# Time for Sergio



## GOD (Jun 22, 2003)

I still have hopes that Jack will become a decent backup, but I am losing faith in his ability to lead the team in the long run. He has played like crap in the first couple games and Blake has not faired much better. This year without Oden and Rudy is a growing year that will likely end with a ton of losses. I say we it's better to Play Sergio now, and get him some experience since he is most likely the best long term answer. 

And to add to that, he might be the best PG at the moment as well. His D sucks, but in the first couple games, Jacks did too. Blake played decent D but not well enough to offset his lousy command of the offense. Sergio on the other hand brings something fresh and powerfull to the table. He can see the court, penetrate, dish and captain a running team like no other. 

I know that Nate is loyal to Jack and Blake and will likely be swapping the starting spot between those two for a long time. But he needs to wake up and start preparing for the future, and the future is Sergio.


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## blue32 (Jan 13, 2006)

I really think you need to go back and re-watch the first two games with comments like 
"Blake's lousy command of the offense"

Are you for real? Blake is the sole reason we made a comeback against the spurs late in the game.


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## MARIS61 (Apr 28, 2003)

blue32 said:


> I really think you need to go back and re-watch the first two games with comments like
> "Blake's lousy command of the offense"
> 
> Are you for real? Blake is the sole reason we made a comeback against the spurs late in the game.


Uh, we LOST that game.

If anything is obvious from the last 2 years it's that Blake and Jarrett are backups at best for any team with serious thoughts of competing in this league.

To be competitive we will need someone else at PG, whether it's Sergio, Taurean, Peter or someone else. Each and every minute with Blake or Jarrett on the court is a wasted minute of development that can never be reclaimed.


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## sa1177 (Feb 18, 2005)

I'll take the easy way out and say I do not agree nor do I disagree...but I will offer this....

2 games into the season...I'll trust Nate's judgment a little longer then that.


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## Reep (Jun 4, 2003)

I'm more concerned about our guard defense than anything else. Neither Blake nor Jack seem to be up to it. Sergio is clearly no help in this area either. Maybe Green does need more minutes. 

For the first time I'm really believing that we don't have a starting point guard on this team.


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## crowTrobot (Jun 24, 2005)

blue32 said:


> Are you for real? Blake is the sole reason we made a comeback against the spurs late in the game.


i'm not defending jack, but blake was almost as bad - if not worse on defense. he certainly did not orchestrate the comeback we made (-10 +/- for the game).


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## ElKoPay (Oct 12, 2007)

I think Jack's biggest issue is his confidence. It's only two games in and he's already a mess. If he is shaken that easily he is not meant to be a starter in the league. To be a winning team you need your PG to be the most calm, cool, and collected player on the floor. 

Most fans want Sergio in there. Sure his defense isn't that good, but is Jack's that much better? I think it's time for Nate to weigh the positives vs. the negatives and look at what Sergio brings to the offense.


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

sa1177 said:


> 2 games into the season...I'll trust Nate's judgment a little longer then that.


I will in most areas, but about the point guard position he seems quite irrational sometimes.

barfo


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## Iwatas (Aug 3, 2003)

I want Sergio, badly. Badly enough to not be upset when Jack and Blake stink it up, because I hope it means our coach might get a clue. It is clear that if Jack plays poorly, he'll get pt. So he has to play *really* badly for Sergio to get more than 10-12 minutes. So be it. Jack is not the future of this team, and for the long term sake of the Blazers, I hope Jack and Blake play poorly enough that Sergio gets a few starts with the first unit and shows what he can do.

I guess it is better than rooting we fail so we can draft better!

iWatas


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## Oldmangrouch (Feb 11, 2003)

The dirty little secret of last season: JJ played his best ball when Roy was out hurt. The two do not appear to mesh well as a unit.


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## ROYisR.O.Y. (Apr 1, 2007)

Dnp!! Are You Kidding!


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## aaabbbccc (Aug 26, 2006)

Nate is killing Sergio's confidence. I feel sorry for him.


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## ehizzy3 (Jun 12, 2006)

yeah i dont know what was up, taurean got minuetes over him...are we(the public eye) missing something?


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

My guess is Sergio put a Spain flag above the US flag, and Nate got offended..

Either that or he boned Nate's wife.

BTW, anyone else notice that the team started playing better when Jack was replaced by Blake?


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## MARIS61 (Apr 28, 2003)

Are you suggesting they are slacking to make JJ look bad?


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## MARIS61 (Apr 28, 2003)

Hap said:


> BTW, anyone else notice that the team started playing better when Jack was replaced by Blake?


