I've Been Proud Of Sergio

Another solid effort last night.

Man, it seems like, ever since his little two-game benching stint, he's really stepped up his game. That's a good sign. A sign of heart and effort. Gotta love it. We'll need more and more of his improved play heading into the playoffs.

I had noticed that blurb in one of Quick's behind the locker-room door pieces that there "may" be some hard feelings between Bayless and Sergio? Hopefully, it's nothing. Nothing at all.

Anyway, great job, Sergio. Oh, and cheers to MARIS61.

 

Props to Sergio. He has been playing well lately. Thank God we are finally getting something out of that backup PG position. It really helps the team.

 

I think it is clear that for this season, involved in a tight playoff race and heading to the playoffs, that Sergio should be the back up PG.

 

I have not been shy of criticizing his play before - and I will not be shy of praising it today. He played very well in the last couple of games.

 

Meh...he played okay. A couple of bad misses and 3 horrible turnovers (he was only credited for 2). Plus he dominates the ball way too much and over dribbles. He almost seems selfish at times.

I'm not a Sergio hater, just calling it as I see it.

 

So if you are calling it like you see it, why only mention the negatives. Didn't you see any positive things he did out there?

 

It's not selfishness really, I just think he gets a little caught up in trying to do too much with the ball instead of passing it off to a wing or the center and then trying to get it back and reset.

As for Sergio's play it's certainly been a big step up from the awful play were were seeing from him before his benching, but any time Sergio is taking 6 threes in a game something is amiss. At any rate I'm just glad to see some net positive production out of the backup spot, if only because it gives Roy and Blake a chance to rest for 10-15 minutes a night.

 

My biggest problem rihgt now with the Serge is his over-dribbling that does like like some sort of selfishness out there, and his unwillingness to pass unless he has a chance at getting the assist.

That, along with his poor shooting, occasionally shooting too much, too many TOs and pourous D are really his only problems right now, but lets be serious... if he corrected them all he'd be an all-star. But for right now, he is a fine backup PG... probably a top 20 backup PG in the NBA and he deserves the spot over Bayless. Simple as that. He just has to get the ball moving quicker and not be somewhat of a Black Hole and reset the offense all the time the ball is swung to him.

 

What I found interesting is over the past week or so, his shot changed back to how it was the beginning of this season. A few weeks ago, his jumper had reverted back to the Drexler-line-drive. Now he has a bit of lift on it again, and the results are vastly improved.

I also like how he's being more agressive in taking it to the hole. Teams would always give him the lane because they knew no matter what, the drive was a feint to the dish that was coming. Now he drives and actually takes a shot half the time.

Finally, I love his defensive footwork lately. Deron was salavating when he came back in the game and saw Sergio covering him. However, Rodriguez made up for his lack of strength by being pesky with his hands and active with his feet.

I've always been a big Sergio fan. I hope he stays with the team, as I think he's a terrific backup PG. Two years from now I can see Bayless taking over the starting role and Blake going to third string.

 

He didn't impress me last night at all. For every positive play he made it seemed like he threw up a dead baby or coughed up the rock on a possession.

He has been playing better lately, but it's not like he's becoming our ultimate backup PG. I imagine Sergio is benched by next year's regular season or off the team entirely.

 

The term "over dribbling" is always interesting to me. The good ones (Cousy, Stockton, Nash, and now Williams/Paul) all over dribbled. They are/were patient in finding the open man. It looks great when someone gets open but looks horible when no one is moving without the ball. I agree Sergio often has bad offensive possessions, but running down court and simply dumping it off to Travis or Roy doesn't seem to work either at times. I think it all comes down to who is in the game with him. I think if you put him in there with Martel, Rudy and Travis and let him push the ball and dish to which ever one is open on the wing, his game would be very good. Because he does have excellent court vision and he is great at penetrating and finding the open man at the 3 pt line or a cutting Greg Oden.

Bottom line is i am not concerned with him over dribbling. I think it is more that he doesn't always mesh with the personnel on the floor (i.e Roy) in a half court set. When they are pushing it, he and the team looks good. When they are not, his team mates need to move with out the ball.(like Rudy does)

 

If you are patient and deliver the ball when it is time - it is not over-dribbling. If you get caught in a bad situation and have to turn the ball over or take an ill-advised shot - you over-dribbled. Sergio, unfortunately, does that a lot. He did not much last night - so that was good to see - but that is the definition of over-dribbling I use.

 

Someone has to set a screen,someone has to move, some one has to get open. No doubt it is usually the PG's fault when this doesn't happen right, but he does need help.

 

I think he still is pressing a bit out there, trying to persuade the coaching staff that he should be out there and sometimes that leads to trying to do too much with the overdribbling.

But he has been a lot more aggressive lately, taking the ball to the hoop. If Sergio can just develop a consistent jumper, he'd be fine as the backup PG. But you can see teams laying off him by 5 feet, daring him to shoot like he's Shaq on the perimeter.
He's still our best option though at backup PG.

 

... and yet - Roy and Blake playing with many of the same team-mates are not as likely to do it.

 

If Sergio had a decent mid-range game (a floater or the ability to stop and pop from 12-15 feet) he'd actually be a great offensive weapon, instead he's got a dicey 3 point shot and really struggles to finish at the rim because he's barely got the ability to jump over a phone book.

He's certainly not a lost cause, but after 3 years in the league you have to think time is running out on Chacho -- at least as a Blazer.

 

They were good enough to overdribble. Roy overdribbles at time as well.

 

I'm a bit amazed at how bad Sergio's numbers were last night. From watching the game he looked really good except for a couple clankers.

 

I thought Sergio had some good moments (his steals were great) and was running the offensive decent enough. The Sergio moment that killed me though is when I think he stole the ball, had a 3-1 fast break, did a wrap around pass to I think Travis and gets called for the charge.

I understand the missed threes, being beat on defense . . . even the the some of the turnovers. But the fast break is Sergio's bread and butter . . . a 3-1 fast break should be money everytime with Sergio running the break.