! And then Again! AND THEN AGAIN! P.K. was amazing tonight to the tune of 19 points, everything from his first Bank-In three to that fantastic Triple Tirade! I think he will make the squad this year, a 6-4 lighting quick point has a spot on my team any day. But I need to see more.

Batum kind of let me down, well, he got injured (bruised rib?), he couldn’t help it, but seriously, don’t pull a G.O. on me and take a game off from summer league! I hope he’s back our there tonight. I am passing on a hot date in favor of staying home and watching this game, Sac town is going down!

All in all, I am so glad I DVD’d that game, now, when I go home, I can watch it before I watch the game tonight, what time does it start? I need to set my DVD recorder. Then go outside and play a little basketball myself, Oh, I just pulled a Bayless on you, crossed you over and laid it up while getting fouled! And what And One

“You hear that Train a Coming? That’s those Portland Trailblazers! ” Charles Barkley During the NBA Western Conference Finals

Anyone want to have a party at my house? We can BBQ. Beaverton people! Know about it!

Blazermaniac Andy

Well, I returned home last night just in time for the end of the 2nd qt and I obviously watched the remainer of the game. Batum went down midway through the 3rd qt. w a bruised rib and was gone so I waited til 10 to watch the first half again so my frame of reference isn’t soo small.

Batum is by far the best defender of the “big 3” . I noticed his body placement and how he moves his feet and arms. It was definitly better than the other crap on the floor. I, unlike, everyone else here, dont really care about his offense, as it’s already been emphatically stated that he is going to be a defensive specialist. It looks like maybe he was given the instruction to shoot the three. This is just speculation however, as I remember reading something about him spreading the floor on offense and shootin the threeball.

Obviously, his debut was dismal compared to Rexless and Koper, but it wasn’t soo bad that we should consider giving up his spot. Hasn’t he already signed on anyway? I think the last spot on the roster is Kopper’s to lose. If he plays the way he did he’ll be #15 for sure.

-Sophia
PS Cant post anything about Batum w/o saying he looks sooooooooo good playing.. even if some thinks he is too skinny.

:)

from my seat in the 4th row behind the Blazer bench:

1) Monty Williams was teaching the entire game. Great to see him working with the younger players, encouraging them when they do something right and rebuking them when they need it.

2) Batum looked nervous. Seemed to be interviewing rather than playing. His outside shot on those misses looked fine from the perspective of form, they just didn’t fall.

3) Bayless handled the ball really well in fast-break situations. That was one thing in particular I wanted to see. If he plays with Roy, then Brandon will run the offense in the half-court and he can play off the ball.

4) Koponen has improved his ball-handling over last year. Still shooting the ball just as well if not better.

5) Ellis, Davis, Pinnock and Maric could get training camp invites, but I don’t see any one of them making the squad.

6) Paul Allen, Kevin Pritchard and Tom Penn had an ‘executive meeting’ for about 2-3 minutes during halftime. I didn’t see where McMillan was sitting. This is the first time I’ve seen Paul Allen at a Summer League game – has he ever made the trip before?

7) Anyone else notice that ‘family’ holding up Finland flags once the game finished? They were sitting about 8-10 rows below the television cameras.

Come on, I worked hard at hardly working all day! And, my belly needs some something of nutrition. I tell you what, I will get you a hot date, you get me a full belly, and we will both get another win tonight, can you smell it?

Andy

The diary will come, if I can get a response.

BTW I just checked out her photo’s, I didn’t know Blazers fans were allowed to be attractive

And her son can come too, I am talking Pizza and Games, any idea’s?

Andy