What about TJ Ford?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_stenosis

Basically his spinal canal is too narrow. In 2004 he suffered a terrible crash and contusion after fouled by Mark Madsen. In 2005 a surgeon later fused two vertebrae in Ford’s neck. That will remain a weak spot. He is still quick as hell, and on 99% of all days that is not a problem. Yet one more freak accident (like last year when he was fouled by Horford and crashed to the floor) could instantly end his career.

I liked Jack, but I know I’m in the the minority (at least vocally). But I’d take Blake over Ford at this point.

would make our bigs instantly better. Gregs offensive production would go up, as well as LA. What Ford lacks in a jump shot, he makes up for in getting to the hoop. If Ford wasn’t such an injury liability, I would get him in a heart beat. If you look at his stats on NBA.com, you will see how many games he has missed over the years. Way to many to ignore.

The reason Jack has started ahead of him lately is lingering back problems.

And before that, here’s a quote from IndyCornrows:

T.J. Ford is dealing with another strain, this time abdominal (following previous groin and lower-back strains), so his availability won’t be known until game time and if he’s a go will likely mean a role off the bench again.

So I think that’s gotta be a no on the “is he healthy.” and probably the “do we want him.” But he was playing pretty well prior to all those strains.

has been bandied about on this site before.

If you agree that what the Blazers need is a 1 who can defend other 1s and hit the threes at a a decent clip then TJ Ford is not your man as he is not good at either of these things.

I am still in the camp that Hinrich would be good for us, but I think Bayless maybe able to be our 1 of the future along side Roy if he can improve his pick and roll play and outside shooting. His defense of late is awesome and I cant say that I see a lot of 1s getting after it on d like he has the last couple of games.

I think sergio could be good to keep around especially for rudy but as of now i want to see what can develop with Bayless.

Blake is very important for us this year if we want to make the playoffs his shooting and decisionmaking will win a lot of games this year. It already has(if you can forget about the clippers) Unless we get an awesome ( Hinrich or better ) point guard who is healthy (Not Hinrich) I dont think there is a guard who can come in here and do a better job than Blake would for the rest of the season.

What do you guys think?
other than a few rookie mistakes Jared has shown the ability to drive and pass to the open shooter, run a break, and get to the rack (although he has seemed too tight to finish unless dunking). I also was very impressed with his D-fense. I know the D-troit game was only one really good game ( 12 minutes for that matter) but I think what we saw there will be the minimum that Bayless can give on a regular night. I expect him to find his mid range and 3 point shots as he gets more acclimated to the NBA game.

Already what he has shown us he is a perfect recipe for our starting unit. Drive and dish to LMA or Greg, hit Batum (or webster) for a spot up 3, and keep doubles off of brandon roy, allowing him to do whatever he feels.

Our biggest problem on D is the pick and roll. We are always switiching creating mismatches in favor of the other team. LMA is decent at defending up top, but then we miss his rebounding. Greg just gets straight attacked everytime resulting in fouls and low minutes. Lately it seems like the only times he has a bad game is because he gets in foul trouble, if he is able to stay out there you can almost ring up a double double.

That Boston game when Bayless drove to the rack and could have easily layed it in and instead kicked it to blake for the three pointer shows me that he is willing and able to be a team first, point guard type of player. (Either that or his confidence in his layup ability was brutally shaken)

Anyways I never played organized basketball growing up so I may not be able to recognize his deficiencies as a point guard/combo guard with roy. Would anybody care to point them out?

Ignoring the injury risk for a bit…

He’s not a bad player, but sorta limited. Like you point out he doesn’t have a good jump shot, but also is a pretty poor defender and doesn’t make up for it by getting a lot of steals or something. If ya think Bayless has short arms, TJ Ford is one of the few players who is taller than his arms is long (I do not think this really matters, I’m just being cute).

Ford has the tendency to really overdribble and hog the ball. He always had decent assist numbers, but mostly because he is always hogging the ball and working every possession with it in his hands. His poor defense, no jumper, and ballhoggery won’t go well with Roy. Plus, Ford is one of those guys who can shoot you out of a game because he looks for his own shot too much— and won’t stop. He’ll go and try to win the game on his own, no matter how he had played earlier. That confidence is great in your go-to guy, very annoying when it’s your 4th best player and he is ignoring Chris Bosh.

Plus, remember last season? He made such a fuss over losing his starting spot to Jose Calderon, that in the interest of team unity Calderon stepped back from his earned starting job and gave it to TJ. That ain’t good.

He’s quick as hell, can be fun to watch, but he isn’t very useful and thinks he is more than he is.

If we really wanted him, we coulda’ got him cheap last season from the Raptors, and he hasn’t done anything since then to make you think he’s the guy for us.

So to me, even without the injury mess, he’s not a good fit. When you factor those in, and how you have to assume he WILL get hurt again since it is not freak accidents that caused his problems but an actual genetic back disorder that will flare up again on a hard fall (he’s a quick, 5’11", skinny, penetrating guard with no jumper— he’s going to end up falling on the floor again). I do not want him to get hurt obviously, and I hope he never does again, but it’s a very obvious risk that is different from someone like Greg Oden, who has had unlucky DIFFERENT injuries, or Joel Przybilla, who has had the same.

TJ Ford’s problems can easily come back, sadly. That, combined with his actual game, make him a no go.

Mortimer