I like Petteri’s potential better, but he’s simply not ready.

I think Sergio has a higher potential, but it won’t be realized with the Trail Blazers. PK is going to become more of what we’re looking for for this team.

Don’t kid yourself. Petsku is ready to play in the NBA. He can shoot better than he showed. He could have had many more assists if anyone other than Bayless could shoot. And Bayless likes to dribble to the basket to take a hit then shoot. Not many assists there either. I would love to see Pete play against top competion. I believe within just a few games he was adapt his play. I gag when I think of how much he wants to play here, how good he is, how tall he is, how fast he is, how creative he is, how skilled he is, and we are going to give him up for a roster spot.

I hope KP is keeping it open with something in mind, and when that doesn’t materialize he will do the right thing. Well, knowing KP he will probably be doing the right thing no matter what he does. I could be wrong now. But I don’t think so!

The Blazers were actually slightly better defensively when Sergio was on the court last year. Its our offense that was awful when he played.
http://www.82games.com/0708/07POR2D.HTM

I understand why people are down on Sergio, but I’m surprised people are so high on Petteri. His ball handling was very mediocre in summer league. I think he’d have trouble getting the ball to halfcourt in the NBA.

If we are talking straight potential Sergio takes the cake no question. PK played pretty well in summer league, but his ceiling is probably not much higher than Steve Blake. I can’t see him being a quality starter in the NBA. I mean he could barely take the defensive pressure of some scrubs in the SL.

Sergio is extremely raw. He can’t shoot, is a piss poor defender, and he might not be strong enough to play extensive minutes. However, how many point guards in the NBA can throw half court alley-oop passes? His court vision is flat out amazing. If you want a project, you want one that has huge upside. I don’t think PK is that guy, I’m not even sure he’s even much more NBA ready than Sergio at this point. If Sergio can develop a jump shot and even a modicum of a defensive ability he will probably overtake Steve as backup PG.

There isn’t much harm in brining PK over. But if he can get a contract with easy buyout options to play for Portland, that’s probably the better choice for his development. With Bayless, Blake, Rudy, and Roy he’s barely going to see a crack of daylight into the rotation. It’s better for him to be a starter or sixth man for a Euro league team and gain some experience and then come over. If he doesn’t have these options, then yeah, go ahead and bring him over to PDX. But the d-league will definitely not be better than the Euro league as far as competition.

This whole thing might be a moot discussion though. If Rudy and Bayless prove to be good players, they will get all the remaining guard minutes in a few years. Leaving little to no playing time for a 4th guard.

If I was to prognosticate the future, I don’t see PK or Sergio on our team around 2010. They just aren’t good enough to be a valuable trade asset or rotation player. Around 2010 or 2011, I’d bet KP takes another high upside, 19(maybe 18 at that point), PG for the future. PK and Sergio may or not be recycled into that late 1st round pick, or just used as a trade throw in at some point.

Who care how many home games we have in November ;-)

is that Sergio’s ceiling is Steve Nash, and Petteri’s is Steve Blake.

I doubt Sergio will ever be happy playing backup point, so he really needs to become a starter somewhere. I don’t see it happening in Portland.

If we’re looking at which player to keep, I’d say neither. Blake is a great backup at point and is a veteran. Sergio won’t get regular starter minutes unless he learns to play respectable defense and improves his shooting and decision-making. He doesn’t have enough time to make that happen.

When you add-in the fact that KP wants an open roster slot, I don’t see him signing Petteri unless he decides to unload Sergio.

If the Blazers let both Sergio and Petteri go, we’ll still have Roy, Rudy, J-Rod, and Blake, with enough minutes for everyone.

PK has the talent to become a good PG, but there’s nothing I saw that would make me think he could become great at something. I like him a lot and think he could play in this league, but even if Sergio doesn’t work out it’s still hard to get PK any minutes.

Sergio on the other hand can make those insane passes, and we all know he has scoring ability in him. Rod worked with a shooting coach over the summer and he said his shot is looking good right now, come training camp I think we could start seeing a refreshed Sergio. Not making the national team I think was a wake up call for Sergio in that it’s not Nate that hates him, but he’s not getting minutes because his game is suffering. He’ll be coming in with a chip on his shoulder, and when all is said and done I can see Bayless and Sergio being the 1’s of this team. Blake has done a lot for this team but lets be honest he’s really just a placeholder until we can get someone better settled in. He would still be good to have around to steady a game if it’s getting too hectic but I don’t think he would want to play 2-5 minutes a game.

This is Sergio’s last chance to prove he belongs not only on the Blazers but in this league, I expect him to play hard and work on his weak spots. I mean really how cool would it be to have a GOOD Sergio playing next to Rudy? They know each others games well and I think having Rod as the go to bench PG would be perfect if he can get his act together.

will increase with some playing time with Rudy on the court as well.

that Sergio is the high risk-high reward guy whereas Petteri is the kind of guy you foresee developing into a nice back-up point guard. The only big edge I’d give Petteri over Sergio right now is his dedication to working on his game. Sergio has a far better dribble and ball control at an NBA level. With the rest they haven’t been shaken around enough to tell. Basically they’re different players though. Sergio is more of the J-Will type with less spastic play and also less of a jump shot. The Blake-Koponen comparison is apt, though I think Petteri could develop into a little more of an offensive guy than Steve is.

—Dave

third game of summer league for them, and before he started to fall off a little, but still a good read. seams at least a few fans are kinda high on our boys, kaponen, more then serge even. although they are talking about signing telfair. still, a few good quotes, mixed with a little awe and intrest can be entertaining.

would they have anyone that would interest us at all?

sorry if this has allready been discussed.

Who are the 46 people and counting who actually took the time to open this article up with a very clear title to tell them what it’s about, read the entire thing, and then vote for the ‘who cares about the third pg spot’ option? If you don’t care about that, why are you reading this blog in the middle of summer when absolutely nothing is going on?

By the way, great job on the post. I too am glad to see the Sergio love. I’m pulling for him, but my hopes have waned recently. It’s nice to see that someone has taken the time to objectively nullify the ‘Sergio is toast’ comments that I see all too often.