Whether you agree with Hollinger or not, this quote from Sergio's own agent says it all: "The money quote from his agent, Javier Ortiz, is (translated from Spanish), "What he can never be is a half-court point guard." " If you can't run a half-court offense, you won't get ANYWHERE in the play-offs. In which case, Sergio isn't just a bad fit on the Blazers, he's a bad fit on any team that wants to get past the first round of the play-offs. BNM
and yet orlando fans on other forums were drooling over him. says something about how bad their PGs are.
I think Sergio has a place on this team. With Oden, Joel & LA, we should be a fairly good rebounding team. That gives Sergio an outlet for pushing the ball. He may never be a starting PG, but he's good enough to be a solid back-up.
Remember pre-season? Yes, it was pre-season, but it was still Basketball. Remember how Blake didn't play AT ALL and Sergio was our PG. It seemed to work okay. And here's a thought for you: has anyone else on this team thrown even ONE alley-oop to Rudy? Sergio's only playing single-digit minutes, but he manages about one a game. Are you prepared to give that up?
Shrug. The argument against Sergio has always started with something like "whatever he gets at one end, he gives up at the other". His defense does seem a little better, but his shot has returned south from the pre-season. I will definitely say this, though - he'd be a great fit for the Knicks.
Is he getting consistent minutes? I'm not sure how consistent a shooter you're going to be if you know you're going to get yanked in two seconds. I'm almost hoping Blake breaks his non-shooting hand or something just so we can see if he can produce when he's actually given minutes. He is so much more creative than Blake it's almost painful. Most people think he hasn't got the shot. But think about this: do you really want Rudy's best friend going to the Knicks and calling him every day telling him how much fun it is playing for D'Antoni?
The only thing Sergio seems to do well on this team is that occaisional lob to Rudy. That's about it. Boob-no-more's comment is pretty spot on. Sergio needs to be traded to the Knicks. That is about the only place where he will be able to play his game.
Sergio has not gotten consistent minutes because of his defense, whether you or I agree with that. I agree with more minutes Sergio would do better. I wouldn't put down Blake though. The coaches want a PG who makes few mistakes, and Blake has worked hard to become that type of player. Yes, it is the opposite to Sergio's game. I've seen his shot this year, and many of them don't even have a chance of going in. As for what I'd like, I'm mulling between 2 answers: 1) It depends on what we get back 2) I'd like Sergio to play at least average defense, become an at least average shooter, and lead the Blazers to a championship!!!
Unfortunately for Sergio his shot is back in cellar dweller territory, and until he can hit at even a decent clip (~40ish percent) he's never going to get anything more than spot minutes on the floor. Right now, Nate is using him to push the tempo and change the dynamics of the game and he's doing a fine job of creating opportunities for others and mostly taking care of the ball (last night I thought he was particularly in control) but he still hasn't shown that he deserves to cut into Blake's minutes as the third guard -- Roy and Rudy own this backcourt, and they WILL be increasingly on the court together. I actually hope Sergio can figure out his shot (a big part of his problem is shot selection) and driving and finishing at the rim like he did a couple of times last night is probably a good place to start, but I wouldn't bet on it.
The bad part about the Sergio situation is with Bayless emerging, I think he will be getting minutes over Sergio pretty soon (next year probably), so then even if Sergio can beat out Blake, he will still be the 4th guard... IDK, I like Sergio, but sometimes I think it would be best for both parties... I mean we lose a great passer, but then Bayless gets those 10mpg and that would be nice.
It's not as if Blake's is that much better. I can't see much difference between them, to be honest, which is disappointing. Depends what you mean by "few mistakes". It's easy to make few mistakes if you don't try anything. Blake is ONLY useful when he hits his open threes. He did yesterday, let's see if he can keep it up. But I never think "oh good, Steve Blake's checked into the game - we're going to go on a run now!" I do think that with Sergio. Maybe that means he's better with the second unit. Okay then, after we trade Blake we can make Bayless the nominal starter. That should pick up the defense a little... Sounds reasonable. After I've set Tonya Harding (she does still live in Oregon, right? In a trailer?) on Steve Blake Sergio will have his chance to try.
God knows that I am not a huge Blake fan - but I doubt there is much to see about him keeping up his open threes shooting - he is a 38.1% career 3P shooter. What's better is that he was a worse 3P shooter when he did not play for Portland - they did not use him to his strength - something Nate sure does. His 3P percent under Nate is 40.7%. If anything - I would expect his 3P percentage to go up.
Why is Sergio a bad fit? He's a change of pace guy that can create shots for people on the 2nd unit that couldn't get shots on their own. I think he's a great fit for the team and wish he'd get his shot back that he had in preseason.
Look at Sergio's career plus-minus and you'll see a pattern emerge; he definitely can create offense, but he frequently creates just as much offense for the opposition, and it's not just about his defense, it's the kinds of turnovers he creates and the kinds of bad shots he takes that lead to defensive boards and teams getting out on the break. I'm not saying Steve Blake is the be all end all point guard, but he's a reliable spot up shooter, doesn't turn the ball over and above all seems to have a settling effect on the team when he's in the game. To draw a football analogy, Steve Blake is a bit like Chad Pennington; low risk, relatively low reward player who throws a lot of short balls for a high percentage and doesn't so much win games for you as he doesn't lose them, Sergio reminds me a bit of Vince Young: A high risk, high reward player that has one really nice tool (running), but turns the ball over too much when he throws, isn't very accurate and is just as likely to make a mistake that costs you a game as he is to make a play that wins the game. Sergio has got to become a much more balanced player in order to have a chance to be a big minute player in the NBA Let's put this in perspective, Sergio has taken zero foul shots, is shooting 33% from the field and has a true shooting % of 38 percent, which makes him 58th out of 66 amongst point guards this season and is only hitting 20% of this threes, in contrast Steve Blake is shooting 43 percent from the field, is shooting 93% from the charity stripe, has TS% of 58 (11th amongst all point guards) and is hitting 39% from the 3 point line. If you still can't see the difference between Sergio and Blake then I can't help you.
Did the Sergio supporters/Blake detractors not watch the 4th quarter of the game last night? Who iced the game by hitting 10-11 free throws? Who hit 2-3 3-Pointers? Who played 32:39 had 2 steals and not a single TO? Steve Blake, that's who. And that's exactly why you need a guy like Steve Blake on the roster. He's a smart player. He knows Orlando is going to foul to stop the clock and he steps up to the line and calmly sinks his FTs. Sergio had 0 steals and 2 TOs in 16:07, hasn't even attempted a FT all season and shot worse from the line last season than Joel Przybilla. Not the kind of guy I want the other team fouling with the game on the line. Honestly, with the game on the line in the 4th quarter, who would you rather have the ball in their hands, Steve Blake or Sergio Rodriguez? BNM
So far, we have outscored our opponents when he's in the game, and they have outscored us when he's out. I'll take that 7 days a week.
