# Spanish Chocolate sweet at FIBA



## Blazer Maven (Sep 27, 2005)

Sergio had a great line in the semi final against Argentina:

5/6 FG
3/3 From 3

14 pts

Looks like KP made another great choice!


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## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

Blazer Maven said:


> Sergio had a great line in the semi final against Argentina:
> 
> 5/6 FG
> 3/3 From 3
> ...


I really really like this kid. I have TIVO three of Spain's games so far and am set to record this game at three this afternoon. 

I just love going to the sections when he is playing and watching him with Fernandez hook up on those ally oop shots. He makes many other plays that go for naught because the shooter misses because he is playing with the second team. Apparently this game he took more shots and made them. Fourteen points in fifteen minuets is the best in the game of any player.

He often makes the starting pass that leads to a good shot. He does have a fairly high turnover ratio but in th NBA many of those will be fouls. This International games is very rough. 

I may be going out on a limb but he may be a star in the NBA IMO. 
I have been able to watch a lot of this tournament and there is some very good basketball being played and some very good players.

gatopops


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## Ed O (Dec 30, 2002)

Excellent. Go Sergio!

Ed O.


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## deanwoof (Mar 10, 2003)

I heart him :laugh:


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## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

I envision he and Roy playing alongside each other. Not unlike the Porter and Drexler days when both guards could penitrate and dish or shoot. Maybe an Aldridge or Web to drain the shot or an Outlaw flying to the rim like Fernandez does. Fun, fun, fun!

gatorpops


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

Whens the next time his team is playing? And what channel? I'll be sure to Tivo it.


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## Nikos (Jun 5, 2002)

Yeah Sergio was real impressive vs Argentina. 

He has some great playmaking instincts, and today he hit some timely shots.

Is he officially coming this season? Or does he have another year or so left in Europe?

I think the best case scenario for him would be a prime Kenny Anderson. Not an elite calibur scorer or shooter, but an excellent passer and playmaker.


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## mediocre man (Feb 24, 2004)

Nikos said:


> Yeah Sergio was real impressive vs Argentina.
> 
> He has some great playmaking instincts, and today he hit some timely shots.
> 
> ...




He is officially coming. He has made it clear that he wants to play in the NBA this season.


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## HispanicCausinPanic (Jul 2, 2005)

I said this before,for the right price he can use my name.........The Hispanic Causin Panic. That would look great on t-shirts!


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## furball (Jul 25, 2004)

HispanicCausinPanic said:


> I said this before,for the right price he can use my name.........The Hispanic Causin Panic. That would look great on t-shirts!


I may be an idiot, but I don't believe Spaniards are referred to as Hispanics. I still like the nickname.


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## deanwoof (Mar 10, 2003)

furball said:


> I may be an idiot, but I don't believe Spaniards are referred to as Hispanics. I still like the nickname.


you're not. 

and if i were sergio, i'd be offended. that's like calling us oregonians canadians.. or worst yet washingtonians!


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

Well, according to Wikipedia, the usage is correct:



Wikipedia said:


> Hispanic (Spanish: Hispano) is a term denoting a derivation from Spain, its people and culture. It follows the same style of use as Anglo indicates a derivation of England and the English. Thus, the Spanish-American War in Spanish is known as Guerra Hispano-Estadounidense, the "Spanish-German Treaty" is Tratado Hispano-Alemán, and "Spanish America" is Hispanoamérica.
> 
> As used in the United States, Hispanic is one of several terms employed to categorize all persons *whose ancestry hails either from the people of Spain, any of the various peoples of Spanish-speaking Latin America, or the original settlers of the traditionally Spanish-held Southwestern United States. *The term is used as a broad form of classification in the U.S. census, local and federal employment, and numerous business market researches.
> 
> In Spain, Spanish-speaking Latin America and most countries outside the United States, Hispanic/Hispano is not commonly employed as an indicator of ancestry; however, this can be implied depending on the context. When used in this manner, in Spanish-speaking Latin America an Hispano is commonly regarded to be any person whose ancestry stems, in whole or in part, from the people of Spain — to the contrast of the non-Hispanic (ie. non-Spanish descended) population. In this sense, when speaking of a nation's Hispanic population, those who are implied are Spaniards, criollos, mestizos, and mulattos, to the exclusion of indigenous Amerindians, unmixed descendants of black African slaves or other peoples from later migrations without any Spanish lineage who today reside in any of the Hispanic nations, regardless of whether they now use Spanish as their first and only language.


barfo


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## Anonymous Gambler (May 29, 2006)

Yeah...I'm not convinced the game translates to US style. Otherwise, we should snap up half the greek team.