I noticed that the team started playing better when they were playing against each other in Summer Camp instead of facing real NBA teams.

edit: Just trying to provide something for them to hang in the locker room if that's what it's going to take to get them riled up. :biggrin:


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

Oldmangrouch said:


> The dirty little secret of last season: JJ played his best ball when Roy was out hurt. The two do not appear to mesh well as a unit.


there are two issues, really. the first is that Jack doesn't compliment Roy. the second is that his style doesn't suit our tempo or team makeup. 

Jack is like a slower, less talented, mildly retarded version of Roy. it's like putting Zach Randolph and Corlis Williams on the court at the same time and expecting good things to happen. 

a good guard tandem should compliment each other in some way. Blake and Sergio can push the ball better than Roy. Green can defend quicker guards better than Roy. Webster can shoot better than Roy. 

look at Rip Hamilton and Chauncy Billups. Billups hits the long ball and is a great defender and setup guy. Rip is a deadly midrange shooter and brilliant at getting open off screens. 

there is nothing that Jack can do that Roy can't do drastically better. 

another issue is that Jack played better in a Zach Randolph offense. he excels at a plodding, half court offense where the only decision he has to make is to pass it to Zach or charge into the lane and draw a foul. 

on a team where he's supposed to distribute the ball to three dynamic scorers (Roy, Aldridge and Webster), often on the break, he just fails. uptempo just isn't his style, and that's the style we're trying to play. 

Jack just isn't the right fit at PG now.


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## Blazed (May 24, 2006)

79 games until Derrick Rose City


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

I used to whine a lot about our coaches playing the wrong point guard. 
I complained when Dunleavy started Stoudamire over Anthony. 
I complained when Cheeks played Stoudamire at point over Pippen. 
I complained when we played Stoudamire over Omar Cooke. 
I complained when we played Stoudamire/Van Exel over Telfair. 
I complained when we played Telfair over Blake. 
I complained when we played Jack over Sergio last year. 

I haven't quibbled much with what the coaches have done over the years at other positions, but I always seem to get peeved at PG. looking back over the above list, it seems I was right a couple of times (Pippen and Anthony) and wrong a couple of times (Cooke and Telfair over Damon). 

Had the coach followed my internet rantings, we'd have won (possibly a lot) more games with Pippen and Anthony, but Telfair would've been exposed as a complete scrub and we wouldn't have Roy now. 

how does this relate to Jack and Rodriguez and what we do this year? I don't know. 

I'm still inclined to hope Nate bites the bullet and does what Popovich did a few years ago--ignore the crappy defense, the youth, the occasional stupidity, and just play the foreign kid who seems to generate scoring in bunches. after all, the Spurs had a lot more to lose in the Tony Parker experiment than we would in ours. nobody considers us a contender. 

but if we don't play Sergio much this year, I won't despair. you never know. maybe Sergio is another Sebastian Telfair, and by not playing him we'll swindle some other GM down the road for the next Roy.


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## RoyToy (May 25, 2007)

The Telfair pick screwed everything up. Because of Telfair the Blazers passed on Deron Williams and Chris Paul.


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## vinsanity77 (May 1, 2006)

yeah, this is something I've always wondered,

Why doesn't Nate play Sergio?
I've seen him play a couple of times and he looked pretty good
out there, despite playing limited minutes. I know he's D is a work in progress, but the same can be said for a lot of young PGs in this league.

Also, I know stats don't mean everything, but didn't he average 4 assists while averaging 13 minutes?
Thats pretty good!

I just have one question for all you blazers fans,
when u see sergio play, which player does he remind you of?
Is he flashy or just gets the job done?


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

RoyToy said:


> The Telfair pick screwed everything up. Because of Telfair the Blazers passed on Deron Williams and Chris Paul.


...but we also got Roy and Webster and whatever we eventually wind up trading Jack for. and with either Williams or Paul on our team, we probably don't suck bad enough to get Aldridge. 

it's taken a couple of years (and a colossal blunder by Danny Ainge and a minor blunder by Chicago's GM in trading Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas), but I am finally at peace with the disaster of passing on Paul or Williams.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

vinsanity77 said:


> I just have one question for all you blazers fans,
> when u see sergio play, which player does he remind you of?



a veteran Steve Nash's handles and court vision
a young Jason Williams' flare and attitude 
Damon Stoudamire's defensive abilities at any age
the sense of puzzlement you got watching Tony Parker in his first half dozen games as Spur


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## iverigma (Apr 22, 2007)

I don't know if Sergio can be our staring PG in 2 years.
But clearly Jack and Blake are both not the guy. CLEARLY.

