5 Ways for Sergio Rodriguez to Solidify Himself as Starter

Sergio Rodriguez has a shot at making sure he gets a starting role with the Philadelphia 76ers even when Ben Simmons comes back if he does these things.

A lot of people came into this season with very low expectations for Sergio Rodriguez (at least in relation to the level of play we’re actually seeing from him), the former NBA point guard who had spent close to a decade overseas playing professional basketball in Spain. It’s no secret that the talent level of the NBA is much higher than that of overseas basketball, so a lot of fans and analysts were unsure of how Sergio’s skill sets would translate to the NBA with so much time off.

He surprised a lot of people, coming in and doing very well right off of the bat in his first season back in the NBA and with the Sixers. While the Sixers looked as if they were set up to struggle because they began the season short handed, missing both Jerryd Bayless and Ben Simmons, Rodriguez made it clear that the Sixers made a smart move in the offseason by bringing him on.

By no means is an offense run by Rodriguez the future of the Sixers, but he has been able to fill in for the time the Sixers were in need very well. His passing has been spot on, and he has been able to run the fast break with ease. He was also able to step back and hit open 3-pointers when the Sixers really needed someone to hit one.

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It seemed as if Rodriguez’s time as a starter was coming to an end with the likely return of Jerryd Bayless, but on Thursday night, the Sixers announced that Bayless is out for the season. Rodriguez’s role as a starter is safe for now, but Simmons will debut this season, and puts Sergio’s starter job in jeopardy.

Despite the robust play from Rodriguez, He is not the future of this team, Simmons is. So getting Simmons the repetitions in the point are important for the Sixers if that’s where they want to position him in future years.

Rodriguez can still be a leader in the second unit, a role that is overlooked in the NBA by many, but he does seem to possess a skill set that is worthy of a start. If starting is something Rodriguez has his eyes set on, he can do some things over the next few weeks to ensure he gets a starting role this season, even with Simmons back.

There is still some time before Simmons returns, so Rodriguez has some time to prove himself and establish himself as a lock for starting point guard.

Nov 27, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) reacts after his turnover against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Prove he works best with Embiid

Joel Embiid is the cornerstone of the Sixers franchise. That was a notion that was up for debate coming into the season with Ben Simmons also debuting as an active NBA player this season, but with the injury sustained by Simmons and the incredibly captivating play from Embiid thus far, it’s clear that Joel is the player to move forward with as the face of the franchise.

It makes sense, too, with Embiid being the item that fans have grasped onto over the last few years. No other player that has graced the Sixers roster over the last three years has been quite as eye-catching as Embiid, and no other player has been quite as polarizing as Embiid.

Fans of other teams have debated with Sixers faithfuls over whether or not he would ever play a game, and Sixers fans basically only had “just you wait,” going for them. Well, the time is here, and Embiid is proving himself, and Sixers fans, right in big ways.

A huge part of that success has been thanks to Sergio, though. Countless times, Rodriguez has been the reason Embiid has been set up with good looks, and without a point guard running things the way Rodriguez has, there’s a good chance that Embiid wouldn’t be as good as he has been to start the season.

That’s not to say Rodriguez is the only point guard to do that, though. Most of what Rodriguez has done for Embiid has been fairly basic — in essence, just run the plays and get Embiid the ball when he has good looks — so he may need to do a bit more in the time leading up to a Ben Simmons debut to prove that he is the best thing for Embiid.

Getting more unique looks to Embiid will help that, and providing Embiid with more open looks from beyond the arc would be beneficial for Rodriguez. Embiid has not taken or made many 3-pointers as of late, so that could be a goal between Sergio and Embiid.

Any point guard that can get the ball in Embiid’s hands is typically going to look good, so Sergio needs to set himself apart and demonstrate that he has qualities that are exclusive from others, and show that he is a big reason for Embiid’s success.

Prove he’s a long-term option

If Rodriguez is not going to be one of the long-term pieces for the Sixers moving forward as they inch towards competitiveness, there is not much reason for the team to push him as a starter. The players that surround him in the starting lineup would likely be players that will be around for years to come, so developing them alongside a piece that might not fit the best, and also might not be around for much longer, doesn’t make much sense from both a chemistry standpoint as well as a gameplay standpoint.

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That said, if Sergio can demonstrate that he is a player that is cohesive with the players who are likely to be pieces cemented into the starting lineup, then he could find himself in as a starter due to the positive chemistry he exudes to his teammates.

As Rodriguez is just in his first year back in the NBA, teams may be doubtful of him still this offseason — despite great play so far — so the Sixers may be able to get him on a good deal (although I wouldn’t count on it, a point guard is almost always a high commodity in free agency).

While Rodriguez is likely not going to be the starter for years to come, for the right price he could make a decent backup point guard for the Sixers past this season, even as they try to make the jump to competitiveness. If that’s the case, there’s really no harm in playing him alongside some of the players that are starting this year, just to get those bonds started. In fact, it might be a good thing, because the Sixers are by no means expecting to win a lot of games this year, so sacrificing a possibly more cohesive unit to play Rodriguez to build chemistry between Sergio and other players that will be concrete foundational pieces of the Sixers for years to come might not be that big of a trade-off looking at things through the scope of a long-term view.

