Sergio Rodriguez...

Prince_XY · Dec 1, 2009

If I were you, I wouldn't use Pick#5. That would be derogatory. Remember that he who shall remain nameless was supposed to be drafted at #2.

How about "supposedly pick#2"?

Kingsguy881 · Dec 1, 2009

AriesMar27 said:

I was joking, you couldn't tell? Oh wait:

You were going to get that joke I posted, but then you got high
You were going to make a snide remark, but then you got high
You were going to hate on the Sac Kings, and I don't know why
but at least you got high, at least you got high, at least you got high.

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

ryanandty said:

kingsguy would eventually be annoyed by that as well... i thought about the acronym thing... i was gonna go with RR but he who shall remain nameless sounded so damn cool.

Pacboy · Dec 1, 2009

AriesMar27 said:

and thats why sergio's nickname fits so well for him. he has earned that name, he really is a spanish jason williams, hairline and all... thats about as good as he could ever become. with that said, thats how much better he who shall remain nameless really is. he has the potential to become the john stockton/nash/kidd/pistol pete level of pg. jwill was never that good, he was good but not elite good. he who shall remain nameless can become that good. his passing and ball handling are already there, once that shot becomes a threat its game over. if he has confidence in his shot he could be in the chris paul level of pgs from day one. he just gets it...

he who shall remain nameless is that player, people were serious when they said that he is probably the best european prospect to enter the draft ever... they said ever... i forget who it was but they were implying that he is potentially better than pau, dirk, parker and peja. damn... thats some amazing hype... like damn. he's really that good at what he does and he wont or cant shoot, just like sergio... weird.

but like we all noticed in their last game, the hornets were so focused on sergio's passing that they gave him clear shots at the basket. he who shall remain nameless is even more of a threat than sergio... he's going to freeze up every pg that tries to guard him.

Yea and they say the same thing about Darko Milicic

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

Kingsguy881 said:

obviously you were joking... but the fact remains you brought him in to the conversation.

but honestly i was gonna make a snide remark, but then my homeboy called me and i got high... lol...

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

Pacboy said:

who said that? i heard a few say that he could be a poormans dirk if he tried or he would be a lafrentz type of underachiever. now he's euro-kwame...

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

Prince_XY said:

but "he who should've been picked 2nd" doesnt sound as cool as he who shall remain nameless...

LookingAround · Dec 1, 2009

Just want to say something about the Jason Williams thing. Many things regarding the nickname of Sergio are simply not true. Sergio explained it in an interview but at NBA they still like to repeat the false story.
I put the reference to this interview at Sergio's value at Wikipedia so I found this one easily:
http://www.nba.com/players/interview_rodriguez_061113.html

Until now I didn't understand who shall rename nameless.
Why nobody told me before that Sergio's fans should hate Ricky ?

The first thought of mine was that it is so weird. They have so much in common in their game, so I thought you can like one more then the other but how can you like one and hate the other.
But thinking about it again I can understand it... if you are from Spain especially. I even recall myself had some strange felling when Ricky took Sergio's place at the Spanish national team for the Olympics games.

But you know what, I don't need to think that Sergio is the best in everything in order to be his fan. One of the magical things in Sergio is that he an ultimate underdog who despite not being strong/athletic/fast literally (he is very fast with the ball but it is a different thing) and not being a grate shooter he can be so good in just doing the things he does the best.

Emma · Dec 1, 2009

LookingAround said:

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with being compared to Jason Williams. He won a ring with Miami, and he's the starting PG for the contending Orlando Magic. He has skills. All around, not just flash in the pan skills. Of course, Jason Williams is on Rafer Alston's level (take that for what you will), but Sergio has the potential to exceed him, approaching solid starter material status.

Edit: I'm a fan of Rubio, becoming a fan of Sergio. You can be a fan of both. It's more of a personal thing.

gunks · Dec 1, 2009

Just watched that Youtube video on page 2.

So mad I live in SoCal and cant catch Kings games this season. Sergio is sick nastyness on the level of Bird Flu or Ebola. That behind the back oop pass to Brockness from his knees surrounded by Hornets? WTF? I love how they went to our Coaching staff after that. SAR was busting up, Coachie shaking his head ever so slightly.

Pacboy · Dec 1, 2009

AriesMar27 said:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=1490974

But what really excites them is his mature low-post play. "More than Nowitzki, Gasol or even Divac, Darko has a nasty streak in him that will help him succeed in the post," a league executive said. "A lot of the Europeans are really threes in the pros. He'll be a true low-post player. His coach is doing us a huge favor by forcing him to develop those skills now. He already has moves that remind me of (Hakeem) Olajuwon in the post. Once we get a hold of him, the sky's the limit

hammystyle · Dec 1, 2009

AriesMar27 said:

Nope...he was talked about like a Dirk with defense and a post game. If anything, his hype and scouting reports were well above and beyond Rubio's. In a draft with Lebron, Wade, Bosh, and Carmelo virtually every draft analyst had him as the clear #2 prospect. So the commenter who made the comparison between the hype surrounding Rubio and Darko was dead on.

Anyways....wow Sergio! Way to take a few small opportunities and make something happen. Considering how impressive he's been its a testament to the great start to the season that he's about the 5th or 6th most exciting development of the first 16 games.

Here's how I'd rank them:
1) Tyreke. Above and beyond all. The thing Brick put out in a Grades thread regarding his stats in comparison to Kobe, Wade, Lebron, and Roy at similar stages was jaw-dropping.

2) Donte - Though this is pretty darn exciting. Super athletic 6' 10" guys who can shoot and guard multiple positions are extremely good things to have. Particularly in playoff series, where there versatility causes major problems. How far he's come in a short amount of time is what really stands out...what's the ceiling?
3) Omri - 6'9" forwards who rebound, defend, shoot efficiently from 3 and can score around the basket....plus play every game with the pride and passion of representing a country are also pretty good things to have.
4) Thompson - His performance has been outstanding and probably deserves to be rated higher...but he hasn't exceeded my expectations by as much as the top 3 guys. I thought he would get better, and he definitely has. Nice work JT.
5) Westphal - He could be higher too...because you have to give him credit when six young guys on the team are blowing away expectations.
6) Sergio - Is this guy for real? If he keeps it up it could really lead to interesting stuff with #7.
7) Beno - Is this shooting for real?...Beno was a killer contract and untradable 13 games ago. Now he's shooting 54% overall and 43% from 3. Obviously there's no hurry to get rid of a guy playing this well, but I think we could get back some real value for him AND clear up some future cap space.

Least exciting:
1) Kevin Martin getting hurt. - It may have been a blessing to allow Tyreke room to blossom. But this will be the third season in a row he plays between 50-60 games which raises the question of whether or not we can count on him in any kind of fashion and if not, also severely damages his trade value.
2) Sean May.
3) Spencer Hawes up and down play. - Not the end of the world in regards to his future. But its also not very exciting.

fnordius · Dec 1, 2009

hammystyle said:

A comparison to the hype surrounding Hakeem Olajuwon would work, too.

It's all meaningless, and an unwinnable argument, until Rubio plays in the NBA for a while.

Oprostaj · Dec 1, 2009

Pacboy said:

Darko had a nasty streak vs players that are not NBA caliber in terms of athleticism. His game just did not translate. He still has more ability that is showing, but this is just not the game for him. Similar to how soccer players cannot switch between La Liga and Premiership or Serie A... different strokes for different folks. Darko was hyped up AM... trust me on that. We're from the same country and I thought my ears would bleed if I saw one more ESPN snippet about him.

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

Just because Chad ford writes a fluff piece about a scrub like darko doesn't mean that everyone thought that he would be the number 2 pick. Darko himself questioned why Detroit took him 2nd. I'm on my iPhone so I don't feel like looking it up but I'm sure most had Carmelo going 2nd...

Pacboy · Dec 1, 2009

AriesMar27 said:

Well, if you look it up, then you'll realize that you're wrong.
http://www.nbadraft.net/mocks/2003_nba_mock_draft.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/2003/draft/news/2003/05/22/mock_draft/

hammystyle · Dec 1, 2009

fnordius said:

Not really, Hakeem was a College All-American, a Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, and had matched up prett favorably against other sure thing center Patrick Ewing. So the hype surrounding him pre-NBA was a lot different than two teenage Euro's.

Either way, I like Rubio. I'm obviously ecstatic over Evans, but I am very interested to see what Rubio does when he gets to the NBA three years down the line.

LookingAround · Dec 1, 2009

ryanandty said:

Not saying anything bad about Jason Williams. Just that it is not true that Sergio was a fan of him and that the nickname is because of that. It is just a common mistake.

Also here, another interview (with highlights also) where he says he don't like to be compared:
[yt=Sergio]s6bbqiztBIo[/yt]

CruzDude · Dec 1, 2009

with zero TO's and 4.3 ast/game average, the Ast/TO ratio is 4.3

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

Pacboy said:

those 2 have him at 2... my mistake. but i still dont see where the hype around darko was anywhere near as high as rubio. no one is calling him better than anyone.

except Will Robinson who for some reason compared him to wilt.

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/The_Word_On_Darko-78462-50.html

all of the 2003 pre-draft darko hype you could ever want...

drboiffard · Dec 1, 2009

LookingAround said:

I don't hate Ricky!!

I'm only saying that marketing around draft makes a little difference between players much bigger than really is. Sergio hasn't had a chance in Portland, he hardly will have it here when Martin comes back if there's not a trade. And Ricky will have it easily because is more mediatic. Is Rubio that better than Sergio? Is Sergio "poor man's Rubio"? Despite Rubio is younger and has all his life to come better, If we talk strictly what they have shown on the court here and there, I don't believe so. Rubio played very well in the Olympics and in last Euro tournament, but Sergio made Spain win against Argentina in a world championship semi-final. Rubio has played well, but these kind of things are only made by people like Navarro, Gasol... and Sergio. Ricky contributes a lot, but I haven't seen him take the lead of the team to a win in a decissive match.

I think Rubio is better, but the difference between them doesn't justify that at the end people get really excited with one while he is only a promise, while the other has to knick the coach's door violently in his ****ing 4rd year, making 24 points in 24 minutes.

And appart from the Rubio vs. Sergio thing, you also have Failures like Thabeet being picked in #2... I don't know how to explain it: I think the marketing thing and the speculation of making possible stars since the draft day is bigger than what the players really are in the moment of being drafted...That said as simple like that is pretty obvious, but seeing it from the european perspective, where there is no starsystem, is worse, because you clearly see where is the marketing hype influence and how big is it.

LookingAround · Dec 1, 2009

As I said I understand where the antagonizem towards Ricky comes from.
They are always compared (and very similar in some extraordinary aspects of the game), Ricky took Sergio's place at the NT, for Ricky everything comes easy while Sergio had some tough years...
But you cannot blame Ricky for doing his best to get the chances that Sergio didn't.
I cannot say it doesn't effect me too... but it still doesn't make me to unlike Ricky, because his game is as fan to watch as Sergio's, just that I have more sympathy towards Sergio

But I think it's also Sergio who made some mistakes. I knew he shouldn't go to the the NBA when he did. He knew he didn't have the status that will force his coach to play him, not speaking about making adoptions to his game-style which is very important thing for him.

Btw, I re-watched the game vs Argentina recently.

fnordius · Dec 1, 2009

hammystyle said:

Not at all. A number of very hyped US players, picked early, have bombed.

Do you remember who this describes?

That's J.J. Redick, who, along with Adam Morrison, were totally hyped college players 3 years ago. I'm sure that I don't need to remind you how much they both suck.

Jennings, on the other hand, barely even got off the bench in Europe, he never showed anyone a thing at any level above HS. Pervis Ellison, or Olowokandi, looked like a totally sure thing compared to that.

European or American, you make your draft pick and take your chances.

hammystyle · Dec 1, 2009

fnordius said:

I think there's a pretty clear difference between the hype and scouting reports surrounding Hakeem Olajuwon in 84 and that surrounding Darko, Rubio, JJ Redick, Pervis Ellison and Olowokandi.

JJ Redick was much bally-hooed as a college player, and he was a very good one...but he was never a highly touted pro prospect. Basically the guard version of Tyler Hansbrough.

Its true there is some luck in the draw of Rose, Beasley, Jennings, Rubio, Dwight Howard, Kwame, Darko, KG, Dirk, Yao etc etc....Guys who had superstar upside, but also downside.

Then there are the sure thing super lotteries where the second a team wins the lottery you know they are future title contenders. In my lifetime those have been:
84: Olajuwon...such a good prospect that no one ever says they made a bad pick taking him over Jordan.
85: Ewing
89: David Robinson
93: Shaq
97: Duncan
03: LeBron
07: Oden

Just bcause Olowokandi and Ellison were picked first overall doesn't mean anyone thought they were a similar prospect to a 21 year old Olajuwon.

Warhawk · Dec 1, 2009

CruzDude said:

Nope. 4.3 asst vs. 1 TO would be 4.3 ratio. With no TOs, the ratio (as approaching 0 from the positive number scale) approaches infinity. The actual ratio is undefined, but commonly referred to as infinite.

Think of it this way (approaching 0 from the positive side and rounding numbers for simplicity):

4.3/4.3=1
4.3/3.3=1.3
4.3/2.3=1.9
4.3-1.3=3.3
4.3/0.3=14.3
4.3/0.03=143
4.3/0.003=1430

etc. As you get closer and closer to 0 on the TOs, the ratio approaches infinity.

Kingsguy881 · Dec 1, 2009

hammystyle said:

I think the real fact of the matter, when it comes to the draft, is you ARE rolling the dice. Even LBJ was a roll of the dice, one die had a bunch of 3's on it and the other had five 4's and a 2 so it wasn't much of a roll. But there were those who said LBJ would be a bust. There weren't many, but they were there. The thing about it is, like Evans, LBJ came right out and shut up everyone who said he would be a bust. Those type of players you KNOW are going to be special, they are special from day one and the minute they hit the league they take it by storm.

I just don't get how anyone can not see Evans as the future superstar he is. Dude's 20, in game #16, and putting up ridiculously versatile stats. Filling up boxscores worldwide. Like UPS, the dude has delivered. The Kings are getting their answer as to what Evans can do for them. Legit. Dude is LEGIT!

Oprostaj · Dec 1, 2009

AriesMar27 said:

Darko was touted as a mix between Nowitzki shooting, Vlade's passing and maturity well beyond his years. He was well known because he was the perfect example of the euro craze - a tall guy that had unlimited range but ability to play down the block. There has never been such a perfect mix (they wrote...). Sheed can shoot and in his prime played down low... but was never a force on the block. Vlade... on the softer side... KG... probably as close as you could get. People just did not want to see the obvious... he was not athletic, and his work ethic sucked. Trust me though, majority people had him @ the 2 because Detroit did not need a scoring wing (Rip and Chauncy had the guard spots, while Prince was becoming a force on the wing) and Larry Brown HATES rookies. This is the idiot that did not play LBJ in the world championships (or Wade for that matter...) Everybody had Darko 2nd, because he was EXACTLY what Detroit needed. And hey, they ended up getting Rasheed at the end...

AriesMar27 · Dec 1, 2009

Ugh i don't think that Detroit needed darko, they did win a ring with Wallace and Wallace. Hell, didn't darko break his hand in garbage time during the finals? He was there and won a ring in his rookie season.

hammystyle · Dec 1, 2009

Kingsguy881 said:

That's not really true. Basketball above any other sport will occasionally have a sure thing in the draft. Maybe some people had questions about LeBron being a high schooler and all, but the LeBron lottery was the biggest deal since the Duncan lottery, which was the biggest deal since Shaq lottery, which was the biggest deal since the Robinson lottery, which was the biggest deal since the Ewing lottery, which was the biggest deal since Olajuwon. There really was little to no doubt about any of those guys and of course, that's proven out. A bust like Olowokandi doesn't compare, because he was not the same prospect.

But you don't need to sell me on Tyreke Evans. This guy is the truth. I wouldn't trade him for anyone from this draft class or last years.

fnordius · Dec 1, 2009

hammystyle said:

Len Bias was a safe pick, too, but things don't always happen as expected.

Sergio Rodriguez...

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