Get ready PORTLAND to be "Put on the MAP!"

by iwantgame on Aug 31, 2008 8:45 PM PDT Comment 28 comments

I watched all of the Blazer's summer league games and re-watched them. My 1st impression was we - without question "Pritch Slapped" the Pacers. Right after we made the deal with Indiana, I tried to console a few of My Pacer Friends by telling them that "You guys made out good, you'll love Jarrett Jack, he's a real player and how could he be a fluke if he was on the 2008 NBA Western Conference ALL STAR Ballet?" My Pacer friends just kind of grumbled and didn't say anything.

Anyway after watching the 2008 Las Vegas Summer League Blazer games, I was the one not saying anything while I shook my head. I just kept thinking round and round in my mind - how in the world did we get this Guy? This Guy (Jerryd Bayless) is better than Derrick Rose (the Over All #1 Player Drafted in the 2008 NBA Draft,) in my opinion. I looked up the Orlando pre-draft measurements on both of them and discovered Jerryd is taller than Rose, He also weighed in 8lbs heavier than Rose. Wow taller than the #1 Draft Pick, and Jerryd can jump like that - referring to all Jerryd's Monster Slam Dunks.

What I came away with after continuously shaking my head and trying make sense out of what I just witnessed watching the Blazer's Summer Leauge, was that Jerryd Bayless Has "IT!" Bayless has that very hard to find "Killer Instinct," I alway look for in all basketball players.

The player I always identify as having "IT" before any others is Michael Jordan. Jordan was always the man who took the Job of being that Go to Guy when it counted. He wanted the ball at the end of the game - to decide the game. Jordan decided many a game and many a Championship. He had "IT." Period. Others I've identified as taking over and coming through for their teams are: Kobe Bryant, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. I'm missing a few others but not many. Having "IT" is a Rarity and something that's hard to find.

We have a very special player in Bayless, I believe he will take over games in the NBA at times, just like he did in summer league. He is going to grow into a very, very special player. In my opinion, the Blazers haven't had a player with Bayless' intensity for a long time. He is going to be Big-Time over the years - mark my word. Can you imagine Roy and Bayless together? I think it's the perfect marriage. This will be one of the most lethal of back courts!

Then I watched the 2008 Olympics (Men's Basketball and Spain.) I watched Rudy Fernandez and I am still shaking my head over what I saw! I am just going to say "Very Good Things are Going to Come" and "Get Ready Portland to be put on the MAP!"

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Yes!

I agree. The way Bayless performed in the summer league was a great showcase of hsi ability to be the go-to guy. He can put the game in his shoulders, he’s gritty and has that killer-instinct like you stated.

Rudy, on the other hand, is great at being effective, with or without the ball. I think being able to move without the ball is crucial, especially on a team as stacked as the Blazers. Just as Bayless, Rudy can also take over games if needed. He is fearless (recall 4th quarter in the Gold Medal game). He too can put the team on his shoulders.

I think adding Oden, Bayless and Rudy this year is going to be nuts. We are adding three 1st round picks, essentially. We’ll have to see how these guys gel with the team though.

One thing is for damn certain, if this team gets on a roll, it will be TOUGH to stop them.

Beaver believer!

by mannyfresh1 on Aug 31, 2008 7:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Merely "three first round picks"?

I should think our trio of brilliant rookies is worthy of being rated higher than that.

How ’bout if we say “three top five picks”?

And I certainly agree that Bayless is going to be a very special talent on the court. His development will take a bit longer than some folks are projecting. The NBA is much bigger and stronger than the Pac 10. We’ll see how well he adjusts.

Rudy I think is going to light it up regardless of where he plays. His game translates into NBA success no problem at all. He is just so good at shaking off his defender and firing real quick with amazing efficiency. Plus as we know he is a world class slasher.

Oden. What can I say? Oden. His existence alone, his physical presence on the court will create a giant advantage for our beloved Trail Blazers.

Yes GO TRAIL BLAZERS. OUR TEAM TOTALLY ROCKS.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

by vavoom on Aug 31, 2008 8:29 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah yes. I meant three lottery picks.

Three top five picks sounds more correct.

Beaver believer!

by mannyfresh1 on Aug 31, 2008 9:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wrong!

