When flipping channels, I rarely turn down a Spanish soap opera on Univision or Telemundo.
But this Sergio deal? No me gusta.
If you missed out on the continuing saga, Sergio’s agent Jose Ortiz was quoted in the somewhat infamous Spanish newspaper La Marca demanded a trade for Sergio. After practice yesterday, Sergio talked with KP and addressed the media. That’s just the nutshell though. I’d highly, higly recommend reading Jason Quick’s take and Ben over at Blazer’s Edge with about as complete of a report as you can find. Also bonus points for a hi-la-rious picture.
(Sidenote: if you click on Quick’s take, read the comments. Fire Nate? Blame it on B-Roy?)
Sergio’s been emo for a while now. On one hand it is easy to see where he is coming from. , inconsistent playing time in two years and being dropped from the National Team before the Olympics could crush some feelings. But this whole Sergio vs. Blazers deal has silently been dragging on and on since the summer, with the majority of the rumors generally starting in a Spanish newspaper of some sorts.
Here’s the deal: Sergio’s been trying to play the victim for a while now. And yesterday he continued to try to play the victim. My initial reaction was to run up to Sergio and give him a hug while saying ‘Awwwww, pobrecito!!!’ But then I read this:
“I told them last year, and everybody here, that I want to play,” Rodriguez said. “I really love everything here. But I can’t be three years playing the same – being the third point guard for three years. I mean, I have to try another thing.
And I realized…what is he complaining about? Third point guard? Sergio is the backup and everyone knows it. He clearly and publicly won the battle with highly-touted Jerryd Bayless to be the backup point guard. Nate endorsed it and Bayless has been camping on the bench with Ike and Shavlik. For him to say this is the ‘third year of playing the same’ just makes me shake my head. Everyone is still in an adjustment period and Nate is getting used to Sergio being the backup PG. Let’s not forget Rudy is getting a lot of minutes too. I personnally have never been a fan of people complaining about playing time when they play. In my mind, PT is something that is earned. And Sergio has played well, refusing to turn the ball over and dishing out assists. But two areas he hasn’t improved in: shooting and defense.
He still can’t shoot and he still can’t defend. In the NBA, if you can’t shoot you are on borrowed time. His stats are cringe-inducing: 3-for-11 on the year (27.3%) and 2-for-7 from behind the arc (28.6%). And he still isn’t defending very well. So in two of the three “problem areas” he’s had over the years (shooting, defending, turnovers) so far he’s improved in only one. And yet he’s complaining about PT. Complaining about PT after the 5th game of the season. The Blazers have played 5 of the toughest teams in the conference, games in which Sergio more than likely would have been a liability playing major minutes.
Secondly, if Sergio is really that bent out of shape about everything he just needs to go talk to Nate. In the quotes I read from both Quick and Ben, he sounds more and more like a junior in high school who is frustrated by a lack of communication with his coach. Only he won’t go talk to his coach so it just keeps building and building and building. He said he was “waiting for the right time”. Clearly, Sergio and Nate are going to have to talk this out for this to work. Because Sergio seems more brokenhearted than anything and Nate is clearly waiting for Sergio to approach and engage him than the opposite. And truth be told, sometimes things don’t work out and it could be too late to salvage this Nate and Sergio thing. But Sergio just has to man up and go talk to him. Let’s be honest, his agent going public in Spain and then everything blowing up over here has done Sergio no good. Especially with Nate being quoted as wanting everything dealt with in-house and not wanting to read about things in papers.
Wrapping this up…Sergio just hasn’t done anything to make me feel extra-confident in him. I know he can make plays, I know he can throw dimes…but I’m still not confident in him after three years. And if he wants PT he’s gonna have to show some improvement in his defense and shot.
Feel free to comment and ‘talk me down’ on this one if you think I’m being too hard on Sergio or if you think I’m completely off-base. I would love to be engaged.