When I was at one of our recent games, there was somebody sitting right in front of us cheering whenever Sergio fouled somebody or had a turnover. I'd love to hear what they have to say now.
I don't even know who made the comment, but they said Sergio was worthless....not that he was playing worthless. Iirc, it was in the context of trade value. I don't know what his value is, but it not 'worthless'. But, IMHO, calling Sergio worthless is not calling it like it is. While some overvalue the prospects to one degree or another, including me, some like to give prospects time to develop, especially PG's and C's.
I've been begging for Sergio to develop a floater or a stop and pop shot for the past two years, Sessions and Miller get by pretty well with a strong mid-range game and a poor perimeter game and I think Chacho would be well served to develop some kind of consistent shot off the dribble from 12-15 feet and scrap the longball (for the most part). If he can master that (say shooting 43%+ from that distance) then it's arguable he would be a complete enough player to maybe start. I'm somewhat anxious to see if he's able to sustain what he did tonight against a truly disciplined defensive team like Houston, versus a gambling style defense that Denver plays.
Not only does it seem Nate has loosened the reins with the bench, starting from when Blake came back into the starting lineup Nate has been urging the starters to push it more often also. That's the biggest change the team has made and it's obviously working quite well.
I don't see why. Just because Houston is slow and gimpy and can't run with the big boys doesn't mean we have to emulate them. No reason on Earth we can't do to them what we did tonight, Denver is a far better team than Houston.
Denver is a gambling defense that tries to rely on swats and steals to get out into transisition. Their defensive stats may look nice in a boxscore, but they are not in any way shape or form as good of a defensive team as Houston. Houston has the ability to impose it's will on you in a way that few teams can, their biggest issue is that their offense is pretty stale without an elite playmaking wing (like T-Mac used to be). Sergio aint gonna be running offensive sets against Houston's offense.
Sergio is what he is - a flashy, creative passer. His ast/TO ratio pales in comparison to Blake. His shooting % is bad. He is also part of the problem with our weak perimeter defense. The occasional good game doesn't negate his obvious weaknesses.
Of course not. Only one team can have the ball at a time. He will be shredding their over-rated defense in an impressive manner though.
Why? Sergio was worthless for most of the year and picked it up at the end. Perfect timing and is GREAT for the team.
I think Sergio has played much better since his benching. I personally have liked at how much both he and Rudy have been looking at getting Oden the ball in the post. That lob pass he made to Oden last night was pretty and Rudy made a couple of those same passes to Oden the game before. All of our guards need to realize just how much of a weapon Oden is and look to pass it to him (either when he gets deep position or on lobs). As our players get more familiar with Oden on the offensive end I think we will see a big jump in his production next year. But props to Sergio, he has earned it.
Sergio is 22. Furthermore he was broken down by Nate and is being rebuilt. He brings a little more every year. I'm a Sergio fan and hope he stays, because what he does well can't be taught.
Defensive Ratings derived using linear regression of +/- data since 2005 each year weighted equally. Houston with 4 of top 31 and 2 of of top 4 (not counting Mutumbo). Code: PlayerName Def StdErr Poss Min Teams Garnett, Kevin -10.3 1.6 37,956 9,838 BOS, MIN [color=red]Hayes, Chuck -8.2 1.9 17,164 4,440 HOU[/color] Mutombo, Dik -8.1 2.3 11,002 2,915 HOU [color=red]Ming, Yao -7.3 1.8 29,298 7,625 HOU[/color] Horry, Robert -7.2 2.0 11,185 2,878 SAN, SAS Hilario, Nene -6.7 1.8 16,423 4,092 DEN Haywood, Bren -6.6 1.9 22,669 5,834 WAS Camby, Marcus -6.5 1.6 35,827 8,671 DEN, LAC Bogut, Andrew -6.5 1.7 32,841 8,449 MIL Duncan, Tim -6.5 1.9 38,495 10,217 SAN, SAS Thomas, Kurt -5.9 1.6 20,623 5,247 PHX, SEA, SAS Ratliff, Theo -5.9 2.2 8,067 2,118 POR, BOS, MIN, DET, PHI Collins, Jarron -5.7 2.0 13,354 3,474 UTH, UTA [color=red]Artest, Ron -5.7 1.4 35,051 8,865 IND, SAC, HOU[/color] Mourning, Alon -5.4 2.2 12,797 3,258 MIA Przybilla, Joel -5.2 1.8 19,849 5,444 POR Rondo, Rajon -5.1 1.9 23,674 6,113 BOS Martin, Kenyon -5.0 1.7 22,493 5,552 DEN Kirilenko, And -5.0 1.6 32,249 8,277 UTH, UTA Iguodala, Andre -4.8 1.7 46,148 11,873 PHL, PHI Balkman, Rena -4.7 2.0 10,109 2,588 NYK, DEN Collins, Jason -4.7 1.8 20,043 5,215 NJN, MEM, MIN Aldridge, LaM -4.6 1.9 23,941 6,477 POR Wallace, Ben -4.6 1.4 34,760 9,050 CLE, DET, CHI Varejao, And -4.6 1.8 22,572 5,859 CLE Songaila, Dari -4.5 1.6 18,834 4,839 CHI, WAS Wallace, Rash -4.5 1.9 34,745 9,393 DET Pavlovic, Sasha -4.4 1.7 17,008 4,377 CLE Westbrook, Rus -4.3 2.5 8,597 2,174 OKC [color=red]Battier, Shane -4.3 1.5 39,198 10,233 MEM, HOU[/color]
Don't mean to rain on the Sergio Parade, but the guy still makes me nervous (And I suspect extra nervous now that we're in the post season) So many times he has come into the game and maybe we're down 4 points. A couple of careless t/o's, a shot clock violation, a missed lay-up, and the opposing PG scoring and getting into the lane at will . . . all of the sudden we're down 15 in about a 3 minute span. I just never know what to expect from the guy. Houston looks like a tough match up for him b/c of the slow style of play, but maybe he'll be able to continue playing well . . . I have no clue what to expect.
Houston will be a tough match up for him, because it will be a tough offensive match up for his team mates as well. If they are open Sergio will find them. If they are not....then the offense will be stagnant. Frye, Travis, Rudy and Greg all need to step it up. I am hoping that we will get out and run against their second unit, but more than likely it will be a ugly grind it out series where the outside shot is key. Not Sergio's strong point. But if Yao is out i think Sergio can penetrate and dish. Turnovers in this series will be high for everyone. Especially Brandon.
Another way to put it is...some people overreact to a couple bad games and some people like to have some patience.
Yeah, but Brandon Roy is the only player on this team that doesn't make me nervous. It comes with the territory. We're young and talented and we'll make dumb 'young guy' mistakes. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both... etc...
