(Kings & Nuggets Game): Sergio!

Wa-hoo! These were two of the most entertaining games I’ve watched in a while, for one reason… Sergio Rodriguez. Sergio put on a clinic in the Nuggets game. And the Blazers finally looked like a good team when he was in (but horrible when he was out).

This of course means that Nate McMillan’s worst nightmare has come true. Over the last couple months Nate has tried everything to squeeze Sergio out of the rotation. Seriously, Nate tried everything: he tried playing Jarrett Jack whole games, he tried moving Brandon Roy to point guard, he tried going to a three-guard rotation. And when Jarrett went down, he decides to start Dan Dickau!&$#?

The Nugget’s game was quite comedic in this regard. The first unit could not do anything in the first quarter, then Nate put Sergio in and we score 37 points in the second quarter. Nate of course wrote this off as a fluke, and started Dan Dickau for the second half and before we knew it, Denver goes on an 11-0 run in 4 minutes. Nate, reluctantly, has to put Sergio back in… and can’t take him out (though the look on Nate’s face was that he wanted to). The post-game interview (which you can view on blazers.com) was pretty funny too. Nate McMillan just seemed uncomfortable talking about Sergio’s amazing performance.

Don’t get me wrong. I love Nate, and I think he is a great coach. But some of his recent coaching decisions have been a bit baffling. Does he not see the immense talent and potential that Sergio Rodriguez has? Possibly the most of anybody on this team.

Nate should be cultivating this guy as the future of the Blazers. Sergio is going to be a star in this league, and hopefully it is in a Blazer’s uniform. It’ll be interesting if Nike, Addidas, or Reebok snap Sergio up in an exclusive deal anytime soon, because this kid is very marketable.

We’ll see in the next game how stubborn Nate McMillan is, or if he will allow himself to adapt to the talents his team has. All I know is that if we are going to lose, I’d rather do it with Sergio at the helm.