If Sergio fails, we should try Koponen or Green even I personally don't believe Green has the talent to be staring PG for any NBA team.

If they all fail, we can sign a FA in the market. JJ and Blake? Not even close.


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## Xericx (Oct 29, 2004)

someone start the Sergio chant at the game!

Jack is totally lost but I'm still a Steve Blake fan. 

Jack should be a SG, not a PG for us. 

My rotation would be:

Blake, Sergio, Green
Roy, Jack
Webster, Outlaw, Jones
LMA, Outlaw
Pryz, Frye

probably forgot someone, oh well


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## iverigma (Apr 22, 2007)

If we seriously want to be title contender in 2 years, forget Jack and Blake and give the precious playing time to someone worth it. 

McMillan has a problem recognizing talent. I think he gives playing time by his personal prejudice, not by performance. I don't think Sergio should get major minutes but last night he played 13 minutes with 8 pts, 2 asts. Nate still played Green over Sergio in the 2nd quarter. Nate also gave PLENTY of minutes to JJ, who played horrible basketball in the 3rd quarter which screwed this game for us. 

WOW that's the coach who said "player would EARN their minutes."


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## Xericx (Oct 29, 2004)

I don't see what the problem is with Blake. He is a smart ball handler, has been good and makes good decisions in the past. He's certainly not as bad as Jack has been.


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## c_note (Jan 30, 2007)

MARIS61 said:


> Uh, we LOST that game.
> 
> If anything is obvious from the last 2 years it's that Blake and Jarrett are backups at best for any team with serious thoughts of competing in this league.
> 
> To be competitive we will need someone else at PG, whether it's Sergio, Taurean, Peter or someone else. Each and every minute with Blake or Jarrett on the court is a wasted minute of development that can never be reclaimed.


Damn, props, this is so true.


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## Napoleon7 (Oct 9, 2007)

I agree Jack has played horrible so far.
Blake has not played well either, but definately better than Jack.

I'm on board with giving the reins over to Sergio and see what the kid can do.

Otherwise lets go out and get a permanent 2 year fix in Andre Miller from Philadelphia.
Andre can help with the development of all our young guys.

Jack/Frye/LaFrentz for Miller & filler


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## BlazerFan22 (Jul 4, 2006)

Nate dosen't like Sergios wild freestyle type of playing style. That and he dosen't play much defence.


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## wastro (Dec 19, 2004)

Portland's biggest bugaboo so far this season is its perimeter defense. Sergio won't help in that department. He might run the offense a little more effectively, but if the perimeter defense takes another hit with his added minutes, the points won't matter.

I'm on board with moving Brandon to the starting point guard position after Rudy comes over and Greg debuts. I really like ALL of our point guards, but Roy's a pretty good perimeter defender. He's good at creating for himself and others. He's a solid passer. He's got the best outside shot of all the point guards.


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## soonerterp (Nov 13, 2005)

> Jack is like a slower, less talented, *mildly retarded* version of Roy.


That's really not nice.

I agree Jack AND Blake aren't playing up to par, but its only three games in, there is time to make adjustments.

I would rather Blake was starting, honestly, but he's scaring me right now although he's only playing *slightly* better than Jack (and I do mean not much better than).

I like Rodriguez but I think he needs time in D-League.


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## aaabbbccc (Aug 26, 2006)

Sergio: 
"I think that the night before I had played well against the New Orleans Hornets and I am always ready to help the team, but in the end the coach is the one who decides and I will continue to work hard."

"I am more motivated than ever and integrated with the city of Portland and the team."


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

wastro said:


> Portland's biggest bugaboo so far this season is its perimeter defense. Sergio won't help in that department. He might run the offense a little more effectively, but if the perimeter defense takes another hit with his added minutes, the points won't matter.


Right on the money. The offense got good looks against Houston - the problem was not Jack not finding the people - it was that Roy, Aldridge and Travis could not put the ball in. Period.

My guess is that against dominant PGs - Nate should consider starting Green. If he is the best defender of the PG squad - he is the one that should help with the issue of Perimeter defense.


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

BlazerFan22 said:


> Nate dosen't like Sergios wild freestyle type of playing style. That and he dosen't play much defence.


He plays bad defense, but it's not as if Jack is playing lights out on defense either. Or directing the offense that good either. While those guys did miss shots, a lot of that was them creating their own shots.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

BlazerFan22 said:


> Nate dosen't like Sergios wild freestyle type of playing style. That and he dosen't play much defence.