This reason for starting him won’t launch him into the consistent nightly starting role, but it does provide basis for putting him alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons (when he returns) once in a while. Jerryd Bayless is obviously the most attractive option next to Simmons, but with him out for the year, Rodriguez can hold his own and allow the pass-heavy offense that’s bound to come with Simmons to work its magic.

Sep 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons (25) during media day at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Prove he and Simmons can co-exist

The biggest thing that is likely going to knock Rodriguez out of the starting lineup is the debut of Ben Simmons. Jerryd Bayless getting over his injury for three games alone prompted head coach Brett Brown to put Sergio on the bench, and that was without Simmons on the roster.

For Sergio to prove he can start, he’s going to have to prove he can co-exist with Simmons, and he’s going to have to prove that he can provide some fruitful play with him alongside of him. To do this, Sergio is going to have to play well off of the ball. It doesn’t seem like something Sergio will be able to necessarily do naturally, and it might be something he has to train himself to do. Simmons is going to need the ball in his hands, and with Simmons undoubtedly being a huge piece of the picture, and Rodriguez not so much, Simmons takes higher priority.

That said, Sergio isn’t a selfish player, and does whatever he can to make any lineup he’s included in work. Although a lot of the highlight plays we’ve seen from Rodriguez this season have been him taking advantage of holes in the defense letting him drive to the rim, or him breaking down the court for an easy lay-up, that may just be because the Sixers don’t have a ton of scoring options available.

Sometimes, you have to take over, and perhaps with a different role, we might just see a different Rodriguez. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Rodriguez will be better or worse at that role. Based on what we’ve seen from Rodriguez so far as a new NBA player, he has the ability to do a lot of things.

The Simmons experiment is new for everyone involved. Simmons has not played point-forward yet (although his play style up to this point has essentially been that, just without the label of point-forward), Sergio has not played with that type of player, and the Sixers have not had that type of player on their roster in quite some time. To say that there’s only one lineup that works, and that that lineup can not include Rodriguez is a quick knee-jerk reaction that may not be accurate.

Include Dario

One easy way for Rodriguez to prove that he could work alongside Simmons is to include Dario Saric a bit more. Saric is a forward that is similar to Simmons in that he can pass better than most forwards can. This was something Saric demonstrated a bit better in the European version of the game, and we have yet to see that version of Dario come out since he has come to the NBA.

Still, Rodriguez could prove a lot if he could include Dario in ways that set him up to pass well. If he can help Dario unlock his passing ability in the NBA, it would show that he could easily do that for Simmons as well.

As far as how Sergio could do that, it’s a bit tricky. With set plays, it’s kind of not up to Sergio in a lot of cases where the ball ends up and who the ball moves through during a play and right before a score. In general, however, if Rodriguez could just get Sergio the ball a bit more, he should be able to demonstrate more passing and more positive play that is coming as a result of Sergio.

It might be hard to up that, however, because Sergio’s most frequent target on passes is Saric, who catches 19.2 percent of Sergio’s overall passes. For some reason, though, Saric is not doing well off of passes from Rodriguez, shooting below 30 percent from beyond the arc off of Sergio’s passes, and below 35 percent from the field. Both of these are below Saric’s averages this season.

Those have nothing to do with Saric’s passing, but show that the chemistry between Rodriguez and Saric seems to be a bit off.

This points to a possible flaw within how the Sixers are using Saric, though. Perhaps the plays drawn up involving Saric and Sergio need to result more often in Saric passing the ball, not taking shots, because it’s clear that passes from Sergio to Saric are not really working too well.

Sep 26, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Sergio Rodriguez (14) during media day at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Score more

One of the very attractive things that other guards — such as Bayless — brings to the table is their ability to score more than the traditional point guard. This is largely a result of Bayless being more of an off-the-ball point guard, which, in theory, will open up a door that lets Simmons become a passer for the Sixers.

Bayless — although now out of the picture for the season due to injury — scores, and has scored well over the last few years. Last season, he scored over 16 points per 36 minutes, something Rodriguez has not been able to do (he has not eclipsed 12 points per 36 minutes).

While Rodriguez won’t be in direct competition with Bayless this season for the starting role, Rodriguez could prove to the Sixers that there is no need to go out and find a rental point guard similar to Bayless by scoring a bit more and being a more fluid and active point guard without the ball in his hands. Most of the moves that Rodriguez makes off of the ball currently are moves that get the ball back in his hands so he can reset a play or re-facilitate the ball. With the way the Sixers are set up now, that works well, because no one else is really doing that for the team.

Moving forward, however, with a player as dominant as Simmons that needs the ball in his hands, it’s going to be important that the Sixers get him with the ball, and less of players like Rodriguez. Sure, there will be the occasional play where Sergio and Ben are on the floor and Rodriguez is the main facilitator, but what’s best for the Sixers in the short-term and the long-term is likely going to be Simmons getting the repetitions as the point, guard, not Rodriguez.

Overall, the thing Rodriguez needs to do to prove he can work well off the ball is score more. The movement does need to come as well, but as long as he can prove he can score, he should be able to catch passes from Simmons as well. At that point, it will just be a matter of Simmons finding him in the right places, something that looks like it comes easy for Simmons.