Drawing out the trajectory

by monkeysuncle on Jul 21, 2008 5:50 PM PDT Comment 66 comments

While others have been projecting RydBay's performance in four games of the Las Vegas Summer league and are starting to write RydBay's acceptance speech for the NBA Hall of Fame, my protractor and straight edge end up in a different place.

R ydBay the reincarnation of Billy Ray (Bates)?

RydBay's Saturday night's fourth quarter performance against the Suns could easily be Photoshopped into Billy Ray's performance against the Kansas City Kings in the 1981 Playoffs.

Of course, we are watching the results of four games against unrepresentative opponents with unfamiliar teammates by a player who has a lot of growing to do. But the 1979-1981 Billy Ray would have done exactly the same thing that RydBay did Saturday night, while flying higher and hanging longer.

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I don't think there is a comparison

What Bayless has done in the Summer League won’t be his role on the Big Club, which will pretty much be “don’t f—- it up, play hard D”.

Long term, the plan is that Bayless, Roy, and Oden play together for a long time (and to a lesser extent Aldridge). I don’t think anyone ever really wants Bayless to taking more than 20% of the teams shots when he’s on the floor or being the focal points of the offense – Oden and Roy are “in line” before him.

If he’s going to succeed in the NBA, it will have to be in a different role, or with a different team. We’ve got no plans to rebuild our team or trade Bayless, so it remains to be seen what he does when the expectations are different.

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 21, 2008 6:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You think Bayless is less replaceable than Aldridge? What?

A Time For Heroes,
It's not right for young lungs to be coughing up blood
And it's all
It's all in my hands
And its all up the walls
Well the stale chips were up and the hopes stakes were down
Until Kp came into Town!
'Sing it Petey!

by Dheepan on Jul 21, 2008 6:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He clearly is joking

Power fowards come a dime a dozen they are sooooooooooooooo easy to find
-Sophia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 6:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah especially one that puts up 18 and 8 his sophomore year

Also, did you see Junior’s and my comments about your frightening picture?

by Dheepan on Jul 21, 2008 6:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL no which pic and where?

-Sop Hop

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 6:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

nevermind I found them

yes creapy and now i feel guilty and like a bad mother for subjecting my son to take pics with 2 naked oversized chipmonks…

-Sophia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 7:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't worry

He won’t notice that they are ridiculously disturbing until much later in life.

by Dheepan on Jul 21, 2008 7:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL

_Sophia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 7:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

LA did a manly job last year

While Greg was hurt and playing with with GO will let him do many more things,I dont know where this soft tag came from.

by southern oregon on Jul 21, 2008 8:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Aldridge is fragile

My LMA bobblehead broke his wrist on the first or second day. Just minutes ago, he broke all four fingers on the same hand.

Fragile!

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 21, 2008 7:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

HAHA okay

so based on bobble heads I think i agree with you

-O’phia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 7:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know my LMA bobblehead ALWAYS agrees with me.

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 21, 2008 7:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Seriously

Other than NBA experience, the main reason Bayless won’t start at any point in the year (barring injury) is because his shoot first game won’t work well as the 4th or even 5th option. Roy, Aldridge and Oden are all options before Bayless and Webster will be a better spot up shooter, so he’ll be the guy catching passes out of double teams. When Bayless learns to be more of a point guard, he’ll move to the starting lineup, but until then he’ll be an energy guy off the bench. Point being, there is no way Bayless is less replaceable than Aldridge, not at this point and not for 2-3 years at least.
Aldridge would start for at least 20 different teams. Bayless could start for maybe 5 teams.

The street lights is on.

by Magnum on Jul 21, 2008 6:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good points

I do think you underestimate what it will be like having two legitimate post scorers. It will help to have a bit of a gunner at point.

Blake is a spot up shooter and if he is able to keep his 3pt% where it was last year he could hold his spot all year. But if he slips back to his career average then I could definitely see Bayless getting a lot of burn with the starting unit.

by Powder on Jul 22, 2008 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Manzell

sorry that sarcasm was rude. I apologize, what i meant to say was that Aldridge is before Bayless. I suppose you were projecting Bayless’ roll on this team not saying that is how things are as they stand today and NOw. With that being said, I respectfully disagree. Aldridge is an important and crucial piece to the playoff puzzle. While Oden is being double teamed we have another productinve post man to score and visaversa. I could go on for days but yeah Aldridge is more important.