Really like Jack plays defense? Pretty soon he is going to be the new target of my "Olay" chant, for when he plays the matador and just lets his guy go to the hoop with impunity.


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## #10 (Jul 23, 2004)

Sergio isn't that wild, really. His assist to turnover ratio is pretty good, and you can blame his teammates for some of the turnovers.


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

This is almost a repeat of last year. 

Sergio comes off the bench, gives a spark to the team and posters are campaigning for him to start. 

If I learned anything from last year's reactions by posters, it is that Sergio is a lot of flash but not a lot of consistency. Just as fast as posters were calling for him to start, psoters jumped off the Sergio campaign when he failed to produce for a string of games.

I don't know if Sergio is the answer, but I know that the start Sergio posts will come and go throughout the season.


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

Kiss_My_Darius said:


> This is almost a repeat of last year.
> 
> Sergio comes off the bench, gives a spark to the team and posters are campaigning for him to start.
> 
> If I learned anything from last year's reactions by posters, it is that Sergio is a lot of flash but not a lot of consistency.


Well, Jack is consistent...

barfo


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## ebott (Jan 7, 2003)

andalusian said:


> My guess is that against dominant PGs - Nate should consider starting Green. If he is the best defender of the PG squad - he is the one that should help with the issue of Perimeter defense.


My thoughts exactly.

And I really do think that Green is a better option with Roy than any of our other point guards. He compliments Roy perfectly as he plays tenacious D and hits outside shots.

Neither Jack or Blake offer anything that Roy doesn't already provide and as such aren't good compliments to his game. Both of them seem to be thoroughly mediocre.

Sergio has some extra goodness in his ballhandling, court vision and passing that Roy doesn't. But his defense is the worst of the bunch and (just like Roy) he needs to have the ball in his hands to be effective. So he doesn't really compliment Roy very well.

What I would LOVE to see is Green playing most of the time when Roy is on the floor and Sergio playing the bulk of the backup minutes. But Nate is more comfortable with Jack and Blake so that's not likely to happen.


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## GOD (Jun 22, 2003)

Kiss_My_Darius said:


> This is almost a repeat of last year.
> 
> Sergio comes off the bench, gives a spark to the team and posters are campaigning for him to start.
> 
> ...


Well I am not ON the sergio bandwagon, I am just coming to the conclusion that Jack and Blake are not the future starting PG's for the Blazers. I think they will have long solid careers in the NBA, but as backups on good teams or starters on bad ones. So that leaves Green and Sergio. I don't know if they are the answer, but I would love to find out. 

This year is all about learning. I don't think that Starting Sergio or Jack or Blake or Green this year will mean more than a few extra wins over the other PG's, so I would like to take this time to assess the lesser known prospects.

I think there is a very good chance that if Sergio did start or got many minutes for 10 games in a row, that I might be starting a "bench Sergio" thread. But at least I would have a better understnding of the possibilities this roster holds. Green or Sergio may be great, or they may be duds, but either way, I think it's time to give them a chance to prove themselves. Moreso for Sergio since Green is still in diapers.


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## iverigma (Apr 22, 2007)

The truth is, Sergio never got a chance to start. Have you ever wondered how he would play as a starting PG? Maybe very ugly and then those Sergio doubters will have a lot to bash him. 

The truth is, he never gets a fair chance. I don't know if he can be our PG answer, but he should get a chance. See what he got after a good game, (13 mins with 8 points in the Hornets game, more than Jack's 7 points in combined 72 minutes.) -- a DNP game.


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## Draco (Jun 28, 2003)

Jack is not cutting it at PG. I say replace him with James Jones.

Roy
Martell
Jones
LMA
Pryz

This would help our perimeter defense as Jones is a solid defender. It would help our rebounding a bit from the added size; that is our other big concern (after PG play.) Travis could keep his role as 6th man.


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## fer (Dec 6, 2006)

iverigma said:


> The truth is, Sergio never got a chance to start. Have you ever wondered how he would play as a starting PG? Maybe very ugly and then those Sergio doubters will have a lot to bash him.
> 
> The truth is, he never gets a fair chance. I don't know if he can be our PG answer, but he should get a chance. See what he got after a good game, (13 mins with 8 points in the Hornets game, more than Jack's 7 points in combined 72 minutes.) -- a DNP game.



the truth was said, he didn't get his chance last year, and he may not get the chance this year either (he isn't even playing consistent time). The way mcmillan is treating sergio is really... sad, I mean, in the spanish national team he played bad in pre-tournament games and that's why he didn't play much, because in these tournaments if you lose a game you're out, besides we had other 2 quality guards, but come on, he's playing well, his game suits better by far in nba than in fiba, the rest of guards aren't better, blake is just an average backup, and he'll always be that, let alone jack, come on, this guy has serious mind troubles, I wonder how can a guy reach the nba with that weak mentality, there you have sergio being battered again and again and he still stands up and try to do his best without speaking out ****, come on nate, give the kid for once a ****ing try, if you're that right everybody will see it.

