“We knew what [Bayless] was capable of doing if given the opportunity. He’s playing off the ball and we need him to score. He’s showing that he’s capable of scoring. Once again he showed it tonight. At the start of the game we realized Brandon wouldn’t be able to go and I told him he had to step in at that spot. I told him to have fun with it. We gave it to him, moved him around, and he delivered. I’m more happy to see him come along defensively, to see him playing off the ball. His game has definitely picked up.”When asked whether he had given Bayless the green light to shoot, Nate said:
“He had the green light. He’s playing off of Miller and Blake and we’re running similar sets that we run for Brandon where we try and move him around and get him that ball and let him spread the floor. I thought tonight he did a nice job of not only scoring, but when he made the defense commit he gave up the ball.”Now maybe I'm reading too much into this, but in the course of answering two questions, Nate seems to go out of his way (twice) to emphasize that Bayless was playing "off the ball," the implication being (at least as I read it), that Bayless was playing off-guard, not point guard.
But here's the thing. That's not really true. Bayless had the ball in his hands the majority of the time he was on the court last night. He brought the ball up the court at least as many times as Miller or Blake, and in the fourth quarter, Bayless (like Brandon usually does) took the ball up the court on most possessions. Furthermore, the vast majority of Bayless' scoring was off the dribble. He scored primarly with penetration and pull up jumpers. He was only assisted on four of his field goals last night, and all four were perimeter shots on kickouts.
And Bayless wasn't just scoring. He had seven assists (and ZERO turnovers). In short, Bayless was playing the role of scoring point guard last night, not off-guard. If you doubt this, try to imagine Rudy Fernandez playing the role Bayless played last night. Even Brandon lacks the ball-handling chops to do much of what Bayless was doing last night. When was the last time you saw Brandon dribble into the paint, dribble back out again, and then circle back around for another try? That's something the Steve Nashes and Tony Parkers of the world do, not the Brandon Roys and Dwyane Wades.
While I don't want to read too much into Nate's comments, I get the sense that he feels somewhat defensive about Bayless' recent success. Here's a guy who has languished on the Portland bench for the last year and a half. Suddenly he gets thrust into the lineup and he's lighting the world on fire. For the coach, the obvious question is why weren't you playing this guy before? Nate's implied answer to that criticism is that Bayless is an off-guard and that the Blazers had (until recently) two other quality off-guards on the active roster, Roy and Rudy Fernandez. But if Jerryd continues to play the way he's been playing, this defense just isn't going to hold up. Neither Miller nor Blake (the "true" point guards in McMillan's eyes) are doing anything on the court that Bayless isn't doing just as well. And we've seen in recent games that Bayless and Roy are more than capable of co-existing together in the backcourt. They've actually looked pretty damn good together.
So there's only so long that Nate can continue to play the "Jerryd's not a point guard" card and expect to get away with it. When Rudy and Roy are both healthy, it's going to be a moment of truth for Nate. He's going to have to acknowledge that Bayless is indeed a point guard and play him at that position. My hope is that, by that point, either Andre Miller or Steve Blake will have been traded, thereby forcing Nate's hand.
There will undoubtedly be bumps in the road ahead for Bayless. He won't always be as good as he was last night. But he's shown enough lately to convince me that he has the chops to be a point guard in the NBA. And given that he'd be paired with an off-guard (Roy) who likes to handle the ball himself, Bayless may end up being an ideal fit for Portland. I was hesitant to believe it before, but now I'm a believer. Bayless and Roy are the future backcourt for the Portland Trailblazers.
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