Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Sergio Rodriguez

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Okafor, Noel, McConnell

December 30th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers may be ready to abandon their experiment of pairing Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in the starting lineup, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The move has come under heavy criticism as Philadelphia is just 1-5 with both big men starting. Pompey notes that the pairing forces Embiid to play out of position at power forward, where he has looked uncomfortable on offense and often gets pulled away from the basket on defense. Embiid sat out Thursday’s game at Utah because it was the first of a back-to-back, and coach Brett Brown wouldn’t commit to starting him and Okafor tonight in Denver. “We’ll figure that out,” Brown said. “I feel like when you study the numbers, look at gut feel, it has not been, at the moment, successful.”

There’s more this morning out of Philadelphia:

  • Backup big man Nerlens Noel played 22 minutes Thursday, the most court time he has seen this season, according to Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. Since returning from a knee injury, Noel has been unhappy with his lack of minutes and has been a frequent critic of the team’s abundance of big men. While he is considered a likely candidate to be traded before the February 23rd deadline, Noel is trying to help the team however he can while still in Philadelphia. “I’m just thankful,” Noel said. “Coach gave me an opportunity and I wanted to go out there and play my game. That’s what my focus was the whole night. Whenever I was in there, I wanted to contribute to the team’s winning efforts. When I wasn’t, I wanted to support my teammates to the best of my ability.” 
  • Injuries have left T.J. McConnell as the only healthy point guard for tonight’s game, Pompey writes in a separate story. A sprained left ankle suffered by Sergio Rodriguez means McConnell will be in the starting lineup tonight, with shooting guard Nik Stauskas as his backup. What looked to be a position of strength in training camp has been decimated by Ben Simmons‘ broken foot and Jerryd Bayless‘ season-ending wrist surgery.
  • Thursday’s Sixers-Jazz game was a reminder of the impact of international basketball, Pompey states in another story. The teams have a combined 14 players on their rosters from outside the United States. “Basketball is all over the world,” said Turkish native Ersan Ilyasova. “Obviously in Europe, it’s still more like a soccer thing. But still, a lot of kids play and follow basketball, especially the NBA.”
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers Notes: Rodriguez, Embiid, Okafor

October 16th, 2016 at 10:19am CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers should maintain their patient approach and not look to acquire high priced veterans in order to produce more wins immediately, Derek Bodner of Philadelphia Magazine argues. Bodner believes the team shouldn’t react to Jerryd Bayless‘ injury by acquiring another veteran. Instead, it should take this season to figure out exactly what is has in Joel Embiid and the rest of its young talent.

Philadelphia was reportedly were interested in J.R. Smith before the guard re-signed with the Cavs. Philadelphia has the cap space and assets to make substantial moves, but Bodner cautions that the team shouldn’t make any deals that comprises its future flexibility.

Here’s more from Philadelphia:

  • Sergio Rodriguez, who last played in the NBA during the 2009/10 season, hopes to play better this season than he did during his first stint in the league, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Rodriquez started for the Sixers during Saturday’s preseason games against Detroit and Brett Brown has high hopes for the 30-year-old. “He’s elusive in open court,” Brown said. “He’s got a feel. He’s slippery with his handle and his vision. So I want him to play more like he’s always played.”
  • Embiid appeared to injure his right foot during Saturday’s preseason game, but fortunately, he was able to remain in the game. The 22-year-old doesn’t see it as an issue going forward, Pompey relays in the same piece. “I’m fine,” Embiid said. “I twisted it a little bit, but I’m fine.”
  • While the team will remain cautious with Embiid going forward, the Cameroon native could play in both ends of back-to-backs this season, ESPN.com passes along. “There are some times just with normal aches and the other parts of his body that you pay attention. It’s still a 275-pound, 7-foot-2 man going up and down the court,” Brown said. “How about his motor, when he puts his mind to it? How about his lateral quickness, when he puts his mind to it? To get that stuff, just harder, longer, makes you think we have to take this course.”
  • Jahlil Okafor has been sidelined since undergoing surgery back in March to repair a meniscus tear in his knee, but the big man should be ready to play opening night, according to that same report.
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers Notes: Okafor, Noel, McConnell, Rodriguez

October 15th, 2016 at 5:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers coach Brett Brown expects second-year center Jahlil Okafor to be ready by opening night, tweets Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly. Okafor is still experiencing soreness in his right knee related to the operation he had in March. Brown said his progress is encouraging, but he will probably begin the season with a minutes restriction (Twitter link). The team is less optimistic about Nerlens Noel, who was scratched from a game last week with a strained groin and may not be able to play in the October 26th opener.

