Jerryd Bayless, really?

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Rubio is bunk. Overhyped Prima-donna

Bayless is legit young talent. He's not getting the playing time to develop, hence, as is, he will always be unrealized potential. He needs to play. I like Jose, but the season is a wash. Might as well see what Bayless can do now.

If I had a vote to give time to Rubio or Bayelss before coming to a verdict as to their future in the NBA, I would take a chance on Rubio every time! As a teenager he has squared off against the best NBA players and stood his ground. I think he has the potential to be a star. Bayless is just another tweener guard like Ford and Jack. They show signs of brilliance but, at the end of the day, they are selfish me-first players who's nature isn't to facilitate team play. In short bursts they can get the rest of the team involved, but that's not the way they play and excel. They should be SG but are too small to be effective at that position. On certain rosters they could excel, but the Raptors need a true pass-first PG of the future who will eventually replace Calderon (and ideally play good defense as well).

[thatpeterguy]

Russell Westbrook Lite Potential

I really like the spark he adds to the team. He plays hard defensively and has had a few games where he has come pretty close to some triple-double numbers. And for what it's worth Kevin Love was on the BS Report with Bill Simmons from ESPN and he said Jerryd was the most intriguing young player he likes to watch and that he is very under rated basically. He also mentioned how Jerryd was better than the Derrick Rose in high school so his talent is in that ballpark at least. He has just never been able to put it all together. I think he could blossom into a Russell Westbrook Lite type of player but someone would need to invest in giving him the playing time though and I'm not sure the Raptors are willing to be that team as they have little invested in him and can always swing for the fences in Kyrie Irving, the supposed next Chris Paul.

[jeff_hostetler]

Rubio has also gotten worse since he was drafted by 'Sota and blew it for Spain during the past worlds.

Bayless shows a genuine desire to get better, is a fighter, and is trying to adapt his game to be more of a PG. Also, like I posted just above, when he started when Calderon went down he racked up the assists. 8/game isn't bad for a "selfish me-first player".

[jeff_hostetler]

I really like the spark he adds to the team. He plays hard defensively and has had a few games where he has come pretty close to some triple-double numbers. And for what it's worth Kevin Love was on the BS Report with Bill Simmons from ESPN and he said Jerryd was the most intriguing young player he likes to watch and that he is very under rated basically. He also mentioned how Jerryd was better than the Derrick Rose in high school so his talent is in that ballpark at least. He has just never been able to put it all together. I think he could blossom into a Russell Westbrook Lite type of player but someone would need to invest in giving him the playing time though and I'm not sure the Raptors are willing to be that team as they have little invested in him and can always swing for the fences in Kyrie Irving, the supposed next Chris Paul.

I think Westbrook is a pretty apt comparison. What he loses to Westbrook in scoring he makes up for with toughness. What allowed Westbrook to become the player that he is was playing time. People criticized him then like they do now with Bayless.

[SuperRaptor]

I for one do think that he is the future PG of the raptors and ill tell you why, 1 reason: defense. If you watch Bayless play you will notice that he does a much better job keeping his man infront of him which means that he will be able to stop penetration better than jose. Also we know that his offensive numbers have been there, he can score, and as far as him being a pass first point guard, he has never been given the reigns or the time to develop into one. From what I have seen from him I am pretty sure that given 30 min. a game he would average around 15 pts and 7 assists, that with better defense is good enough for me at PG. Give the man sometime he will be good.

[MangoKid]

Rubio has also gotten worse since he was drafted by 'Sota and blew it for Spain during the past worlds.

Bayless shows a genuine desire to get better, is a fighter, and is trying to adapt his game to be more of a PG. Also, like I posted just above, when he started when Calderon went down he racked up the assists. 8/game isn't bad for a "selfish me-first player".

How has he gotten worse since he's been drafted by Minnesota? I'm not quite following you on that. That statement is a bit puzzling. And how did he blow it for Spain at the WC? For a 19-year old, he played pretty big minutes and was solid. Still averaged over 5 apg. To blame the downfall of Spain on him is a bit disappointing.

[knickz]

a bit concerned with him...liked that he was hitting 3's against the blazers but demar didn't see the ball...i think you put him at 2 like the sixers did with iverson

[Joey]

I for one do think that he is the future PG of the raptors and ill tell you why, 1 reason: defense. If you watch Bayless play you will notice that he does a much better job keeping his man infront of him which means that he will be able to stop penetration better than jose. Also we know that his offensive numbers have been there, he can score, and as far as him being a pass first point guard, he has never been given the reigns or the time to develop into one. From what I have seen from him I am pretty sure that given 30 min. a game he would average around 15 pts and 7 assists, that with better defense is good enough for me at PG. Give the man sometime he will be good.

Seconded.


ADD: Just found this article on SI.com from a few years back. Heading into the draft, Bayless was ranked only below DRose and OJ Mayo out of ALL of the guards in the draft. (Ahead of Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon and DJ Augustin.) And out of all of them Bayless is the ONLY one not starting... shame.

ADD2: As well as this great interview from Dime Magazine.. dude's a stud and a helluva hard worker.

“He’s got that fire, he’s got that instinctive ability to take things as a challenge when somebody is telling him he can’t do something or somebody’s not giving him, in his opinion, the respect he deserves.”