Guess I'm in a bad mood about the latest loss....

Go Sergio! But, I'll wait until the preseason to be at all excited.

Bah...Humbug!


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## Samuel (Jan 1, 2003)

Anonymous Gambler said:


> Go Sergio! But, I'll wait until the preseason to be at all excited.


Did you watch the game? 

Sergio was knocking down 3s, driving down the lane at will, and almost flipped a sweet ally-oop pass to a teammate.

If anything, today's game showed his readiness, _specifically_ with the NBA style of play.


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## crandc (Sep 15, 2004)

I had a coworker once who was Portuguese and he referred to himself as Hispanic. 
But I still like Spanish Chocolate best.


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## furball (Jul 25, 2004)

Guess I'm an idiot. At least my wife would agree.


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## HispanicCausinPanic (Jul 2, 2005)

deanwoof said:


> you're not.
> 
> and if i were sergio, i'd be offended. that's like calling us oregonians canadians.. or worst yet washingtonians!




Wow! I didn't realize how much of an insult it was to call someone Hispanic. If I offended you, I apologize!


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## Sambonius (May 21, 2003)

whens his next game?


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## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

Next game.

Spain vs. Greece for Gold Medal

Sunday 9-4-06 1AM on Directv channel 609 ESPU

In my aera at least, Albany,OR. 

Enjoy

gatorpops


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## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

For the poster that thought Sergio might be something on the order of Kenny Anderson, I say he will be of much more value to a team than Kenny ever was. 

I would say on the order of a Rod Strickland with his head in the game. The kid is smart and only 20. He has very good up side. 

This will cause controvery but I believe he will have more value than Telfair.


gatorpops


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

So, I didn't even know about it, but my sister recorded the Spain/Argentina game onto the dvr. 
Not sure why she would do that, but I am glad it happened.
I just got done watching the game and I definately came away impressed with Sergio. Spain went down by 11 very early in the game as no one could hit a shot, and particularly the starting gaurds, Navarro and Calderon. Anyways, when Sergio and Rudy Fernandez came in, the game completely changed. The offensive intensity picked up, and there were great outlet passes by Sergio on many an occasion. I wasn't honestly expecting much, but he made a big impression on me. I wasn't alone either, as the announcers were going ecstatic over his play. They kept reminding the viewers that the guy is only 20 years old. I think he may be more ready than we originally expected. 

As a side note.... I know we have talked about him before, but, I want Rudy Fernandez on this team. If there is a feasable way that we can nab him in the next draft, we should seriously consider it. He may be skinny, but the kid can flat out play. And, he and Sergio are simply great together.

Anyways, tis about it.
Prunetang


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## Blazer Freak (Jul 11, 2004)

I didn't see the game, but from what I've read here I'm pretty excited. And this has eased the pain of losing Telfair for me.


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## Yega1979 (Mar 22, 2003)

Teams should stop scouting ghetto high schools so much and go to Europe to find real professional NBA players. If these divided European teams can keep kicking our all-stars cocyx, why aren't they in the NBA. 

It's time for American fools to stop making stupid excuses, and just admit that our ghetto punks don't compare to European talent.


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## Utherhimo (Feb 20, 2005)

yeah rudy is great and sergio is the Cliente Conseqidor


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## Gunner (Sep 16, 2005)

Sergio had a great game,and I about hit the ceiling when one of the announcers said that he and ??? were the future of Spanish basketball. More likely Blazer basketball! Well,I'm hoping anyway. He absolutely looked like a vet on the court. I could visualize PA & Pritcherson doing Happy Dances.
IIRC I'v read a couple posts from Spaniards that said they don't call him "Spanish Chocolate" in Europe. On the phone with a buddy today,discussing the game and Ginobli's comment that "Rodriguez killed us",we settled on,drumroll please...The Spanish Assassin. Ah,probably not PC enough but it sounds good. :biggrin:


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## Gunner (Sep 16, 2005)

HispanicCausinPanic said:


> Wow! I didn't realize how much of an insult it was to call someone Hispanic. If I offended you, I apologize!


Its not an insult to call a Spaniard Hispanic as Barfo noted,but it is generally taken that way by those of Mexican descent who prefer to be refered to as Latinos....Per my Latina GF. And I have to believe her...or else! :biggrin:


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

We aren't necessarily forced to call him "The Spanish _something_". We could name him something that doesn't have anything to do with Spain. 

In fact, I think we should call him "The Frenchman".

barfo


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## SheedSoNasty (Dec 31, 2002)

Or Telfair Part Deux


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## Dan (Dec 30, 2002)

here's an idea. why don't we let him play a couple games here before we drop a nickname on him that he hasn't earned?