-Sophia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 6:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

we've got Oden in the post

It’s not a knock on Aldridge. But we’ve got guys we see as superstars at C, at G/F, and now, a guy who we have superstar hopes for in Bayless at PG. That’s a “Big 3”. If Bayless shows us good stuff in the regular season, then yeah, he’d be less replaceable than Aldridge for our team. It’s the opposite of damning with faint praise… like being the slowest guy on the world’s fastest relay team or something.

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 21, 2008 6:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

...have you watched LMA play?

He’s more comfortable working from the high post and shooting mid range jumpers. That compliments Oden perfectly. The fact that he now can go to the post is really helpful since Oden as of now, doesn’t really have any post game. Bayless hasn’t played a game in the NBA. Plus, we have Rudy who is probably a better offensive player and play maker than Bayless at this point.

A big man who can run the floor, with a mid range game, and solid defensive skills has and will always be less replaceable than a guard. Big men just aren’t as skilled.

by Dheepan on Jul 21, 2008 7:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dheepan my man

I agree completely but I’m pretty sure manzell has watched him play. LMA is maybe overshadowed and undervalued on this forum at times but he seems really solid so far and combined with Oden he should be the sneaky part of a nasty two headed beast.

Bayless has earned attention and prognostication but proved nothing so important as LMA.

by fatwansaboni on Jul 21, 2008 7:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Breaking the norm

Dheepan, I normally agree with you 100%. However I think you’re either selling Bayless short or pushing Rudy too high.

At this point I think playing for a top tier program like Arizona is still about as good as playing in Europe. Rudy might be more refined and have a better arsenal of moves at this point, but I feel like Bayless will have a bit less learning curve because the speeds and styles are similar.

Overall Bottom Line: At this point LMA is the second best player on the team to Roy. The future might change that, but it also may not. I know a lot of people have been high on players before who’ve flopped (See: Adam Morrison)... LMA is a proven commodity and right now speculating about Bayless, Oden, and Rudy (who have a collective 0 NBA minutes) is impossible.

by Powder on Jul 22, 2008 10:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

if it was

then our olimpic teams would be collage studentds, and we would have a perfect record, but ist not. kp pointed out that rudy is coming from better compatition oversees then we have hear in school. your sugestion that our collages are better then the topflight euro leagues is quite possibly misguided-to be just less then blunt.

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 23, 2008 11:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You might want to consider Coach Demopoulis' comments

about the big four before you anoint Bayless and demote LMA. Bayless so far is a wonderful one-trick pony and while he is better than most envisioned last month at that one trick (scoring unassisted) I do think he has to play a couple of years in the league to begin to assess his long-term permanence. Maybe his performance in Vegas is the catalyst and chip KP needs to make a great trade. In my opinion LMA will be here longer than Bayless.

(and I really am happy we have Bayless)

Aldridge said. "We feel like we can beat any team. We feel like we can beat the Spurs, Suns, Lakers, Mavericks, whoever any night right now, and we'll still be here when those teams get old and their guys retire. We're going to be here for a long time."

by lee3022 on Jul 21, 2008 7:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i'm excited

in 2010… we’ll hopefully see a lineup of

Bayless
Roy
Outlaw
Aldridge
Oden

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 21, 2008 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, if Bayless pans out, absolutely devastating

And for potentially even more scoring punch:

Bayless
Rudy
Roy
Aldridge
Oden

Better not double team…

by KP Corleone on Jul 21, 2008 8:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even more (in my eyes)

Bayless
Roy
Martell
Aldridge
Oden

(I think of Rudy as Manu, electric scorer who can relieve anyone from the 1 through the 3).

by Powder on Jul 22, 2008 10:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bayless has a lot more than one trick

unless your one trick encompasses spot up shooting, the pull up J, the tear drop, taking it to the rack, the lefty runner, in-your-face dunk, the ankle breaking cross, the diamond cutter lazer-stare, one-on-one D, demoralizing defenders in general, getting opposing coaches fired, speaking in public, international diplomacy, cold fusion, and curing cancer. Other than that, he doesn’t have a whole lot going for him. Here’s hoping he continues to develop.

But yeah I agree, obviously, at this point LA is a proven NBA commodity, and he’s a long, long way ahead of Bayless. Tricks and all.

by KP Corleone on Jul 21, 2008 8:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We have a winner

Bayless new nickname: “The Diamond”.