With Oden and Rudy, we have two picks HIGHER than the #1 pick.

Is that sick, or WHAT??

Tell me you don’t agree!

'77

by LaoTzu on Sep 2, 2008 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

from what ive seen

I’d take Rudy over Derrick Rose….Just never been a Rose guy. I’m not sold..something about his eyes….And that i dont see him as an elite scorer…

Rudy can light it up from anywhere. His court vision is top tier….I believe he will be an important figure for us for years to come………..If he’s able to rise to the occasion defensively, I see a Rudy Roy backourt causing terror around the league, on the same level of Parker Ginobli…I think it could be a scary tandum……………………….don’t be surprised to see Rudy share the point with Roy…In a head to head matchup, i’d even give the nod to Rudy. He’s that good.

by BroyTheTruth on Sep 3, 2008 12:28 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like...

The prospect of Bayless and Roy in the backcourt (starting) much more than Rudy and Roy, because they would both have the defined roles.

Like most experts have been saying, Bayless and Roy seem to compliment each other perfectly.

With Rudy’s style of play (energy), he seems like someone who will be perfect in the Manu Ginobili type role.

by Harper 4 Heisman on Sep 3, 2008 4:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

interesting....

cuz i see roy having the greatest playmaking ability on the team…..ie, minus the defense, he’s our best point guard….and he can defend points if he wants to. In college he held farmar to 2/11 shooting or something….given he’s our best point guard. Why not pair him with our best shooting guard…
i agree, Rudy fits the Manu role. Soon he will be as good as Manu, which is saying something. Manu is consistently one of the top 5 shooting guards in the league. He does everything..so does Rudy…
Defensivley, Oden plugs a lot of holes. Offensively, I dont think there’s a guard tandem that can defend Roy and Rudy

by BroyTheTruth on Sep 3, 2008 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think

that while Roy is a great playmaker, he won’t want to defend PGs and bring the ball up the court.

Roy was talkin’ about this also, and said how much he thinks Bayless and himself compliement each other.

You don’t want Roy chasing around the quick PGs all the game. Rudy and Roy wil be able to play together, either as a PG/SG or as a SG/SF with Roy guarding the SF.

Rudy brings a lot of energy, and play making, which is perfect for the 2nd unit, as we already have the ball going through Roy in the first unit.

I also think it is much more important who finishes games than who starts.

by Harper 4 Heisman on Sep 5, 2008 9:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bayless has to jump as high as he does

He has those teeny-tiny T-Rex arms.

Bayless at the very least is Jarrett Jack without the tendency to think outside the box (e.g. the baseline). If he can play as well as Jack did without the errant jump-passes and the occasional (OK, who am I kidding, I love Jack but it was pretty much once a game) out-of-bounds possession, then we did alright in essentially trading Jack and McLovin’ for Bayless and Ike.

by DonkeyShins on Aug 31, 2008 8:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i completely agree with this post

by BLAZERS#52 on Aug 31, 2008 9:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't agree

I agree that Bayless will eventually be very good, and that we got a steal. But Summer League means nothing, and he is unlikely to be taking over any games in the regular season. We have these players, you see, named Roy, Aldridge, and Oden that really ought to be a significant focus of our offense.

He’ll also find that NBA big men might have a little bit more effectiveness in dealing with his drives down the lane than the big stiffs in Summer League. There’s going to be some significant adjustments, and Summer League obscured that.

Will he be better than Rose? It’s possible, but most of the experts (NBA execs and scouts) don’t think so, and they probably know more than you or I about this kind of thing.

Will we be very good? 55 wins good. Bayless will not be a huge part of that improvement — this year. But I expect him to be a significant part of the 60+ win teams over the next 10 years.

Jerryd is going to have to battle to even get on the floor very much this year. We have lots of very good guards. Blake has “It”, too. Not the same kind of “It”. What Blake has is the ability to recognize what he needs to be to make himself a key part of the team and make himself into the player who can do it well. He always manages to give the coach lots of reasons to put him on the floor. He isn’t just going to hand the job over to a rookie.

One of my fan posts got 50 signatures. And you thought I was egotistical before. But nobody can do Ego like I can.

by jscot on Sep 1, 2008 12:28 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Timing

What excites me about this team is the depth of our talent and the obvious drive of those posessing that talent to “make a difference”.

