The old shell game.

[JB]

On Jun 11, 2006, at 10:02 PM, Steve Ouellette wrote:

> I've seen the highlight reels, which strangely leave out the bad 
> stuff. Did someone just compare Sergio to Cousy and Magic, and call 
> him a "once in a generation" player? Wow. And I'm pretty sure Saer 
> Sene is the next Tim Duncan or Hakeem Olajuwon.
>
> Steve O

***************
	Steve, here's the exact quote:

	"Here is a very young (19 yrs old) point guard that has all the moves 
of a Cousy or a Magic Johnson."

	Have I exaggerated a tad? Are there a few "moves" that Cousy and Magic 
had that Sergio hasn't shown? Probably, but I think it's academic.
	Actually, neither Magic or Cousy  (I saw and idolized them both) had 
this kid's ability to shake defenders in the half court, with cross 
overs and misdirection, which may be his most amazing talent.
	To compare him with Sene is not fair.
	Saer has played ball  for only two years and at low levels of 
competition. All we know about him is that he's an athletic freak, not 
even as polished as Jerome Moiso or Kedrick Brown.
	Sergio has played in the top Spanish league and over the course of 
this season, won the starting spot from the team's veteran PG, just as 
the playoffs were getting underway.
	Here is an article from May 2006.

<http://www.draftexpress.com/dedaily.php?p=657>
   	  	  	
The DraftExpress Daily
   	  	  	
   	Monday, May 8, 2006

EuroRoundup: Sergio Rodríguez, the Show Must Go On
By Luis Fernández

This was a tremendous week for Sergio Rodríguez. After a poor season 
start, he has been steadily improving for the last few months, and now 
has delivered a couple of awesome performances that, despite resulting 
in only one victory, has placed Estudiantes in an excellent position to 
advance into the playoffs. And that’s just want we want, to see Sergio 
in the postseason. The show must go on.

The first game was an extremely difficult task: a showdown on the road 
against the ACB leaders, Unicaja Málaga. Estudiantes stayed in the game 
for the full 40 minutes, going ahead in the first half and keeping 
focused when things turned ugly, although in the end Unicaja won by 2 
points. Anyway, Sergio deserves a lot of credit. He has really made 
strides as a playmaker, particularly when it comes to keeping the 
proper game rhythm (although he always likes to play fast) and making 
good decisions. He’s struggling mightily with his perimeter shot, but 
he’s being a huge creative force for his team, breaking defenses down 
and effectively distributing the ball. He’s averaging 8.3 assists in 
only 27 minutes in the last 9 games, an incredible amount for 
international basketball. Against Unicaja, he settled for 7, but added 
13 points and 4 rebounds in 23 minutes of playing time.

Sergio has been a consistent starter during the season, but was 
splitting minutes with veteran point guard Nacho Azofra. He’s lately 
getting a bigger share of the playing time at the point, and this 
weekend he virtually monopolized the position by playing 38 minutes in 
the overtime victory against Forum, blossoming for 25 points, 5 
rebounds, 11 assists and 4 steals.