There’s more news out of Philadelphia:

  • Brown is still working out roles for backup point guards T.J. McConnell and Sergio Rodriguez, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jerryd Bayless, who signed a three-year, $27MM deal this summer, is still projected as the starter, although he will be sidelined for a while with a wrist injury. McConnell has been announced as the starting point guard for opening night, but Rodriguez will get the start in tonight’s preseason game with the Pistons. The coach warned fans not to read anything into the decisions. “There’s no sort of madness from a discipline standpoint, from a performance standout,” Brown said. “It’s just that we’ve got a few [preseason] games left. I want to see Sergio more at the start of a game with that group we have been looking at, bring T.J. off the bench and really let him be bothersome defensively as he is. That’s the only motive behind that.”
  • The Sixers are still planning to take it easy with Joel Embiid, but they haven’t ruled out playing him in back-to-back games, Pompey tweets. Philadelphia plans to keep Embiid on a minutes restriction to reduce the risk of problems with the foot injury that cost him his first two NBA seasons.
  • Former Sixers guard Pierre Jackson will play in Croatia this season, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Jackson signed with Cedevita Zagreb, the defending champions in Croatia. Philadelphia waived the 25-year-old point guard before the start of the past two seasons.
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers Notes: Covington, Rodriguez, Saric

October 10th, 2016 at 8:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Small forward Robert Covington should get plenty of scoring opportunities with the presence of center Joel Embiid this season, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Embiid’s ability to draw double teams in the post could often leave Covington open beyond the 3-point arc, where he’s made 40% of his attempts this preseason. He’s also intent upon gaining a reputation as a strong defender, Pompey adds. “I’m going to keep growing as a defender, becoming a two-way player,” Covington told Pompey.

In other preseason news involving the Sixers:

  • In the same article, Pompey notes that point guard T.J. McConnell has been looking more for his shot, McConnell is averaging 10 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 50% during the first three preseason games.
  • Veteran point guard Sergio Rodriguez, who is playing in the NBA for the first time since 2010, has already endeared himself to the team’s big men, Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The longtime Euro star had 15 points, eight assists and no turnovers in 27 minutes against the Cavaliers on Saturday. “He’s really helpful,” Embiid told Cooney. “When we play, he always talks to me and tells me where I need to be and how to get position.” Rodriguez, who has an $8MM contract this season, is currently backing up McConnell with Jerryd Bayless sidelined by a wrist injury.
  • Coach Brett Brown plans to limit forward Dario Saric‘s minutes during the preseason, Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com relays. Saric has gotten very little time off since last October, when he played in Europe. Saric was also a key member of Croatia’s Olympic team in Rio this summer. Saric played well in the team’s first two preseason games before shooting 1-for-7 from the field against the Cavaliers. Brown is planning to sit him for the team’s next game on Tuesday. “I sense sometimes that he is sore, and I just want to be mindful of that,” Brown told Seltzer.
Retweet 4 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers Notes: Rodriguez, Stauskas, Bayless, Simmons

September 29th, 2016 at 6:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sixers coach Brett Brown is enjoying the luxury of having veteran leaders in camp this season, writes Brian Seltzer of NBA.com. The Philadelphia front office has been criticized in past years for not putting experienced players on the roster to guide the team’s young talent. Over the summer, the Sixers added free agents Jerryd Bayless, Gerald Henderson and Sergio Rodriguez and re-signed Elton Brand. Brown seemed particularly impressed with Rodriguez, who has 10 years of professional experience between the NBA and Spain, along with two Olympic appearances. “He just has a real gift for understanding especially offensive tempo,” Brown said. “I think he’s got a bounce to his game and a pace to his game that he will be absorbed in how I want to play.”