When Travis, Rudy, Jerryd and Channing take the floor my guess is that they are going to make every second count. They are going to be showing the world why they need to replace whomever’s spot is ahead of them.

Every minute, no, every second is going to count for every player each game. Nobody is going to “phone-it-in”.

They are all going to put on their “Bayless face” and go to work all game long. This is going to be a great season. We are going to beat Utah for the division lead this year.

by dvcastle on Sep 1, 2008 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We are going to laser Utah

’s players apart with our Bayless Eyes!

'77

by LaoTzu on Sep 2, 2008 4:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Excellent observation about Blake

He’s a guy that knows his job and how to help the team win when he is on the floor.

lickety-brindle

by Billy Ray Bates on Sep 3, 2008 7:36 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I came to the same conclusion after he brought the Blazers back and hit the game winner. He does have that

“it” factor that you see in Chris Paul and Deron Williams. He also has that amazing athleticism. I think his jump shot will get better but I think we got a maybe the best player in the draft.

by BRoyInThe4th on Sep 1, 2008 1:43 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

You should watch some more Derrick Rose

No contest that Jerryd will be a good or even great player in the NBA, and together with Rudy will help to “put Portland back on the map”. I love them both. But Rose is on a different level, and the Blazers would have fallen all over themselves to get him if Chicago had made the pick available. Bayless could develop into a player like Monta Ellis. Rose could be a more athletic Chris Paul. He could be Dwayne Wade with better point guard skills. It will take some years to develop especially his decision making, but he could.

Why? Well, if you think he can’t jump as high or move as quick as Bayless, think again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtZd2koUMrk
That’s what he could do before he even finished high school. Notice also his body control (deadly crossovers, hesitation moves, dribbling with either hand,…). He will soon be able to effectively guard PGs and SGs. He needs work on his long range shot, but that should come over time. And maybe the biggest difference at the moment: He can lead a team to the win with his passes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64BCsp2DLsg That he fell short in the championship game by a few minutes doesn’t negate the point that he is an effective competitor.

Odenied: Asked whether he noticed Oden favoring his right knee, Frye dismissed it entirely. "He favors dunking on your head, that's what he favors."

by Norsktroll on Sep 1, 2008 2:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

It’s easy to get excited about Bayless. He is a really impressive player who is going to get lots of attention for his play (hopefully with us) but is no Rose. Stats can be very deceptive, but if you actually followed Rose you would know he didn’t go number 1 by a coin flip. Sure he has no more guarantee to be a beast in the NBA than Bayless, but if you compare the 2 at this point it would really be foolish to take Bayless over Rose.

Bayless COULD be better, but there isn’t a single GM who would rather take a chance on Bayless than a chance on Rose even after summer league.

by Bskey on Sep 1, 2008 4:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Enough with the Derrick Rose, Chris Paul comparisons..

the only reason he got drafted ahead of beasey was because people are afraid of paul…….Rose is diffferent from paul in that he doesnt have that scorers mentality. When his teammates dont score, he cant necessarrilly do it by himself….remember, cp3 scored 61 one time in a highschool game. Rose simply is not capable of that……….the reason cp3 is so deadly is cuz he could score 40, but instead he gets 20points and 11 assists. Rose simply is not on that level…..i also think without CDR they never would have made it to that title game, and Rose would be much less hyped than he currently is

by BroyTheTruth on Sep 1, 2008 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Weren't Rose and Beasey in their own Summer League?

It is easy to denigrate the competition Jerryd faced this summer. However didn’t Rose and Beasely play against comperable talent as well?

Jerryd came to play. What did either of them accomplish over the summer?

by dvcastle on Sep 1, 2008 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

Jerryd was definitely THE best player in all of summer league. And the SGs he played were Nick Young, Quincy Douby, DJ Strawberry, and Corey Brewer. Those aren’t bad players at all.

But like people said, it is just summer league. But I don’t think it is something you can just write off. You can question the competition for sure, but just do what I do and compare him (verse pretty much the same competition) to the other players who were supposedly “better” than him.

