There was style, substance and intrigue during the opening practices of the Trail Blazers' summer league team on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Style was provided by lottery pick Jerryd Bayless who had Blazers veteran Travis Outlaw and the rest of the gym buzzing after he drove through traffic and dunked high and hard, then followed it up with a delicate teardrop shot in the lane.
"Dang! Did you see how high he got?"
Outlaw squealed from the sideline after Bayless dunked. Moments later, after the high-arcing shot in the lane, Outlaw remained impressed. "And he's got the touch, too."
The substance was provided by first-round pick Nicolas Batum, the 19-year-old small forward from France. A noted defender, Batum raised the eyebrows of Blazers coaches and management with his offensive game during the first two practices.
"If I was going to say there was a guy who kind of opened our eyes the first two days, it's Batum,"
general manager Kevin Pritchard said. "He's making shots and making plays for other people. We know what he can do defensively -- he's going to be a good defender. But he looks comfortable out there already."
Meanwhile, intrigue surrounds point guard Petteri Koponen, a first-round pick last season who remained overseas last winter in Finland. The Blazers have one roster spot open for the regular season, and Pritchard said Koponen has improved enough that a strong summer league showing could persuade him to sign the 20-year-old.
"Last year (at summer league) I didn't have the chance to show what I can do,"
said Koponen, who played shooting guard last season in Las Vegas to allow Sergio Rodriguez time to work on his game. "This year I feel I have a good chance to show what I can do, especially when I play point guard."
Not surprisingly, Bayless, Batum and Koponen will be the focus of the Blazers' summer league team when it begins a five-game schedule in Las Vegas on Monday. The team started practicing Wednesday and will hold workouts in Tualatin through Saturday before departing for Nevada.
Assistant Monty Williams, who will coach the summer team, said he will play those three extensively in the 40-minute games, joking that he would play them 48 minutes if he could.
"That's our goal, to play those three guys,"
Williams said. "The more we can put those guys in situations they haven't been in during college, and in situations where they can look good, it will help their confidence."