Get that train runnin, Blazer’s Edgers.

M, period. Fresh, comma.

by manzell on Jul 21, 2008 8:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes.

One trick pony maybe. Another one of those shooting guards in a point guard body. We had one of those in Juan Dixon. Bayless can drive and slash better than Dixon, but Dixon has a far better outside shot.

A Bayless to Nate Robinson comparison keeps coming to my mind. Bayless does the things Nate does like drive and slash and jump out of the gym. The comparison ends ‘cuz Bayless at 6’1” is probably about 4 inches taller, but since neither are really point guards, the similarity appears again.

One more thing and I suppose this is just me — I have some fears that Jerryd does not fit our culture.

I’m not going to make any predictions, but I wouldn’t faint from surprise if Bayless were to be traded sometime in the next year.

I remember telling him how impressed I was with a player during summer league. In Avery's unique voice, he replied, "Marc, it's summer league." I

by TwoDeep on Jul 21, 2008 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

doubtful

I think his “cold nature” that we all perceive when he gives interviews is a cover because he is immature and doesn’t know how to handle being uncomfortable. He also is clearly the type that likes being in control, nothing wrong with that, but obviously one is not in control when being interviewed. I have no doubt that his abundance of confidence will be lessened come training camp. I know Brandon is a nice guy, humble and all but wont take crap from a lil rookie.

Book It

Soph-

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 8:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bayless comes from a good family

and says all the right things. Never been in trouble. Drops 36 in an absolutely dominant performance… and then immediatley talks about deferring to Roy, LA, and company in the post-game interview. Where do the culture concerns come in? I don’t get it. His intelligence, humility, and poise seem off the charts. Especially for a nineteen-year-old kid.

Anyone who isn’t at least a little excited about Bayless couldn’t have watched the Suns game. It’s just not possible. You’d have to be either a robot or a Lakers fan. Say what you will about the quality of summer league ball – the kid is tough as nails, he wants to win, and his potential is through the roof.

by KP Corleone on Jul 21, 2008 8:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Culture factor:

Bayless strikes me a little as a me first, non-team guy. He certainly did little to try to get his teammates involved in Summer League. He seemed more concerned with proving that the teams who passed him over made a mistake (that is not a team oriented attitude). Then when Nate said that Blake was the starting point guard when the season opened, it didn’t sound like Bayless much accepted that viewpoint. Sure, because of that we can say he’s a great competitor. But as KP has discussed before, in his dinner interviews with potential draftees, he tries to feel out how team oriented the prospects are. From the very minor exposure I’ve had to Bayless, I haven’t seen much of a team first, me second attitude at all.

If this proves to be the case as we get into the season, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Bayless traded. Team culture seems very important to KP so it’s a factor that probably should not be discounted.

Then again, perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by Brandon Roy.

I remember telling him how impressed I was with a player during summer league. In Avery's unique voice, he replied, "Marc, it's summer league." I

by TwoDeep on Jul 21, 2008 9:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

basically if this guy end up being a anti team me me me

player not only will he have fooled fans (because we all want him to produce for the PTB regardless, right?) but he would have fooled, most grievously the master KP… I hate disillusionment so lets just opperate under the assumption that Bayless doesn’t know how to give a good interview and has a killer instinct otherwise is a nice boy and good kid.

-Sophia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 10:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Too much jumping to conclusions. The coaches told him to score, told him to play SG. He has said pointedly he is a PG and always has been a point guard. At Arizona, injuries forced his move to SG. The coach placed someone else at PG.

I thought I saw his interviews and did not see any “bad” interviews. He is a confident young talented basketball player. Clyde Drexler was also very self confident. Most accomplished athletes have very high confidence in themselves. But nothing that Bayless said or implied said to me that he thinks he is going to be the star on this team. He has always been very deferential to our experienced players. Of he has confidence he will someday be a starter on the coming great Blazer team.