Sergio may be good or not, but stop giving unlimited chances to players who don't deserve them and keep failing, stop benching him for a TO, when you have jack or blake doing the same in a worse way, hey, take a look at nash numbers, or paul, etc, they have TOs aswell.

pd. should I bring back aldridge or webster cases? this guy isn't sensible definitively.


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

GOD said:


> Well I am not ON the sergio bandwagon, I am just coming to the conclusion that Jack and Blake are not the future starting PG's for the Blazers. I think they will have long solid careers in the NBA, but as backups on good teams or starters on bad ones. So that leaves Green and Sergio. I don't know if they are the answer, but I would love to find out.
> 
> This year is all about learning. I don't think that Starting Sergio or Jack or Blake or Green this year will mean more than a few extra wins over the other PG's, so I would like to take this time to assess the lesser known prospects.
> 
> I think there is a very good chance that if Sergio did start or got many minutes for 10 games in a row, that I might be starting a "bench Sergio" thread. But at least I would have a better understnding of the possibilities this roster holds. Green or Sergio may be great, or they may be duds, but either way, I think it's time to give them a chance to prove themselves. Moreso for Sergio since Green is still in diapers.


I left you a PM . . . wasn't trying to get on you for this thread.

I was trying to point out that it seems Sergio is a player who is debated about more than any other player (besides Zach last year) and here we go again (didn't come out that way when re-reading my post).

The idea of starting Sergio has a lot of poster support, so it is a good topic for the board. I'm interested to see the ebb and flow of Sergio support as the season goes on, but a good hot topic for the board.


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## hasoos (Jan 3, 2003)

When I look at it, this is why Sergio makes sense to me: The Blazers have been getting a horrible start offensivly in the games. Half the battle seems to be having a confident offensive team out at the start, rather then from the 2nd quarter on. So you throw Sergio out there with the first group to get them jump started. Who cares if he doesn't defend well during this portion of the game. The main thing is to get the offense working early so the Blazers don't fall behind so far. This confidence in the working offense will carry over, and keep the team close. 

Now my argument for Brandon Roy being the point guard: Besides Sergio, the best thing that Jack or Blake can do is hand the ball to Brandon Roy as soon as they get over half court. Most of the time that is what Blake does. So quit screwing around and just make him the point guard. 

The last guy Taurean Green: Taurean was able to get the ball up the court and knows how to pass into the post. He also defends well. When he was in the game for a few minutes, he never had any problem getting the ball over the half court line. The same can not be said of Jack and Blake. He kind of reminds me of a guy who didn't get his due for many years, during the early stages of his career. Avory Johnson. 

Now that being said, if I was Nate I would try out some various changes and see what happens. Then establish rotation based upon that.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

hasoos said:


> When I look at it, this is why Sergio makes sense to me: The Blazers have been getting a horrible start offensivly in the games. Half the battle seems to be having a confident offensive team out at the start, rather then from the 2nd quarter on. So you throw Sergio out there with the first group to get them jump started. Who cares if he doesn't defend well during this portion of the game. The main thing is to get the offense working early so the Blazers don't fall behind so far. This confidence in the working offense will carry over, and keep the team close.


The problems I have seen at the start of the games were not getting bad looks - just drawing iron - so I am not sure that Sergio's play will make it much better if at all. I really think that Green is worth a try with the first unit. If he is able to get the ball to Roy and LaMarcus as well as Jack/Blake but offer somewhat more pressure on the opposing team's ball-handler - it could be something the team could build on. Later, against the opponent's 2nd team Sergio makes more sense, since this is supposed to be the fast team. Put Joel in this team to block some shots and start the fast break, give Sergio license to speed and have Travis and Webster run the wings with LaMarcus as a 3rd fast break finisher.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

my personal pet theory on Sergio is that Nate knows he's the most talented PG on our team, and is likely to be the only one who eventually is starter quality on a playoff team. the problem is that he's a lousy defender, and Nate is trying to fix that while he still can. 

many NBA players make a lot more money and have a lot more job security than the coach. the one piece of leverage a coach has is how the minutes are distributed. as soon as Sergio is given a real opportunity to start, I think it's going to be obvious that he's never going to be a bench player again. once that happens, Nate loses his leverage. Nate has this one opportunity to mold him, and he doesn't want to blow it. 

