...it is a very sad situation [Lt. Nate holding Sergio back all this time...and KP's spin on the whole "thing"...it should be interesting as this plays out]
This is kinda ridiculous... He simply isn't good enough to demand as many minutes as he wants. Does he not understand this? Does he think if he speaks out about it minutes will be unfairly handed to him? I just don't get it. LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE UPSET ABOUT THEIR MINUTES around the NBA and even on the Blazers. Its a very deep team... minutes don't just get handed to you, and he is not a better starting PG than Blake, or a better bench player than Przybilla, Rudy or Travis. If he wants to be traded I don't see why we shouldn't accomidate and can trade him for a late 1st round pick or a future 1st or something to help clear up logjams... Roy and Rudy are playing PG well and Blake is still the starter... we can cut down our rotation which we need to do anyway with Oden and Webster ocming back. I mean before the season even started Nate said his 10th man will be the backup PG and he will get 5-10 mpg and Sergio is getting over 9mpg. so... He was only the 3rd PG in one of the 3 years that he was on this team...
If the game was just offense, Sergio would be playing 20-25 minutes a game and racking up 10 assists a game. But his defense is still atrocious. Aaron Brooks just drove past him several times, and Sergio is still not active enough defensively which probably drives Nate crazy and that's why he doesn't get the PT he wants. The guy can play, but he's just not a Nate kind of player.
Nate played with one of the best point guards ever, Gary Payton. He is the standard. None of our guards come close to the GP type of player. Sergio's swiss-cheese defense make him almost useless except for a little instant offense. Trade Sergio.
His defense is pretty bad. I do think that if Nate is telling him that he is going to get to play more than he actually does then he does have a beef. I don't know what he should do about it other than get better, but if what he says is true I can't blame him entirely.
I know everything isn't about numbers but this somewhat shows that his shooting is off and his assist ratio is improving. Rudy and Roy are a good combo and working out the offense. Sergio is just not liking the offensive setup that Nate has in sceme because its with a lot of passing. Sergio wants more of a fast past tempo which is not Nates style. Sergio doesn't want to the patience to slow things down and setup a good play. 11/1 vs Phoniex: 14 min, 2-2 FG, 1-1 3P, 1 OFRB, 2 DEFRB, 4 assists, 0 turnovers, 5 points. 11/5 vs Utah: 7 min, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3P, 1 OFRB, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 0 points. 11/6 vs Houston: 11 min, 0-3 FG, 0-2 3P, 1 OFRB, 2 DEFRB, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 0 points. I say deal Sergio, because he was complaining last year too. Let Bayless get some PG experience.
The money quote from Sergio is this: "I think I'm playing unbelievable (considering) how I feel," Rodriguez said. "I'm not committing a lot of mistakes." The man still thinks that not playing defense is not a mistake...
Sergio sounds very immature based on his comments. Basically, he's more likely to take his frustrations to the media than to his coach.
And yet Blake is getting huge chunks of minutes when his defense is just as shitty? Talk about a double standard. I would be pissed too i I were Sergio. I don't think Sergio is the best point guard out there, but he deserves more of a shot than he is getting and should be getting as many minutes as Blake. I am really starting to sour on Nate.....and i really don't want to go through another coaching change so Nate better step up his game.
Blake's defense is certainly better than Sergio's. Blake is a very average player, but you know what you will get from him every night... he gives you a very solid shooter from the outside, and doesn't make mistakes and gives you effort on defense. He would be a fine veteran backup PG for us, but I also don't like him as a starter. Sergio gives you great playmaking, is a phenominal passer and has great vision, but almost everything else he does is average or below average. He is good for energy off the bench but isn't the solid starter we need out of the starting pg position. We really don't have a player on our roster that really should be our starting pg.
It's pretty clear Nate and Sergio don't know how to communicate with each other. I blame both of them. barfo
who does sergio think he is? he is playing so good he needs more playing time? yeah that 27% shooting is great sergio
Come on, folks. Sergio is *special*. He leads the NBA in assists/48 -- with 16.4. That is ahead of (in order) Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Jose Calderon, Jason Kidd And in assists/TO ratio he is *also* better than any of them. Are they better players? Without a doubt. Can they shoot better? All but Kidd, certainly. Ditto for defense. But Sergio is *22* years old. Defense can be learned, especially by someone who reads the court as well as he does. Shooting also can be improved (as he has started doing). This is no ordinary scrub, folks. Sergio is really something extraordinary. I'd be seriously bummed if he was moved. iWatas
Oh, and BTW -- Blake's assists/48? 50th in the league. Just behind that all-time point guard, Al Horford. iWatas
Sergio leads the league in assists per 48 minutes, with 16.3 assists/48 minutes. The next four are Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Jose Calderon, and Jason Kidd. Three clear hall of famers and an international world champion. Sergio has an assist/turnover ratio of 5.0, fifth in the league and again ahead of all four listed above. I'd say his point guard skills are outstanding, his shooting needs to improve (Blake much better), and his defense needs to improve (Blake better, but only mediocre). Both his shooting stroke and his defense are notably improved from last year, so he is making strides. In the last 3 games, Sergio has played 31 total minutes, with 14 assists and 2 turnovers. Blake has played 96 minutes, with 13 assists and 4 turnovers. So in 1/3 as many minutes, he has more assists.
Sergio's assists are inflated compared to Blake. You do not see him playing next to Roy who dominates the ball. Of course Blake's assists are not coming as quick as Sergio's - he does not control the ball most of the time on offense, he brings it up the court and is mostly a spot-up shooter.
