I've Been Proud Of Sergio

[ABM]

Another solid effort last night.

Man, it seems like, ever since his little two-game benching stint, he's really stepped up his game. That's a good sign. A sign of heart and effort. Gotta love it. We'll need more and more of his improved play heading into the playoffs.

I had noticed that blurb in one of Quick's behind the locker-room door pieces that there "may" be some hard feelings between Bayless and Sergio? Hopefully, it's nothing. Nothing at all.

Anyway, great job, Sergio. Oh, and cheers to MARIS61.

 

[MrJayremmie]

Props to Sergio. He has been playing well lately. Thank God we are finally getting something out of that backup PG position. It really helps the team.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I think it is clear that for this season, involved in a tight playoff race and heading to the playoffs, that Sergio should be the back up PG.

 

[andalusian]

I have not been shy of criticizing his play before - and I will not be shy of praising it today. He played very well in the last couple of games.

 

[MadeFromDust]

Meh...he played okay. A couple of bad misses and 3 horrible turnovers (he was only credited for 2). Plus he dominates the ball way too much and over dribbles. He almost seems selfish at times.

I'm not a Sergio hater, just calling it as I see it.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Meh...he played okay. A couple of bad misses and 3 horrible turnovers (he was only credited for 2). Plus he dominates the ball way too much and over dribbles. He almost seems selfish at times.

I'm not a Sergio hater, just calling it as I see it.

So if you are calling it like you see it, why only mention the negatives. Didn't you see any positive things he did out there?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Meh...he played okay. A couple of bad misses and 3 horrible turnovers (he was only credited for 2). Plus he dominates the ball way too much and over dribbles. He almost seems selfish at times.

I'm not a Sergio hater, just calling it as I see it.

It's not selfishness really, I just think he gets a little caught up in trying to do too much with the ball instead of passing it off to a wing or the center and then trying to get it back and reset.

As for Sergio's play it's certainly been a big step up from the awful play were were seeing from him before his benching, but any time Sergio is taking 6 threes in a game something is amiss. At any rate I'm just glad to see some net positive production out of the backup spot, if only because it gives Roy and Blake a chance to rest for 10-15 minutes a night.

 

[MrJayremmie]

My biggest problem rihgt now with the Serge is his over-dribbling that does like like some sort of selfishness out there, and his unwillingness to pass unless he has a chance at getting the assist.

That, along with his poor shooting, occasionally shooting too much, too many TOs and pourous D are really his only problems right now, but lets be serious... if he corrected them all he'd be an all-star. But for right now, he is a fine backup PG... probably a top 20 backup PG in the NBA and he deserves the spot over Bayless. Simple as that. He just has to get the ball moving quicker and not be somewhat of a Black Hole and reset the offense all the time the ball is swung to him.

 

[Wheels]

Wait you mean Nate knows what he is doing? He made the right move benching him and motivating him? Try passing that on to Oregonlive lol

 

[maxiep]

What I found interesting is over the past week or so, his shot changed back to how it was the beginning of this season. A few weeks ago, his jumper had reverted back to the Drexler-line-drive. Now he has a bit of lift on it again, and the results are vastly improved.

I also like how he's being more agressive in taking it to the hole. Teams would always give him the lane because they knew no matter what, the drive was a feint to the dish that was coming. Now he drives and actually takes a shot half the time.

Finally, I love his defensive footwork lately. Deron was salavating when he came back in the game and saw Sergio covering him. However, Rodriguez made up for his lack of strength by being pesky with his hands and active with his feet.

I've always been a big Sergio fan. I hope he stays with the team, as I think he's a terrific backup PG. Two years from now I can see Bayless taking over the starting role and Blake going to third string.

 

[free_lafrentz]

He didn't impress me last night at all. For every positive play he made it seemed like he threw up a dead baby or coughed up the rock on a possession.

He has been playing better lately, but it's not like he's becoming our ultimate backup PG. I imagine Sergio is benched by next year's regular season or off the team entirely.

 

[Pinwheel1]

The term "over dribbling" is always interesting to me. The good ones (Cousy, Stockton, Nash, and now Williams/Paul) all over dribbled. They are/were patient in finding the open man. It looks great when someone gets open but looks horible when no one is moving without the ball. I agree Sergio often has bad offensive possessions, but running down court and simply dumping it off to Travis or Roy doesn't seem to work either at times. I think it all comes down to who is in the game with him. I think if you put him in there with Martel, Rudy and Travis and let him push the ball and dish to which ever one is open on the wing, his game would be very good. Because he does have excellent court vision and he is great at penetrating and finding the open man at the 3 pt line or a cutting Greg Oden.

Bottom line is i am not concerned with him over dribbling. I think it is more that he doesn't always mesh with the personnel on the floor (i.e Roy) in a half court set. When they are pushing it, he and the team looks good. When they are not, his team mates need to move with out the ball.(like Rudy does)

 

[andalusian]

If you are patient and deliver the ball when it is time - it is not over-dribbling. If you get caught in a bad situation and have to turn the ball over or take an ill-advised shot - you over-dribbled. Sergio, unfortunately, does that a lot. He did not much last night - so that was good to see - but that is the definition of over-dribbling I use.

 

[Pinwheel1]

If you are patient and deliver the ball when it is time - it is not over-dribbling. .

Someone has to set a screen,someone has to move, some one has to get open. No doubt it is usually the PG's fault when this doesn't happen right, but he does need help.

 

[alex42083]

My biggest problem rihgt now with the Serge is his over-dribbling that does like like some sort of selfishness out there, and his unwillingness to pass unless he has a chance at getting the assist.

I think he still is pressing a bit out there, trying to persuade the coaching staff that he should be out there and sometimes that leads to trying to do too much with the overdribbling.