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## handclap problematic (Nov 6, 2003)

I say we call him Sergio "Dali" Rodriguez after his fellow Spaniard, Salvador Dali, because, well, the guy's game is kind of surreal.

Prunetang


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## meru (Jul 2, 2003)

Gunner said:


> Sergio had a great game,and I about hit the ceiling when one of the announcers said that he and ??? were the future of Spanish basketball.


They better hurry up, because Ricky Rubio looks even better.

(Unless, of course, ??? _is_ Ricky Rubio. Rather than the front man for the Mysterians three times.)


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

just finished watching Spain beat Greece for the gold. Sergio didn't even play in the first half because the Spanish guards were so thoroughly dominating Greece. I gotta say, though, that I really liked what I saw from him in the second half. 

he didn't over-dribble, he got the offense moving quickly, and when he saw a gap he penetrated and dished. one of the announcers said he modeled his game off of Steve Nash, and there are some similarities. he's probably nothing close to the NBA three point threat Nash is, but his passing is crisp, his ball handling is at least on the level of Telfair, and his court vision looked really, really nice. more than anything else, he just didn't make any mistakes in both this game or the prior one. 

I'm pretty excited to see him coming here, just from what little I've seen. he could very quickly make us forget about Telfair. I can definitely see the comparisons to Jason Williams, which would be a nice steal for a #20 pick we basically just bought. 

after seeing Roy in the summer league and Rodriguez in the World Championships, I'm not nearly as sure that Jack is the PG of the future of our team as I was a few months ago.


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## wastro (Dec 19, 2004)

mook said:


> I can definitely see the comparisons to Jason Williams, which would be a nice steal for a #20 pick we basically just bought.
> 
> after seeing Roy in the summer league and Rodriguez in the World Championships, I'm not nearly as sure that Jack is the PG of the future of our team as I was a few months ago.


It was the #27 pick. Even better. :biggrin: 

Also, don't discount Jack for two guys who've yet to actually play an NBA game.

That said, I'm excited to see what Sergio can do. Watched a good bit of the Spain/Serbia Montenagro game earlier and liked what I saw.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

I can see what the big debate is probably going to be this year already. instead of Telfair/Jack/Blake at PG, it's going to be Roy/Jack/Rodriguez. although realistically Rodriguez is probably a year or two away from competing for the starting spot. 

I like Jack, and I think he'll at least have a Greg Anthony type of career. And that's great, considering where we picked him. But all of us, I'm sure, would love to see a star/superstar at the PG position, and I just have a feeling there's more of that potential in Roy and Rodriguez.


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## Blazer Maven (Sep 27, 2005)

mook said:


> I can see what the big debate is probably going to be this year already. instead of Telfair/Jack/Blake at PG, it's going to be Roy/Jack/Rodriguez. although realistically Rodriguez is probably a year or two away from competing for the starting spot.
> 
> I like Jack, and I think he'll at least have a Greg Anthony type of career. And that's great, considering where we picked him. But all of us, I'm sure, would love to see a star/superstar at the PG position, and I just have a feeling there's more of that potential in Roy and Rodriguez.


I think you underestimate Jarrett. He was seen as a potential lottery pick last year for a reason. He will put up 12/4/6 this year while playing excellent defense and playing very efficiently.

I see more of a Terry Porter/Chauncey Billups/Andre Miller type career for J. Jack. He is as solid at the point as Roy is at the 2.


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## Ed O (Dec 30, 2002)

Blazer Maven said:


> He is as solid at the point as Roy is at the 2.


I totally disagree with this. Roy does everything pretty well for a 2 guard... while Jack doesn't appear to do anything particularly well for a 1. He's a bit slow, he's got a poor outside shot, and he's not pass-first.

He's tough, and appears to be a smart player, and I'm happy he's a Blazer, but I don't think that Jack's anything approaching a sure-fire starter-level player in the NBA. There are clearly no guarantees with Roy, either, but he was a mid-lottery pick for a reason.

Ed O.


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## mook (Dec 31, 2002)

Blazer Maven said:


> I think you underestimate Jarrett. He was seen as a potential lottery pick last year for a reason. He will put up 12/4/6 this year while playing excellent defense and playing very efficiently.
> 
> I see more of a Terry Porter/Chauncey Billups/Andre Miller type career for J. Jack. He is as solid at the point as Roy is at the 2.