I hope BEdgers do not get ahead of events and stigmatize Bayless or any player before they have even played a game. In fact it probably will take over a year before his true potential is even shown and longer before that before it is realized.

by OrygunRod on Jul 22, 2008 7:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

was n-e body jumping, stop if u wer, i hav downstairs neybors!

we , or at least I, cant project with any certainty that he will be a me first guy givin coaches orders to do so for the summer. and just becouse he has his name tattoed on his back like fullsized and 19 doesnt meen anything other then he might be tryin to make a shirts, skins game easy on the audiance. the interview in wich bayless sheds light on his drive and determination concerning “blakes job” does not in any way resemble loki and bartlebies intrest in the archway so i just dont understand how this picture is being percieved in this light. and as long as opinions dont differ from my own evryting will be ok.

its funnyhow that 2deep is the only 1 that leaves room for doubt in his/hers statement(peeked your avatar) while the others seem sooooo sure. I have the same feeling about bayless. I watch bayless with bemused skeptisizm.

(waiter, scuse me, yah I seem to be out of koolaid, yah, could I get a refill? No the special kind, yah, ima Blazer fan. thanks)

(aahhh, thats better)

I do like that in the interview he seams to be willing to defer to roy, aldridge, and oden. thats good.

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 24, 2008 12:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

aarrgh

almost forgot.

“I hope BEdgers do not get ahead of events and stigmatize deify Bayless or any player before they have even played a game. In fact it probably will take over a year before his true potential is even shown and longer before that before it is realized.”

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 24, 2008 12:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

NOOOOOOO!!! AAARRRGH!!!

the word stigmatize is supposed to be striken, and replaced be deify. (sung in monotone haroin voice) Oh well, whatever, nevermind.

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 24, 2008 12:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Have people been that high on J-Bay?

I actually have to commend Blazers fans for taking an unusually cool-headed approach to the break-out star of the summer league. If you want to attack rampant homerism I suggest you take a look at some of the projections being thrown around on the “Could GO Win the MVP and ROY award next year?” fanpost. Or create a poll that asks whether or not we’d trade our mascot for Luol Deng. My guess is you’d get comments like, “I don’t know, man, there’s something to be said about team loyalty. Yeah, Deng’s alright, but what we have with Blaze is potential. We really don’t know how good he could be. Call me old-fashioned, but I would have to turn this trade down cold. I think we’d really only take LeBron for Blaze at this point.”

As for J-Bay himself: if he pans out, he pans out. If not, he doesn’t. The point is he’s talented enough he deserves a shot. And judging from what I’ve heard about his work ethic, he’s going to take that shot and run with it.

WWSBD?

TRADE 4 THE STACHE!

by nightbluefruit on Jul 21, 2008 6:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

no way would I trade Blaze for Lebron

Blaze doesn’t take up a roster spot. There is no way I drop Pet-Ko or Batum for Lebron; they’re going to be really good. It’s just not worth the potential chemistry problems to give up on our guys this soon. Besides, Lebron can’t even win the Finals coming from the East, what a joke. Blaze would take the Cavs to 2nd round in the East, so what does that say about Lebron. O V E R R A T E D

The street lights is on.

by Magnum on Jul 21, 2008 6:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The level headedness comes from the Marco effect,

A lot of players that look good in SL, then look like garbage in the NBA. Example A, Marco Bellineli.

by Dheepan on Jul 21, 2008 6:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exhibit B, Nate Robinson, Summer League HOF, Retired Jersey #4

In real life just the #3 point guard on a horrible team.

I don’t think Bayless’ game will be that different in the real season, but he still has a lot of work ahead of him (e.g. passing more, also see the fanshot about the flaws in his jump shot).

Coach, I promise I wasn't running hard ...

by Norsktroll on Jul 21, 2008 7:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

omg!

you must be out of koolaid! hear, sit down, let me get you a glass. woah, woah! drink slow. there, isnt that better? now repeat after me, Oden will win roy and mvp, and bayless is the next paul.

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 24, 2008 12:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

blaze knows how to amaze!!

I dont see how we can let blaze go. i seen him make no look over the head swish baskets from halfcourt last year.now thats talent.

by 2phattoplay on Jul 21, 2008 7:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Hey Monkey!

You are definately not my uncle.What a load of over ripe BANANAS.

Bayless is how much more mature than B.R.B.? Stop swinging from the vines already and come down from the tree your’e hangin’ out at..

Bad form Uncle’M, I must say with all respect,....bad form.

Alot of peeps have no idea how good this guy is going to be. This despite what you see? I count you as one of the minions of nay sayers who predict the negative which is 99% of the time correct. So tell me, exactly what is NBA talent suppoed to look like in the summer league?

