Rodriguez finding his confidence

Sergio Rodriguez looks for an open player over Utah’s Gerry McNamara on Sunday. (N. SCOTT TRIMBLE/The Columbian)

PORTLAND — Sergio Rodriguez looked lost on many nights last season as he wondered when he would be pulled from a game, struggled to improve on defense, and searched for confidence in himself.

But a much different Rodriguez was speaking after the Portland Trail Blazers’ 93-80 loss to Utah on Sunday at a sold-out Rose Garden. He spoke with confidence about his defense, talked about playing with a more confident mentality, and said he felt good about his overall play after a nine-point, eight-assist, five-steal performance.

“I feel really good during the first four preseason games,” Rodriguez said. “I think I showed myself that I can play for sure here.”

Proving to himself that he can play may be his most important improvement of Rodriguez’s offseason.

The Spaniard rarely spoke so confidently last season, when he was pushed out of the regular rotation, played an average of 8.7 minutes and saw his production plummet. He struggled with his shot, played weak defensively and saw his confidence crack under the constant struggles.

But throughout the early preseason, Rodriguez has shown the results of a summer spent focusing on clearing his mind and shoring up the weak points of his game.

Through the first four preseason games, Rodriguez has averaged 9.0 points and 8.0 assists against 3.5 turnovers while showing a more aggressive, confident mentality.

Rodriguez has also been more active on defense — the weakest aspect of his game during his first two pro seasons.

He made five steals on Sunday and pulled down four of his five rebounds on the defensive end. He also contained Utah point guard Deron Williams — who was 2 of 7 from the field and committed three turnovers — in the latest example of Rodriguez’s improved ability to pressure opposing players and prevent dribble penetration.

“I thought he tried to be aggressive, and he was up on the ball,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said of Rodriguez. “He’s making an effort. I thought he made an effort to keep Williams in front of him.”

That effort may push Rodriguez back into the Blazers’ point guard rotation, where he seems to have positioned himself as the best option to back up starter Steve Blake.

But if that happens, Rodriguez insists the biggest difference will not come from anything he did last summer to improve his game, but from the more confident, aggressive approach he has taken.

“The most important thing is my mentality,” Rodriguez said. “At the beginning of the preseason, one of my best challenges was to keep working on defense, and to have the mentality to be ready every game.”