There’s more training camp news from the Sixers:

  • Entering his second season in Philadelphia, Nik Stauskas finally feels comfortable in the NBA, relays Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. After being picked eighth overall by the Kings in 2014, Stauskas has produced two lackluster seasons, but he sounds ready for a turnaround this year. “I have a confidence that I know I belong here now,” he said. “The first two years, there’s so many times that I’m trying to fit in. I go to bed at night and I wonder, do I really belong here? Like, is this where I was meant to be? I think this is the first time in my NBA career where I said I know I belong here.”
  • Bayless was on the Bucks team that was a surprise playoff participant two years ago and he sees similarities with the current Sixers squad, Pompey writes in a separate piece. “That’s not a promise or anything,” Bayless added. “But at the same time, if we follow the path, and we play defense on a nightly basis, you never know what can happen. We just want to continue to get better.”
  • Brown is working on combinations in camp involving rookies Ben Simmons and Dario Saric and he plans to use them together during the season, Pompey notes in another story. “I think the pluses are you have 6-10 do-alls that really can jump into a very versatile defensive world with perhaps a lot of switching,” Brown said. “I think they are elite defensive rebounders that can rebound, lead a break, and take off.”
Retweet 2 Share 0 Send via email0

Sixers Notes: Henderson, Bayless, Rodriguez, Pleiss

August 28th, 2016 at 10:04am CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers solidified their backcourt and added a veteran presence in their locker room with three offseason signings, writes Bobby Marks of The Vertical. Entering free agency with $54MM in cap space, the team spent most of it on shooting guard Gerald Henderson and point guards Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez. Philadelphia will pay Bayless more than $9.4MM for the upcoming season, along with $9MM for Henderson and $8MM for Rodriguez, giving them the three highest salaries on the roster. Marks adds that the Sixers learned the importance of having a serviceable point guard last season when they started 1-30 before trading for Ish Smith on Christmas Eve.

There’s more this morning out of Philadelphia:

  • The Sixers are the only team with 20 players currently under contract, Marks notes in the same story. That’s the league maximum heading into training camp, and it means the team will face some tough decisions in cutting down its roster. Friday’s trade for Tibor Pleiss gives the Sixers 14 players with fully guaranteed contracts, although Pleiss’ deal is only for $3MM, so there has been speculation that Philadelphia may not hold onto him. Pleiss played just 82 minutes in Utah last season, so the Sixers may want to evaluate him in camp before making a decision. Philadelphia has six players with partial or non-guaranteed deals.
  • In his rookie season, Jahlil Okafor never found a way to use his one-on-one offensive skills to help his teammates, writes Derek Bodner of PhillyMag.com. In comparing the contributions of Okafor and Nerlens Noel, Bodner also contends that Okafor doesn’t do much on offense when he doesn’t have the ball and that the defensive concerns that haunted him coming into the league were well founded. Bodner believes the Sixers will eventually have to deal either Okafor or Noel, and the drafting of Ben Simmons and the apparent health of Joel Embiid will probably make the decision happen sooner.
  • Former Sixers power forward Drew Gordon is close to signing with Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Gordon, the younger brother of Orlando’s Aaron Gordon, played nine games with Philadelphia in 2014/15.
Retweet 9 Share 0 Send via email0

And-Ones: Stackhouse, Labor, Olympics, Garnett

August 1st, 2016 at 10:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors are expected to name former All-Star Jerry Stackhouse as head coach of their D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, sources told Chris Reichert of UpsideMotor.com. Stackhouse, who played for eight teams during a career that lasted from 1995-2013, spent last season on Dwane Casey’s staff. He would replace Jesse Mermuys, who is now an assistant to new Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton. Stackhouse coached the Raptors’ Summer League team in Las Vegas last month. Raptors 905 was an expansion team last season and had several players that also saw action in the NBA, including Anthony Bennett, Bruno Caboclo, Delon Wright and Lucas Nogueira, Reichert adds.

