| Rookie Report: Sergio Rodriguez Authored by J.T. Magee - December 15, 2006 - 12:01 am
As the 27th pick of the 2006 Draft, Sergio Rodriguez didn’t have as much hype coming into this season as some of his point guard alumni. Rodriguez was bought from the Phoenix Suns, who could use him over Marcus Banks at nearly 1/6th of the cost.
Thankfully for Blazer fans, he’s donning a Portland uniform and completing the necessary role of being a backup point guard. A traditional point guard, I might add.
He has not received many minutes over the past couple of games due to the resurgence of starting PG Jarrett Jack. He has, however, earned more playing time over Dan Dickau. Right there says a lot about his improvement.
Both Dickau and Rodriguez are not known as top-notch defenders at the point. They’re not known as defenders at all. But Rodriguez has shown in his stints that he has more defensive potential and capabilities than Dickau ever will.
Watching him firsthand against Phoenix back on November 26th, Rodriguez was playing good enough defense against Steve Nash to stay in the game. It also helped his cause that Portland had no chance of getting back in the game with Raja Bell going off and Amare Stoudemire showing he’s back.
Rodriguez was sliding underneath picks and forcing Nash’s hand. Nash usually will shoot it if his defender slides underneath the pick when they are trying to execute a pick & roll. Rodriguez stayed with Nash and was able to show his defense has vastly improved under head Coach Nate McMillan, one of the best defensive coaches in the NBA. Rodriguez has showed good enough team defense and one-on-one defense to warrant more time, but Jack’s stellar play is making it hard for him to get on the court.
Offensively, Rodriguez is the same player he’s always been. If there’s one word that can describe his performance and improvement, it’s controlled. I wasn’t able to watch Portland in the pre-season at all, but after reading box scores and talking with Jason Fleming of Swish Magazine and HoopsWorld.com, I can see how Rodriguez’s game has changed between now and the pre-season. Fleming said he was reckless and forcing way too many decisions, whether it was a shot or pass. But the Rodriguez during the regular season is showing he can be a traditional point guard with more flair.
When running the offense, Rodriguez showed to have the most chemistry with Travis Outlaw, who is starting to show his potential, both on the inside and outside. A lot of that is due to Rodriguez.
A good point guard knows where to put the ball in order for his teammate to make the best decision with it. Pass, shot or drive, whichever one it is. Rodriguez would deliver it to Outlaw in the same spot for his jump shot, resulting in a made bucket. Rodriguez is starting to figure out where each teammate likes the ball and is putting it there with ease. On drives off pick & rolls, on transition plays, on anything.
He’s even been able to give Jamaal Magloire the ball in perfect situations. It looks like a turnover, but that’s only because Magloire’s movement is so stagnant he will always fumble the pass if he’s not stationary.
His handle is still slick. It always has been and always will be. I fear what will happen when the switch to the new ball on New Year’s Day. Rodriguez has always used a composite ball. The leather ball may be different for him. He tends to lose control of the new ball here and there, but who hasn’t mishandled it this season?
His behind-the-back dribble is effortless. His crossover is just fluid. Every part of his handle is what it was hyped up to be: golden. But the best part about watching him handle the ball this season has been proving naysayers wrong about his left hand.
He can go left. Let’s get that out of the way. Rodriguez can go left. He’s just so good at going right and making a solid decision with the ball that he hasn’t been forced to go left. In the past couple of games, including in their win against the Toronto Raptors on December 10th, Rodriguez is going left on the pick & roll. He’s just as effective getting into the lane with his left as he was with his right. He hasn’t needed to make Nash-like passes with his left hand, but I can guarantee that will come in two years, tops. Once he figures out how to play with both Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge, he’ll deliver some crisp passes to both big men. He’ll even make Joel Przybilla look like an offensive threat. Sure it may only within 5 feet of the hoop, but a nice little bounce pass to a rolling Przybilly the Philly (I swear that was a nickname given to him on TV last season) will make both players look good.
Transition is where Rodriguez excels, but it’s how the breaks are started that intrigues me and makes me fall even more in love with Rodriguez. He’s rebounding the ball in traffic. It’s great to watch. In order to rebound, a player has to have the will. Rodriguez has displayed that several times. On a long rebound, he’ll chase it down, grab it and immediately head down towards the other end. It’s fun to watch because they will usually end up with a made basket, even if he has to pull it back out.