What a safe place it is to sit in a monkey tree and say “WRONG!”

Cmon’ a Billy Ray Bates comparison?

Cheep cheep cheep!

The Oden Era, Day 390

by Heymoe on Jul 21, 2008 7:29 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It IS a stretch to compare RydBay to Billy Ray

After all, Billy Ray merely led the Trailblazers in scoring over the course of a regular NBA season, averaging 25 points per game. RydBay maintained a scoring average more than four points higher than that over an entire four game stretch of summer league play.

by monkeysuncle on Jul 22, 2008 5:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey Monkey!

You can raise my IRE, I’ll give you that.

I do like that you’re looking at things a little bit diff

The Oden Era, Day 391

by Heymoe on Jul 22, 2008 6:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We could always sit back and

just enjoy watching him play for a year or so before making up our minds.

Is he the answer? Who knows? Is he fun to watch? You betcha.

by raoulduke on Jul 21, 2008 9:14 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

No! We MUST make up our minds now!!!

by shralpster on Jul 21, 2008 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahhh Blazermania

at its finest

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 9:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

hoo invited reason into this?

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 24, 2008 12:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I listen to a lot of sports stuff

on the radio because the news makes me crazy, and I can’t stand to have other people pick out my music for me. So it’s sports talk or nothing.

I realize that I choose this particular poison so I try not to be too critical. I have a few somple rules. Change station and DO NOT RETURN for at least 15 minutes at any mention, no matter how slight, of golf. Understand that some folks actually do like baseball and it’s only fair to let them have a few minutes of air time. And so forth. Very reasonable.

But what I do not get is the absolute mania for predicting. Why? What is the point? Is it that if you don;t try to predict the future there is nothing left to talk about?

by raoulduke on Jul 21, 2008 9:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Pretty Much

Also it may have to do something with the fact that

a. we are becoming the greatest team ever and the future is inevitably bright
b. playoff/lottery/draft/summer league are over, so we really have nothing to talk about
c. blazer fans are psychic and can see into the future- why else would we have stuck around so long?

:-)

Sophia

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 9:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yep.

Hard not to be excited about the Blazers, and the sense of anticipation drives the need to predict, for some reason. Also, though, the lull between basketball season and football season makes (non-baseball) people sports-starved to the brink of insanity. I normally start hullicinating around late July. By August, I’m checking baseball statistics even though I don’t even know who most of the guys are anymore. I start doing things like pre-gaming for the World Cup even though I don’t know the first thing about soccer. Checking updates on espn.com about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp. Reading Chad Ford articles about next year’s NBA draft. Watching the evening news. It’s not a happy time.

Luckily we have Olympic bball this summer to bridge the gap. But yeah, it is funny how the lull makes people go prediction-crazy. (Myself included.) How many minutes will Rudy play? Will he adjust to the NBA three-point line? Will he shower regularly? These are things we just can’t know.

Solid set of sports radio rules, by the way.

Bayless isn't the second coming of Jordan.
Jordan was the first coming of Bayless.

by KP Corleone on Jul 21, 2008 9:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

My god,

Are you me? I swear to god, I can’t believe how similar our summer behavior is. I find myself going crazy around mid august, when baseball nutjobs are in full swing, and Jim Rome starts going Clone crazy about A-Rod this and the Brewers that. I wish the US Open occured between August 1-15, so that I could at least spend some time watching Roddick make a fool of himself against Federer or root for Nadal to continue to steal titles from him. That tides me over till preseason football action, and watching the 49ers win 1-2 early games inflates my hopes, only to be completely deflated when they go on to lose 8 in a row. By October end, I lose all interest in football (unless the Trojans are doing good) and begin salivating for basketball season. I think we’re all going to burn out on Blazers edge before we get to opening night, and then have to recuperate till the All-Star break. God I hate the fact that baskeball isn’t played in the summer.

I'm a rec whore, so sue me.

by premthegrem on Jul 21, 2008 10:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dave will make sure we dont experiance BEdge burnout

That which prematurely arrives at perfection soon perishes. - Marcus Fabius Quintilian (35-95AD) Roman Rhetorician, Critic

by BlazerFan1 on Jul 21, 2008 10:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I find that a few simple rules can make almost annything go easier

I attribute my amazingly good parking karma to ruthlessly following a few simple guidelines that assure me reasonable parking at all times without ever offending the parking gods.