But he has been a lot more aggressive lately, taking the ball to the hoop. If Sergio can just develop a consistent jumper, he'd be fine as the backup PG. But you can see teams laying off him by 5 feet, daring him to shoot like he's Shaq on the perimeter.
He's still our best option though at backup PG.

 

[andalusian]

Someone has to set a screen,someone has to move, some one has to get open. No doubt it is usually the PG's fault when this doesn't happen right, but he does need help.

... and yet - Roy and Blake playing with many of the same team-mates are not as likely to do it.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I think he still is pressing a bit out there, trying to persuade the coaching staff that he should be out there and sometimes that leads to trying to do too much with the overdribbling.

But he has been a lot more aggressive lately, taking the ball to the hoop. If Sergio can just develop a consistent jumper, he'd be fine as the backup PG. But you can see teams laying off him by 5 feet, daring him to shoot like he's Shaq on the perimeter.
He's still our best option though at backup PG.

If Sergio had a decent mid-range game (a floater or the ability to stop and pop from 12-15 feet) he'd actually be a great offensive weapon, instead he's got a dicey 3 point shot and really struggles to finish at the rim because he's barely got the ability to jump over a phone book.

He's certainly not a lost cause, but after 3 years in the league you have to think time is running out on Chacho -- at least as a Blazer.

 

[MrJayremmie]

The term "over dribbling" is always interesting to me. The good ones (Cousy, Stockton, Nash, and now Williams/Paul) all over dribbled

They were good enough to overdribble. Roy overdribbles at time as well.

 

[ebott]

I'm a bit amazed at how bad Sergio's numbers were last night. From watching the game he looked really good except for a couple clankers.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

I thought Sergio had some good moments (his steals were great) and was running the offensive decent enough. The Sergio moment that killed me though is when I think he stole the ball, had a 3-1 fast break, did a wrap around pass to I think Travis and gets called for the charge.

I understand the missed threes, being beat on defense . . . even the the some of the turnovers. But the fast break is Sergio's bread and butter . . . a 3-1 fast break should be money everytime with Sergio running the break.

 

[Pinwheel1]

... and yet - Roy and Blake playing with many of the same team-mates are not as likely to do it.

True. Because they are both better shooters. If the offense breaks down Roy and Blake can just pull up and shoot it. Sergio is not as good of a shooter, so he has to rely on the other guys to get open. Roy especially is a huge threat to go one on one at any time. Sergio is not.

 

[Minstrel]

Sergio is frustrating. He sometimes shows Calderon-like ability for a game or two and I start to think he'd be the perfect point guard to run the team and he's turning the corner...and then he has three games where he's awful.

I hope it finally snaps together and he turns into a slick, consistently good point guard...but I fear that he may make a career of "Has Sergio turned it around? ... God damn you, Sergio!!11!"

 

[hasoos]

You know on a lot of nights, if you get your bench to come out even, you take it and run. With Sergio, I feel that way most nights. As long as the Blazers are scoring while he is in, they will be ok. You know other teams are going to score while he is on the floor. The last couple of games, he has done a good job at getting production. It's kind of the opposite of when Danny Young played for the Blazers. That dude didn't light it up. But why he was in, he didn't fuck up, and he played very good defense so other teams would not blow you out while your bench was in. Sergio is the exact opposite. As long as he does what he needs to do, which is get the team's offense going, you are ok. If not, your screwed.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Sergio is frustrating. He sometimes shows Calderon-like ability for a game or two and I start to think he'd be the perfect point guard to run the team and he's turning the corner...and then he has three games where he's awful.

Last night's game was a microcosm of what you just described.

 

[MARIS61]

There is no such thing as over-dribbling if you are a PG.

Once a PG stops dribbling, he's dead in the water.

A PG will dribble in place to try and draw a double team or set up a P&R, or dribble around the perimeter to make the defense break up and follow him.

If your PG isn't dribbling, he probably doesn't know WTF he's doing.

 

[andalusian]

If your PG isn't dribbling, he probably doesn't know WTF he's doing.

I had a feeling Deron Williams has no clue what he is doing with all that scoring and CP3 is exposed by all that setting people up...

The trouble you have Maris is that you talk in philosophy, but we are listening in gibberish, my friend...

 

[Minstrel]

There is no such thing as over-dribbling if you are a PG.

Once a PG stops dribbling, he's dead in the water.

You've forgotten that point guards are also allowed to pass the ball. So, their only option isn't to dribble. A point guard who isn't dribbling could be passing OR not even touching the ball because he already passed it to someone.

 

[KingSpeed]

I loved Sergio last night because he gave us what we needed when Utah was making their run. Utah was about to wipe away our 19 point lead and then Sergio came out and knocked down shots and got big steals so I was thrilled. I'm a Bayless man but Sergio was great. I can't imagine you liked Sergio's +/- though, did you MARIS?

 

[MARIS61]

You've forgotten that point guards are also allowed to pass the ball. So, their only option isn't to dribble. A point guard who isn't dribbling could be passing OR not even touching the ball because he already passed it to someone.

Goes without saying.

Sergio obviously passes more per minute and more successfully than just about any PG alive, but the topic was dribbling, with an implication that it was a bad thing, which it most definitely is not.

It's what a PG does right up to the second he passes.

And that includes Williams and Paul.

I think it was Dr. Jack Ramsey who said "once you pick up your dribble, you're done."

 

[Nikolokolus]

Goes without saying.

Sergio obviously passes more per minute and more successfully than just about any PG alive, but the topic was dribbling, with an implication that it was a bad thing, which it most definitely is not.

It's what a PG does right up to the second he passes.

And that includes Williams and Paul.

I think it was Dr. Jack Ramsey who said "once you pick up your dribble, you're done."

His Assist-to-turnover ratio would like a word with you.