A good thing about Bayless is that in the scrimmages, people said that he was differing to his teammates a lot, which hopefully puts to rest the claims that he is a selfish player. My thoughts were that he has always been the best player on every team he has been on since high school, and always the primary option.

by Harper 4 Heisman on Sep 1, 2008 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They were

Beasley and Rose played in the Orlando summer league. Beasley was named to the first team, averaging 19.6 points and 7.4 rebounds over five games. His first game against Noah and Tyrus Thomas from Chicago was especially impressive (28 point, 9 rebounds). Rose had knee problems from the start and played in only two games, so he was just able to show some flashes and it’s not really comparable. He had 10 points 4 assists against Miami, and 9 points 7 assists against Indiana.

Statistically Beasley will probably have a better season than either Rose or Bayless simply because his talent translates faster to the pros and he will get – and take since he is no passer either – quite a lot of shots on a team that really needs him (I suppose Marion will mostly play SF). Long term, Rose and Bayless are expected to have the better careers. Of course Bayless might turn out ahead of Rose, but all the scouting experts wiser than me and getting paid for this job predict Rose has the higher ceiling.

Odenied: Asked whether he noticed Oden favoring his right knee, Frye dismissed it entirely. "He favors dunking on your head, that's what he favors."

by Norsktroll on Sep 1, 2008 12:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rose's ups are no more impressive than Bayless'

in fact, I DO think Bayless gets up higher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcqe9UXkc8o

but still, Rose was an easy pick.

"Jerryd is straight ahead at you. Rudy dips around. Jerryd is a rock. Rudy is the wind. Jerryd loves the ball in his hands. Rudy moves without it. Jerryd defends by getting up in your grill. Rudy plays the spaces in between. Jerryd has focused vision. Rudy sees all around him. Jerryd likes to score off of the dribble. Rudy can catch and shoot. Jerryd is aggressive. Rudy is sneaky. Jerryd will hit you hard. Rudy will annoy you until you hit him." -Dave

Word.

by joelor on Sep 2, 2008 3:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

3163954 seconds until first preseason game!

Great post. I wish they had the Phoenix game replay on NBA.com.

by DarthBlazer on Sep 1, 2008 4:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

OMG I KNOW

it drives me nuts that is the main one I want to see! WTH NBA.com it’s been months!!!

He's Coming! Oden Slayer of Giants

by Idog1976 on Sep 3, 2008 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just signed up

to say how much I agree with this post!

Hopefully I don’t double post.

by Harper 4 Heisman on Sep 1, 2008 8:07 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Welcome

@('.')@

by JTDuck22 on Sep 1, 2008 12:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Smell the Roses

Blazers practices are going to be fierce. Blake is a firery competitor who isn’t about to give up his shot at being the starting PG on this team easily. Read the Aug 21 interview with Quick on the Rip City blog on Oregonlive. He’s worked everyday all summer, and both he and Frye have worked out everday as well with Oden once he could play. Trout said yesterday he wants 16 ppg and 8rpg – and he isn’t about to back down on starting. Regardless of Mac targetting Webster. Frye was determined to play more time – which means take some of those center minutes from Pryz, and he’s worked all summer on his shot and his stength. Fernandez and Bayless don’t look like players that will back off a challenge either.

This entire group can smell the roses. And they all want their piece. As far as Bayless and Fernandez, I think that the Blazers are going to give Bayless time to develop. Mac has stated that he will start Blake and Roy on the 1st team, and Bayless and Fernandez on the second. He further said that Outlaw and Fernandez will be the scorers. Of course, he also speculated that he could see sets where Roy moves to SF when Rudy’s on the floor. After that though, who knows.

by Eben Calder on Sep 1, 2008 12:04 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Love it

The competition between the players hopefully means that every minute, whether a starter or not, is going to count. That means no-let-up on the opponents.

Love the smell of those roses!

Dave needs to head up a post on chemistry. Do we have a bunch of presidents-of-their-class type players with personality clashes? Do we have such talent that they will gell into what needs-to-get-the-job-done? Will they be amorphous, multi-role players that accommodate whomever is on the floor?

I can only pretend that they are the latter, because that fits the narrative in my head. They are all selfless, thoughtful and sharing and will have the highest assist total in the league.

by dvcastle on Sep 1, 2008 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs