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Either he evaded it, he partially evaded it, or it struck him,
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It struck him.
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which means, either he sidestepped it or the blast's course wasn't meant to hit him originally
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That's the way I see it.
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you can say it took him by surprise, but I mean... you are a shinigami, you've been fighting for a thousand years, and you still haven't learnt to be prepared in case your opponent throws something like that?
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He underestimated Ichigo's power, or, he didn't expect Ichigo to have a technique that powerful. (Remember Cell and Vegeta's Final Flash?) But even if he only managed to partially dodge it, I doubt Getsuga Tenshou alone would be sufficient.
You have to take into consideration the fact that Kariya Jin utterly defeated Ichigo in his shikai state, yet Byakuya was able to fight on par with him, in both speed and strength without the help of a bankai. The shikai fight between Ichigo and Byakuya seemed a bit rushed to me, resulting in bankai being used so early in the fight.
Also, even after Ichigo blew away the thousand blades and explicated the ability, Byakuya didn't seem intimidated by it, indirectly expressing that in a perdurable battle Getsuga Tenshou is not enough. And if I'm not mistaken, Ichigo made it clear that Getsuga Tenshou was the only technique Zangetsu thought him.