March 14 - New Jersey

[saints91]

As a team the Raptors played awesome in the first half. The ball was moving and guys were hitting shots. Everyone was getting assists. Bargs had two in the first 2 mins. The bigs were playing a nice high low game. The second half was just not as crisp. It's not one players fault.

[.40 Cal Flakes]

That was brutal. How the hell did Hump become such a beast????

[Joey]

Shots definitely weren't falling but a big part of a PG is putting teammates in a position to score. I don't think he did that in the second half - again with the offense stagnating and he looking for himself first, that is a double whammy.

He took 11 shots in the entire game.
To go along with 10 assists.
If thats him 'Looking for himself first' then I'm quite alright with it.

It really is funny that can't just say he had a good game.
It has to have so many qualifiers, before you're comfortable giving any sort of praise to him.

[mcHAPPY]

He took 11 shots in the entire game.
To go along with 10 assists.
If thats him 'Looking for himself first' then I'm quite alright with it.

It really is funny that can't just say he had a good game.
It has to have so many qualifiers, before you're comfortable giving any sort of praise to him.

He had 2 shots in the first half and 8 assists.

9 shots to just 2 assists in the second when he began forcing his issue and not getting the team involved - which is the point.

[Joey]

You must REALLY hate Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook and Brandon Jennings and any other PG who takes a few shots throughout the game.

There's two sides to getting an assist.
One guy has to pass it. Which Bayless was doing. Even in the Second Half.
And one guy to hit the shot. Which guys were not.
Doesn't matter if they're "in the spot to score" or whatever.
If they don't hit the shot, apparently it falls on Bayless.
Meanwhile, Bayless WAS hitting shots, and driving to the basket, and being completely effective.
Whether or not he got assists or not.

[jimmie]

He had 2 shots in the first half and 8 assists.

9 shots to just 2 assists in the second when he began forcing his issue and not getting the team involved - which is the point.

This.

And the Raptors were in the game at half, but lost badly in the second. If you can't make the leap in logic that the 8 assists and 2 shots in the competitive first half are far more efficient and WHAT A PG NEEDS TO DO FOR HIS TEAM TO WIN, vs. the out-of-control drives and inefficient offense of the 2nd half, then there's never going to be any agreement on Bayless. And outside of his offense, the D just wasn't there tonight, but it wasn't there for anyone on the team, so we'll let that one go.

Bayless played a really good 1st half, and I was pleasantly surprised. But the second was a regression to the mean.

Objectivity is hard to come by.

[Joey]

the out-of-control drives and inefficient offense of the 2nd half,

He was 5/9 in the Second Half from the Field. 56%.
How is that inefficient?

[saints91]

The Raptors played a good half last night. This was accomplished by everyone moving the ball. Bayless didn't have the ball in his hands all that much. He wasn't forcing things when he did. He was benefited by guys hitting shots in the first half. A lot of them were good plays by the shooter (contested shots). Bayless had 8 assists, but played the game unselfishly and his play was in the flow of the game.

The second half, guys were getting the same contested shots and we not hitting them. The team as a whole was not moving the ball...including Bayless. Bayless made poor decisions in the second half, which he did not do in the first half. He was pulled to settle him down. The Raptors couldn't recover from their poor third quarter.

It was the teams fault they lost, not Jerryds. He did have a mediocre 2nd half, and he had a great first half. My opinion, along with others. If you don't agree, then we see the game a different way.

[saints91]

He was 5/9 in the Second Half from the Field. 56%.
How is that inefficient?

How many times do we have to say it's not just about stats? There are a lot more ways he, as a point guard, effects the game then the 9 offensive sets in which he shot the ball. He was 5/8 in the second half, great shooting. He had 2 assists... no big deal. He wasn't playing the 2nd half with poise in my opinion.

[mcHAPPY]

You must REALLY hate Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook and Brandon Jennings and any other PG who takes a few shots throughout the game.

There's two sides to getting an assist.
One guy has to pass it. Which Bayless was doing. Even in the Second Half.
And one guy to hit the shot. Which guys were not.
Doesn't matter if they're "in the spot to score" or whatever.
If they don't hit the shot, apparently it falls on Bayless.

Actually, no. I like Rose, Westbrook, and (to a lesser extent due to inconsistency) Jennings. There is not much difference in Jennings and Bayless statistically. Jennings has shown the ability more often (with much more opportunity) to be a better PG - again he is wildly inconsistent and it will be interesting to see what happens now that he has a legit scoring threat in the backcourt with him. Westbrook and especially Rose are elite talents and any comparison is ridiculous so I'm not going there. A big part of being a PG is making the right decision and this is something that Bayless struggles with. One could say the same thing about Jennings, Rose, or Westbrook but those guys have much more talent and natural ability that allows them to be successful despite poor decisions (especially in the case of Westbrook and Rose).


Thanks for the breakdown on getting an assist. The comment "Doesn't matter if they're "in the spot to score" or whatever" leads me to believe you are not being objective, in my opinion, especially when discussing a PG.

I'm content to leave the discussion as is. Because this is all about opinions, I respect your opinion but have a different one. I also feel confident that I have given Bayless credit where credit is due. I stand by this opinion:

He really was magnificent in the first half. He was not very good in the second. Overall I guess you could say he was average-good for the game.

[Nilanka]

Bayless is leading us to a title next year. Case closed.

Now let's wrap up this thread and talk about important players.