Today's Practice Report: Sergio Speaks and more

I really hope Sergio finds his place in this world; I really do. I would’ve loved to see him and Rudy over in Europe together.

Please explain “who” you meant here

Thanks for typing up the transcript Ben.

It’s really tough to read how down Sergio is, but it’s understandable.

I’m really trying to decide if Nate has any culpability in all this. It’s both the player’s and the coach’s responsibility to communicate on a professional team. There are times it feels like Nate is really non-communicative with Sergio (“You’ve won the backup role! Here’s 4 minutes of playing time”). But I wonder if that’s simply because we’re hearing Sergio’s side and Nate’s being professional and keeping a low profile.

Either way, it’s frustrating that this has distracted us from basking in the glow of an amazing win last night.

Earlier today I was plain outright angry with Sergio, I felt like he was really picking a poor time to complain publicly (through his agent) and that he really just needs to play solid all season and earn his minutes next year, or move on.

But reading this, it is clear—this wasn’t a calculated move on his part, dude just finally broke down. It is clear, very clear, that his problem is with Nate. As we’ve suspected for sometime, there is obviously a personality conflict there, and Sergo, who is very young, clearly isn’t feeling like he is getting any support or love from his coach. I feel for him, these must be tough circumstances. I’ll bet he’ll regret this in a day or two, but maybe it was necessary for him to get it out.

Ugh.

I thought it was pretty exciting how we won at the last minute…

What’s that? Oh, something about Sergio?

yawn

So how bout that game last night?

Sergio is the first, of many players that will ask for trades from this team. I know the common thought is “Paul Allen has all the money in the world, we can sign all these guys to long term, high dollar deals.” Well, I hate to break it to you, but money is not the ONLY thing these players want. They want respect from their peers. Respect is not given to “role players.”

 Bayless, Fernandez, Outlaw/Webster, are just a few that won’t be satisfied coming off the bench for their whole carreers. Old veterans are ok with coming off the bench to win rings, but not highley talented young men. They want the chance to start, and write their own legacy. You may say, “Sergio is not good enough to start in this league.” And you may be right, but not in Sergio’s mind. Not in any of these guys minds.

If I had to guess it’s personality differences between Nate and Sergio that is the problem here. Nate seems to favor emotionally stable players who talk to him in private as adults. Sergio has done this type of thing a number of times in his career already and it is not the way to get into Nate’s good graces or get his trust. If KP doesn’t pressure Nate into playing him more I expect Nate to play him less because of this. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Bayless getting Sergio’s minutes for at least the next few games.

and I don’t want to start another fanpost. A couple of things …

Disclaimer: I’m a big Sergio fan. I like point guards who know how to distribute the ball, can see the court well, and understand where and when other players like to receive the ball. I appreciate good ball-handling and a well run fast break. That’s Sergio. I also like his enthusiasm and showmanship when he’s feeling it.

Honestly, I think Sergio will be a “better” point guard than Steve Blake very soon, if he is not already. It’s hard to compare players, even at the same position, who have different skill sets and styles. I do like Steve, as well, but I think Sergio will be the better player. I believe that Sergio has made some important strides since last year, but that we haven’t begun to see what his full potential is yet.

I don’t know why Nate has never seemed to want to encourage Sergio, but I guess he really has not. It seems that KP and possibly PA do appreciate what Sergio brings to the game, but they are not the ones making the substitutions.

I am reminded of a point guard controversy many years ago, when the Blazers had incumbent Darnell Valentine and challenger Lafayette Lever battling for minutes. That case was less complicated because there weren’t two other very talented combo guards and a hot-shot rookie competing for more time. Nevertheless, it seemed that the Blazers had to make a decision to start one of them and trade the other. I think most fans would agree that the wrong choice was made. Valentine had one really good game, as I recall, after which the Blazers committed to him and shipped Lever off to Denver along with Natt and Cooper in what may have been one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history.