Qyntel Woods and Gerald Green were also potential lottery picks for a reason. but there were also reasons why both of them, and Jack, fell. 

the big intangible for me with Jack is the ankle injury. there's still some question as to what he can really do when healthy, and I look forward to see it this fall. but the fact is that last year he couldn't easily beat out Blake and Telfair for the starting job, so you have to question whether he's as great as you say he'll be. 

from what's been proven to this point, projecting him out as a Greg Anthony-like 10 year journeyman defensive backup point guard seems pretty reasonable. and we shouldn't look at that as a failure if he is--that really ain't all that bad for where he was picked. 

feel free to project what you want on him--I'm just going by what I've seen from him so far in the NBA.


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## Blazer Maven (Sep 27, 2005)

Ed O said:


> I totally disagree with this. Roy does everything pretty well for a 2 guard... while Jack doesn't appear to do anything particularly well for a 1. He's a bit slow, he's got a poor outside shot, and he's not pass-first.
> 
> Ed O.


His "slowness" can be attributed to the fact that he was at 70-80% the entire year on a bum ankle. During his GT career, he showed he is as quick as Billups and Miller, which will do just fine.

His 3 ball needs work, but he is solid from mid-range and can finish, as his 44% FG showed last year. He shot 45% from 3 his last season at GT. Jack's ability to hit the mid range jumper will allow the Blazers to run pick and roll with Joel or Zach this season.

If you watched Jack play last year (at the point) he was clearly pass first, can see the floor far better than Telfair (IMO), and can score when needed. Having a true SG this year and a SF who can hit the 3 (Webster) will up his assist numbers.


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## Masbee (Dec 31, 2002)

mook said:


> Qyntel Woods and Gerald Green were also potential lottery picks for a reason. but there were also reasons why both of them, and Jack, fell.
> 
> the big intangible for me with Jack is the ankle injury. there's still some question as to what he can really do when healthy, and I look forward to see it this fall. but the fact is that last year he couldn't easily beat out Blake and Telfair for the starting job, so you have to question whether he's as great as you say he'll be.
> 
> ...


Interesting that you bring up Greg Anthony, as that was exactly what I (and others) was thinking and hoping as a realistic prototype right after we drafted Jack. I too, said I would be pleased if that's his career path. I liked Greg Anthony. Seeing Jack during the season only reinforced that that might be the type of player we might have.

Now that I look at the stats of Greg Anthony and Jarrett Jack some comments.

First, Greg Anthony was a lot better just before he became a Blazer. We got him just at the end of his peak years. For 4 years in a row he had PER scores of 16.6 or higher, which is comfortably above average (15.0), plus he added that nice defense and steady play.

Second, Anthony struggled as a 24 year old rookie with a PER of 10.6, in 1500 minutes played.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/anthogr01.html

Jarrett Jack - on a bum ankle all year as you pointed out - also played 1500 minutes as a 22 year old rookie. His PER score 12.3.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jackja01.html

Looking at those factors - age, PER numbers, health - you have to say that Jack has a realistic upside higher than Anthony.

I don't think we have a Greg Anthony clone. I think we may have something better than that. That assumes he continues to improve every year. Works on and improves on his shot. And fully heals. We will see.

Get a load of that player listed in the Similarity score for Jack at the same age (22) - Joe Dumars. Damn - if only.


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## gatorpops (Dec 17, 2004)

ACCUMULATED STATISTICS 
FG 2pts 3pts FT Rbds 
G Min M/A % M/A % M/A % M/A % O D Tot As PF To St BS Pts 

9 92 11/23 47.8 8/17 47.1 3/6 50 5/6 83.3 4 5 9 21 9 17 6 0 3 

Sergio's stats from FIBA site. 

gatorpops


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## barfo (Jan 2, 2003)

mook said:


> the big intangible for me with Jack is the ankle injury.


Intangible? Are you calling him Derek Anderson?

barfo


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## HispanicCausinPanic (Jul 2, 2005)

I'm lookin forward to watchin JJ play on a healthy ankle.


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## Anonymous Gambler (May 29, 2006)

JJ is Dynomite!!!! :banana:


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## HispanicCausinPanic (Jul 2, 2005)

Anonymous Gambler said:


> JJ is Dynomite!!!! :banana:





Props to you my anonymous friend. Anybody that can throw in a Good Times reference scores points with me! That post was..........."DYNOMITE!"


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## Masbee (Dec 31, 2002)

Sergio gets some love from one blogger:



> This is a little rundown of the young non-USA prospects who impressed me in the '06 FIBA Worlds......
> 
> Sergio Rodriguez (Spain)- Portland draftee did not see a ton of time, but did show shades of his talent when given the chance, especially vs. Argentina. Great speed, wonderful handle & solid shot. Needs to reign in his flashy tendencies, but will have time to develop with Portland behind Jarrett Jack.


http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2006/09/2006-fiba-worlds-young-studs.html


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