I really hope that McMillan is leaving him on the bench to mold Sergio into more than just another Jason Williams. the other alternatives, that Sergio just isn't that good or McMillan is lousy at evaluating point guard talent, is just too depressing.


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## MARIS61 (Apr 28, 2003)

So far this season is a repeat of last season except we're missing Ime's perimeter defense, Zach's ability to draw double and triple-teams, Zach's knack for starting the game aggressively on offense, Zach's rebounding.

Seemingly, Nate learned nothing from the last 2 season's mistakes or the extended summer practices. An extra month with the team and we don't even have a set line-up. Looks like Frye will be our Magloire this year.


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## MARIS61 (Apr 28, 2003)

mook said:


> Nate has this one opportunity to mold him, and he doesn't want to blow it.


I fail to see how Sergio "molding" on the bench is a positive thing.

Nate was a great defender but I've seen no evidence he knows how to teach defense or even that he knows how to apply it to today's faster-paced game.

I also expected Luke to teach our big men how to get and hold position and play with some serious attitude. Hasn't happened.

Finally, I disagree that Sergio is a poor defender. He is the best on the team at playing the passing lanes, and taking the pass option away from the opposing PG is the best way to shut down your opponent's offense.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

MARIS61 said:


> Finally, I disagree that Sergio is a poor defender. He is the best on the team at playing the passing lanes, and taking the pass option away from the opposing PG is the best way to shut down your opponent's offense.


Unless of course the opposing PG blows by Sergio and either nails the uncontested shot himself or has an open person to pass to when one of the bigs tries to cover for Sergio's none-existent defense - which is unfortunately, what happens more often than Sergio actually getting the steal.

It does not take much to see that Sergio's 0.5 steal per game (0 so far this year) as his only defensive contribution makes your point invalid.


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## yuyuza1 (May 24, 2006)

mook said:


> I really hope that McMillan is leaving him on the bench to mold Sergio into more than just another Jason Williams. the other alternatives, that Sergio just isn't that good or McMillan is lousy at evaluating point guard talent, is just too depressing.


Williams turned out to be a good PG for an NBA champ, and he credits most of his improvement to Hubie Brown. 



> “He said he was going to let me play,’’ Williams said of Brown. ’He said `Go out and throw the ball behind your back on a fast break, and if it goes in the third row, next time try it with your left hand.’ Once he said that, I knew he was for real.”


Link.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

yuyuza1 said:


> Williams turned out to be a good PG for an NBA champ, and he credits most of his improvement to Hubie Brown.
> 
> Link.


Interesting that the following quote from the very same article was not mentioned:



> But in a way I think they did Jason a disservice. He goes out there and they threw him the basketball and said, `Go play,’ with no direction. He’d throw crazy passes and turnovers and they’d never take him out of the game, just leave him in. I just think he needed some direction, some leadership. They just let him do whatever he wanted to do.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

> But in a way I think they did Jason a disservice. He goes out there and they threw him the basketball and said, `Go play,’ with no direction. He’d throw crazy passes and turnovers and they’d never take him out of the game, just leave him in. I just think he needed some direction, some leadership. They just let him do whatever he wanted to do.


exactly. Jason Williams was a decent point guard, but he could've been a lot more. had somebody gotten into his head in his first few seasons to not take lousy three point shots and to play quality defense, he might've played in a few All Star games. it wasn't just the crazy passes--it was the "street ball" attitude he took to the game. he's a perfect example of somebody I don't want Sergio to become. 

Williams is a lousy defender, a lousy perimeter shooter (he's had 4 seasons where he took more than 300 three point shots, at a career average of .322) and his overall jumper has never shown any progress (often shooting on the bad side of .400). he had all of these problems his first year in the league and he'll have all of these problems until he retires. zilcho in professional growth. but he throws some crazy-good passes. 

you look at the list of flaws in Williams' game and it sounds scarily familiar. it depresses me that Sergio seems to look up to him. hopefully Nate continues to work on him and get him to realize that there's a lot more he could be. he's taller and longer than Williams. I'm hoping he proves to be more coachable and devoted to growing as a player as well.


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## iverigma (Apr 22, 2007)

> Unless of course the opposing PG blows by Sergio and either nails the uncontested shot himself or has an open person to pass to when one of the bigs tries to cover for Sergio's none-existent defense - which is unfortunately, what happens more often than Sergio actually getting the steal.




How many games did you watch and how many times you found Sergio blown by guards? I saw Jack, Blake blown badly by Delonte West, Iverson, Tony Parker and CP3 but I haven't got a chance to watch Sergio got blown 'cause he played only few minutes.