I’d tell you but they are a secret.

by raoulduke on Jul 21, 2008 9:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

people are crazy here, lol

calling lebron overrated, and pumping up jbay.

we dont know if hes that good yet people, lets wait and see

i think if jbay doesnt develop a little point game, he will be traded in 2 years. We dont need 3 sgs

by KObeHater on Jul 22, 2008 12:42 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Intangibles

I’ll take KP’s judgement on Bayless. Every player has his own unique abilities. Bayless, in addition to his athleticism, brings his own intangibles to the table that many athletes don’t have. Typically, those intangibles separate the average or good from the very good. What made Joe Montana great? How about Larry Bird? Or Ronnie Lott.? Were they more skilled and athletic than other players. No. But they were perennial all-stars, never-the-less. Bayless’s intangibles are his motor, determination, work ethic, basketball IQ and aggressiveness. Summer ball is often about individuals, not teams. After all, they’re not really teams. They’re a group thrown together for a week, most of whom don’t have a prayer of ever playing in the NBA. And when the week is up, they go home and are never seen again. Every guard drafted high had the same option to match Bayless’s statistics. No one did. None were on “teams” that were balanced or had scoring options at every position. That’s why Augustin only averaged 1.3 APG. Love had his rebounds. Why, because Augustin had no more players to pass to than Bayless that could finish – or get into a position to score. Love had no real opposing defenders or rebounders to worry about.

If Augustin, Mayo, Gordon or Westbrook had Bayless’s “intangibles”, they would’ve had similar statistics. But they don’t, as their performance showed.

That’s what makes Bayless different. That’s why KP and the Blazers wanted him.

KP said he’ll have it figured out in 40 games. Why? Because of those intangibles. Anyone can draft “talent”. But you can’t teach intangibles. Outlaw took 5 years to become productive. Bayless won’t, even though he only has one more year of experience than Outlaw when he was drafted.

by Eben Calder on Jul 22, 2008 6:06 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Excellent comments

and thanks for putting Bayless’ accomplishments in SL in relevant context.

by OrygunRod on Jul 22, 2008 7:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

KP and the Blazers "wanted" Bayless as you say,

because Augustin, Mayo, Gordon and Westbrook were gone, not because those guys don’t have Bayless’s intangibles.

I remember telling him how impressed I was with a player during summer league. In Avery's unique voice, he replied, "Marc, it's summer league." I

by TwoDeep on Jul 22, 2008 8:03 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think...

... the Blazers preferred Westbrook to those guys. KP basically said Mayo wasn’t a culture guy and supposedly the Blazers had Bayless 4th on their draft boad.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Jul 22, 2008 8:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

board

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on Jul 22, 2008 8:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

I think his draft board went
Rose, Beasley, Mayo, Bayless

Even if he isn’t a snug fit culture wise, it’s not like he was out at USC selling crack and smoking joints. He was on the school’s honor roll for christ’s sake. Mayo is just a player that wants NBA success and handles himself in a very professional/pragmatic manner that’s very different than most 20-21 year old kids. If Kp had a prayer of ever getting Mayo he would tried exploring all his options.

by Dheepan on Jul 22, 2008 1:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol, really did

"As long as Yao is in the league, Greg Oden will probably never start in an all-star game, because he doesn’t have 1 Billion people voting for him."
silkybrown

"Just so we're totally clear(, y)ou’re saying you want me to kill Yao, right?"
nightbluefruit

by ptwnblzr on Jul 24, 2008 12:49 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not KP's perception

KP commented that the Blazers could have gone anywhere in the draft they wanted. Certainly, they could’ve gone up the board to get Gordon or Augustin. Further, he stated that Bayless was the 4th best player on their chart. In the beginning, they didn’t think they could get him – because they were certain Seattle would take him and not trade out of the #4 spot. Mac said the same thing. It’s why they didn’t try him out. Then when they learned that Seatlle was moving to Westbrook, and knew he was going to fall, they built their strategy around that. And, once Seattle let it out, they also made no attempt to bring Bayless in for tryouts – because they didn’t want anyone to think they had their attention on him. According to KP, if the Blazers were drafting at 4 – they would’ve taken Bayless.

by Eben Calder on Jul 22, 2008 9:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs