I think Bayless will beat him out though. We’ll see.

I honestly think Sergio needs some D-League time. When he can stop screwing over the center for whatever team he plays on by taking off before the pick is set ending in a foul (how many of those for Joel last year?!?) I say we call him up and then let the competition begin. Bayless will emerge as the guy, but Blake is the steady hand we need to start right now.

thanks for the knowledge. Well, he’s going to get lost in the shuffle if he can’t fix the little things then.

I can see TroutLaw, G.O, LmA, Rudy and BRoy are attacking the rim followed by a pass from Sergio. Give a guy a chance to fly this year. If things are not workout then ops, sorry Sergio.

He’s going to have to show that he’s improved one way or another if he wants to get any playing time at all… with the arrival of Bayless and the stunning performance he put on during Summer League, Sergio might be stuck at the end of the bench. Keep in mind, KP and Nate have both repeatedly said that they envision Bayless as a point guard, but that he’ll need to learn it.

I think Bayless will have a longer leash than Sergio… and he’ll get more playing time sooner, too.

Unfortunately, I think Sergio’s days are numbered.

I think he’ll unofficially be considered the 2nd PG during training camp, but Bayless will beat him out before opening night.

Why? Two reasons.

1) Bayless reminds Nate of what JJ1 brought to the game.
2) Bayless cares about playing defense.

Sergio used to move before the pick and roll because that was allowed in Europe….
Now Sergio still does (sometimes), but unlike Dave I think there is a reason for this:

1 – Sergio moving early enough before the pick was set isn’t a foul.. Most of the time. Since going early enough ,when the picker is still running up, gives the defender the option of running through the picker (foul on defender) or around him.

2 – Sergio was doing the right thing (sometimes and maybe more)! Really, if you watch you can see the defenders starting to slack off so they can move under the pick (based on Sergio’s shot last year this was the right thing to do and was probably in the scouting reports). So what is Sergio suppose to do? Shoot the three just for timbo, or go early enough so the defender has to go around in front the picker (whose still running/jogging up the court and has the right to be where he is). This makes the defender lose a step and actually allows Sergio to penetrate, since letting the pick set up gives Sergio a shot, but prevents him penetrating because the defender is going under the pick. I think some of times it was actually the picker who was at fault when a foul was called, since they are used to making contact (causing them to stick their hip out) and Sergio just needs them to get the defender off balance to get an advantage.

I very well might be wrong, but after watching a highlight clip from last year (I don’t remember which one), I saw Sergio going early used to perfection, allowing him to penetrate and not shooting the three.

Sergio is Speedy Claxton. Gabe Pruitt. Damon Jones. Tyronn Lue. Chucky Atkins. C.J. Watson. Aaron Brooks. You get the idea. He will be the #3 point guard on this team, either at the start of the season or soon thereafter. And that’s absolutely not what he wants to be.

Yet I really don’t see him getting much more minutes than last year, now that Roy is supposed to run the point more often and Bayless plus Rudy can also both play on his position. He will get no time on SG cause three or four other guys are better there. And he won’t be happy with his situation with the Blazers. He blames the few minutes he got with him being kicked off the Spanish Olympics team, and probably rightly so. This won’t motivate him, it will make him angry at best and depressed at worst. Honestly, I can see him demand a trade quickly, or return to Europe soon like Navarro did (Barcelona).

like I did, here’s a recent O-live article about Sergio working on his shot:

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/07/sergio_goes_to_work.html

Makes me feel slightly better. At least he’s not moping around.

Why a bad sophomore season renders a good rookie season (for his nba readiness and where he was drafted) forgettable.

Also, his biggest problem last year, Sergio’s shot, isn’t so much non existence but broken last year.

[from Segio’s rookie year] He also needs to make more shots. Rodriguez shot only 42.3 percent, including 28.2 percent on 3-pointers, and averaged only 11.5 points per 40 minutes. Based on that, you might think it’s his long-range shooting that’s the problem, but actually he’s even worse finishing around the basket.

Though not a 3-point shooter, Rodriguez made 56.3 percent of his long-range 2s last season—one of the best rates in the league. But closer in, he really struggled. – Hollinger

- http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=3025&univLogin02=stateChanged

Or Sergio’s decision to man up and work on his shot?

How can BE feel bad about the way Jack was treated and then turn the other cheek and run Sergio into the ground? If I recall it wasn’t until filtered reports from the bias Spanish media portraying Sergio as unhappy and angry at the Blazers that Sergio became cool to hate.