Love it. He'll prove all y'all wrong. hah

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Seconded.


ADD: Just found this article on SI.com from a few years back. Heading into the draft, Bayless was ranked only below DRose and OJ Mayo out of ALL of the guards in the draft. (Ahead of Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon and DJ Augustin.) And out of all of them Bayless is the ONLY one not starting... shame.

ADD2: As well as this great interview from Dime Magazine.. dude's a stud and a helluva hard worker.

Love it. He'll prove all y'all wrong. hah

Fire can be good, but it can also be a player's downfall. Ford and Jack also had that fire... but whenever they played against a star PG they often tried to make the game a one-on-one schoolyard game, seemingly putting the rest of the team and the outcome of the game as a distant second priority to showing up their counterpart. I loved the Bayless trade and do like him, but it scares me when he gets that look in his eyes sometimes because I know that for a few possessions, the rest of the team may as well just stay on the defensive end, since they won't be seeing the ball. It's great for a player to have that fire and drive, but not always when that player is your PG, who is supposed to help the rest of the team get theirs first, BEFORE worrying about getting their own!

[Joey]

Fire can be good, but it can also be a player's downfall. Ford and Jack also had that fire... but whenever they played against a star PG they often tried to make the game a one-on-one schoolyard game, seemingly putting the rest of the team and the outcome of the game as a distant second priority to showing up their counterpart. I loved the Bayless trade and do like him, but it scares me when he gets that look in his eyes sometimes because I know that for a few possessions, the rest of the team may as well just stay on the defensive end, since they won't be seeing the ball. It's great for a player to have that fire and drive, but not always when that player is your PG, who is supposed to help the rest of the team get theirs first, BEFORE worrying about getting their own!

Fully agree, but a good coach can turn that into a very solid PLUS for the team. A bad coach will let it turn into something negative.
When a player has that intensity, you NEED to ride it. Very few players play with it as consistently as he does, and as he has for his entire life. He is the anti-soft, in that he will step up and accept any challenge. Thats someone I want on my team.

[Roughhide]

I personally think he needs to find a balance between the passion he shows and acting professionally. Yes, his passion is a great thing and cannot be overlooked, but he doesn't need to be glaring at benches after he makes a bucket and getting emotional after every 50-50 call. Look at Tim Duncan, he's a consumate professional and has had a great career to show for it. It may just be a personal philsophy, but it really rubs me the wrong way when a guy shows blatant disrespect for the layman crew around him by tossing his warmup on the ground when hes a foot away from the ball boy and completely neglecting the presence of those around him (this may be due to his "passion" for the game and overinvolvement in the game itself which might be a good thing, its just a personal issue). The ball boy scenario is one example, and thats one of the main reasons why I've always had a great deal of respect for Calderon, he doesn't treat people like that (he hands the ball boy his warmups and doesn't neglect his presence, its just an example) and knows when to shut up and play the game.

[mcHAPPY]

I'm torn on this one.

On one hand, Jose is a great teammate and solid veteran. Any young team needs this.

On the other, Bayless when given the opportunity has risen to the occasion (14/7) as a starter.

The only PG in the draft I would look to draft is Irving. If he is drafted, send Bayless to a place where he'll have an opportunity to show he belongs in the NBA. BC has done a good job in teh past of trading guys to where places that will work best for them (Donnie Walsh is well known for this).

If Irving is not drafted, I would stay status quo. Jose has proven an injury liability in the past. Bayless will get his chances. If Bayless proves worthy as a starter in time then I do not imagine Jose kicking up a stink coming off the bench. If he does, then he isn't the valuable veteran he was thought to be and send him packing (same with the Kyrie Irving situation above).

[WhatWhat]

When Bayless gets the opportunity, he succeeds. It was like that when he was in Portland too. His numbers as a starter were nice, don't y'all think that's worth exploring more, in a season in which we've got nothing to lose? In which banking of getting Irving is still rather unlikely. In which him keeping those numbers he was putting up would mean that we could actually look for a SF or C instead? He's shown flashes of being really freaking good, especially when he's started.

And his selfishness is really overstated. I don't really see it at all. Some would've probably consider Jack to be selfish, too.

He's been playing like crap lately, but I seriously doubt his knee and ankles are at 100%. He shouldn't be playing until after the All-Star break.

What I'm trying to say, is that regardless of what you think of him, he's shown flashes of being THE PG...mostly when he was starting. We should be exploring that, and not half-assing it like Portland and the Hornets did.

Edit: "So where are these stats, WhatWhat, you Bayless fanboy?" Here: http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1087124

[pesterm1]

As soon as Jose is gone bayless will be starting. I bet Jose is gone by the deadline , i may be wrong but i dont see why not and its the perfect time to give bayless the starts since the season is over. I cant see any other reason he wouldnt be starting already. At this point they cant put jose on the bench because they pay him so mucha nd i think theyre trying to increase his value. i guess in the next few weeks we will know.

[pesterm1]

Im pretty high on bayless as well and i think alot of people on this site are just to negative to see what he can be. its easier to understand why people say what they say when you under stand that Its easier to be negative for alot of people then it is to be positive . thats how i see it anyways, i cant remember the last time people on this site actually agreed that a player was good... kinda pathetic already.