I don't think his defense is as bad as McMillan claimed (in every possible opportunity). His problme is more in his understanding of defensive rotation, not his attitude or his athletic weakness.


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## iverigma (Apr 22, 2007)

mook said:


> I really hope that McMillan is leaving him on the bench to mold Sergio into more than just another Jason Williams. the other alternatives, that Sergio just isn't that good or McMillan is lousy at evaluating point guard talent, is just too depressing.


That's what I talked to myself. I found McMillan being unusually strict to Rodriguez. Right after a single turnover he got benched, no matter what other good he did. He might be molding Sergio as you said. If he can't evaluate players or he sub with bias I would be really really disappointed.


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## #10 (Jul 23, 2004)

iverigma said:


> That's what I talked to myself. I found McMillan being unusually strict to Rodriguez. Right after a single turnover he got benched, no matter what other good he did. He might be molding Sergio as you said. If he can't evaluate players or he sub with bias I would be really really disappointed.


If you remember when Sergio was injured, Dickau didn't get any playing time. Then, when Sergio was just getting healthy, Dickau started to get minutes. This preseason, Nate says that Green is ahead of Sergio...first game of the season, Sergio is off the bench before Green. I'm hoping Nate's just being extra strict, we'll see..



> you look at the list of flaws in Williams' game and it sounds scarily familiar. it depresses me that Sergio seems to look up to him.


Sergio's first interview as a Blazer, he more or less said that he plays like Jason Williams, only less crazy. I think that means he just admires the passing and not the rest.


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## andalusian (Jun 29, 2006)

iverigma said:


> How many games did you watch and how many times you found Sergio blown by guards? I saw Jack, Blake blown badly by Delonte West, Iverson, Tony Parker and CP3 but I haven't got a chance to watch Sergio got blown 'cause he played only few minutes.
> 
> I don't think his defense is as bad as McMillan claimed (in every possible opportunity). His problme is more in his understanding of defensive rotation, not his attitude or his athletic weakness.


I watched him last year when he did get minutes and that's exactly what happened. Is he better this year? From the little I have seen him play - no - but I would have no problems with giving him more minutes to see it - I just suspect that Nate and company do get to see him play in practice - so they have an idea about what he is or is not doing defensively. 

And... while Jack has been playing bad basketball this season (he was better in the pre-season) - I have seen Chucky Atkins looking like the 2nd coming of MJ against Sergio only to be completely shut down by Jack in the very same game - so to answer yeur question - yes, I have seen Sergio being blown off by opposing guards multiple times.

Sergio has a great up-side, more than any other guard on the Blazers roster - but his defense is atrocious and anyone that does not see it is being blinded by his magnificent offense.


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## ThatBlazerGuy (May 1, 2003)

I want to see Roy start at PG with Sergio the #1 backup. Give Sergio 20-25mpg, allow Green to take those minutes if he outplays Sergio(Which he has yet to do), trade Jack and who knows what to do with Blake.


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## 2k (Dec 30, 2005)

mook said:


> my personal pet theory on Sergio is that Nate knows he's the most talented PG on our team, and is likely to be the only one who eventually is starter quality on a playoff team. the problem is that he's a lousy defender, and Nate is trying to fix that while he still can.
> 
> many NBA players make a lot more money and have a lot more job security than the coach. the one piece of leverage a coach has is how the minutes are distributed. as soon as Sergio is given a real opportunity to start, I think it's going to be obvious that he's never going to be a bench player again. once that happens, Nate loses his leverage. Nate has this one opportunity to mold him, and he doesn't want to blow it.
> 
> I really hope that McMillan is leaving him on the bench to mold Sergio into more than just another Jason Williams. the other alternatives, that Sergio just isn't that good or McMillan is lousy at evaluating point guard talent, is just too depressing.


That’s a good point. Sergio screwed himself by not working to get quicker and stronger in the off-season, but then again Telfair busted his but to get stronger and Jack busted his but to get quicker and it didn’t really help either of them.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

2k said:


> That’s a good point. Sergio screwed himself by not working to get quicker and stronger in the off-season, but then again Telfair busted his but to get stronger and Jack busted his but to get quicker and it didn’t really help either of them.


actually, what Nate has done with past point guards is what gives me so much hope. 

Gary Payton's best years were when he played with McMillan. 

Sebastian Telfair was worth the #6 pick in the draft under McMillan, and now is in danger of being out of the league. 

Steve Blake did pretty poorly in much of his non-McMillan NBA career. 

