boy is it going to be fun to see both of them try to prove they belong. this is why i love basketball, i lost that joy in jail blazer time but the bad times make me appreciate this current team. heck, i dont know if we are going to struggle this coming yr or win it all, all i know is ,i`m glad to be alive and ablazer fan now more than ever good luck to them both

It may take a year of two for that to gel but they do form a dynamic combination that Coach Nate can use to match up with another team. In the short term both Sergio and Blake should get minutes as they battle with these two. Roy has no battle. It is his team. Just my perspective.

I find it interesting how the Blazers disagree with the fans when it comes to these guards. Fans often stay in their set views of shooting guards vs. point guards. The Blazers do not. Some fans keep calling Roy a shooting guard, the Blazers refer to him as the player they want to distribute the ball in the 1/2 court. The Blazers see Jerryd as a complementary player they believe fits the system they want with Roy – which is to bring the ball up, guard the point, give the ball off to Roy, and then go in motion as a 2 guard while Roy distributes and plays point. Bayless will run some plays, but not most of them. This tends to confuse fans. Fernandez will do some of the same things. In a practical sense, I agree with those that see these three guards as part of a three guard rotation down stream, all consuming most of the 96 minutes at that position. Blake will be the steady vet who will be a part of the glue required to give Bayless and Fernandez the time to develop. We talked minutes a few days ago. My view is increasingly that for Roy to have longevity in the league, he needs to be playing 32 or so minutes a game – but not much more. I also agree with KP that the next two years will see the Blazers increasingly win and grow, but it will take that amount of time to gel this team, finish detailing out the players and then become serious championship contenders.

I also don’t see Sergio getting much time, anymore than he did last year. We’ve basically added two guards to replace Jack. Both have talent, and they will not simply be sittiing on the bench. And that means that Sergio will have more, not less competition this year. Serio’s hard reality is that his play last year caused the Blazers to draft Bayless this year and bring Fernandez over. The Blazers, by their actions, do not see Sergio as one of their 4 best guards. He’s the 5th. If he had performed, the Blazers would have drafted differently.

I don’t think it’s so much a matter of either one or the other. After all, we need three good and consistent guards that can mix their talents together to be effective. We’ll never have everything “ideal”. Rudy can do some things that we’re going to like. So can Bayless. We shouldn’t just think about the defensive end – but also the offensive end.

For example, I think Rudy has done fine in the Olympics. After all, if he can get 8 pts, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against the all-stars in 19 minutes, then if he plays 28-30 minutes against normal NBA competition, consider what those stats will be. In fact, if he’d played Jack’s 28 minutes, his stats against the all-stars would’ve been better than Jacks stats against everyday competition.

On the offensive end, if you have both Rudy and Roy on the floor, then, at 6’5" and with his quickness, – it’s going to be a real headache for a lot of other teams. How many, after all, can put two quick 6’4" or taller guards on the floor to handle those two? Answer – not many. In fact, most would have to jerk their point to do that, and then they’d be handicapped when they went back on offense.

Then you have Bayless. He’ll be guarding the PG. And because of Roy’s size, it will be the PG guarding Bayless on the offensive end. Right now he’s 205. In a year or two he’ll fill in more and play at 210-215. Now how many PG’s can handle a 210 to 215 lb guard in a linebackers body when he decides he’s going to the hoop? Again – not many.

Then, toss in the fact that they’ll have Oden blocking out inside, and some 6’9 or so PF in most cases trying to handle 6’11" Aldridge. Now, if there’s one thing no one watching Fernandez or Bayless disputes, it’s that they are fearless and love to go to the hoop. And you can bet they’ll go there.

So, they may well have some weaknesses to work on – but they have some strengths to start with, and that’s a good thing.