Sergio is no Fat Lever, but I feel certain that the Blazers management and many of us fans will regret it if he walks.

Whatever occurs, I wish him well.

He smells blood in the water.

This should have been handled behind closed doors. No excuse Sergio! Blazers are lucky to be 2-3 at this point considering two starters are down and a tough schedule. If I’m Nate my biggest concern is getting these two guys back 100% healthy and contributing ASAP. We don’t need this negative distraction.

as he’s improved his decision making and his shot (which is at least average now) then this wouldn’t be an issue.

Could you imagine how Sheed, or Iverson, or some of those other guys would treat him? He is around people, and a city that loves him. We’ll miss those oops to trout, and Rudy buddy.

could be the downfall of Sergio regarding this team. But it eventually could be the downfall for Nate because of his rigidity - which I’m sure is becoming obvious to KP and PA. KP has too much class to tell Nate who to play (even Whitsett never did that with his coaches) but it doesn’t mean KP isn’t taking notes.

but I wish someone would have asked him specifically what he wants – yes, more minutes, no, it’s not about minutes. Minutes when? At whose expense and why? Why do you think you are better than Blake? Do you think you should be playing pg with Rudy rather than having Brandon at the point? Brandon should have fewer minutes so you can have more?

I commented last night that here he was playing in the fourth quarter and that hasn’t happened much in his career. Blake went in when things got dicey, but for most of us that was a no-brainer.

Of course he can’t figure out the rotation. It’s not set yet and it’s not going to be till we get Greg and Marty back. And then it’s still going to take time to get it established. Really truly I would not like to have to figure out lineups and rotations when you’ve got Roy/Rudy Nic/Travis/Marty. About all we know will happen is that Greg will start (I assume) and Joel will move to the bench. But will Webster automatically return as a starter? Will that push Nic/Travis to the end of the bench with Ike & Shavlik?

Question for Ben/Dave …. how much do you think KP (and maybe PA) dictate/suggest lineups and playing time? How much do you think Nate listens?

Speaking of PA, it was nice to see him at the game last night, but I saw him walking back to his seat at half time and he was walking very slowly like he was still hurting.

that even Whitsett never told his coaches who to play. I’m sure KP doesn’t either. But in the end, he has the hammer.

If Sergio is traded and he turns out terrific, Nate could easily weather that storm if he is winning big. But if not ……….

But the chemistry between him and Rudy is unmistakable. To my eyes, this thing is working—Sergio playing some with the second unit, as well as sitting when Nate experiments with the Roy / Rudy backcourt. I hope Sergio and Nate get past this incident.

Of course, sooner or later it’ll come down to Sergio vs Bayless. But that choice will come down to how the two players progress over the course of this season. For now, Bayless wouldn’t seem to be a big factor in this controversy.

Comes from Sergio feeling dissed about not making the Spanish team because he feels like his lack of time last year cost him a roster spot.He also knows in his heart that if Rudy or anybody else in their right mind had the choice of playing with him or Ricky which way the door would swing

He should get more burn. I’m not a huge Sergio fan but Blake hasn’t shown us much lately and I know he’s the starter, but Sergio has been far more effective than the likes of Diogu yet rivals him in minutes. Sergio has a great AT ratio right now and clear chemistry with Rudy. Batum got the nod over Outlaw in large part for his defense, yes, but also because he can play within that offense and facilitate rather than shoot. Outlaw was a volume shooter. I feel like Sergio is a heavily pass-first PG. Wouldn’t that fit nicely along Roy? Not saying he should start. Kids still a defensive liability, but he has definitely earned more burn in my book.

I bet he just went off on the phone after the game to the spanish agent because he was frustrated. Sounds to me like he’s kinda flustered that its gotten blown all big and that probably the spanish agent took it further than he would have liked. I love Nate, but Sergio’s done what he’s asked, in return, reward the kid some.

with him. He needs to calm down out there and make the shots he does get. He doesn’t seize on his opportunities. He needs to just work harder than everyone else instead of crying over everything.

