Philadelphia 76ers: Is Sergio Rodriguez The Answer To Philly’s PG Woes?

As the Philadelphia 76ers continue to search for the point guard of the future, we explore whether Sergio Rodriguez can be the immediate answer

When the news came out that Ben Simmons had injured his foot, Philadelphia 76ers fans hearts sunk. How could another lottery pick get injured again? Yet, that’s what happened and now the organization needs to find a way to work around it.

Although Simmons is just a rookie, the injury couldn’t have come at a worst time. With the lack of playmaking already on the team, having their point forward get injured at the start of the season isn’t a good look.

Sixers head coach Brett Brown was going to have the offense play through Ben Simmons; now without him, the Sixers are going to have to look for other options to create offense for the team.

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Jerryd Bayless is the first choice that comes to mind, but he isn’t a playmaker; his career averages of 2.9 assists a game shows that. Plus, he could miss the start of the season with a left wrist injury.

So that leaves Sergio Rodriguez as the only other option (not a bad last resort to have.)

A flashy passer, Rodriguez has long been touted as being one of the best point guards not playing in the NBA. But this season, that’s going to change as he gets a chance to showcase his talents with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The definition of a true point guard, Rodriguez is a master in finding the open man in pick and roll situations, and out in the open court. In transition, he loves to push the tempo, and he does a great job of keeping his head up and finding the open man.

In the halfcourt, Sergio Rodriguez is a very skilled pick-and-roll ball-handler because of his ability to make any pass out of the screen and roll. He also does a great job of running the offense, by simply reading the defense in order to find the right openings on the court.

Rodriguez wasn’t a great shooter in his first stint in the NBA, but that has changed. Last season, he shot 37.7 percent from behind the arc on 4.2 attempts a night, through 74 games in the Euroleague and Spanish ACB.

Now that doesn’t make him a deadeye from three–point range, but what it does is force teams to not sag off of him. With the big men Philadelphia has on their roster, they’re going to need shooters on the floor alongside them, so Sergio’s jump shot should be a welcoming addition to the team.

With Ben Simmons out for likely the season, Sergio Rodriguez is going to be the teams’ main playmaker

However, on the defensive end of the floor Rodriguez is going to have trouble. With his slender frame, bigger guards in the league are going to abuse him in the post.

While in pick-and-roll scenarios he isn’t going to fair any better, as he has shown a tendency to get caught on ball screens far too often.

In isolation situations, Sergio’s going to be able to hold is own. Yet, it’s still is going to be average at best, as he lacks the foot speed needed to stay in front of the quicker guards in the league. So the defensive end of the floor is where the real challenges are going to be apparent for him.

With Ben Simmons out for likely the season, Sergio Rodriguez is going to be the teams’ main playmaker. He was brought over to help strengthen the point guard position for the 76ers, so now we’ll see if he’s up to the task. The team is young and inexperienced, so having a talented veteran presence on the court with them will come in use.

But does that mean Sergio Rodriguez is the answer to Philly’s point guard woes? Probably not, but only because of his age (30.)

Yet, that doesn’t mean he won’t be helpful to the team. Having him on the court is going to be useful towards the development of Joel Embid, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, because he’s someone that’s going to find those guys in positions to get them easy baskets.

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Too many times last season Okafor would post up, only to not receive the ball. That’s not going to happen with Sergio Rodriguez at the helm, as he’s someone that likes to make his teammates better first and foremost.