Luke Ridnour flourished under Nate. 

Stoudamire and Van Exel vanished off the planet after leaving Nate. 

Jarret Jack was drafted in the 20's. how many picks drafted that late are even rotation players? 

over and over and over again you see Nate McMillan teams make the best of (sometimes incredibly bad) point guards. I can't think of a single example of a PG who finally flourished after being freed of a McMillan system. there may be somebody, but there aren't many. 

I never had any confidence that Mo Cheeks knew what the hell he was doing with anyone, including point guards. but I think Nate really gets it. he's got a great track record in this area, and if he thinks Sergio should ride pine all year, he's probably right.


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## Oldmangrouch (Feb 11, 2003)

The last really good coach the Blazers had was Adelman. If he was coach today, a big chunk of the posters here would hate his guts because he cared more about offense than defense! I'm sorry, but this "defense uber alles" notion is starting to get a little old.

The current Blazer team is NOT a good defensive team. Would it kill Nate to at least try and see if they can be a good offensive team?


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## 2k (Dec 30, 2005)

mook said:


> actually, what Nate has done with past point guards is what gives me so much hope.
> 
> Gary Payton's best years were when he played with McMillan.
> 
> ...


Hey I wouldn’t lump Stoudamire like that. He is the Grizzlies team captain; he can still play.


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## zagsfan20 (Dec 24, 2004)

MARIS61 said:


> I fail to see how Sergio "molding" on the bench is a positive thing.
> 
> Nate was a great defender but I've seen no evidence he knows how to teach defense or even that he knows how to apply it to today's faster-paced game.
> 
> ...


I've seen plenty of attitude out of our big men. I watched last year as Aldridge came to Roy's defense in a scuffle in a game against the Lakers, I watched him call Ricky Davis a ***** after he was trying to get into his head during a free throw. I remember watching Pryzbilla square up to fight Andrew Bogut. Unfortunately in Joel's case playing with attitude isn't necessarily going to make him a force on offense. The problem isn't our big men right now, its about how crappy our guard play has been and their inability to setup their teammates.


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## darkhelmit54 (Jan 23, 2005)

Mcmillan never coached Damon or Van Exel as a matter of fact, that was Cheeks' last year that they started and Sebastian came off the bench. Mcmillan's first year was Telfair, Jack, and Blake. 

And it is our guard play that's been horrendous so far. Almost every team in the league has either their PF or C offensively challenged who gets most of his points on hustle and the other guys being decoys (our Pryz), and a lot of teams have a shooting specialist (Martell), what sets us apart is how little our guards are setting up our big guys, except Sergio (who you all don't like because you've heard Quick say he doesn't play defense when neither do Jack or Blake). I'll take superb offense and below average defense for crappy offense and average defense. 

I mean offense from your guards is more important than defense because they set everyone else up, and defense from your bigmen is more important than offense because they're the last line of defense and control a lot of game posessions with rebounding. OUR GUARDS (Blake and Jack) SUCK! Bring over Koponen, Rudy, and let Sergio play. At least develop and suck excitingly rather than boring pwnage with players at their full potential.


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## Verro (Jul 4, 2005)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Sergio never starts while Nate is the coach. Even last season when Sergio was playing his best ball he started Dickau when Jack went down.


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

Very interesting entry from Mr. Quick tonight about Sergio.

Link 

I'm not so sure I believe it without reseveration, but it is very interesting nonetheless, as it directly addresses the Nate/Sergio issues that we've been discussing here for the past year or so.

barfo


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## It's_GO_Time (Oct 13, 2005)

mook said:


> there are two issues, really. the first is that Jack doesn't compliment Roy. the second is that his style doesn't suit our tempo or team makeup.
> 
> Jack is like a slower, less talented, mildly retarded version of Roy. it's like putting Zach Randolph and Corlis Williams on the court at the same time and expecting good things to happen.
> 
> ...



I owe you one mook.

I went to the game last night and stole your thoughts about Jack and quasi passed them off as mine (I didn't want to but I couldn't help myself)

Anyways, you made me look like a genius . . . the idea about Jack being a workman version of Roy and that is why they don't play well together . . . that Jack is a good PG with Zach because he knows how to dump down low or drive to the hoop (not a lot of decisions to make) but other than that is not really a PG. That his best skill is when he can play off guard and concentrate on driving or pulling up for a shot.

Man, Jack (and you) were making me look like a basketball genius. At the end of the night, my friend, who hates to conceed anything, told me he thought I was on to something with "my" Jack theory (I never get that from him).

I owe you one . . . want to come to a game one night?


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