Encestando.com: It’s been like a rollercoaster for Sergio Rodriguez since he arrives to the Blazers and a difficult rookie campaign. How do you see his game and his progress for the rest of the season?
Dave: Honestly, every rookie not named LeBron has a difficult first season. When they are drafted everyone get excited about their skill and their impact. Everyone looks good on video tape! But when they get to the NBA they find it’s tougher than they thought. They have to battle their teammates for playing time because everyone wants to play. Then they have to adjust to playing against bigger, faster players. Plus they have to learn where they fit in to the offense and defense and gain the confidence of a coach. It’s tough to show you belong in this league! If you can manage all that then you might get 8-10 minutes of playing time. Most rookies are used to being the best players on their teams and playing for 30 minutes or more. It’s hard to learn to produce good results in such a short time. That’s why it’s a rollercoaster.
Sergio has adjusted faster than most people expect. His speed and his passing ability are skills that translate into any league in any language! He just had his best game in the NBA (23 points and 10 assists against the Denver Nuggets). That kind of performance will make it hard to keep him on the bench. I hope his game will continue to develop for the rest of the year. I think his playing time will probably still be up and down.
Encestando.com: Reading your web and some forums it seems that Sergio has made a good impression with the fans but he’s really far from being starter material for Coach McMillan. Can you tell us about the different options about Sergio’s game (with the fans, press, Blazers organization)?
Dave: The fans LOVE Sergio because, as an old American saying goes, he “puts the mustard on the hot dog”. That probably doesn’t translate well into other languages. It means he adds something exciting and new to the game which makes it better. Fans love his fancy passes and that he’s not selfish with the ball. It’s also fun to watch him dribble! Fans also love how he runs and how other players run when they play with him. Fans like the fast break! At our website we call Sergio “Captain Espresso” sometimes, after the coffee drink, because he makes everybody get excited and move faster just like strong coffee! He gets a huge amount of applause every single time he comes in the game.
The press is starting to notice that the fans love Sergio and they are starting to write about him more. It’s harder for the American press to like people who use an interpreter for interviews though. They like to talk to people directly. It makes them feel closer and more authentic, I guess. (I think it’s kind of silly. It’s more important what a person says than what language they say it in.) When Sergio’s English gets good enough to give interviews I think the press will like him more.
The Blazer front office (General Manager, vice-presidents, scouts, owner) are congratulating themselves because they made such a good pick so late in the first round. They didn’t have to trade any players to get Sergio. They paid $3 million to Phoenix to get him. They love how the fans react to Sergio and they’re happy because picking him makes them look smart.
Coach McMillan, however, has to worry more about what will bring wins and solid play than about what’s popular. He sees the flaws in Sergio’s game that the rest of us miss because we’re too excited. The biggest one is that Sergio has trouble playing defense in the NBA. For every basket he causes by shooting or passing he also lets the opponent score one through bad defense. That makes coaches angry! Also Sergio dribbles the ball too long before he makes a play. Coaches like point guards who can get down the floor and get everybody into the offense. Sergio often dribbles for 6-8 seconds before he starts making a play. He needs to cut that in half. (To be fair, sometimes it’s because his teammates aren’t ready yet.) Of course you know the main player for Portland right now is Zach Randolph. Zach scores 25 points per game and gets 10 rebounds. The team centers around him. But Zach also likes to hold the ball, just like Sergio. If they both started together they would have problems because both of them can’t have the ball at the same time. Zach wants to slow down, Sergio wants to run. Zach brings defenders down deep in the lane where Sergio likes to dribble. They don’t really fit together. So you’ll probably see Sergio continue to come off the bench. He’ll mostly play when Zach is out of the game.
Encestando.com: After his final season in the Spanish ACB league and the World Championship the usual opinion here was that Sergio has great potential even for the NBA, but that maybe he jump in the league too soon. What do you think?
Dave: Maybe, maybe not. He’s not a full-time NBA player yet. He has much more to learn. But at the beginning of the season I thought he would be lucky to play in 15 games this year. He proved me wrong. He is showing that he can learn fast. And the best place to learn about playing in the NBA is in the NBA. So maybe he made the jump at the right time even if he wasn’t quite ready to be a starter yet.
Encestando.com: Do you believe that we may see Sergio as a starter this season? A backcourt with Roy and Sergio is possible or they may not be enough physical?
Dave: Later in the season when wins don’t matter as much as developing young players maybe Sergio will get the chance to start a game or two. But I don’t think he’ll be a regular starter this year. Like I mentioned above, his defense and the way he fits with the other starters just don’t work quite right.
Here is something else to remember: part of Sergio’s success comes because he is surprising the other teams. When he first started getting playing time earlier in the season he got many assists per game. Other teams didn’t know how he would play! But after three or four games other teams knew who he was and they adjusted. They had a defender follow him wherever he went and then double-teamed him when he was ready to pass. They shut him down. He couldn’t make those passes anymore. Soon he wasn’t playing anymore. Now he hasn’t played for a while and other teams have forgotten again. They don’t expect him to play, so he can surprise them. Against Denver he did great. But if he played against Denver again the next night they would be ready. When Sergio becomes a starter other teams will be ready for him every night. He has to show he can play good, steady basketball against all competition before he can even think about starting.
Right now a backcourt of Sergio and Roy would be fun to watch on offense. But as you said, they would be over-matched physically. Also the defense would not be good enough. Both young men need to learn to defend better. Putting them out there together would let the opposing guards score 50.