In other news around the league:

  • NBPA executive director Michele Roberts is optimistic a new labor agreement will be reached before a potential lockout, she told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “Our teams have been in discussions for some months now and we have made progress and we’re inclined to continue along those lines,” she said. “We have meetings this summer and we’re meeting next week and [consistently] after that. We’re trying to get a deal as quickly as we can, ideally before the start of the season.” Roberts added that if an agreement isn’t reached by the Dec. 15th deadline, the union would likely opt out, triggering the possible lockout following the season.
  • American fans will get their first look at a lot of foreign players during the Summer Olympics, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. There will be many players whose names are familiar because teams hold their draft rights, such as Croatian star Dario Saric, who recently signed to play for the Sixers next season. Other prominent names include Lithuania’s Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Spain’s Willy Hernangomez, who will both be part of the Knicks; Nigeria’s Michael Gbinije, a second-round pick of the Pistons; China’s Zhou Qi, a Rockets’ second-rounder; Spain’s Sergio Llull, who the Rockets have been trying to convince to come to the NBA, Lithuania’s Domantas Sabonis, who was traded to the Thunder on draft night; and Spain’s Alex Abrines, who recently signed with the Thunder.
  • Kevin Garnett met with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor but no final decision materialized regarding Garnett’s future, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. The 40-year-old Garnett, who appeared in 38 games last season, has one year and $8MM remaining on his contract.
  • CAA Sports signed NBA free agent guards Sergio Rodriguez and Ish Smith and negotiated deals with their new clubs, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal tweets. The Sixers signed the 30-year-old Rodriguez to a one-year, $8MM contract. Smith received a three-year, $18MM deal from the Pistons.
Retweet 15 Share 5 Send via email0

Sixers Sign Sergio Rodriguez

July 13th, 2016 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 13: The Sixers have officially issued a press release to announce their deal with Rodriguez. Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reported on Tuesday that it’s worth $6.8MM over one year.

JULY 4: After striking a deal with Jerryd Bayless earlier in free agency, the Sixers have further fortified their backcourt by reaching an agreement with Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. According to Charania, the Sixers and Rodriguez have agreed to a one-year, $8MM contract.

Rodriguez, 30, was a first-round pick back in 2006, but hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2009/10 season, when he played a total of 66 games for the Kings and Knicks. Rodriguez previously spent time with the Trail Blazers, and appeared in a total of 285 regular-season NBA contests. However, he averaged just 13.2 minutes per game during his NBA career, and didn’t make much of an impact.

Over the last several seasons, Rodriguez has been a go-to contributor for Spain’s Real Madrid. In 27 Euroleague games during the 2015/16 season (23.4 MPG), Rodriguez averaged 10.9 points and 6.2 assists per game, while shooting 49.5% from the floor and 40.9% from three-point range.

The Nets had previously been dubbed the favorites to reach a deal with Rodriguez, but last Friday a report had indicated that an agreement between the two sides appeared “unlikely.”

Retweet 2 Share 12 Send via email0

Contract Details: Plumlee, Rodriguez, Vasquez

July 12th, 2016 at 10:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Here’s the latest contract details and notes from around the league:

Retweet 12 Share 3 Send via email0

Atlantic Notes: Kuzminskas, Lin, Sullinger

July 10th, 2016 at 3:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks are hoping Lithuanian small forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas can help fill the void left by losing Derrick Williams to Miami, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Kuzminskas signed with New York Saturday, choosing the Knicks over the Lakers and Hawks. The 6’9″ small forward played in the Spanish League this season and has been compared with Danilo Gallinari. “We felt like we needed an agile, mobile 3 that had some ability to shoot distance and spread the court,’’ said team president Phil Jackson. “It may take him an adjustment to NBA play — we understand. It gives us another opportunity to play smaller, quicker with a wide extension of spacing.” The Knicks gave Kuzminskas a two-year deal, using almost all of their $2.9MM room exception for 2016/17. A source told Berman that Jackson hopes to add shooting guard Sasha Vujacic to the roster, along with a “cheap” veteran big man.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Retweet 6 Share 3 Send via email0
Load More Posts