Since being drafted 11th by the Portland Trail Blazers last June, Jerryd Bayless has been under much scrutiny by the fans. Although everyone acknowledges his considerable talent, many don't believe his skill set will mesh with the existing Portland backcourt.
Being described as a shooting guard stuck in a point guard's body has caused little excitement among Blazer supporters. Numerous bloggers and forum-members have expressed resentment toward the Portland front office for failing to bring them a pass-first point guard.
Although his 4 assists per game in college wasn't horrible, it certainly wasn't what most envisioned Kevin Pritchard would target in the draft. His outstanding 19.7 points per game indicates that Bayless is, above all, a scorer.
While fans and bloggers are protesting this new addition to the roster, Brandon Roy is applauding it. Recent interviews have shown that Roy will take over his fair share of the point guard duties, so a pure point guard isn't as pressing of a need. Brandon readily compliments Bayless' winning attitude, confidence, and his ability to adapt.
"The reason why I see me playing with Jerryd is because he can guard points,'' Roy said.
This also hints towards the general public that we are going to see Brandon running the offense more this season. Almost no one believes Brandon can play defense on point guards for 82 games. Bringing in Bayless will keep Roy fresh to bring the ball down the court for the full season.
He also squelched any objections from Bayless' ability to play alongside Roy: "That's why I tell people who say he is not a point: 'If he was a point, it would take away from what I do, so it's almost fine that he's not a point.'"
And, on the contrary to what most believe, Bayless is a good passer; it's just not his first option. While his assist numbers from the summer league are alarming, there are two factors that caused this.
First, the coaches told him to look at the rim, not for his teammates. Second, his teammates weren't what you'd call reliable. His assist stats will look better when he's feeding NBA caliber players; you can't expect him to put up 5 or more assists per game when he's passing to guys like Josh Davis.
Another attribute of Bayless' game that will complement the Blazer's team is his 3-point shooting. With the departure of James Jones, they'll need all the firepower they can get to replace him. His sharp shooting will also take pressure off developing post players Lamarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden.
So even though Bayless isn't a pure point guard, he can still fit into the Blazer's game plan; it's just a different route than most expected.
(Brandon Roy quotes came from "Part III - Roy and Bayless: A match made in heaven?" by Jason Quick of the Oregonian.)
8 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
G B 11 months ago
As a Blazer fan and season ticket holder, I was suprised that we were able to even sniff Bayless at the 13th spot. Many fans here wanted a guy like Bayless because we understand Roy handles the ball during crunch time. To only have to move to 11 (all while trimming the roster of Josh McRoberts and swapping a point for a big) to get him feels like stealing. We are VERY happy with the front office, in fact, we couldn't be happier.
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Cameron Jerde 11 months ago
Mike, you have a gift for sports writing. I can envision us both in years to come being politics (me) and sports (you) writers. Don't you hide your gift under a bushel basket. lol
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dennis na 11 months ago
A good point guard has to be respected for his ability to drive around and through the defense, and be respected as a shooter. What good is a point guard where the opponent plays off him, knowing what he's going to do with the ball. With that, you have a player that can either pass the ball, or shoot the ball, if he is allowed the drive or the spot up jumper. I think this is an excellent choice for the blazers. With his ability to shoot and penetrate and his general ability to score, will draw defenses to him,opening up other players and allowing him to pass off to the open man. He's an excellent passer, and will only get better with time. And because of his ability to score,opponents are going to let him pass to the open man. And at 6'3, He will be a more highly regarded point guard than Chris Paul. I guarantee it!
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TJ Zwarych 11 months ago
Bayless looks very good and I think he is the real deal. Portland needs a point guard and maybe not this year, but soon Bayless will emerge into that starting point guard to be in the back court with Roy.
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Doran Lower 11 months ago
Brandon Roy's comments on Bayless are encouraging. I hope he (Bayless) learns how to wear his confidence, in his hip pocket rather than on his shoulder, though.
Bayless' game, in many respects, reminds me of the game of a starting point guard for one of the most successful NBA franchises in the league over the passed decade, can you guess who I'm talking about...Tony Parker. Career AVG totals: 5.5 APG, 16.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.0 SPG. I'm looking at Bayless being a better rebounder than Parker, not quite as good on the assist mark, with BRoy, handling a lot.
I've never heard anyone say San Antonio needs a "past first" point guard, and the historical results are good. I know we don't have a Ginoboli or Duncan, but they don't have an Oden, Aldridge, or Roy, and from what I hear, Rudy might be the NBA's next Ginoboli.
The only thing that concerns me about Bayless so far is the nonverbal (sometimes verbal) attitude that I see, too consistently in his demeanor. I hope that mellows a bit. I've had enough of the 'tude of our past and don't want to see it in our future.
Hoping that Bayless is a good thing.
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Mike Turnell 11 months ago
That's a great point about San Antonio not needing a pass-first point guard. In many respects they have similar players since they have a lot of scorers.
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Steven Resnick 11 months ago
I honestly think that Bayless is more of a shooting guard than anything. He's going to have to learn the position of point guard, so therefore you will not see Bayless starting anytime soon for the Blazers. He showed in the Developmental League that he's a scorer, but not much of a distributor and that he needs to work on handling the ball seeing how he averaged around 5 turnovers a game. The Blazers will start off the season with Steve Blake who's got a better handle of the offense and one of the best at handling ball he was at 1.4 turnovers per game last year and that's a great number for a point guard an almost 5 assist to 1 turnover ratio. Blake gives the Blazers the best chance at winning with his skills, and Bayless will be Blake's backup. Look for instant scoring when Bayless comes in, but he will have his share of ups and downs trying to learn the position. I can see him scoring about 10 points per game and 3 rebounds per game, and about 2 assists per game. Not too bad for a rookie, but he's getting a little too overhyped in Portland.
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Cameron Jerde 11 months ago
Bayless has not played in the D League, and probably never will. He was MVP of the summer league. It's hard to understand some of your comments
more punctuation would help.
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