That's why has decided to take a new approach this year. We've been collecting dozens of tapes of all the International prospects for this year's draft and beyond all year long. When stacked next to the hundreds of tapes of NCAA and high school prospects in our possession, that's a pretty complete collection. The only problem was finding time to watch all these players in action, which is why you may have noticed a slight drop in activity on the NCAA scouting report front over the past few weeks. I can now say that I've watched every single prospect in this draft this year, multiple times. Now it's time to relay that information to you.
Sergio RodrÃguez, 6-3, 1986, Estudiantes, 2006 Draft
Thanks to FIBA and their wonderful videos from last year's U-18 tournament in Zargaoza, this is a player that basketball fans all over the world have already fallen in love with, in large part because of his incredible flair for the game. The videos above were against very young competition, though, so it's important to see how well he has made the jump from the junior category to playing with men in one of the most competitive leagues in the world.
Sergio did not disappoint me even one bit, and one of the games I saw was arguably the most impressive game of his young career so far, a 22 point, 7 assist performance against Cibona Zagreb in the Euroleague, so keep that in mind. That doesn't take away from the fact that he is one of the biggest talents in the world in his age group, even when you put him up against American players. I know for a fact that if he was playing NCAA basketball right now, he would easily be one of the most popular players in the world. He is just that much fun to watch. The player I would compare him to in the NBA right now in terms of his intelligence and elegance with the ball would be Sebastian Telfair, although Rodriguez has about 3 inches on him and a slightly more developed outside shot. Like Telfair, Sergio has incredible court vision and an uncanny knack for effortlessly putting the ball in his teammates' hands in a perfect position to score. He is just as good at making the simple and efficient bounce pass off the dribble as he is at throwing a full court bomb right into his receiver's hands in the end-zone or throwing a rocket no-look pass to a cutting man from a standstill position for an easy lay-up.
He is quick and is almost impossible to keep out of the lane at this level, thanks to his smarts and terrific ball-handling skills. One of the games I have here is his matchup from last year with Rajon Rondo, Josh Smith and Oak Hill Academy from a youth tournament in Spain (we've talked about this game on DraftExpress). He was clearly the only player on the floor there with enough class and skill to match up with the types of athletes Oak Hill had, and Sergio really did an amazing job at single-handedly keeping his team in the game. Very often he would be surrounded by three players at the same time trying to get the ball out of his hands, but Sergio would weave his way out of trouble almost every time with a series of incredible ball-handling moves with both hands (behind the back, between the legs, all in the blink of an eye) that appeared to be straight out of one of the Matrix fight scenes.
The best part about this kid is that he seems to be maintaining a great attitude despite everything that is coming his way. He has already announced that he will be returning for another season in Spain, which shows that he wants to be a great player in his country first before leaving for the NBA. That's probably a good decision, because he still has some holes in his game that need to be fixed. His outside shooting for one is okay at this point, but could still stand to improve if he wants to really be a great NBA player like a Steve Nash for example, who he also resembles. He has gone 19/58 (33%) from outside in 32 games so far this season in Spain, and 7/22 (32%) in 14 Euroleague games.
Although you can clearly see that he has begun to address this issue already in the difference between the way he looked last year and the way he looks this this year, continuing to add strength to his frame will help him finish stronger at the basket and will help him out immensely on the defensive end, where he struggles right now. The turnovers are always something that are going to go hand in hand with his style of play, but he needs to become better and smarter in terms of decision making with the ball in his hands, especially in half-court sets. These are correctable flaws, though, and should disappear with age and experience. He is, in my mind, the most exciting prospect to come out of Europe in quite some time, and he's going to make a huge splash on this side of the ocean when he does indeed make it over. Unlike many 2 point, 1 rebound Euro-Shaq's, Sergio is starting and producing for a playoff caliber team in the strongest domestic league outside of the NBA. What's scary is that he's only 18 years old right now.
Sergio did not disappoint me even one bit, and one of the games I saw was arguably the most impressive game of his young career so far, a 22 point, 7 assist performance against Cibona Zagreb in the Euroleague, so keep that in mind. That doesn't take away from the fact that he is one of the biggest talents in the world in his age group, even when you put him up against American players. I know for a fact that if he was playing NCAA basketball right now, he would easily be one of the most popular players in the world. He is just that much fun to watch. The player I would compare him to in the NBA right now in terms of his intelligence and elegance with the ball would be Sebastian Telfair, although Rodriguez has about 3 inches on him and a slightly more developed outside shot. Like Telfair, Sergio has incredible court vision and an uncanny knack for effortlessly putting the ball in his teammates' hands in a perfect position to score. He is just as good at making the simple and efficient bounce pass off the dribble as he is at throwing a full court bomb right into his receiver's hands in the end-zone or throwing a rocket no-look pass to a cutting man from a standstill position for an easy lay-up.
He is quick and is almost impossible to keep out of the lane at this level, thanks to his smarts and terrific ball-handling skills. One of the games I have here is his matchup from last year with Rajon Rondo, Josh Smith and Oak Hill Academy from a youth tournament in Spain (we've talked about this game on DraftExpress). He was clearly the only player on the floor there with enough class and skill to match up with the types of athletes Oak Hill had, and Sergio really did an amazing job at single-handedly keeping his team in the game. Very often he would be surrounded by three players at the same time trying to get the ball out of his hands, but Sergio would weave his way out of trouble almost every time with a series of incredible ball-handling moves with both hands (behind the back, between the legs, all in the blink of an eye) that appeared to be straight out of one of the Matrix fight scenes.
The best part about this kid is that he seems to be maintaining a great attitude despite everything that is coming his way. He has already announced that he will be returning for another season in Spain, which shows that he wants to be a great player in his country first before leaving for the NBA. That's probably a good decision, because he still has some holes in his game that need to be fixed. His outside shooting for one is okay at this point, but could still stand to improve if he wants to really be a great NBA player like a Steve Nash for example, who he also resembles. He has gone 19/58 (33%) from outside in 32 games so far this season in Spain, and 7/22 (32%) in 14 Euroleague games.
Although you can clearly see that he has begun to address this issue already in the difference between the way he looked last year and the way he looks this this year, continuing to add strength to his frame will help him finish stronger at the basket and will help him out immensely on the defensive end, where he struggles right now. The turnovers are always something that are going to go hand in hand with his style of play, but he needs to become better and smarter in terms of decision making with the ball in his hands, especially in half-court sets. These are correctable flaws, though, and should disappear with age and experience. He is, in my mind, the most exciting prospect to come out of Europe in quite some time, and he's going to make a huge splash on this side of the ocean when he does indeed make it over. Unlike many 2 point, 1 rebound Euro-Shaq's, Sergio is starting and producing for a playoff caliber team in the strongest domestic league outside of the NBA. What's scary is that he's only 18 years old right now.