I think Sergio hasn’t handle this appropriately at all. Making this public scene is ridiculous. Whether he’s to blame or his agent, it demonstrates a lot of selfishness.

Everybody faces adversity, but in the team context you should make your adversity a distraction for the others.

What I do like about this whole thing is it distracts talk of Oden. However, Segio is doing the team a disfavor. He should either talk to Nate privately, or as they always say in basketball, let your play speak for itself. Complaining like this is always the downhill route.

This PG story line is getting interesting…

Im going to go do a Dynasty on nba 2k9 with Blazers :)

Me: Hey Sergio, what’s the matter?
Sergio: I just don’t get enough respect. I’m a marginally good PG that shows fancy skills every now and again, yet I’m not the starting PG and I don’t understand why… I want to be traded.
Me: See ya!

This is begining to sound more like a bigger issue than I thought. Oh well, dealing with a young frustrated PG is really a “normal” challenge for a franchise. I’d rather deal with a frustrated Sergio Rodriguez than some of the personel problems we’ve had to deal with in the past.

I hope this can be resolved without it becoming a big distraction to the teams focus. I agree with McMillan in so far as I think this should of been handled behind the scenes. Nothing good comes from public ministrations of frustration.

My frustration as a fan comes from I think Sergio is creating a situation where we will be forced to trade him, and I’d rather he stay. He’s 4 games into the season and already upset? It’s too bad he doesn’t seem willing to look at the big picture. 15=16, but seems 4 games into the season and we are already looking at 14 plus a disgruntled 1.

I joked in the post about Ben’s pictures about the possible destinations KP could send him. And I hate that his agent came out with this interview so early in the season. I doubt that helps Sergio’s case with the team. But I think it’s entirely understandable he (and his agent) are frustrated.

• He has undeniable talents to handle the ball. Maybe they don’t fit this team really well (see Hollinger’s take), but they are there.
• He is still very young (22), and wants to be progressing and get more responsibility/playing time. Instead he is stagnating.
• He was a rising star in Spain, while here he is a third-string point guard. He can’t mentally settle for that (and Pritchard said he would be worried if he did).
• He might be realizing he came over to the NBA a few years too early (compared e.g. to Rudy)
• He didn’t get much playing time behind Jack and Blake last year, which became a major reason for being left off the Olympic team.
• The team traded away Jack, giving him the idea that he would be #2 now (maybe falsely, but I don’t think he had B-Rex in his plans).
• The coaching staff told him two things for the off-season: Improve your shot. Improve your physique to become a better defender. By all accounts he worked on that, especially on rebuilding his shot with our shooting coach to give it more arc and precision
• Rudy comes to the team, getting Sergio’s hopes up to play a lot with a guy he knows very well on the court and talk to off the court.

Now what happens instead: Next to nothing. Blake is still #1 with no intention to change this. Roy gets more playing time at the PG spot. Bayless is breathing down his neck. His minutes get yanked around so he never knows if and when he will be on the floor – and with whom. Apparently Nate told him he is the first backup off the bench, then didn’t do a great job explaining to Sergio what is expected of him in this role the way he might have hoped he would. I would guess this is because Sergio is a little afraid talking to Nate, Nate hasn’t completely figured out the rotation by himself, and isn’t the kind of coach who explains all his decisions to his players. I can see why that leaves a young player like Sergio confused, and confusion leads quickly to frustration.

Maybe part of the solution would be if Sergio and his US agent (not the Spanish one) talk to KP and Nate about his future role on the team. Taking Rudy with him might look too much like a “we the Spanish guys against you”, which wouldn’t be in the best interest of Sergio or Rudy. Then see if they can find common ground in such a meeting.

why didn’t you ask coach about the segio soap opera?

Because he’s a smoker and doesn’t have the stamina? Maybe he ran off to have a smoke in the Rocket’s game.

If we really want to trade this guy, we ought to give him more time, not less, and see if he goes on a tear.