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: a rebounding point guard is the beginning of a complete point guard. A point guard will rarely ‘have’ to rebound, but if they do, it makes it that much easier for his big men to get down the court. Look at Nash and Jason Kidd. Even Mo Williams, Baron Davis, Monta Ellis and Deron Williams can be thrown into that fray. Great point guards will do everything necessary to help their team: set picks, rebound, scrap and claw with anyone and everyone. They’ll do what’s necessary to help their team. Rodriguez is starting to show that.
On his shot, Rodriguez is picking his spots to score. He’ll drive and make a floater or he’ll step out and shoot the 3; he is making smart decisions when scoring.
I love watching him play, but that doesn’t jade my view of his overall game. There are still many holes to improve upon.
On offense, Rodriguez is inconsistent when it comes to passing and shooting. He’s been too passive. How can a point guard be passive? It’s very easy. They’ll pass up a good shot and force the ball to an unexpected teammate. There have been a lot of times where Rodriguez is a little too hesitant when driving. He’ll have an open 12-15 footer after driving. Instead of stopping to shoot, he’ll drive to the basket, then pass it back out to one of his swingmen. They are expecting him to shoot because that’s what they would do in that given situation. He’s been a tremendous and unselfish passer, but he needs to figure out when he should take the shot and when he should find a cutting teammate off one of his drives.
On his jumpshot, he’s been efficient when picking his spots to shoot, but his mechanics are still inconsistent. His jump, release point and motion when shooting are off. It has improved since I saw him play in Spain and even improved since his play in the World Championships in Japan. He will never be a pure shooter, but the little tweaks in his mechanics he’s made have helped him improve his timing on his shot and the spacing when he pulls off his shot.
One reason Rodriguez has been too passive is he was too aggressive in his shot selection when driving to the hoop. Earlier in the season, he would go up for a lay-up against opposing centers and power forwards. Big men coming off the bench don’t have complete skill sets, but they can get their wrist above the rim. On his drives, opposing big men only had to jump that much in order to block his lay-ups. As a point guard going into the lane, a floater, like Tony Parker’s, is a necessity. Rodriguez faded away from what made him effective in Spain. Once he learns when to go into the lane and score with an assortment of shots, he’ll easily average around 14 points to go along with his 8+ assists.
Against Phoenix, Marcus Banks pressured him when he was bringing the ball up the court. He looked terrified, afraid that he was going to turn it over to Banks. He almost did and ended up setting up the offense with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, rather than his average of around 18-20 seconds on the shot clock. He got frazzled and I was completely surprised Banks didn’t apply more pressure like that the rest of the game.
Sure, the Suns were up 15+ at that point, but Banks needs to prove that he’s worth 15 minutes just by pressuring opposing point guards like he did Rodriguez. Rodriguez will adapt to different presses, but he must show a better demeanor when being pressed like he was with Banks.
His defense has been better, but it needs a lot of improvement. It’s very hard to guard anyone on the perimeter these days. Rodriguez, for a roik, has played exceptional defense and McMillan’s teachings are apparent in his game. His D will come in time, but he must show that he can’t be driven on so consistently. He was fine against Jose Calderon in that Raptors-Blazers game, but Calderon isn’t known for blowing by people. He will still get caught with his feet in the sand. Once he figures out better positioning on the perimeter and against the pick & roll, which will only come with more playing time, he’ll be an above average defender. Right now, though, it’s the reason he’s barely averaging 11 minutes a game.
Overall assessment on Rodriguez
Rodriguez brings a lot to the Blazers roster. It’s funny how they traded Telfair because they felt he was too fast for Randolph. In reality, he was not going to back up Jarrett Jack, who blends well with Randolph on the court.
Rodriguez loves to push the tempo and he brings another element to the point guard spot. It’s going to be a couple of years, but he and Jarrett Jack will be one of the best, age wise, point guard tandems in the NBA. There are a lot of solid point guards in the NBA, but their counterparts tend to pale in comparison. Portland found a nice steal in Rodriguez. He brings the flair that can fill up the seats but the temperamental game that McMillan loves. Once he figures out how to play with Z-Bo, he’ll be playing alongside him, Jack and Brandon Roy very often.
Assessment on the Blazers
They are young across the board, but they are scrappers. Teams have to prepare for them or else they will be very surprised. Each player has some sort of chip on their shoulder. They truly miss Brandon Roy and we won’t be able to see how good this team can be until he’s fully healthy. Once he gets back on the court, meshes with Randolph, Aldridge and everyone else, this team is going to surprise a lot of people. They won’t make the playoffs this season, but don’t be surprised to see them in the mix next season. Behind Z-Bo and Roy, these Blazers will bring winning basketball back to Portland, a city dependent on them winning. |
